A photo of the newly appointed head of the chief executive-elect office has prompted some head-scratching and amusement.
Although the office itself has been embroiled in controversy over its expenses, the focus on Monday was on Jessie Ting Yip Yin-mei, the former Postmaster General and now Secretary-General of the office. Ting bears a remarkable resemblance to chief executive front-runner Carrie Lam.
Chief Executive-elect’s Office set to ensure smooth transition https://t.co/J2r3vJKKZa pic.twitter.com/ZRMfiY2zOM
— HKG Press Releases (@newsgovhk_epr) March 20, 2017
A Commercial Radio breakfast show used Microsoft’s TwinsOrNot website to assess whether the pair are, in fact, related. According to the website, they are “100%” twins.
“Which one is actually Carrie Lam? What’s the deal that before becoming chief executive, she first became the Secretary-General of the chief executive-elect office?” the programme posted on its Facebook page.
邊個係林鄭？？？未做特首，先做候任特首辦秘書長，咩玩法鳴謝：Microsoft Twinornot
Posted by 雷霆881 在晴朗的一天出發 on Sunday, 19 March 2017
One commentator noted: “Great, whenever [Lam] misspeaks, she can shift the blame to her doppelganger: ‘Maybe the media made a mistake between us two, she was the one speaking yesterday.’”
Another said: “Carrie Lam 1.0 has yet to take office and there is already Carrie Lam 2.0 – sosad.”
Lam, 59, joined the civil service in 1980, whilst Ting, 53, joined in 1985.
It did not take long before a third government doppelganger was located.
Democratic Party district councillor Lo Kin-hei, also a chief executive elector, posted a photo of former official Pamela Tan Kam Mi-wah, as he said: “The three sisters of the government… sadly Pamela Tan has retired.”
Tan retired April last year as the Director of Home Affairs. She was born in 1956 and joined the government in 1977.
According to a political gossip column in Ming Pao, there was indeed a case of an inexperienced reporter who mistook Tan as Lam: “That was an embarrassing situation.”
