‘I’ve never met someone like him in Hong Kong’: ATV executive a sincere and selfless man, lawmaker tells unpaid wages court hearing

The executive director of cash-strapped Asia Television is a man so sincere and selfless that he is a rarity in Hong Kong, lawmaker Dr Priscilla Leung Mei-fun told a court today.

Commenting on Ip Ka-po’s merits, Leung, who met Ip four years ago when she was invited to adjudicate on a television panel show, said: “I have never met someone like him in Hong Kong before.”

The Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker was testifying as a character witness at Sha Tin Court for Ip, 59, who has pleaded not guilty to 102 summonses for his role in ATV’s failure to pay up to HK$1.13 million wages on time between July last year and this January.

Leung praised Ip as a down-to-earth executive who was willing to be involved in things. He gave Leung a ring himself, for instance, when he invited the lawmaker to join the judging panel of television show Hong Kong Loving Hearts Campaign, she recalled.

When the salary problem emerged last year, Leung gave Ip a call and was told that he would stick by his 600 employees.

“The immediate thought that sprung to his mind was not how to exit, but to help others,” she said.