Hong Kong lawmaker Christine Fong has proposed using the government’s iAM Smart platform to verify owners’ identities in housing-estate votes, aiming to stop forged proxies linked to bid-rigging, Hong Kong Free Press reports. The non-binding LegCo motion follows the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po.
Unauthorised proxies at a 2021 meeting helped appoint a renovation consultant later prosecuted over the blaze that killed 168 people. Chief Executive John Lee has moved to criminalise bid-rigging in building maintenance. Fong argued electronic checks would curb forged powers of attorney; critics will watch whether digital ID rules also raise privacy concerns for ordinary owners.
Source: Hong Kong Free Press
Photo: Kowloon Waterfront, Hong Kong, 2013-08-09, DD 03 by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Illustrative image of Hong Kong.