A CHRISTMAS TO FORGET

A Hong Kong couple who survived the tsunami after spending seven hours adrift when water surged through their Phuket hotel room are being investigated by the Social Welfare Dept.

Leung Wai-Kei, 27, said she had let go of a rail she was clinging to and grabbed hold of a floating mattress. Then she saw her husband, Ko Chung-Keung, 36, clinging to a piece of wood nearby.

The couple, who have two children, said in Phuket that they wanted to realize their dream of spending a sunny Christmas together. They said they had won $27,000 on horse racing recently.

But it emerged last night that they had been living on welfare payments for five years and they were separated two or three years ago.

A Social Welfare Dept spokesman said “I can confirm that we are investigating a fraud case involving a 27-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man after receiving a number of reports.”

A government source said Mrs Leung and her two children were claiming single-parent welfare payments of about $9,500 a month. Under the rules, a family of four can receive about $8,000 a month.

The couple, who were slightly injured, returned to Hong Kong last night and were sent to Tuen Mun Hospital, where Mrs Leung was admitted in stable condition. (from the SCMP)

D'oh!