Husband of home fortune teller seeks eviction-order review

A man is seeking a judicial review after his family was ordered to move out of their public housing flat because his wife was found to be operating a fortune-telling business at home, breaching the tenancy agreement with the Housing Authority.

Wan Yung-sang filed an application in the High Court on Friday, saying his family should not be expelled because he, as the tenant, did not know his wife was running the business in their flat in Kwai Chung Estate.

Wan and his family have lived in a flat on the 37th floor of Chun Kwai House, Kwai Chung Estate, since 1998. Wan, 60, married his wife, Tong Cheung-mei, in 1984 and they had two daughters and a son. The eldest daughter, Wan Ah-yin, has been studying at the University of Sydney since last year. Except for the eldest daughter, the family all live in the flat with a domestic helper.

The case began in spring this year, when the District Tenancy Management Offices of the Housing Department investigated a complaint that Wan's wife was running a fortune-telling business in the flat.

Investigators put the flat under surveillance six times and found it was frequently visited by people who were not family members. Surveillance officers once overheard people coming out of the flat speaking in Japanese, taking about 'whether the master could help'.

A post on an internet forum containing a contact for 'Auntie Mei' - giving the telephone number and the address of Wan's flat - prompted two investigators to visit the flat on July 9. They found a woman who claimed to be Auntie Mei and offered a fortune-telling service for HK$300.