Officials and lawmakers in Penny’s Bay quarantine are getting a taste of their own medicine

Hopefully, by the end of their 21 days, they will begin to understand the public anger at tighter Covid-19 measures

The revelations are welcome – it shows that the privileged and powerful are not always entitled to special treatment

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There were around 180 guests at Witman Hung’s 53rd birthday party at the Spanish tapas bar and restaurant Reserva Iberica in Wan Chai on January 3. Photo: Handout

Alice Wu

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA.

Published: 6:45am, 10 Jan 2022

When the government announced tighter Covid-19 measures last Wednesday, brought on by a community Omicron outbreak after aircrew blatantly flouted three-day home isolation rules, I witnessed a man next to me throw a full-blown tantrum.

He doesn’t work or own any of the types of businesses affected but the mental load of the city heading back to a possible lockdown was too much. I’m certain he wasn’t the only one.

Let’s call it exacerbated exasperation. It’s the mental “Covid slide” that affects all people, not just students.

And as life would have it, on the Feast of Epiphany, it was revealed that top government officials and lawmakers had joined a birthday celebration where some were exposed to at least one Covid-19-infected guest.

As a result, around 100 of the guests, including Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang and home affairs chief Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, are experiencing first-hand a “staycation” at the Penny’s Bay’s quarantine centre.

Others, including Police Commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee and Independent Commission Against Corruption chief Simon Peh Yun-lu, were spared lengthy stays after a preliminary positive test turned out to be a false alarm.