Blueprint disapproval deepens in wake of row over light bulbs

Public disapproval of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's policy address has deepened amid the furore over light bulbs, a poll has found.

Allegations have been made that Tsang intentionally favoured an in-law's light-bulb business when he launched a scheme to encourage the use of energy-saving light bulbs.

The latest rating for the policy address was 49.8 points out of 100, down from 53.5 immediately after the address was delivered last Wednesday, the poll by the University of Hong Kong's public opinion programme, released yesterday showed.

The rating, taken from a poll carried out between Thursday and Saturday, during the controversy, was the lowest in the past five years, during which no policy address had received a rating of less than 50 in the same series of HKU polls.

Power firms are to give every home HK$100 coupons in December for them to buy fluorescent light bulbs. Fears have been voiced over a possible conflict of interest involving Tsang and his elder son's father-in-law, Anthony Mok Kam-chuen.

Mok is one of the biggest distributors of compact fluorescent lamps manufactured by Philips, which has up to half the market, leading to allegations that the HK$240 million coupons scheme could favour him.

Although Tsang admitted he had failed to declare the interest, close allies on the Executive Council yesterday backed him after he appeared to have convinced councillors the allegations were unfounded and that the scheme was in the public interest.