Whistle-blowing scheme not a threat to harmony: Hong Kong housing chief

Rewarding whistle-blowers who report abuses of public homes will not undermine social harmony, Hong Kong’s housing minister has said as she defended the new measure aimed at better allocating the city’s residential resources.

Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin also urged residents to prioritise personal safety when gathering information under the HK$3,000 (US$386) reward scheme, set to take effect on January 15.

“We will only reward the person who provides ‘critical information’ that is helpful to our investigation. We may receive multiple tip-offs for one case, but we will reward the most helpful one,” Ho told a radio programme.

“If there is more than one informant and their information is equally critical, they will split the HK$3,000.”

About 800,000 households are currently living in public rental homes in Hong Kong, an affordable and much sought-after housing option for the low-income group in a city with land shortage and subdivided homes.

With limited resources, the government has been building transitional housing as a temporary solution while residents are waiting for public homes.