Former Legislative Council president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing has used his newspaper column to apparently tease chief executive candidate Carrie Lam and other pro-Beijing camp figures.
Tsang, now teaching parliamentary rules at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, adopted a rather unusual format for his column in the AM730 newspaper on Thursday.
In the piece entitled “quiz on common sense,” he presented a 10-question quiz claiming that there was no need for drilling, no standard answers and it was “suitable for primary three students or people with the same level of intelligence.”
The first question was straightforward in asking who will be the next chief executive – would it be Lam, John Tsang, Woo Kwok-hing, or none of them. Jasper Tsang said on Wednesday that Beijing discouraged him from running in the race, but John Tsang had sought his advice.
But the second question apparently took aim at Lam: “Why do opinion polls say John Tsang is more popular than Carrie Lam?”
He also provided four choices:
- Because the central government only supports Carrie Lam;
- Because Carrie Lam was a close partner of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying;
- Because Carrie Lam focuses on her work, and that she does not have time to look at Facebook;
- Because the polls were conducted by the opposition camp.
The next question asks why Lam submitted many more nominations than the 150 required. She submitted 580.
The four choices were:
- Because she is far better than other candidates;
- Because she is far more hardworking than other candidates;
- Because many electors wanted to support her;
- Because a “powerful agency” helped her.
Lam is seen as Beijing’s favourite and is thought to be supported by the China Liaison Office, Beijing’s organ in Hong Kong.
Tsang also asked people to about what similarities there were between prominent pro-Beijing figures Maria Tam Wai-chu and Chan Wing-kee.
Tsang’s four choices included:
- The level of loyalty in the country and Hong Kong;
- The level of authenticity in explaining the central government’s policies;
- The level of trust from the central government;
- The level of popularity amongst Hong Kong people.
Lastly, Tsang asked why Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was appointed as a vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
His four choices were:
- Because the central government fully endorses, highly rates his work;
- Because the central government appreciates very much that he did not seek re-election;
- Because being a CPPCC vice chairman can take care of his family easier;
- Because there is not a vacancy of CPPCC chairmanship.
Tsang said on social media that his students at the Chinese University will also be given a quiz on Thursday.
“Being able to answer these ten questions will not help you,” he joked with hashtags. “Remember to do your revision.”
