Malaysian architect Dr Ken Yeang distanced himself from Leung Chun-ying and Hong Kong politics yesterday amid a conflict-of-interest row stemming from a 2001 arts hub design contest that has implicated him and the chief executive candidate.
Yeang said that in the 11 years since his participation in the concept design competition for the West Kowloon Cultural District, he had not been informed by the city's government of the entry's disqualification because he was not the lead architect.
'I wouldn't know [Leung] from a bar of soap,' Yeang said in Kuala Lumpur yesterday during an exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post. 'I didn't even know [Leung's firm] DTZ has a branch office in Malaysia.'
Repeating his call for the government to disclose all contest records, Yeang spoke up amid what he said were increasing questions from the media and friends about his relationship with Leung.
The architect is also rumoured to have given Leung benefits in projects in Beijing and Singapore.
Responding to those claims, Yeang said it was the developer and not him as the architect that had appointed DTZ as the property manager or agent in those projects, adding he had 'no dealings with DTZ anywhere in the world'.
Yeang did not reply directly to questions on whether he felt troubled by the saga, whether he thought the government was problematic in its partial disclosures, or whether he would be comfortable in taking part in future Hong Kong design contests.
