Director of Administration set to coordinate govt officials for banquet participation: sources

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has asked the Administrative Wing to handle the arrangements for principal officials to participate in public banquets, according to sources.

This came after last month's lavish farewell dinner for former Wong Tai Sin District Officer Wong Chi-wah, attended by several government officials, drew criticism of being over-the-top and wasteful.

Lee previously said the farewell banquet has created a negative impression despite positive intentions, and he would fine-tune a system for officials attending public events.

It was learned that the Chief Executive's Office had previously informed the governing team when politically appointed officials were invited to banquets, they have to report it.

Recently, the Office further notified the officials that the arrangements for their appearances in public events would have to be coordinated by the director of administration to avoid multiple officials participating in the same event.

One of the events mentioned in the email is the annual banquet of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), which will be held this Friday (Sept 8).

The DAB said it had communicated with the government about the banquet and the public view of it.

Gary Chan Hak-kan, the vice chairman of DAB, said John Lee and Zheng Yanxiong, director of the Liaison Office of China in Hong Kong, agreed to join the banquet tomorrow.