Govt told to spend money wisely as lawmakers challenge HK$7.8m Chubby Hearts campaign

The government is advised to spend taxpayers’ money more wisely after lawmakers doubted whether the earlier Chubby Hearts campaign, costing about HK$7.8 million, helped much in promoting Hong Kong as a mega events hub.

The discussions were raised in the Legislative Council meeting on Thursday during the second reading of the 2024-25 Budget.

Election committee constituency lawmaker Elizabeth Quat Pei-fan said the government should spend money on tackling issues and not on things that are non-essential, saying this is the proper way of managing pubic funding.

“What enrages citizens the most is that the government says it is facing a financial deficit but spends public funding unwisely,” Quat said.

“It really depends on citizens’ own point of view if it is worth spending HK$7.8 million on the hearts installations. Yet, many think that the campaign doesn’t have much commercial value and cannot improve their livelihood.”

Lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok also of the election committee constituency echoed Quat’s remarks and said half the city’s population seeing balloons afloat doesn’t count as success.

”How has this project helped promote Hong Kong’s status as a design capital? How many tourists have come to Hong Kong from afar for this campaign? How much attention did it draw from international communities and can it become a signature event for the city?

“I think these are the real key performance indicators (KPI) in question here,” Ma said.