I wasn’t in Hong Kong during the 2003 SARS epidemic so I can’t say whether this article is based on fact or fantasy.
What I can do is quote the emailer who brought this article to my attention: “Is it any coincidence that this praise comes out after a weekend that saw over half a million Hong Kong citizens take to the streets to denounce him and the party for which he is a puppet?”
I suspect the emailer is on the right track, and that the article is a crock.
1
By Simon
ACtually the report did single out Tung for praise. However it ripped into most of the senior Health people, including the secretary for Health. They’ve all said sorry but there’s pressure for them to resign.
July 5, 2004 @ 10:48 pm | Comment
2
By richard
Yes, but was Tung deserving of the praise he received?
July 5, 2004 @ 11:07 pm | Comment
3
By Simon
I’m no fan of the man, as you know, but he did alright on this one. Once he realised how bad things were he got involved. He was let down by his Health Secretary and the Hospital Authority, not to mention the flip-flopping over the border by the various Mainland and Guandong bodies.
July 6, 2004 @ 4:36 am | Comment
4
By eswn
one snide commentator (not me) said that Tung’s decisiveness was demonstrated by him personally donning a surgical mask to show the public what to do. well …
he was not responsible for micro-management of the daily operations of the health/hospital system, where the serious mistakes were made. for example, it included postponing the formal declaration of a SARS (defined by WHO) crisis because they didn’t want a co-branding of an epidemic with the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region). The report has a long list of missed opportunities in which some health official could have made a difference if only they did the right thing.
July 6, 2004 @ 4:47 am | Comment
5
By richard
Thanks; I really have no idea how Tung performed during the episode. I was too busy watching China’s leaders screw it up.
July 6, 2004 @ 10:28 am | Comment