LAI YING-KITyingkit.lai@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 17 October, 2015, 2:21am
UPDATED : Saturday, 17 October, 2015, 2:21am
Carrie Lam said it was an issue of dignity. Photo: Edward Wong
Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor yesterday revealed she had ordered officials not to be pressured into drinking possibly lead-contaminated water to "safeguard the government's dignity".
She said at least two officials had been pressured by district councillors into drinking water from estates where excessive levels of lead had been found.
"Due to the incidents, I issued an internal instruction to order that any officials, when facing the same pressure and situation during public occasions, not accept humiliation," she said in the Legislative Council during a debate on two motions to launch an inquiry into the scandal.
"What they have to safeguard is not only their personal dignity, but also the Hong Kong government's dignity."
Lawmakers rejected the motions by 36 votes to 25.
Assistant Observatory director Sharon Lau Sum-yee was one of those who drank from a cup offered by NeoDemocrat district councillor Yau Man-chun in July.
Lam said she was prepared to endure personal attacks as she spoke out in defence of civil servants. "I have the guts to point out that this incident has been politicised. I have the guts to take the risk of being criticised when I seek justice for our diligent civil servants," she said.
Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong Pik-wan said Lam had failed to put herself in the shoes of those affected.
"The residents who drank leaded water for seven years received much more humiliation and hurt than those officials who just took a sip of it. [Lam] cares much more about the health of officials than residents," she said.
But Ip Kwok-him of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said Lam wanted to send a message that she and other officials had been working hard to tackle the scandal. "I think Lam's message was that she and the government had put all their efforts into a series of measures, which should not be written off."
Dr Chung Kim-wah, a social scientist at Polytechnic University, said: "She should have admitted responsibility and reflected on herself if she really had the courage. That would have won her greater admiration."
Additional reporting by Jeffie Lam
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1868803/carrie-lam-orders-officials-not-drink-water
