Seasonal musings about the actions of a government that is not for the people as well as by and of it

 Barbecueing or even venturing into barbecue sites in country parks 

is not allowed in the time of the Wuhan coronavirus...

 

...but eating and sitting on benches at picnic sites is allowed; 

why this is okay but not so in barbecue sites no one seems to really know! 

 

Despite reports that it was going to happen, there was no announcement yesterday that any official  move has been made to disqualify some pro-democracy members of Hong Kong's overwhelmingly pro-democracy district councils.  Instead, Hong Kong's sole representative to China's National People's Congress standing committee (NPCSC) stated that Hong Kong was not on the agenda at all of its latest meeting (which took place yesterday) (even while also declining to say whether the NPCSC would discuss the district councillors' qualification in future, included at the next expected meeting in February). 

 

At the same time, steps have clearly been taken to hamper the work of a number of district councils and their members.  As an example, earlier this week, Yau Tsim Mong district councillor Ben Lam posted that the Home Affairs Department had refused to allow his district council to include the slogan “Hong Kong add oil” in a festive lights display on the grounds that it may “affect social harmony”.  

 

This government action is particularly laughable because the phrase "add oil" is allowed to be used in official capacities in Mainland China.  As a matter of fact, the first time I heard this phase being used was during the 2008 Beijing Olympics by those cheering on the Chinese Olympic team!  Sadly, it's entirely in keeping with the kind of paranoia and pettiness that saw the authorities also deny an application to have Bruce Lee's famous “Be Water” on a license plate last month; with their justification in that instance being -- without explaining how exactly -- that having those two words on a vehicle “may cause danger to the safety of any user of the road.”

 

On a more serious note, many Hong Kongers have additionally been perplexed by the Hong Kong government's thinking and actions with regards to combating the Wuhan coronavirus.  Among other things, it's hard to understand why the beaches seem to be so readily closed, thus far more quickly and for longer periods so than enclosed spaces such as bars, gyms and beauty salons.  Also, why do the authorities seem to target domestic helpers even while they have in no way been responsible for infections as much as, say, the dancing tai tais? 

 

Furthermore, while Carrie Lam finally came out and said earlier this week that Hong Kongers will be allowed to choose coronavirus vaccine to take, she has qualified that this is dependent on what is available at any given time -- and only did so after the authorities over in Macau said that they would give their residents a choice in the matter.  Consequently, Hong Kongers have started looking with envy at Macau for having the leadership it does!  

 

In all honesty, I do reckon that Hong Kongers do want a government they can trust and respect.  Put another way: I genuinely believe that Hong Kongers are not naturally disposed to be rebellious or anti-government.  As things stand though, pollsters have consistently found that 90% of those Hong Kongers who value democracy stand opposed to the government!

 

One of the people in charge of the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (PORI)'s “We Hongkongers” project, Leung Kai-chi, posits some reasons for this being so.  The following appears to be the one that he appears to personally believe: "today’s Hong Kong government no longer cares about what the pro-democracy sector thinks, so it has no qualms about constantly introducing practices that are utterly unacceptable to them. This explanation seems to be the most consistent with what many Hong Kong people have been experiencing in recent months, as they feel that the government’s policy goes against the people when they watch the government’s press conferences every day." 

 

In summary: Hong Kongers don't feel that the Hong Kong government is for the people as well as know that it most definitely is not by the people and of the people.  Hmmm... I wonder what Abraham Lincoln would have thought as to how long this kind of government would last before it perished from this Earth?!