The education minister Eddie Ng Hak-him has sent his congratulations to the lawmaker of the education sector for getting re-elected – but the message was addressed to the wrong person.
In a letter, Ng congratulated Leung Yiu-chung for his re-election in the Education functional constituency of the Legislative Council, so that he can continue to serve the Hong Kong people. Ng also thanked Leung for the policy suggestions he made in the Panel on Education in the last term, and Ng said he hoped to work with Leung and other lawmakers in the new term.
The letter was addressed to Leung by his full name. However, Leung has never been the lawmaker of the education sector. The re-elected lawmaker is Ip Kin-yuen.
Leung, of the Neighbourhood and Worker’s Service Centre, then posted Ng’s letter on Facebook. Leung’s Facebook post was shared over 1,800 times in around an hour, attracting more than 1,900 “haha” reactions.
“Thanks for the congratulations, Minister Ng. But I would like the minister to know that I was elected as a lawmaker in the new term through the district council (second) functional constituency, and not the education sector, and I do not intend to replace Ip Kin-yuen,” he wrote.
“However, I have been a teacher for many years. I am very concerned about education issues. I am absolutely willing to discuss education policies with the government,” Leung added.
Leung was a mathematics teacher in a secondary school.
Leung also joked that he was sometimes mistaken for retired lawmaker Tam Yiu-chung, but it was the first time he had been mistaken for a lawmaker in the education sector.
Ip received the same letter, correctly addressed to him. According to reports, the Secretary for Education apologised to Leung for the mistake.
Leung and Ip’s offices at the Legislative Council are both on the ninth floor, with Leung at room 907 and Ip at room 919.
Both Leung and Ip were re-elected in the election on September 4.
Leung received 303,457 votes in the city-wide district council (second) functional constituency, getting the third highest number of votes in the five-seat constituency after Roy Kwong Chun-yu and Starry Lee Wai-king.
Ip received 45,984 votes in the education sector, beating his opponent Choi Yuk-lin, who received 18,158 votes.
