Stephen Lam fires back at democrats
The political heat has taken its toll on Stephen Lam Sui-lung, the normally cool-headed secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, who is in charge of the green paper consultation on constitutional reform. Mr Lam seemed in a cheery mood when he first showed up to face legislators yesterday. But he was in a fighting mood after three hours of harsh words from democrats.
In his most dramatic gesture, he jabbed his finger vehemently at 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung - who has dismissed the green paper as a fake consultation - and accused him of failing to understand the Basic Law. Turning to unionist Lee Cheuk-yan, he blamed the democrats, not the government, for 'complicating simple things'.
Enter Ronny Tong Ka-wah of the Civic Party, who grilled the minister on how the government would draft a final model based on public opinion. Mr Lam responded sharply: 'As a senior counsel you should know well what is written in the Basic Law - and that is, no matter what the model, you still need two-thirds support [of Legco] otherwise it cannot be submitted'.
Donald Tsang: reader, writer, fair promoter
He was a star storyteller at a session for children at last year's Book Fair. This year, however, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen is one of the featured authors at the annual festival, which starts this week. As such he has seen fit to expound on the joys of reading and to urge the readers of his blog to attend the fair. 'I read a wide range of books,' says Mr Tsang, who has just published a volume of memoirs. 'It depends on my mood and needs. This year, I learned more about the difficulty of being a writer. I became one of them.'
