Legislative Council novices: mainland Chinese transplant wants to close gap between the ‘2 Hong Kongs’
- Wendy Hong says the city caters for the interests of wealthy elites, while shutting everyday residents out of its economic prosperity
- She also vows to tackle the social welfare burden posed by fellow mainlanders relocating to Hong Kong through the ‘one-way permit’ scheme
Hong Kong’s “partygate” scandal has proved a tough first lesson in politics for freshman lawmaker Wendy Hong Wen.
Hong’s attendance at a now-infamous birthday bash that saw nearly 20 lawmakers and officials quarantined after they were exposed to two Covid-19 patients on January 3 – the same day she was sworn into office – led to her spending the first two weeks of her Legislative Council term in a government isolation facility at Penny’s Bay.
Due to be released on Friday, she and three other newly-elected legislators – Benson Luk Hon-man, Duncan Chiu and Rock Chen Chung-nin – have had to skip all in-person Legco meetings since their internment.
In a wide-ranging remote interview with the Post, Hong, elected in the new Election Committee constituency under Beijing’s “patriots-only” political overhaul, apologised again for attending the party and conceded that the scandal took a toll on her image.
“I have no excuse … [The scandal] reminded me to be very careful and sensitive about my conduct,” she said in a video call.
