CY Leung, reflecting on his Hong Kong leadership, says family ‘taking pressure well’
Chief executive tells Post his wife and children are accustomed to spotlight and ‘see the progress’ the city is making
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has opened up about how his family is dealing with all the negative headlines his position as leader of Hong Kong has brought, saying they are “taking the pressure well” and are fully supportive of his performance in office.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Post last week, Leung shared insights into his family and hobbies.
He called himself a “midnight gardener” who maintains a “plant kingdom” featuring fruits and vegetables from around the world, a characteristic he said mirrored Hong Kong where people from different parts of the world converge.
“I’m not new to this game and my three children were born into these kinds of conditions,” he said. “Sometimes I do feel they’re put in an unnecessary spotlight and under unnecessary pressure, but I would say, by and large, they are taking the pressure and the limelight well.”
“The thing about being the head of the government is that there’s a lot you can’t share with anyone,” he said.
The thing about being head of the government is that there’s a lot you can’t share with anyone
Leung said the sensitivity of his official duties meant he often could not even “share with my top colleagues all things and definitely cannot share many things with my family members”.
“Sometimes they wonder what is going on,” he said. “Sometimes they worry, but I have pulled through ... On occasion, there is some pressure on them, but again I’m not new to these situations, and they are not new to them either.”
An incident report released by the Airport Authority in April stated Leung’s wife “appeared upset” as she started walking towards the boarding gate to personally hand over the baggage to their younger daughter.
Leung suggested last week there might have been some confusion at the time, leading some to believe his wife had wanted to take the luggage directly to the gate. She had only wanted to go to the pre-immigration clearance area, he said. He also noted the conversation was conducted in Cantonese while the report was written in English, suggesting there could have been translation errors.
Leung Chai-yan, the chief executive’s eldest daughter, has engaged in several high-profile run-ins with her parents over the past two years.
Asked if his family had ever advised him not to carry on in the job, he said: “Not at all. They see the progress we as a city are making as a result of this government’s policies.
“They know these efforts are being rewarded, not for me personally but that Hong Kong is being rewarded by these efforts.”
Leung’s predecessor Donald Tsang Yam-kuen once confessed to polishing his shoes as a way of relaxing, but Leung says gardening in the middle of the night is more his way to unwind.
The surveyor-turned-leader said he spends 20 minutes a day gardening. He plants vegetables, melons, grapes, cactuses and corn.
“I like to try new things, things generally not available or common in Hong Kong,” he said. “Things that are not indigenous.”
Leung said he had ginkgo nuts “from the north” as well as dragon fruits “from tropical countries” and grapes from temperate climates in his garden. “They are all doing quite well,” he said.
“Hong Kong is cosmopolitan. The plant kingdom should be like the human beings in Hong Kong from different parts of the world who gather here.”
