Felix Chung: Free Mask Saga 'a PR Disaster'

Liberal Party leader, Felix Chung, on Friday labelled the government's move to hand out free re-usable masks to Hong Kong residents as a PR disaster, but rejected any suggestion that there was anything underhand in the way it picked a manufacturer.

Members of the public began signing up online this week for the masks, which are called Cu masks – Cu being the chemical symbol for copper which they contain, and as a play on words meaning wanting to 'see you'.

Chung, the lawmaker for the textiles sector, on Friday said the government was criticised in February because it was unable to secure supplies of masks, and was accused of being too slow, and the tendering procedure too cumbersome.

"So this time the government learned their lesson and didn't do the tendering procedure because they said this is public health [a matter of] urgency and we have to do it fast this time. I mean this is reasonable and acceptable," said Chung.

However, he said the government should have disclosed the details of the deal, once it had been concluded - otherwise it could give the "perception" that there had been a "transfer of interest".

He said it should have released the details earlier this week, noting that the government only released the details of the manufacturer after the media had already released the information.

"This is a PR disaster," Chung said, stressing that he did not believe there had been any "transfer of interest" because he knew the parties involved.

Chung also queried a comment by the permanent secretary for Innovation and Technology, Annie Choi, who said that the manufacturers she approached couldn't meet the certification required for the mask.

Chung said the mask had been developed by the government so the manufacturers didn't have access to the data or certification detail for the mask.