It was a slightly embarrassing moment yesterday for a pro-Beijing lawmaker who revealed he was unaware that a controversial ban on face masks had already gone into effect — during a meeting to review said ban.
DAB’s Leung Che-chung was attending a Legislative Council session to review the anti-mask regulation, which came into effect on Oct. 5 after Carrie Lam invoked a colonial-era emergency powers law in a bid to clamp down on the city’s escalating protests. Under the law, anyone caught wearing a face covering at unauthorized assembly can face up to one year in jail.
The passing of the ban was major news, and within hours it had already backfired, sparking even more unruly protests.
The regulation was subject to a negative vetting process, which means that it was enacted immediately, with LegCo set to review it after the fact.
During that review yesterday — headed by DAB’s Wong Ting-kwong and New People’s Party Eunice Yung as chair and vice chair, respectively — Leung asked if the meeting was progressing quickly enough.
“According to the schedule, we must complete the legislation by Dec. 4, otherwise it will be effective automatically,” he added.
The remark drew chuckles and jeers from pro-democracy lawmakers, prompting Leung to confusedly ask: “What are you laughing at?”
Civic Party lawmaker Tanya Chan was all to happy to tell him, stating very pointedly that the legislative brief clearly said that the law went into effect on Oct. 5.
“It is really a miracle that some lawmaker did not do his homework, and did not even know the law was already effective,” she said. “It’s the 22nd today, bro, it’s already effective. It has been more than 10 days. Have you woken up yet?”
Leung, unsurprisingly, didn’t respond.
