The Chief Executive’s Office has defended comments about puberty by leader John Lee, after videos went viral of him referring to Executive Council member Ronny Tong.
Lee was speaking after Tong at the Path of Democracy (PoD) party’s 9th Anniversary Fundraising Gala Dinner on Thursday: “I congratulate Ronny on his energy, commitment and more importantly, the puberty he always has,” he said. “And I hope that puberty is not just on developing new talents, but also on other things.”
Social media users were confused by the comment about the party chief, and the video spread online as an official transcript confirmed the reference to sexual maturity. Some thought it could be a mistranslation, or a misunderstanding, whilst others suggested Lee misspoke and meant another word.
However, Lee’s office told HKFP that netizens were not at the event and so may have misunderstood Lee’s reference to a preceding speech made by Tong: “Mr Tong used those words in his speech to explain the way forward to further develop his organisation Path of Democracy. CE [Chief Executive] quoted Mr. Tong’s words at the beginning of his speech as a gesture of respect to Mr. Tong. The words were made in direct reference to Mr. Tong’s words. CE’s remarks are to be read in such context.”
When HKFP asked Tong via text message what his speech was about, he said on Friday that he does “not speak from a script or note and last night was no exception.”
When pushed, he said he had spoken about his party reaching maturity, which Lee later made a call-back to: “Yes my recollection was he made a reference to my speech where I jokingly said PoD had come of age from a turbulent youth and has now reached puberty and ready to reproduce. I then used a Chinese phrase which means branching out and reproducing as a metaphor for our venturing into other areas and producing young aspiring leaders. I did not think he’s was improperly referring to what I said.”
Lee also spoke about Tong’s recent exchange trip to Beijing, the importance of mutual trust, and the drive to “fast-track Hong Kong’s progress from stability to prosperity,” as he congratulated the government advisor on his party’s anniversary.
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