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SCMP Reporter

About 168,000 people with relatives in Hong Kong are waiting on the mainland to have their applications processed so they can join their loved ones. Some have been waiting for many years. Some have died while the interminable procedure drags on.

There was no such tedious delay when 23-year-old Fu Mingxia accepted a proposal of marriage from Antony Leung Kam-chung. Her entry into Hong Kong was as smooth and graceful as one of the dives that won her Olympic gold. But then, it's not everyone who marries the financial secretary.

In February, the couple had a daughter in Queen Mary Hospital. Throughout the courtship and marriage, there were constant complaints that Ms Fu was receiving privileged immigration treatment. Explanations were demanded from Mr Leung. He has not been forthcoming.

I have tried to get Mr Leung to speak about the circumstances under which his wife continues to live in Hong Kong. He refuses to discuss it. Instead, a series of lengthy answers on these personal issues have come from his departmental mouthpiece.

Now in most cases, of course, love and marriage are private matters.

Mr Leung and Ms Fu's private affairs, however, are very much a public matter.

Her treatment differed from that of others, says the director of the Society for Community Organisations, Ho Hei-wah.

He has called on the financial secretary to explain publicly how Ms Fu came so easily to live in Hong Kong.

'How come she can come and have a baby while others can't?' Mr Ho asks. 'The policy should be consistent. It's not fair when some can jump the queue.'

Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai says it is important for citizens to see the face of justice. 'The government should handle this seriously,' he urges. 'It should make a statement to calm public speculation.'

According to a civil servant who answered questions put to Mr Leung, Ms Fu is not a Hong Kong resident 'but merely visits on a two-way permit and has to go back to the mainland from time to time'.

I have no doubt that lawyers have gone to extreme lengths to check that Ms Fu's presence here complies fully with the law. The question people are asking is: how can this be so? How can an individual who just happens to be married to a very senior government official gain instant entry to Hong Kong when tens of thousands of others, equally qualified before the law, are refused?

This is the question that Mr Leung will not answer.

In the unseemly imbroglio over his purchase of a car shortly before his Budget caused prices to rocket, Mr Leung strongly denied any wrongdoing. But I have yet to meet a single individual who accepts this explanation as anything but a whimsical fairy tale, at best.

It's the same with his bride's easy access to Hong Kong. I am certain it is strictly legal. But is it moral? Is it right that one person can gain instant entry to live, for all intents and purposes, as a Hongkonger while others who have waited for years are denied similar admittance?

The government can issue policy statements and publish statistics and make explanations until the Pearl River freezes over, and still nobody will believe that Ms Fu didn't get the open-sesame treatment because she chose the right husband. And she even gets a nice Lexus in which to drive around her new home.

Do you think Fu Mingxia received special treatment? Send your comments to talkback@scmp.com



kevin sinclair's hong kong