Concert involving 13 singing legislators axed amid mounting pressure on politicians

A concert scheduled next Friday (Sep 8), which would see 13 legislators singing, has been axed as organizer Blue Planet Action’s chair Lee Pui-yee said now is not the appropriate time to stage the event. 

Lee said on Tuesday that the concert was a charity event for grassroots, elderly people, people with disabilities, and ethnic minorities to enjoy a variety show. 

She added that apart from performances involving lawmakers, there was a session in which children would be interviewing officials, as well as performances by ethnic minorities and a sharing session by elderly people. 

Lee also said the concert would spend some time introducing the recently commenced district care teams and their services carried out so far and in the future. 

Lee said Blue Planet Action thanked officials, lawmakers, and artists willing to perform at the concert voluntarily and will continue to care for grassroots and support ethnic minorities. 

Her announcement echoed mounting pressure on politicians as it was earlier revealed that some 500 members of the Wong Tai Sin district attended a farewell banquet, costing some HK$200,000, for former district officer Steve Wong Chi-wah, who will be pursuing studies in Beijing. 

Chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the banquet had created a negative impression and will fine-tune a system for officials attending public events. Home Affairs Minister Alice Mak Mei-kuen reminded district members they need not spend a considerable sum to stage such a grand farewell party again. 

Former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun-ying also blasted the banquet as “over-the-top and wasteful.” 

Lawmakers were also under fire for local media earlier reported that two-thirds of government bills passed so far had less than half of all members when voting. It was understood that some Beijing officials were also alerted by the reports and asked certain lawmakers the reasons behind them. 

Lawmaker Martin Liao Cheung-kong earlier “reminded” his colleagues that they may leave citizens a wrong impression if they are more actively engaging in affairs other than their work in the Legislative Council.