HK$5,000 fines slapped on Witman Hung party guests

Six guests who attended the infamous birthday party of Witman Hung Wai-man in a Wan Chai restaurant in January have been fined HK$5,000 for not using the LeaveHomeSafe app or breaching the mask-wearing requirement. 

Hung, principal liaison officer for Hong Kong at the Shenzhen Qianhai Authority held a banquet at Reserva Ibérica Tapas Bar & Restaurant at Causeway Centre in Wan Chai on January 3 to celebrate his 53rd birthday. 

Over 100 political elites including top government officials like former Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui Ying-wai attended that party. 

Yet, photos showing the guests having a good time without their masks on leaked online, triggering public outrage -- as the city just witnessed the start of the fifth wave of Covid-19 outbreak. 

In a statement published on Wednesday night, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced seven fixed penalty tickets have been issued to six guests attending the party. 

Four tickets were issued to guests who didn't use the LeaveHomeSafe app, while the other three tickets were issued to those who didn't wear a mask. All payments have been settled, according to a spokesman of the department. 

The restaurant, which did not display the “Zone D” sign for the restaurant type or notice about air change per hour, allegedly violated the Prevention and Control Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation and the operator will appear in court on April 22. 

The fiasco cost Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui Ying-wai his job. 

The party took place before new restrictions on social life came into force, but after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor appealed to Hong Kong people to avoid large gatherings. 

Thirteen senior government officials who attended the birthday bash was subjected to a probe. 

Tsui resigned after he was found to have failed to wear a mask at the party, and did not use the LeaveHomeSafe contact tracing app. Lam slammed him for bringing embarrassment upon himself and the government by breaching health rules. 

Two others -- Allen Fung Ying-lun, a political assistant to the Secretary for Development, and Vincent Fung Hao-yin, Deputy Director of Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office -- received verbal warnings. 

Senior officials who attended included Director of Immigration Au Ka-wang, police commissioner Raymond Siu Chak-yee. and the head of the city's Independent Commission against Corruption, Simon Peh Yun-lu. 

Other guests including lawmakers were sent to Penny's Bay quarantine center for at least a night.