A punch then a paw? Junius Ho and Gary Chan trade blows online over LegCo dispute

A heated exchange inside the Legislative Council chamber spilled onto social media over the weekend after Junius Ho Kwan-yiu accused Gary Chan Hak-kan of shielding the government over diesel subsidies. 

The dispute broke out last Friday (Apr 10) during a finance committee meeting, when Ho questioned the government's role in monitoring oil prices as part of a diesel subsidy review.

In one tense video clip, Chan asked Ho if he wanted “to leave time for officials to reply” with only 40 seconds remaining. 

“I don’t need their reply—I’m giving my views," Ho retorted. But after speaking for 10 more seconds, he then offered 12 seconds for officials to respond. 

Chan then cut him off and ruled his remarks irrelevant to the funding item, and moved to the next speaker.

After the meeting, Ho publicly slammed Chan, who was chairing the session, for allegedly “shielding” officials and leaving his questions unanswered.  

In response, Chan fired back with a social media post last night, accusing Ho of mimicking “the very tactics of opposition lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung”.

Chan defended his chairing as following the Rules of Procedure, saying Ho had gone off topic although the meeting was only about diesel subsidies.

Chan also said Ho had been absent for a prolonged period and missed part of the meeting sessions that officials had already provided detailed answers.

Chan further criticized Ho for inconsistency, first saying he did not need reply from the officials but later appearing to demand one.

He further expressed disappointment in Ho, who is also deputy chair of the House Committee, for falling short of the professional standards expected in the LegCo.
 

“Try your best” to lead the council

However, the back-and-forth continued as Ho responded with another post, saying lawmakers should put their efforts in improving citizens’ livelihood.

He wished Chan to “try your best” to lead DAB and fellow lawmakers in pushing for legislation to cap fuel prices, writing “I sincerely wait for your beckoning hand. Moving forward bravely to serve the people!”

Notably, the phrase “try your best” was widely seen as carrying an ironic sting, referencing an incident 18 years ago, when Chan—freshly elected to LegCo—mispronounced “try our best” during a media interview.

About an hour after Ho’s post, Chan uploaded an AI-generated image of himself shaking hands with a dog, captioned simply: “Good friends,” putting a temporary pause for the drama.