Tai Po District Councillor Wong Pik-ki missed the Tai Po District Council meeting and two other meetings on 1 September because of ill health. Tai Po District Officer Chung Wai-ting said the authorities had received a medical certificate from Wong and that no councillor had objected to her absence.
The Home Affairs Department said Wong had also applied to miss four related meetings scheduled for 3 and 4 September, citing ill health. The information available does not establish the formal start or end dates of the arrangement.
Wong, a Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong councillor for Tai Po, was formerly an adviser to the Wang Fuk Court owners’ corporation. Hong Kong 01 earlier reported allegations that her team had collected proxy votes from homeowners who had died. The allegation has not been established as fact.
The Home Affairs Department previously said it was aware of the issue involving proxy votes allegedly belonging to deceased Wang Fuk Court homeowners and had referred it to law-enforcement agencies for follow-up.
The department said that under paragraph 15 of the Guidelines on the Attendance Monitoring System for District Councillors, an absence supported by reasonable grounds and approved by the relevant meeting would not count towards a councillor’s absence rate.
Wong had previously missed a meeting of the Tai Po District Council’s building management working group on 20 August because of illness. Her party colleague Wu Cheuk-him said he only learned of her absence when the council met on 1 September, had not seen her recently and did not know the details of her illness or when she would return. Wu said that, as far as he knew, she did not appear to have been questioned by police, but also said the matter had entered judicial proceedings and he did not wish to comment. His account was not an official confirmation.