It looks innocent, but this note that was posted on a car window has been liked and shared thousands of times in Hong Kong.
It reads: “Dear officer, I’m very busy, insufficiently aware, have low political sensitivity, pressured by Occupy Central, I admit to illegal parking, the whole street’s filled with illegally parked cars, give me space to sort it out and I will drive off.”
According to hk01, the note is going viral because it is a direct jab at the new justice secretary Teresa Cheng, who is in hot water at the moment over unauthorised extensions being added to her home and that of her husband who lives next door.
According to HKFP, Buildings Department inspectors found at least nine illegal structures at the two homes at Villa De Mer in Tuen Mun, including rooms on the roof, extensions on the ground floor, basements, canopies, and a swimming pool.
The revelations are embarrassing for Cheng who has degrees in engineering and law, is a chartered surveyor, was one of the chairs of the Appeal Tribunal, Buildings Ordinance between 2000 and 2006, and even co-authored a book on construction law.
It turns out Teresa Cheng literally co-wrote the book on construction law in Hong Kong. You can borrow it from your local library https://t.co/AaslBEuhSF
Never hurts to say it again: you can't make this stuff up pic.twitter.com/L1HQXiBIY7
— Aaron Mc Nicholas (@aaronMCN) January 11, 2018
She defended herself by using the classic excuse: it was like that when I got here.
She said: “At that point in time, I was involved in a number of projects as well as a number of community services… the Minimum Wage Commission, the Transport Advisory Committee, so on, so I was very busy. But that of course is not and cannot be an excuse, it was an oversight, as I said, I could have done better, I should have spent more time and thought about whatever has happened [and engaged] an authorised person to go and inspect the property before I [took] possession of it.”
Unsurprisingly, not many netizens were convinced by Cheng’s mea culpa, with many people crying out on social media “I am busy too with all the overtime I do”, or “I’m so busy I barely have time to pay my bills, let me off this time”.
Others also used the opportunity to pun on the word “busy”, which sounds like the word “dead” in Cantonese, saying “Ms Cheng, when you say you’re busy, did you mean you’re dead?”
Mr & Mrs HK People — a Facebook account full of politically themed tributes to Roger Hargreaves’ Mr Men and Little Miss books — also had this contribution, because they are also too busy to draw a satirical comic.
https://www.facebook.com/mrandmshkpeople/photos/a.485073894967790.1073741828.485065048302008/1090625067746000/?type=1&theater
Questions still remain as to whether or not Cheng did make the home improvements after she bought her home after it was reported that a mortgage deed she signed with a bank for the house did not mention the basement, the SCMP reports.
Chief executive Carrie Lam came to the defence of her new justice chief during a question and answer at the Legislative Council yesterday, saying she believed Cheng did not intentionally cover up the issue.
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