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- May 25, 2013
- Updated: 5:41am
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Leung Chun-ying
Leung Chun-ying, also known as CY Leung, is the chief executive of Hong Kong. He was born in 1954 and assumed office on July 1, 2012. During the controversial 2012 chief executive election, underdog Leung unexpectedly beat Henry Tang, the early favourite to win, after Tang was discredited in a scandal over an illegal structure at his home.
Factbox: How Leung answered lawmakers over illegal structures
Chief executive feels the heat in barrage of questions from politicians on all sides of the fence
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Q: James Tien Pei-chun: You sealed your unauthorised basement and thought there were no illegal structures. [Is that why] you said it loud on TV that 'I have no illegal structures'?
A: As a matter of fact, in my memory, I did not say, 'I had no illegal structures'.
Q: Tam Yiu-chung: Was there a 2,000 sq ft basement in your Stanley home?
Will you check all your remaining homes?
A: When I moved into this place around 10 years ago, I received a notice from the Buildings Department that there were illegal structures to deal with. Then I handled it.
Q: Lee Cheuk-yan: You criticised Henry Tang [Ying-yen], and you face the karma now. Do you agree it's a matter of integrity? Should you resign?
A: Many of the illegal structures were not built by me. This could be confirmed by professionals ... I didn't know there were illegal structures in my home [before media reports].
Q: Posed by Leung himself: Why no reply to the four letters from the Buildings Department concerning the brick wall in the basement of 4 Peel Rise (on The Peak)?
A: [That's] because, according to my legal advice, I couldn't comment on the issue before the end of the judicial proceedings in relation to an election petition.
In retrospect, I should have replied to the Buildings Department's letter during the judicial proceedings explaining why I couldn't respond to it at that time.
Q: Elizabeth Quat: You disclosed in your 14-page statement that you had a 200 sq ft basement, but the Buildings Department confirmed after inspections it was over 300 sq ft.
A: I didn't enter the [basement] after I sealed it about a year ago. Before that I didn't measure its size.
Q: Elizabeth Quat: Being a professional surveyor, you should've been more vigilant of illegal structures than the general public.
Why did you only invite a friend to take a casual look at your home [when you bought it]?
A: As I didn't have enough time, and I was not sufficiently aware of this problem, I only invited a friend to voluntarily [inspect the house] and check other building-related matters, like water leaking and decay.
Q: Leung Yiu-chung: When you attacked your [election] rival [Henry Tang], was it because you knew in your heart that your illegal structures existed no more? How would you explain attacking your rival when you knew you had the same problem?
A: The 300 plus sq ft space I discovered in November ... was not my construction ... my negligence lies in my [lack of] a report to the Buildings Department when I handled it. I believe the department would have agreed that, after the demolitions, a wall should be built by certain means at the original entrance.
Q: Chan Kin-por: Can you set a time by which you can have all your illegal structures cleared?
A: I hope to have the solutions to the [illegal structures] ready in the coming week or two, and the remaining work, I believe, [will] take only a few days. I think all the problems can be fixed in December or January.
