Some Wang Fuk Court survivors say top officials’ apology nearly one year since fatal fire lacked ‘sincerity’

Former residents of the fire-hit Wang Fuk Court housing estate have criticised Hong Kong leader John Lee and top officials for their apology, saying the gesture — coming nearly a year after a blaze claimed 168 lives and left thousands homeless — lacked “sincerity.”

Lee led senior officials in bowing in apology during a press conference on Thursday, as he announced that housing chief Winnie Ho had tendered her resignation to bear political accountability over the fire last November, the deadliest blaze in the city in decades.

The press conference, announced roughly two hours before it took place, caught some Wang Fuk Court residents off guard as they attended a court hearing where seven people faced charges over the fire, including manslaughter.

About half a dozen residents later gathered for a watch party to listen to the press conference, during which Lee and senior officials promised a slew of reforms to the city’s building renovation regime, prompted by an independent committee that found “shortcomings and deficiencies” in government oversight leading up to the fire.

Yip Ka-kui, whose wife died in the tragedy, said he personally would not accept the apology, noting that only one minister had stepped down to bear responsibility.

“An apology is never too late, but it may not be sincere. This time I have not felt the sincerity,” he told reporters in Cantonese.

Ex-housing chief steps down

Yip said that if Ho genuinely accepted that she bore “inevitable responsibility” for the blaze, she should have appeared at the press conference and apologised to the public in person. Ho’s resignation was instead announced by Lee in her absence at the press briefing.

In a Chinese-language statement, Ho said she was willing to take responsibility for the blaze and offered her condolences to the families of the deceased. She stopped short, however, of issuing an apology.

Betty Ho, another Wang Fuk Court resident, noted that Ho tendered her resignation instead of being sacked and questioned how that could embody political accountability.

Three ministers to stay

Other residents questioned why accountability stopped with Ho, after the independent committee had also faulted the Fire Services Department (FSD), the Labour Department, the Buildings Department, and an Independent Checking Unit of the Housing Bureau for lapses leading up to the blaze.

“It wasn’t just one department that made mistakes; three or four departments were at fault. Why is only one minister bearing the consequences?” asked Lee Kwok-hung, whose mother and two domestic helpers died in the blaze.

Asked why ministers overseeing the departments named by the independent committee were not required to take responsibility and step down, Lee said on Thursday it was his “political decision” after weighing a myriad of factors, including the role of each official in the tragedy and the work ahead to implement reforms.

Labour chief Chris Sun, security minister Chris Tang, and development chief Bernadette Linn did not respond to multiple questions regarding their political accountability during Thursday’s press conference. Sun oversees the Labour Department, Tang the FSD, and Linn the Buildings Department.

Asked whether the apology came too late, Lee said the priority following the blaze last November was to arrest suspects and help displaced residents resettle.

“The incident evolved throughout different stages. At this stage, I believe it is the right time to represent the government to offer an apology to affected residents and the public,” he added.

Yip said the trauma and the pain from the tragedy are still vivid, with the first anniversary of the blaze approaching. “This press conference is only a tiny gesture,” he said.

But not all residents rejected Thursday’s apology. A resident surnamed Tam told broadcaster TVB that he did not expect a senior official to resign over the tragedy.

“I hope residents, fire victims, and the public remain calm and don’t look at this and simply question why only one person had to step down,” he said in Cantonese.

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Hans Tse is a reporter at Hong Kong Free Press with an interest in local politics, academia, and media transformation. He was previously a social science researcher, with writing published in the Social Movement Studies and Social Transformation of Chinese Societies journals. He holds an M.Phil in communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Before joining HKFP, he also worked as a freelance reporter for Initium between 2019 and 2021, where he covered the height - and aftermath - of the 2019 protests, as well as the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.