Principals of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra call on chiefs to quit
Principal musicians from city's leading Chinese ensemble call on two bosses to quit amid claims of 'empire building' and waste of public funds
Disgruntled musicians of the city's flagship Chinese ensemble yesterday called for the resignation of its artistic and executive chiefs due to "inept governance and wastage of public funds".
Three section principals of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra listed out charges, from artistic to personal issues, towards both.
"Mr Yan Huichang (artistic director), along with Ms Chin Man-wah (CEO), has deceived the orchestra's council in the name of connecting with the world to create new positions and change job titles," said Hsin Hsiao-ling, the orchestra's gaohu principal at a press conference.
"Over the past decade, both directors have turned Hong Kong taxpayers' resources and the orchestra's international reputation into building Mr Yan's own empire," the veteran of more than 20 years added.
"Ms Chin forbids our normal activities beyond the orchestra and sees that as conflict of interest, but those of Yan are seen as beneficial to the orchestra's development," she charged.
The case regarding Yan using the orchestra for personal use involved sending some 20 players to play at his student's graduation concert. But Chin argued it was a part of a collaboration between them and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.