In more ways than one, a wife is definitely an asset to any
politician.After all, a wife is generally regarded as a symbol of family
values. Her sense of fashion, her demeanour and appearance can woo
female, and sometimes, even male voters. But best of all, a wife can be a
shield; an expendable collateral.And in Hong Kong, a wife is exactly
that to many prominent people in public office. Just look at Henry Tang,
the aspiring Chief Executive candidate; and now, Paul Chan Mo-Po,
affectionately known to the Hong Kong press as Po-po.
Affectionately,because he is such a rich provider of news worthy
stories.
Within days of becoming the Secretary for Development, Po-po was
involved in a scandal concerning subdivided cubicles of a flat owned by
his wife. “It’s my wife’s, my mine!” proclaimed indignantly by him at
the time. And just this week, when the media discovered his family
owned 3 plots of land within the area of the great North East
Development Plan, a huge government project overseen by him, he shouted
exactly the same thing at the top of his voice. So it is his wife’s; or
perhaps his wife's and his son’s, one is not too sure nowadays; but is
it a defence?
Our Chief Executive, Mr. C. Y. Leung, seeing the proclamation is not
winning any forgiveness in LegCo nor understanding from the press,
quickly came to Po-po’s rescue. “This is all strictly legal,” he says,
“as a member of the Executive Council need not report any interest held
by a wife!”. Presumably,the rule, or the lack of one, also applies to a
husband. This is all very civilized, some say, for a wife is a separate
and distinct being and an equal. And who cares anyway. But is a wife
separate and distinct from her husband in the field of conflict of
interest?
Okay, let’s look at some of the comparable rules. Under the
Securities and Futures Ordinance, a law regulating our financial markets
and dealings therein, a wife is not regarded as separate and distinct
from her husband; and vice versa. A person's spouse, or reputed spouse, or any person cohabiting
with that person as a spouse,is regarded as an “Associate”of that
person for the purposes of whether someone is in control of a
corporation and issues relating to market misconduct. And a person is
regarded as having an interest in the securities of a corporation if he
is in control of that corporation by reference to the definition above,
namely, if his wife has an interest in that corporation. Furthermore,
any interest held by the wife is regarded as the husband’s interest and
is reportable interest under the rules of disclosure for listed
companies.
So you would ask, if for purposes of public companies, a wife’s
interest is not regarded as separate and distinct from her husband’s,
how come our rules of disclosure in ExCo is even more relaxed than the
regulation of listed companies? Don’t get me wrong. We are not talking
about true ownership or women’s rights here. We are talking about public
perception. We are talking about safeguards against abuse and conflict
of interest. We are talking about public confidence in matters of public
office.
A member of ExCo and a Principal Official as defined under the Basic
Law is entrusted with strictly confidential information every day.
Information a lot of people will pay a lot of money for.Information far
more sensitive and valuable than insider information of a listed
company. This is not to mention a member of Exco and a Principal
Official is at all times accountable to the public for whom he serves.
If, for purposes of market misconduct and disclosure of interest in
public companies, a man cannot hide behind his wife, all the more reason
why he can’t do so as a member of ExCo and a Principal Official. Such
conduct itself is an abuse of public trust and confidence and is open to
censure.
So when our dear Po-po has simmered down and has time to reconsider
the rights and wrongs of a person in public office, perhaps he would
come to the inevitable conclusion that if he can’t be accountable to the
people of Hong Kong, he should simply resign.