My TakeLuck of Lam appears to be running out
After a relatively long political honeymoon, Carrie Lam has been rudely awakened by the illegal structures at the homes of the new justice secretary
The opposition has got the political scandal it so craved ever since Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor became the city’s chief. The making of one doesn’t entirely depend on sinfulness or criminality; it’s really about whether it hits people at the gut level, and induces a sense of outrage and unfairness.
That’s what the fiasco with the new justice minister, Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, is about. She is to be the city’s lawman or lawwoman, yet she broke the law with large illegal structures all over her two luxury homes with her wealthy husband.
When she was exposed, she claimed ignorance. It doesn’t just cause outrage among the public, but a sense of satisfaction that the wealthy and privileged are getting their just deserts. But if this was all there was, the “scandal” might still blow over. What is worse has been Lam’s breathtakingly inept handling. She should have either let her go, or made her defend herself. If Cheng survives, she passes a major test. If not, throw her to the wolves.
Instead, Lam has taken complete ownership of the fiasco and assumed the job of defending Cheng – to the point of literally stepping in front of her to speak to the camera and lawmakers.
As if the opposition didn’t have enough ammunition already, Lam volunteered some more in the legislature: Cheng would be allowed several months to finish her private work in arbitration in Hong Kong and teaching duties at Tsinghua University in Beijing.