Disbelief in Legco as lawmakers learn Hong Kong spends HK$1.4 million each year on Donald Tsang’s staff – and paid while he was in jail
- Each former chief executive gets a personal assistant, clerical officer and driver
- Incredulous lawmaker calls the money spent on Tsang ‘wasted’
There was anger and disbelief from lawmakers on Monday after it was revealed that Hong Kong taxpayers spend at least HK$1.4 million (US$178,413) each year for a team of helpers for former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, and even paid up while he was in jail.
The matter came to light in a Legislative Council meeting when acting director of administration Bobby Cheng Kam-wing said the expenditures of the Office of Former Chief Executives had increased from HK$5.59 million in 2014-15 to HK$9.11 million in 2017-18.
Donald Tsang says he has put aside hatred after completing jail term
Cheng said each former chief executive had been given a three-person support staff: a senior personal assistant, an assistant clerical officer, and a driver. The team’s salaries cost the government between HK$1.4 million and HK$1.6 million each year, Cheng said.
Lawmaker Au Nok-hin wanted to know if the money was spent on staff when Tsang was in prison, wondering what work they would have had.
Cheng said: “All the former chief executives’ teams continued to work in the office [regardless of the jail term], so the money still had to be paid.”
Another lawmaker, Cheng Chung-tai, said that arrangement was unreasonable.
“Tsang was jailed because of a criminal offence. He should be deprived of the benefits of a former chief executive,” he said. He added that he considered the money “wasted”.
“The money was for promotion, but what could he promote? Promote himself as a former leader who broke the law?”
Bobby Cheng said the money was used in accordance with government policies.
He added that the number of promotional and protocol-related activities attended by former chief executives increased from 155 in 2014-15 to 1,177 in 2018-19, including 548 attended by Leung and 536 by Tung. Tsang attended 93 such events in 2018-19.
Additional reporting by Ng Kang-chung