HK people balk at donation plan

A large majority of Hong Kong residents have opposed the proposal to inject HK$100 million ($12.89 million) into the region's disaster relief fund, which will be donated to the quake-hit Sichuan Province, fearing that it might be misused and bringing up the public's lack of trust in the government.

Leung Chun-ying, Hong Kong's chief executive, announced the proposal Monday.

However, as of late Tuesday, some 92 percent of more than 5,000 people surveyed in an online poll by the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post said no to the proposal.

Local media reported that the biggest concern is of funds being embezzled by officials, and local residents prefer to donate the money to private funds and NGOs with direct channels to their suffering compatriots.

The backlash came after the demolition of the Mianyang Bauhinia Ethnic Secondary School, whose reconstruction was financed by the Hong Kong government and the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers following the earthquake in Wenchuan in 2008.

In a Tuesday statement, the Hong Kong government said the school was demolished last year to make way for commercial property development, and provincial authorities had returned the HK$2 million.

"It's unrelated to the latest proposal, but as it could be a concern, we will strengthen the supervision over its use once it's approved," Yu Man-ho, senior press director of the Chief Executive's Office, told the Global Times.

The Legislative Council Finance Committee will hold a special meeting Wednesday to discuss the proposal.

Leung Kai-chi, a lecturer with the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said people do care but are just opposed to donating to the government. "I would like to see the funds directly involve the quake-affected people with the help of reliable NGOs."

"I feel deeply sorry but I can't trust the charity system that lacks transparency," said a Hong Kong government employee surnamed Lok.

Beijing officials called for public donations after a rainstorm claimed 79 lives in July last year but instead received a massive backlash against its lack of managerial responsibility and was slammed as shameless by netizens.

"Corruption has cost officials their credibility and it's hard to repair it without joint efforts to improve transparency," said Wang Quanjie, former deputy of the National People's Congress.

"The trust crisis is a big problem, but the government is learning its lessons. We didn't see a public donation request from authorities this time and all the foundations have made transparency a top priority," Tao Ze, vice president of the China Foundation Center, told the Global Times.

Special report: 7.0-magnitude earthquake jolts Ya'an, Sichuan