CY Leung opens up about daughter’s health, hits back at John Tsang’s comments
Chief executive reveals he spent an hour by his daughter’s bedside every night in the past two months while she was in hospital
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has for the first time elaborated on the “family reason” behind his decision not to seek a second term in office, revealing he spent an hour in hospital every night with his sick daughter over the past two months.
“After I made the announcement, I knew that I could now have more time for my family, and I felt relieved. My family supports my decision,” he said.
He also added that Chai-yan was discharged after receiving treatment in hospital for two months, but did not say what illness she was suffering from.
“I went to see her every night, except when I had a trip,” he said. “I spent an hour there until she fell asleep, and then I went back to Government House.”
He recalled a few instances where he left halfway through an activity or a fundraising event, in full formal attire, to see his daughter, without telling guests where he was going. “I found it very hard to handle both [work and family].”
Chai-yan, the second of three children in the Leung family, is understood to have been a patient at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin for at least a month.
Sceptics noted that his campaign office was still active up till his announcement on December 9, and he was also conducting neighbourhood visits in an apparent attempt to boost his low popularity. The pro-establishment camp received no advance signal of Leung’s decision.
“When you are in respite and doing nothing, your competitors are not,” he said. “The consequence? You can imagine.”
Leung stressed that the city was facing greater economic competition in the region from globalisation, and the government’s role in developing the economy should differ from the past.
Tsang later posted on Facebook that by respite, he meant to “stop internal conflicts”.
