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Emily Tsang

A survivor of the Pat Sin Leng hill fire of 1996 - which killed three school pupils and two teachers - defended himself against an unexpected backlash after travelling to Taiwan to visit Hong Kong victims of a dust party explosion at an amusement park near Taipei.
Critics suggested that Stanley Cheung Yun-hang's actions would hurt the victims' feelings.
Cheung, who is a member of the Hong Kong Burns Association, flew to Taiwan on Tuesday to offer support to the Hong Kong victims and their relatives. He denied he was "taking advantage of the situation to be famous".
"Why do people think I am not a suitable person to visit them? Is it because of my ugly look or that I am not qualified?" asked Cheung, who is a social worker and psychotherapist. He suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body and was left with just one finger and one eye after the Pat Sin Leng tragedy.
He explained the aim of the trip was to offer mental support and information and run errands for family members, who can be quite lost and feel neglected in this kind of tragedy.
Cheung said the association had received calls from a friend of one victim, 18-year-old Chan Hiu-yin. He said he visited Chan only at the suggestion of her father.
He also claimed the sister of another victim, Chow Wing-shan, 25, had consulted him on burns treatment and skin grafts in Hong Kong.
Cheung was 12 when he suffered burns in the hill fire. He had more than 100 operations and numerous skin grafts over nearly six years. Five other pupils were seriously burned.
Since the Taiwan trip, a few of Cheung's acquaintances left messages on his Facebook page accusing him of causing the fire by smoking on the hill.
"It was true that I did smoke a cigarette over breakfast, but I never smoked after we went up the hill as the teacher was there," Cheung recalled. "Another student who stayed with me was my witness all these years.
"It was the second time for me to smoke as I was young. I did silly things."


Hong Kong hill fire survivor defends visit to Taiwan dust party blast victims