An incident whereby an airline staff member apparently cried when dealing with the Chief Executive over the phone was a result of “training problems” and “should not be blamed on Leung-Chun-ying”, according to pro-establishment figure Chang Chak-yan.
The convenor of Silent Majority, a group founded in opposition to the 2014 pro-democracy Occupy protests, was writing in a Ta Kung Pao column on Wednesday. Chang was referring to an incident whereby the Chief Executive allegedly used his position to help his daughter bypass security procedures to retrieve forgotten luggage.
Former Chinese National Congress member David Chu Yu-lin claimed on Monday that the Chief Executive indeed pressured airline staff during the incident and the airline staffer cried when dealing with Leung. The fallout prompted protests at the airport on Sunday.
“Cathay [Pacific] is running a business and the principle of “the customer is always right” will help business development,” Chang wrote.
He also said that pan-democratic politicians were reacting to the incident as if “the evidence was not important”. He said that they were primarily using the incident to shame their opponent.
‘Fuss over nothing’
The former Education Bureau Secretary Suen Ming-yeung also said in a column published in AM730 on Wednesday that the incident was a typical case where “a fuss is made about nothing”. He added that, because what was said between the Chief Executive and airport staff was unknown, it was not possible to verify the truth.
Nevertheless, Suen said that “Leung should not be talking to airline staff in these kinds of situations,” and although Leung had made a mistake, it was not an abuse of power.
