Executive councilor reveals the soft side of Carrie Lam

Formerly a member of Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor's campaign office responsible for legal affairs, Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan is now a non-official member of the new Executive Council formed following Lam's election as chief executive.

Asked about his impression of Lam, he says: "She is a very soft person behind the cameras although many people feel she's tough. She's also a very capable person who's familiar with government policies. She's responsive to good suggestions. There were some public relations hiccups during the election campaign because many campaign team members were new to elections, while some incidents had been played up.

"Lam, somehow, learned from the mistakes and began using social media during the later part of the campaign, and she now has dedicated civil servants to manage her Facebook account.

"I've never seen her lose her temper although there had been unfounded allegations that Lam had scolded a senior female civil servant (while Lam was chief secretary) until she cried."

Without saying whether he's very familiar with the new leader, Cheung says: "I had helped her in her campaign in my private capacity. I know her campaign office director Bernard Chan (who has been appointed ExCo convenor) very well because he had voted for me when I contested the 2003 District Council elections. I also know another campaign staff member Lawrence Li quite well."

Cheung spends most of his time on LegCo and ExCo affairs, leaving his trusted colleagues to look after his own law firm. As for his family, Cheung says he hardly has time to dine with his wife and two young daughters on weekdays, but he often goes home in between meetings to be with them for a while.

joseph@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 07/07/2017 page5)