I am actually so disappointed at my own government I am going to say something nice about the British rule of Hong Kong.
This does not happen. I don’t have a lot of good things to say about being a subject of a colony until I was 23 years old. I have always been adamant that the British had no place here, and I honestly celebrated the moment when they left our soil.
Last night on the news I had to sit through an unending bombardment of incredibly positive things said about Regina Yip by all our top ministers. It really annoyed me to have to hear repeatedly, how wonderful, how smart, how much she will be missed, what a great person she was, how she was a great civil servant, how sad and what a great lost it was to see her go.
Not one of them acknowledged what she had said or done, nor the feelings of rage we feel about her. I know she was a long time friend and colleague, but they are supposed to be serving us.
The only person who said anything listenable was Sir David Atkin Jones, our old and retired Chief Secretary. He said although it was a difficult time, there is an upside to it, which is “Some of the tension is out of the situation.” And we can rebuild some of the trust between the government and the people.
It got me thinking that is why Hong Kong people really are disappointed at the present administration. The British were no stars, we didn’t love them, they didn’t capture our hearts and minds in any way. But for the most part except for the riots in 1967, Hong Kong and the British co-existed rather peacefully. We never went out on the streets to ask them to leave. And it’s so sad that finally we have a semblance of a government run by our own people it’s turned into this mess.
I suppose it because things were being done for Hong Kong, public housing, clean water for all and through the years our city transformed from third world status first world status. A great deal of this is because we had a legal system, and free speech unlike the rest of Asia.
But make no mistake, that’s all on the backs of our own people. I think my friend Namen captured it best while a bunch of us were in Bombay. Someone made the comment, “So all this was built by the British?” “No,” he replied, “they were built by Indians, when the British was here.”
I am not defending them over the wrongfulness that we didn’t have the vote nor the questionable ethics of the whole colonial era. I just want to point out the disconcerting fact that unlike our own people in office today they never insulted us to this extent. I can’t remember any civil servant or governor ever calling us mislead, or when someone posed a question have the reply be he or she didn’t understand and maybe should go read the fine lines again.
Maybe I am wrong, and I was too young to have a full grasp of what went on but I have searched the recesses of my 29 year old mind and can’t remember any of those people both publicly or even privately (I will explain tomorrow) question our collective ability to comprehend what was going on. Which is why I am so hurt by the government today that I find myself writing this. I was so hopeful and so happy when they came to power. I thought it was finally for us to have a say.
And I want to add, I have not heard one person here say they wish the British was back or even how they were “better.” This is a testament to How Hong Kong people do love our city, and how much we believe we should be independent or at the least democratic. We want to rule ourselves, and we are not nostalgic of a past when others ruled us.
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Article 23 Now Has A Prettier Face: So What?
Overheard on the Train This Evening:
Our Chief of Police (brother of Donald Tseng our Chief Secretary) will be our next Secretary of Security, taking over the post Regina Ip resigned from last night.
The Secretary of Finance is replaced by someone who was referred to as a “Gan Gai” (evil kid), which means he’s a total suck up to China and probably sleazy. The person sitting next to me on the way home didn’t mentioned his name, so I don’t know who she was referring to, (and there are quite a few people that fit the description who are possible candidates) but she sounded really disappointed and cynical.
I am sorry about this half assed attempt to enlighten, I guess I could have asked her when she hung up the phone. I am sure all the people around me would have appreciated it too, as it did grow unusually quiet as she was talking, but I didn’t want to admit I was listening in on her private conversation.
An hour before I was joking that the Tung is really going to make us pay now for getting rid of his two closest allies. In order to make us learn a lesson and appreciate his good friends, he’s going to put worse people up for the job. Ha Ha. I am not so funny sometimes. By all account Mr. Jack/Bobby Tseng is a good guy with some form of communication skills, but Regina by all accounts (as you read just now) was also a good person that was well respected before she fell off the deep end.
My friend Ray asked if I could stop writing about Regina and the whole lot of them now she’s gone. The answer was “no,” because I haven’t finished with what I have to say about those people and the situation. Let’s face it, sadly, so what if she’s gone? Doesn’t mean Article 23 has gone away, a change of spokesperson doesn’t change the content of the bill. Our freedoms of speech and right to dissention are still under as much threat as it was a day ago.
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 