A pro-establishment Hong Kong politician has faced renewed scrutiny after a Wang Fuk Court resident slammed a “shady” tendering process for a controversial renovation project at the fire-hit Tai Po housing estate. Tai Po South councillor Peggy Wong, a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), in 2024. File photo: Peggy Wong, via Facebook. Tai Po South district councillor Peggy Wong, a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), was named on Thursday during a public hearing into the massive fire in November.
The fire killed 168 people and displaced thousands at Wang Fuk Court, which was undergoing a large-scale renovation project at the time. The buildings were in protective materials that are suspected to have been flammable, therefore exacerbating the fire’s spread.
Between 2021 and 2024 , Wong was a consultant for the management committee of Wang Fuk Court’s owners’ corporation, which approved the controversial project led by the main contractor, Prestige Construction & Engineering. Wang Fuk Court resident Wong Suk-lan (left) and her son attend a public hearing into the deadly Tai Po fire on March 26, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Wang Chi House resident Wong Suk-lan testified that she had heard neighbours complaining that Wong’s “volunteers” asked flat owners to sign authorisation letters, a document that allows someone else to vote on behalf of them on estate management matters during meetings.
“Many elderly would give them as requested because they were frightened,” she said in Cantonese.
“I had also witnessed Peggy Wong and her volunteers quarrelling with residents about our renovation,” Wong Suk-lan, who runs a stall at a wet market in Tai Po, added.
She also said she had heard rumours about “fake authorised votes” during owners’ meeting, with some residents finding out others had voted on their behalf without their knowledge. The entrance to the City Gallery in Central, where a public inquiry into the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po is held, on March 26, 2026. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. “From the tendering to the fire, I think things had been very shady… we objected to a lot of things because the price was really too high, but we always failed and were obstructed by many people,” she added.
Peggy Wong has denied any wrongdoing over her role in the HK$330 million renovation of Wang Fuk Court.
‘Something behind the scenes’
Residents eventually elected a new management committee in September 2024, but the project had already started. Executives of Prestige are among those under investigation for manslaughter and corruption after authorities suspected that non-fire-retardant construction netting and combustible foam boards contributed to the rapid spread of the fire. Wang Fuk Court resident Yuen Chung-man attends a public hearing into the deadly Tai Po fire on March 26, 2026. Photo: Hans Tse/HKFP. During Thursday’s hearing, Wang Tai House resident Yuen Chung-man, who lost his parents in the fire, also raised doubts about why Prestige won the project despite many residents’ opposition.
“My observation is that many of the neighbours didn’t like [Prestige], but somehow, when the results were announced, it commanded the highest number of votes,” Yuen said in Cantonese.
“We thought that something was going on behind the scenes that we were not aware of,” he said.
HKFP has reached out to Peggy Wong for comments on Thursday’s hearing.