Overspending 'was not a sin', Timothy Tong Hin-ming tells select committee

Former anti-corruption chief Timothy Tong Hin-ming yesterday told a Legislative Council select committee hearing he was aware of "imperfections and inadequacies" during his tenure, but said his overspending "was not a sin".

Tong was bombarded with questions about his spending on official entertainment as he faced lawmakers for the sixth time. But the former commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption said he had nothing else to say.

"I fully recognise the importance of Legco … and the ICAC," a distressed Tong said. "But about the same matter, what more can I say?"

It was unclear whether he would attend the next meeting, scheduled for March 1, of the committee, which was set up to investigate him in addition to an inquiry by Legco's Public Accounts Committee.

Responding to the latter's damning report, published in November, which reprimanded Tong for "deplorable" overspending and "ignorance or total disregard of rules", he came close to tears.

"I worked hard [as ICAC commissioner]. There were imperfections and inadequacies. The saga has brought me a great measure of regret over the past few months," said Tong, now a delegate to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "But this is not a sin … it has got nothing to do with greed or corruption."