Hong Kong’s leader has fired his tourism and transport ministers, Kevin Yeung Yun-hung and Lam Sai-hung, in an unexpected move, a national news agency has said.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the State Council approved the decision on Thursday (Dec 5) based on the recommendation of Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to replace the secretary for culture, sports and tourism and secretary for transport and logistics.
Yeung has been replaced by Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, the previous permanent secretary for housing. Lam has been succeeded by Mable Chan, who previously served as the permanent secretary for transport and logistics.
In a press conference that day, Lee said the decision was made after a period of observation, without giving further details about what mistakes the two sacked ministers had made.
He praised the new ministers for having “reform mindsets” and the leadership skills necessary to come up with new ideas for the transport and tourism sectors.
Lee expressed gratitude for both Yeung and Lam: “All the people who have joined the government are patriots, and I thank them for all their work, but I want to do more in these two and a half years.”
Shortly after the announcement, Yeung made a post on Facebook.
“Thank you all for your concern! The sky is vast and I’m stepping into a new stage of life,” he wrote, with the post featuring a picture of Hong Kong’s sunny skyline.
Yeung joined the civil service in 1992 and became the undersecretary for education in November 2012.
