Advertisement
Coronavirus Hong Kong
OpinionLetters

Letters | What rules exactly did Hong Kong officials break by attending a birthday party?

  • Readers ask if the outrage heaped on the partygoers was fair, raise concerns about the effect of closing schools on vulnerable children, and question Australia’s plans to open up despite rising Omicron infections

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
5
Fourteen senior officials and 20 lawmakers attended the birthday party for Witman Hung Wai-man, principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority, at a Spanish restaurant in Wan Chai on January 3. Photo: Felix Wong
Letters
It was perhaps bad judgment for government officials to attend a large-scale birthday dinner party during a worsening epidemic, as some did on January 3, but can anyone tell me what rules have they breached, whether mandatory or administrative?

The restaurant where the party was held complied with all the government’s prevailing social distancing measures applicable to a Type D establishment. The first Omicron outbreak had indeed been reported, but by January 3 there were as yet no untraceable cases or confirmation of a community outbreak.

The government only announced tightened social distancing measures on January 5. The government also announced, on January 4, the extension of the “vaccination bubble” scheme to all restaurants, but only to take effect in February.
Advertisement
On the evening of January 3, an inestimable number of dinner parties must have taken place all over Hong Kong. That the officials concerned attended a party where another guest would later test positive is a stroke of bad luck more than anything else. Unless the government had earlier on issued an internal guideline to senior officials forbidding them to attend any social function, it is not clear what had incurred the chief executive’s outburst of wrath at the press briefing on January 7.

And it was not correct or fair for the chief executive to consider that the officials attended the party in their private capacity. The party host had in various official capacities worked very closely with government officials and legislators, and it is reasonable that the government officials who attended saw fit to maintain their connection by turning up at his birthday party.

Advertisement

Perhaps with the exception of the secretary for home affairs, most of them had in fact made an effort to observe the general advice to avoid large gatherings, by cutting short their stay to a few minutes and not staying for dinner.

Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x