Complaints received by the Ombudsman cover a variety of issues. Some involve weighty matters. Many, however, are rather more down to earth.
Take, for example, the resident who was unhappy with the way hygiene officials dealt with a rat in his flat. They had put down poison, but it became damp. They had offered a mouse-trap, but he wanted a new one. Even that was not considered enough. And the rat, it seems, had got into his washing machine.
This was where Food and Environmental Hygiene officials drew the line. They refused to dismantle the machine in their bid to find the rat. A complaint to the Ombudsman followed.
Then there was the sharp-eyed prisoner who spotted that he had not been given his regulation four ounces of meat at meal time. He demanded more. A prison officer weighed it and found that it was, indeed, light by an ounce. So an additional slice was served. The complaint? The regulations say each prisoner should receive one piece of meat weighing four ounces. The inmate objected to having two.
Ms Tai came under fire last year when she highlighted trivial and vexatious complaints in her annual report. Her job, critics pointed out, was to receive complaints - not complain about them.
She stated in the report that although there had been 20 complainants abusing the system by pursuing an 'irrational agenda' the office had processed them with an open mind.
