Just let ban-buster Chan pay ticket

It could have been rather simple to deal with Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan Suk-chong's case.

Chan was accused of violating a ban on public gatherings of more than four people when she joined a group of bar representatives to discuss the plight of the industry due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Instead of telling the legislature's health services panel that the buck was being passed to police for a lengthy investigation, Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee should have been able to say a fixed penalty ticket would be - or better still, had been - given to the opposition lawmaker.

If the police were able to issue tickets to a group of elderly men found playing chess, it should be easy to give the lawmaker a ticket in light of her admission that she was, indeed, there as alleged.

Why all the fuss of a lengthy probe?

In any case, everyone at the gathering must also get a ticket as it is always wrong to single out someone out for discrimination.

In light of the less-than-impressive launch of the ban on public gatherings, it is time for Sophia Chan to put the anti-pandemic measures back on track - and this incident provides a perfect opportunity.

The objection voiced by Tanya Chan basically consists of two points: first, she was at the meeting to exercise her duty as a legislator, not for entertainment; second, the shutter of the bar was half-lowered at the time, meaning it was closed to the public - although customers already inside reportedly were not asked to leave.

That's fine since she should be allowed to argue for herself like everyone else. If the lawmaker and others at the meeting disagree and refuse to pay the fine, they should explain their reasons to the judge and finally put the case to rest.

The matter is apolitical and it's wrong to politicize it.

Law enforcement must be neutral, not color blind - whether it involves the opposition "yellow" or pro-government "blue" camps.

Bear in mind that enforcing the law with bias will only serve to crack rule-of-law pillar.

Having said that, I still find it extremely silly of Tanya Chan to have neglected the ban when she was expected to join others in fighting the virus pandemic by setting a good example as a public figure.

I'm sure that police commissioner Tang Ping-keung would refrain from going to another karaoke party to sing along with his idols, as he recently did, now that the government has been expanding the scope of anti-pandemic restrictions little by little during the crisis.

Public figures must act responsibly, bearing in mind that nobody is above the law - including the chief executive, let alone a legislator.

When the next election is held, voters will pass their own judgment on any lawmaker who violates the law and acts against common sense.