Mark Yu
Mark Yu served as Donald Tsang’s personal chef for more than 10 years, but was fired after a row. In light of Tsang’s imminent departure from office, Yu is performing a stand-up show about politics this month. He shares his thoughts about the outgoing chief executive with Grace Tsoi.
HK Magazine: How did you land the job as Donald Tsang’s personal chef?
Mark Yu: One day, I saw a job advertisement in the newspaper. The residence of the Financial Secretary was hiring a chef. I applied because I thought that it would be fun to work for senior government officials. After six months, the administration wing gave me a call and told me I was hired. I nearly forgot that I had applied!
HK: Is Tsang a picky eater?
MY: He isn’t very choosy with his food and doesn’t eat a lot. He likes soup, seafood and meat—and that’s pretty much it. But his stomach is not very good. Even if the food goes slightly bad, he will have an upset stomach. He’s not a punctual person. For example, if he said he would have dinner at 7pm, he might arrive at the residence at 9pm and ask for his food.
HK: Why did you get fired?
MY: I worked really well with Donald Tsang, but we had a row over the contractual terms. According to the contract, I only had to work for 44 hours. That was a dream contract for a chef! But when I reported for duty to the butler, he told me that I had to stand by 24 hours [a day] and couldn’t leave the residence. It deviated too much from the original contract. So I only worked for Donald Tsang for 303 days [before filing] a lawsuit against the government in 2001.
HK: What do you think about Donald Tsang?
MY: I came back to Hong Kong in 2011. I thought that things would just be fine and that people would have forgotten [about my lawsuit]. In 2011, RTHK invited me over for a radio program. The Chief Executive’s office called the people at RTHK and told them that Tsang didn’t like this kind of publicity. He is very narrow-minded and unforgiving... I also think that he’s a petty person. As long as he doesn’t need to pay, he is up for anything, from free flights to yacht rides.
HK: Have you served celebrities other than Donald Tsang?
MY: Anson Chan used to go to Tsang’s residence for meals five times a week. There was no swimming pool in Tsang’s residence, while there was no tennis court in Chan’s residence. So they often visited each other and had an excellent relationship. Too bad they are not talking to each other now. Before working for Donald Tsang, I also worked for Nina Wang. Nina Wang was nice to me, but she was a bit mean to her father-in-law.
HK: What is your take on CY Leung?
MY: Did you notice that he was very eloquent before he got the top job? After getting elected, he has become very inexpressive. He recently said that the Legislative Council is not a place for politics. This is absolutely wrong! On the other hand, I feel sympathetic for Leung. Tsang has planted a lot of political bombs for him, including the illegal structures in the New Territories and the issue of textbooks [that are too pricey].