Chief executive candidate John Tsang says he raised HK$15.33 million for his election campaign and donated around a third of it to ten charities.
He said his campaign used around HK$10.17 million of the sum, and he divided the surplus of HK$5.16 million into ten equal parts. Each was passed on to charities providing services to medical patients and raising awareness of specific illness.
The upper limit for election expenses is set at HK$15.7 million by law.
Tsang thanked his team for keeping expenditure to only necessary items.
“I believe you all agree that many disadvantaged communities need support – I hope that through this donation, the ten organisations will have more resources and the recipients will have better care,” he said. “If we can care about the needy at all times, there will be more love in Hong Kong.”
The ten charities include:
- Ebenezer School & Home for the Visually Impaired
- Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society
- Hong Kong Red Cross John F. Kennedy Centre Incorporated Management Committee
- Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association
- Spina Bifida Support Group of Hong Kong
- Alliance of Ex-mentally Ill of Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Society for the Deaf
- Barnabas Charitable Service Association Limited
- La Salle Foundation Limited
- The Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care
Tsang raised HK$5.14 million of the sum through a crowdfunding campaign.
Tuesday is the statutory deadline for the submission of the election return form for the three candidates.
Carrie Lam, who won the race, revealed on Monday that she raised around HK$18.7 million for her election campaign. The expenses for her election campaign totalled around HK$12.6 million. She donated the surplus of HK$6.1 million to seven charitable organisations.
Lam was chosen as the next chief executive on March 26 by 777 votes from a 1,194-member election committee largely controlled by Beijing. Tsang received 365 votes and Woo Kwok-hing received 21.
When approached by HKFP, Woo Kwok-hing’s assistant declined to comment on his election donations and expenditure.
