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The fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, which claimed 168 lives, exposed a system in which flat owners – the people who pay for and live with the consequences of building renovation decisions – are practically powerless.

One question deserves an answer: why did it take a tragedy to force the authorities to act? Owners across Hong Kong have filed complaints about rigged tenders and suspicious contracts for years, but little happened. Yet within months of the fire, investigations were launched.

The obvious inference is that such malpractice is widespread, but extraordinarily difficult to prove. Collusion leaves few fingerprints – bids can be steered through consultant specifications, tender evaluations and proxy-stacked meetings that all look legitimate on paper.