My Take | Door is now open for return of Mak Chai-kwong as a minister in Hong Kong government

The top court’s overturning of convictions against two senior civil servants over their dodgy flat swap to claim housing allowances is not only a victory for the pair. An unknown but probably large number of their long-serving colleagues can now sleep soundly without having to worry about that dreaded knock on the door from anti-graft officers.

Former permanent secretary for development Mak Chai-kwong and assistant highways director Tsang King-man secured the favourable ruling from the Court of Final Appeal this week after being found guilty of defrauding the government out of HK$700,000 in housing allowances.

The case dated back to the late 1980s when the men cross-leased two flats in City Garden, North Point, registered under their name to each other, enabling them to claim private tenancy allowance, a form of housing allowance.

Such cross-leasing was not illegal, but the court heard the practice was not lawful if they had a business interest in the properties for which they claimed allowance. The District Court found the pair guilty as they were the beneficial owners of the flats they claimed to be renting because they had paid for the flats. The Court of Appeal maintained their convictions.

Back then, the practice was not, shall we say, unusual among civil servants. But it became a big issue when Leung Chun-ying was elected chief executive and appointed Mak as development secretary. Some dirt-digging exposed the flat exchange between Mak and Tsang even before Mak started his new job. As a career civil servant, Mak does know a bit about housing and development. He would have made a much better development chief than his replacement, Paul Chan Mo-po, who is consistently among the most unpopular ministers in the Leung administration.

Now that Leung has hinted at seeking a second term of office, it’s time for him to revamp his cabinet and drop some of the worst-performing ministers.