Schoolgirl dares to cross the line at budget forum
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah took 20 questions, many of which were about his plan to award scholarships to 20 students every year to study at universities overseas, and the city's record of underestimating expenditure which has led to years of budget surpluses.
Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah may well have heaved a sigh of relief after being spared tough questions at a budget forum for young people yesterday … if it hadn't been for one cheeky schoolgirl.
Tsang, who has been in office since 2007, appeared well prepared with figures aplenty.
Government spending on recurrent expenditure for education for 2013-14 is about HK$63 billion, roughly one fifth of total government recurrent expenditure of $290 billion.
He also had an excuse ready on surpluses: it was not easy to come up with accurate estimates more than a year in advance.
Then there was the one schoolgirl who decided to poke fun at Tsang's claim that he is middle-class because he enjoys coffee and French movies.
She questioned whether the city did not just need its planned poverty line - the minimum income threshold. A middle-class line would help better understand the problems of middle-class people in Hong Kong.