Politicians' wives take the fall in scandals
Wives of politicians have been taking the heat for their husbands recently, in a pattern that's become familiar well beyond Hong Kong
"I had no doubt that I could construct a satisfying life by myself and make a good living, but I hoped Bill and I could grow old together."
So wrote Hillary Clinton in her 2003 autobiography Living History when recalling the 1998 sex scandal involving her husband, then the president of the United States, and an intern, Monica Lewinsky.
Her words may strike a chord with the wives of failed chief executive candidate Henry Tang Ying-yen and beleaguered Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po, who, like Clinton, have had to pay a price for their husbands' mistakes.
When doubts were raised about the conduct of Tang and Chan, both men responded by blaming their wives. In Tang's case, it was not enough to rescue his bid to become chief executive, a campaign which began with him all but certain to win.
In Chan's case, the calls for him to step down remain as insistent as when the row about his links to a company that owned subdivided flats broke out, soon after his appointment as Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's development secretary.
If Chan's family owned such flats, it could make him a beneficiary of a practice that, as development secretary, he is meant to stamp out.
But Chan claimed to know nothing about the flats, which were owned by a company controlled by his wife, Frieda Hui Po-ming.