RTHK signs up Carrie Lam as new TV host

Yet another change to RTHK’s television offerings is in the works, the latest schedules reveal – but rather than a programme being dropped this time, new talent has been signed up in the form of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

Lam will present her own show on Beijing’s overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system that will be aired four times a day, every day of the week.

Anyone who misses the programme will be able to watch it on the government’s website, but the programme – “Get to Know the Election Committee Subsectors” – will be in Chinese only.

Lam announced her upcoming show on her Facebook account, urging people to tune in to RTHK TV 31 between 6.30pm and 7pm from Wednesday, to see her chatting to guests from the various subsectors.

“The restructuring of the election committee is one of the core elements among changes made to the electoral system. The election committee will consist of 1,500 people … coming from 40 subsectors,” she said.

“I will invite guests from these subsectors to discuss how the restructured subsectors can be broadly representative and achieve balanced participation. You’re welcome to tune in,” she said.

RTHK said there will be 40 episodes in total, with two new ones aired each day. Each episode is 12 minutes long and they’ll be repeated three times, with the series coming to an end on May 17.

Lam’s first two guests will be National People’s Congress deputy Wong Yuk-shan, and executive councillor Laura Cha, who also chairs Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.

RTHK’s TV schedules have been somewhat in a state of flux in recent weeks, with programmes repeatedly pulled at the last minute by the new director of broadcasting, Patrick Li.

The station pointed to concerns about the “impartiality” of the shows in question, with management implementing a new review system for the station’s output to check for any bias or inaccuracies.

It wasn’t clear whether Li has reviewed Lam’s programmes.
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Last updated: 2021-04-28 HKT 00:32