City BeatDoes it make sense to ditch MTR Corp chief Frederick Ma to save Hong Kong transport minister Frank Chan, amid construction scandal?
With railway giant – usually the pride of the city – in a crisis, politicians from across the spectrum are calling for more heads to roll. But how much accountability is enough?
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” the classic Charles Dickens line goes, and it can be applied to the experience of Frederick Ma Si-hang as chairman of Hong Kong’s trouble-plagued MTR Corporation.
And in his case, the best has been overshadowed by the worst.
Amid a slew of revelations and allegations about construction and quality control problems, there was a moment of relative relief for Ma when the long-awaited opening date for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong express rail link was confirmed as September 23.
While this can be seen as a significant milestone under Ma’s leadership of the railway giant, the past week must be the darkest period of his decades-long career.
He is under tremendous political pressure from both the opposition pan-democrats and the pro-establishment camp to step down.
Rival factions in the legislature have temporarily set aside partisan politics to focus on a common target and demand accountability at the top of the MTR Corp, where several heads have already rolled, including that of CEO Lincoln Leong Kwok-kuen and some senior managers.