All Around Town: Karaoke exploits alright but don’t cross the line, says Hong Kong lawmaker
Karaoke exploits alright but don’t cross the line, says DAB lawmaker
It appears that carousing with sexy ladies in karaoke lounges – as two members of the pro-Beijing China-Australia Legal Exchange Foundation did to their cost during a visit to the capital – does not get all women angry. To pro-establishment lawmaker Ann Chiang Lai-wan, such occasions are so normal in business circles that she would definitely give her husband the green light if he wanted to follow suit. “I would not mind even if he rests his arms on the ladies’ shoulders,” Chiang, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, told All Around Town. “If he is happy doing so, I will be happy too.” Chiang says it is important to give her partner personal space, but warns that he should not cross the line they have agreed on. “I do not believe in divorce and I told my husband on the day we married that I would not divorce him,” she says. “But I will make his life really tough if he gets on my nerves.”
Jeffie Lam
‘South Asian’ Facebook posting stokes controversy
The annual candlelight vigil dedicated to the victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown has faced numerous attacks from localists this year, but former student leader Fung Ka-keung, now the chief executive officer of the Professional Teachers’ Union, might not have expected to face criticism from a pro-establishment group over his looks. The Alliance Demanding Repatriation of Refugees recently uploaded on its Facebook page a picture of Fung, who was helping the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China to raise funds during the group’s march on Sunday, accusing him of being a “South Asian” aide of the event organisers. Angry internet users said the post constituted blatant racial discrimination, while some also blasted the “ignorant” administrator of the Facebook page for labelling Fung as a South Asian simply because he was tanned and sported a beard. Liberal Party member Dominic Lee Tsz-king, who headed the Alliance Demanding Repatriation of Refugees, was quick to steer clear of the incident by resigning as convenor of the group. He said he had nothing to do with the Facebook post.
Jeffie Lam
Is it tough being Carrie Lam’s press secretary?
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is well-known for being diligent, and it has long been rumoured that her assistants need to work long hours because of that. However, Lam’s outgoing press secretary, Andy Lam Siu-hong, remained tight-lipped on whether it was tougher for him to serve in the chief secretary’s office than in a policy bureau. “As a subject officer, you have to be very familiar with the policy that you are responsible for, but as a press secretary, you have to be familiar with a range of issues and be prepared for long hours,” Andy Lam told All Around Town. Andy Lam will move to the Transport and Housing Bureau as a principal assistant secretary on June 15, after three years serving the city’s No 2 official. He will be involved in overseeing the contentious high-speed railway project linking Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Lam’s successor will be Veronica Wong Hoi-yee from the Financial Services and Treasury Bureau, who was involved in drafting the government’s budget. Wong also used to work in the environment and security bureaus.
Tony Cheung
