Loyalists quit their usual smoking corner

Many lawmakers who smoke have grown used to taking their cigarette breaks outside the entrance of the Legislative Council building. But now that Occupy Central protesters have surrounded the building with their tents, pro-establishment lawmakers have found a new place to satisfy their tobacco cravings. Wong Ting-kwong, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, told All Around Town about the new spot - a quiet corner outside the car park of the government headquarters, away from the angry pro-democracy protesters. "When I smoke there, I won't be insulted," Wong said, referring to incidents in which protesters hurled insults at pro-establishment lawmakers passing by the surrounded area after Legco meetings. But smokers from the pan-democratic camp had no need to move, however, as they did not face the same treatment from protesters, he added. Wong also said that a pro-establishment colleague did not appreciate the new smoking corner, preferring instead to take cigarette breaks at the nearby Fenwick Pier.

After a number of pan-democratic lawmakers distanced themselves from "radical" democracy supporters who stormed the Legco building last week, pro-establishment lawmakers now want them to also separate themselves from the radical lawmakers involved in filibustering government funding requests. During a public works subcommittee meeting yesterday, Ann Chiang Lai-wan, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, asked subcommittee chairman Alan Leong Kah-kit not to support a motion to adjourn discussion on a planning study for land reclamation at Sunny Bay in Lantau. "Mr Chairman, you are a very rational person - sometimes. Can you call on your rational colleagues to break away from those who are violent like Albert Chan Wai-yip," asked Chiang, referring to the People Power lawmaker who had tabled the motion. "I very much appreciate your compliments, Ms Chiang, but I have no right to vote unless there is a tie," Leong replied. The motion was eventually passed 20-15. The pan-democratic lawmakers - who hold a majority on the subcommittee - are carrying out a non-cooperation campaign in Legco to express dissatisfaction over political reform in the city.