Following the terror attack in Yuen Long MTR station in last Sunday, there was accusation that the police ignored the gathering of the men-in-white gangsters prior to the attack and deliberately delayed to be present in the crime scene of violence when it happened. Rumor of collusion between the police and the triad went viral.
Perhaps it is a success of the Hong Kong action movies of police and criminals on the portrait of both parties. The public generally holds a thought that the police is against the criminals and they take each other as enemy. Unfortunately this is just a big big misunderstanding, if not misleading of concept. Police and triads in Hong Kong have been collaborating for decades indeed.
Gangstering is an ancient "business" throughout the world. There are always criminals who prefer to make their living by taking advantage of the other people and to take the fruits out of them illegally. Therefore police is there to combat these criminals and to restore the law and order in the society. This is probably the basic formula of most police action movies. The reality is that this is not completely the truth though.
While the Hong Kong government is still capitalizing on the legacy residue from the former British-Hong Kong's civil servant team that is pride with high integrity amid its rapidly China-ization after the returning to the Mainland, as mentioned in my previous post that in fact Hong Kong has experienced a dark age of law and order in the 1950-60s' prior to the inception of ICAC in 1974, Hong Kong was literally managed by gangs because they have bribed the whole police force so that all criminal activities were tolerated or even under the police's consent. The police's job was indeed to coordinate with the gang bosses to ensure the latter properly managed the different clans within the gang for an equilibrium on business interests and turf occupation to avoid fighting among themselves. As such to maintain the social stability.
Corruption was once largely reduced at least on the surface after the establishment of ICAC. Bribing to the police force especially the low ranking officers is basically eliminated. However, gangsters has not gone away but still exist in the society. What they did is just to adapt to the new landscape. While human being as a species evolves so do the gangsters. Triad bosses have learned that to survive they need sustainable income sources. Without the blatant protection from the police, their illegal businesses became riskier. They resorted to legitimate but lucrative businesses such as movie-making industry and show-biz which were in their prime in Hong Kong during 1980-90s'. Triad bosses transformed into legitimate businessmen.
While the triad bosses can make a flamboyant transformation but not that to all gang members. Most of the clan members still rely on illegal businesses for living. On the other hand, their originally illegal businesses are the triad's roots which are still quite profitable so are indispensable. However, gone were the days that these illegal businesses under the police's blatant protection. Their operation could be raided at times and brought losses to them. Therefore the gangs look into every way to counter the police's law enforcement actions and undermine the latter's surveillance on the former. While in most of the time the police is at the upper hand but the gangs will capitalize on every chance to enhance their leeway.
The gangs know well that one of the police force's KPI is crime rate which is largely under the gangs' manipulation. The police is keen on a low crime figure to show to the public that crime is under their control and this is what the gangs can leverage on a bargain with the police in the exchange of leeway to their businesses. On the other hand the police knows if they eradicate the gangsters livelihood then it will just lead to a revenge resulting in rocketed crimes. A surge in crime rate meaning a social instability especially in public order and this brings pressure on the police force's performance. A delicate mutual consensus is therefore made on the level of police's clamping and the gangs self-restrain. Collusion between police and triad has been around for long time. It is just a big misunderstanding if some people think that the public order is maintained under the police's one sided effort. The reality is that it is only a trade-off between the two parties.
2019年7月31日 星期三
2019年7月22日 星期一
A storm is brewing
Last night was definitely a milestone in the on-going anti-extradition bill incident.
When weekend marches in Hong Kong has already become a routine, what happened in last night definitely has entered into a new territory which has profound impact on what is coming in the future. Needless to elaborate more, they were the vandalization on the China Liaison Office(CLO) in Western by men-in-black and the terror attack in Yuen Long MTR station by men-in-white.
Unlike the previous marches and the aftermath confrontation between the minority protesters and police, the march in last night ended up to be the besiege of the CLO and even vandalization on the China national emblem at the CLO. CLO is the quasi China embassy in Hong Kong. The attack was no ordinary besieges elsewhere in the past thus this is something groundbreaking in the sense that it aims explicitly towards China herself. It is already not a local issue about the people's dissatisfaction on the past governance by the Hong Kong government, nor about the trigger event of the objection on the extradition bill. Apparently forces with otherwise objectives have hijacked the movement into a China-targeting campaign. CLO is a symbol of China's sovereignty in Hong Kong and the attack will definitely be seen as a challenge. Bejing's upcoming responds will definitely bring a significant impact on the further development on the already tensed China-Hong Kong relation.
On the other hand, the men-in-white terror attack in Yuen Long was apparently a well organized and premeditated crime aiming to take the chance to reclaim and share the policing power when the Hong Kong police force is busy on dealing with the large scale confrontation elsewhere. There was a saying that prior to the establishment of ICAC in 1974 especially among the 1950-60s', it was the triads who literally ran Hong Kong under the overseeing of the badly corrupted Royal Hong Kong Police. The triads lost its heyday after the corrupted big bosses in the police were forced to retire after the inception of ICAC. The triad bosses transformed into legitimate businessmen, as and when Hong Kong's economy was entering into its golden 30 years since 1980s', along with their original businesses.
These triad bosses have been longing for and looking for any chance for the returning to their heyday. They hold this hope for good reason because China has a favourable feeling towards Hong Kong triads. Deng Xiaoping and the former chief of the Bureau of Public Security said not only once that some triads were patriots. They saw the golden opportunity when the Hong Kong government fell into a lame duck and the credibility and popularity of the police force has largely undermined now. This situation gives rise to their power to negotiate a better position in running their illegal businesses. The random assault in the MTR train and station was just a flexing of its muscle to showcase how much chaos they can make to the law and order in Hong Kong. It also was meant to tell the police who has the real say in the local community.
While the above two events captured most of the public's attention, there were two news should equally deserve the same concern. The first news was that the police has raided an arsenal found with explosives and other weapons in last Saturday and the other news was the announcement made by the Junior Police Officers Association in the middle of this month urging the senior police management should consider the safety of the front line officers when deploying them in dangerous missions. Do they have any impact on the latest development in last Sunday? You bet!
Carrie Lam is really in a big bowl of hot soup now. She has not only got one hand burnt but the other one as well now. She relies on the police force to deal with the men-in-black as well as men-in-white. On the other hand, the public is strongly requesting an independent inquiry commission which is resisted by the police force. She just got stuck in the middle.
Now these two forces are just in their early stages. A bigger storm is yet to come.
When weekend marches in Hong Kong has already become a routine, what happened in last night definitely has entered into a new territory which has profound impact on what is coming in the future. Needless to elaborate more, they were the vandalization on the China Liaison Office(CLO) in Western by men-in-black and the terror attack in Yuen Long MTR station by men-in-white.
Unlike the previous marches and the aftermath confrontation between the minority protesters and police, the march in last night ended up to be the besiege of the CLO and even vandalization on the China national emblem at the CLO. CLO is the quasi China embassy in Hong Kong. The attack was no ordinary besieges elsewhere in the past thus this is something groundbreaking in the sense that it aims explicitly towards China herself. It is already not a local issue about the people's dissatisfaction on the past governance by the Hong Kong government, nor about the trigger event of the objection on the extradition bill. Apparently forces with otherwise objectives have hijacked the movement into a China-targeting campaign. CLO is a symbol of China's sovereignty in Hong Kong and the attack will definitely be seen as a challenge. Bejing's upcoming responds will definitely bring a significant impact on the further development on the already tensed China-Hong Kong relation.
On the other hand, the men-in-white terror attack in Yuen Long was apparently a well organized and premeditated crime aiming to take the chance to reclaim and share the policing power when the Hong Kong police force is busy on dealing with the large scale confrontation elsewhere. There was a saying that prior to the establishment of ICAC in 1974 especially among the 1950-60s', it was the triads who literally ran Hong Kong under the overseeing of the badly corrupted Royal Hong Kong Police. The triads lost its heyday after the corrupted big bosses in the police were forced to retire after the inception of ICAC. The triad bosses transformed into legitimate businessmen, as and when Hong Kong's economy was entering into its golden 30 years since 1980s', along with their original businesses.
These triad bosses have been longing for and looking for any chance for the returning to their heyday. They hold this hope for good reason because China has a favourable feeling towards Hong Kong triads. Deng Xiaoping and the former chief of the Bureau of Public Security said not only once that some triads were patriots. They saw the golden opportunity when the Hong Kong government fell into a lame duck and the credibility and popularity of the police force has largely undermined now. This situation gives rise to their power to negotiate a better position in running their illegal businesses. The random assault in the MTR train and station was just a flexing of its muscle to showcase how much chaos they can make to the law and order in Hong Kong. It also was meant to tell the police who has the real say in the local community.
While the above two events captured most of the public's attention, there were two news should equally deserve the same concern. The first news was that the police has raided an arsenal found with explosives and other weapons in last Saturday and the other news was the announcement made by the Junior Police Officers Association in the middle of this month urging the senior police management should consider the safety of the front line officers when deploying them in dangerous missions. Do they have any impact on the latest development in last Sunday? You bet!
Carrie Lam is really in a big bowl of hot soup now. She has not only got one hand burnt but the other one as well now. She relies on the police force to deal with the men-in-black as well as men-in-white. On the other hand, the public is strongly requesting an independent inquiry commission which is resisted by the police force. She just got stuck in the middle.
Now these two forces are just in their early stages. A bigger storm is yet to come.
2019年7月5日 星期五
Root cause! root cause! root cause!
Thanks to the coaching by the wife of the leg pain-led stepped down former chief executive of HKSAR, Uncle Tung that for important thing, it must be repeated three times. As mentioned in my earlier post that according to a theory of quality management discipline, when something went wrong, the so-called root cause (it's a jargon, in plain words meaning the underlying reason) must be identified so that corrective action (another jargon, meaning the fix) addressing the root cause can be developed in order to tackle the problem.
What happened at night on July 1 in the Legco building here in Hong Kong was certainly a problem which could be viewed in different angles though. People from different sectors have given their comments and views on the issue. Naturally the pro-establishment camp condemned it as outlaw violence while the pan-democrat camp did their best to justify the storm. To be fair, violence is violence. The nature is uncontroversial. What deserves a thorough examination is the root cause though.
Among those public views, except those pretentious high profile condemnation, most of them are quite fair and non-biased. The mainstream view point is that the level of violence is inappropriate, overdone and unfortunate. However, the culprit is the establishments including the administration and the pro-establishment law makers. There are two meaningful characteristic in this incident, ie., the participants are all youth and the target of the attack is iconic.
Unlike the preceding two marches in June and the one on July 1 day time that participants covered a wide range of ages, but those who stormed in the Legco building at night were all youth. While those three marches were organized, however the storming at night was spontaneous and impulsive. Some argue that this was an organized crime and backed by foreign influences. No sensible person will naively deny that there were no facilitators in that night's actions. Those know also know that Hong Kong has been an action field of intelligence of all sorts when it was still a fishing port. The question is not whether or not on the presence but how influential they were.
There is a words of wisdom saying that maggots follow once meat is rotten (肉先腐而後生蟲) meaning the development of maggots is only the symptom while the underlying cause is that the meat is rotten in the first place as such attracts flies on which eggs are laid. In this case, foreign influences, and facilitators were just catalyst. The maggot is the incident of extradition bill which was just a trigger. The rotten meat is the resentment and grievance accumulated for a long extended period of time among the public especially the youth. When the right timing in the right occasion hits, it just sparkles into infernos venting their anger and resentment just like volcanic eruption.
The root cause of the resentment and grievance are multiple. The storming into the Legco building can just provide some hints. Since the disqualification on the four pan-democrat law makers, the Legco became the most violent place where the pro-establishment law makers abuse their power, sadly lawfully. When the power balance between the two camps was destroyed. The public just saw how the pro-establishment law makers dominate the chairs of all committees in the legislative council thus manipulated and maneuvered the Legco meetings as if the People's Congress in China. The Legco is literally in de facto failure on the monitoring on the administration governance. The Legco became the pro-establishment camp's exclusive playground and the extension of Beijing's ever increasing inception in local affairs. The public's feeling of inability and frustration is just mounting higher than ever.
Indeed the latest Interpretation on Basic Law by the People's Congress in 2016 and the following judgment by High Court declaring the invalid oaths by the four pan-democrat law makers was the most profound blow on the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong. That was the blatant interference in broad daylight on the most symbolic icon of Hong Kong's democracy showcase. These four law makers were all first time elected and most of all, they are from those organizations representing those youth voters. The disqualification and the following debarment on their nomination were literally a declaration of war against the youth. This is the good explanation on the ever growing hostility against China among the youth.
Under this landscape, it is somewhat unfortunate for Carrie Lam to become the scapegoat because of her poor maneuver on the extradition bill that brought out such a mess. Anyway, damage was done now. It is just not an easy task to fix it especially there is little room for Lam to play around against Beijing's policy. On the other hand, Beijing is certainly more and more uncomfortable in seeing hostile emotion against it. Coming tighter grip on local affairs is just a reasonable anticipation only.
The verbal war that should has happened within the Legco ended up to be a physical one outside it. Beijing started a war and war is what it got. However, Hong Kong is just trapped into a deadlock and fell into a vicious cycle .
What happened at night on July 1 in the Legco building here in Hong Kong was certainly a problem which could be viewed in different angles though. People from different sectors have given their comments and views on the issue. Naturally the pro-establishment camp condemned it as outlaw violence while the pan-democrat camp did their best to justify the storm. To be fair, violence is violence. The nature is uncontroversial. What deserves a thorough examination is the root cause though.
Among those public views, except those pretentious high profile condemnation, most of them are quite fair and non-biased. The mainstream view point is that the level of violence is inappropriate, overdone and unfortunate. However, the culprit is the establishments including the administration and the pro-establishment law makers. There are two meaningful characteristic in this incident, ie., the participants are all youth and the target of the attack is iconic.
Unlike the preceding two marches in June and the one on July 1 day time that participants covered a wide range of ages, but those who stormed in the Legco building at night were all youth. While those three marches were organized, however the storming at night was spontaneous and impulsive. Some argue that this was an organized crime and backed by foreign influences. No sensible person will naively deny that there were no facilitators in that night's actions. Those know also know that Hong Kong has been an action field of intelligence of all sorts when it was still a fishing port. The question is not whether or not on the presence but how influential they were.
There is a words of wisdom saying that maggots follow once meat is rotten (肉先腐而後生蟲) meaning the development of maggots is only the symptom while the underlying cause is that the meat is rotten in the first place as such attracts flies on which eggs are laid. In this case, foreign influences, and facilitators were just catalyst. The maggot is the incident of extradition bill which was just a trigger. The rotten meat is the resentment and grievance accumulated for a long extended period of time among the public especially the youth. When the right timing in the right occasion hits, it just sparkles into infernos venting their anger and resentment just like volcanic eruption.
The root cause of the resentment and grievance are multiple. The storming into the Legco building can just provide some hints. Since the disqualification on the four pan-democrat law makers, the Legco became the most violent place where the pro-establishment law makers abuse their power, sadly lawfully. When the power balance between the two camps was destroyed. The public just saw how the pro-establishment law makers dominate the chairs of all committees in the legislative council thus manipulated and maneuvered the Legco meetings as if the People's Congress in China. The Legco is literally in de facto failure on the monitoring on the administration governance. The Legco became the pro-establishment camp's exclusive playground and the extension of Beijing's ever increasing inception in local affairs. The public's feeling of inability and frustration is just mounting higher than ever.
Indeed the latest Interpretation on Basic Law by the People's Congress in 2016 and the following judgment by High Court declaring the invalid oaths by the four pan-democrat law makers was the most profound blow on the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong. That was the blatant interference in broad daylight on the most symbolic icon of Hong Kong's democracy showcase. These four law makers were all first time elected and most of all, they are from those organizations representing those youth voters. The disqualification and the following debarment on their nomination were literally a declaration of war against the youth. This is the good explanation on the ever growing hostility against China among the youth.
Under this landscape, it is somewhat unfortunate for Carrie Lam to become the scapegoat because of her poor maneuver on the extradition bill that brought out such a mess. Anyway, damage was done now. It is just not an easy task to fix it especially there is little room for Lam to play around against Beijing's policy. On the other hand, Beijing is certainly more and more uncomfortable in seeing hostile emotion against it. Coming tighter grip on local affairs is just a reasonable anticipation only.
The verbal war that should has happened within the Legco ended up to be a physical one outside it. Beijing started a war and war is what it got. However, Hong Kong is just trapped into a deadlock and fell into a vicious cycle .
2019年6月23日 星期日
The haves and the don'ts
There are terms to describe the babies born in different range of years like generation X, generation Y and Z. The generation X, following the baby boomer, which was roughly born
between 1965 and 1979 while generation Y is between 1980-1994.
Generation Z is 1995-2010. The range of years for different generations are not strictly defined though but more or less like an icon of their key straits reflecting that particular era.
Depending on where the babies were born, generation X in the developed countries like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe should be the luckiest group because they enjoyed the sweet from the rapid economic growth after the WWII. While generation Y in the Asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea also shared the enormous growth in the region during their generation period. These four places have once named the four little dragons in Asia. But when it comes to the generation Z it seems the whole generation across the world has lost in somewhere particularly for those whom are approaching towards their adulthood now and they are facing many constraints which were not experienced by their elder generations.
It seems there is a line dividing between the good times and the bad and the line seems to rest in 2008 and this is when the last few batches of generation Z was born. To any economic animals year 2008 is definitely a year not to be forgotten. This was when the U.S. subprime mortgage boom bust and the world finance since then has entered into the uncharted area of QE era. QE literally changed the whole landscape in the financial world which was flooded with hot money. To be more precise, hot money did not flood the real economy but the financial market only therefore inflation on necessities remains low while the prices of financial assets skyrocketed.
One of the phenomenon of financial assets boom is the surge on property price. Hong Kong residential property price shot up more than 2 folds as measured by the Centa-City Leading Index since 2008 and in fact Hong Kong is not alone. Property price in major cities in Canada, Australia, UK have gone up significantly despite of the recent correction. It was the same even for the eye of the storm of subprime mortgage, the U.S., its property price rose again since 2012. The bouyant property price brings huge financial pressure to the home buyers.
On the other hand, stock market across the board has shot up since 2008 when low cost money flooded the markets. One thing remains stagnant though, ie., the salary level, especially among the fresh grads. The phenomenon is attributed to the universal of education which pumped out too many U-grads that scarcity was the word of the past. Governed by the law of supply and demand, the salary growth rate for these U-grads in the past decade was minimal across the board except for a few most sought after sectors like fintech. Despite the overall inflation was not high in the past decade but since the starting salary for U-grads was already not high as comparing to their seniors, compounded with the slow pay rise, generation Z experienced a very difficult time on capital accumulation. Let alone the enjoy first thinking is quite popular among this generation so the habit of regular savings is something they rarely think of. What's worse is that some were already in debts because of student loan on tuition fee even before they could make money.
As depicted by the idea of four quadrants that put forward by Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the series of Rich Dad Poor Dad, wage-earners are the most miserable category. In nowadays's view, generation Z wage-earners undoubtedly can claim the top of the list. Naturally being able to be financial free is the dream of many wage-earners so influenced by Kiyosaki's advocate, many wage-earners resort to investing. The crucial elements in investing are capital and time, supplemented by growth rate. That is also Buffet's idea on value investing that finding a stock with good growth and put in capital then let the compound effect to maximize the benefit.
The point is that investment starts with capital first which is what generation Z is lack of. However, low cost money jacks up the price of almost all financial assets, stock, property, bonds. Making the entry level of investing high enough that generation Z is dwarfed. On the other hand, as generation Z is approaching to their stage of marriage or parenthood, the need of a dwelling is imminent. When investing can be seen as a luxury but a dwelling for a couple is something of necessity. However, the property price or the corresponding rental level are something they are shy of. They are desperate to invest trying to getting out of the vicious cycle of wage slave but are handicapped by the limited capital and the unaffordable entry level. On the other hand, those existing investors, mostly older than the generation Z, are just riding on the tide of assets buoyant.
Some may argue that this is the best time for start-ups as Internet just revolutionized the landscape of running a business and gaping the distance between entrepreneurs and investors. It is true that starting a business has never been easier than ever. However, entrepreneurship is not something unique in this era. People did that since thousand of years ago and for those who will then they naturally will but for those less adventurous they will just not to. After all, running a business is not the cup of tea for all people nor all young people are capable to. Meanwhile, for those who are not tech savvy, it seems start-up is just something unrelated. The fact is that even nowadays the majority of the young people are still in the employment market.
The low interest rate era just torn the world into two, ie., the haves and the don't haves. The haves will continue to enjoy the assets appreciation and growing wealth while the don't haves just keep suffering from the consequences of soaring assets price. This is the scenario particularly the generation Z, the don't haves, is facing.
This is a miserable generation.
**(Matthew 25:29, For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.)
Depending on where the babies were born, generation X in the developed countries like the U.S., Japan and Western Europe should be the luckiest group because they enjoyed the sweet from the rapid economic growth after the WWII. While generation Y in the Asian countries like Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Korea also shared the enormous growth in the region during their generation period. These four places have once named the four little dragons in Asia. But when it comes to the generation Z it seems the whole generation across the world has lost in somewhere particularly for those whom are approaching towards their adulthood now and they are facing many constraints which were not experienced by their elder generations.
It seems there is a line dividing between the good times and the bad and the line seems to rest in 2008 and this is when the last few batches of generation Z was born. To any economic animals year 2008 is definitely a year not to be forgotten. This was when the U.S. subprime mortgage boom bust and the world finance since then has entered into the uncharted area of QE era. QE literally changed the whole landscape in the financial world which was flooded with hot money. To be more precise, hot money did not flood the real economy but the financial market only therefore inflation on necessities remains low while the prices of financial assets skyrocketed.
One of the phenomenon of financial assets boom is the surge on property price. Hong Kong residential property price shot up more than 2 folds as measured by the Centa-City Leading Index since 2008 and in fact Hong Kong is not alone. Property price in major cities in Canada, Australia, UK have gone up significantly despite of the recent correction. It was the same even for the eye of the storm of subprime mortgage, the U.S., its property price rose again since 2012. The bouyant property price brings huge financial pressure to the home buyers.
On the other hand, stock market across the board has shot up since 2008 when low cost money flooded the markets. One thing remains stagnant though, ie., the salary level, especially among the fresh grads. The phenomenon is attributed to the universal of education which pumped out too many U-grads that scarcity was the word of the past. Governed by the law of supply and demand, the salary growth rate for these U-grads in the past decade was minimal across the board except for a few most sought after sectors like fintech. Despite the overall inflation was not high in the past decade but since the starting salary for U-grads was already not high as comparing to their seniors, compounded with the slow pay rise, generation Z experienced a very difficult time on capital accumulation. Let alone the enjoy first thinking is quite popular among this generation so the habit of regular savings is something they rarely think of. What's worse is that some were already in debts because of student loan on tuition fee even before they could make money.
As depicted by the idea of four quadrants that put forward by Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the series of Rich Dad Poor Dad, wage-earners are the most miserable category. In nowadays's view, generation Z wage-earners undoubtedly can claim the top of the list. Naturally being able to be financial free is the dream of many wage-earners so influenced by Kiyosaki's advocate, many wage-earners resort to investing. The crucial elements in investing are capital and time, supplemented by growth rate. That is also Buffet's idea on value investing that finding a stock with good growth and put in capital then let the compound effect to maximize the benefit.
The point is that investment starts with capital first which is what generation Z is lack of. However, low cost money jacks up the price of almost all financial assets, stock, property, bonds. Making the entry level of investing high enough that generation Z is dwarfed. On the other hand, as generation Z is approaching to their stage of marriage or parenthood, the need of a dwelling is imminent. When investing can be seen as a luxury but a dwelling for a couple is something of necessity. However, the property price or the corresponding rental level are something they are shy of. They are desperate to invest trying to getting out of the vicious cycle of wage slave but are handicapped by the limited capital and the unaffordable entry level. On the other hand, those existing investors, mostly older than the generation Z, are just riding on the tide of assets buoyant.
Some may argue that this is the best time for start-ups as Internet just revolutionized the landscape of running a business and gaping the distance between entrepreneurs and investors. It is true that starting a business has never been easier than ever. However, entrepreneurship is not something unique in this era. People did that since thousand of years ago and for those who will then they naturally will but for those less adventurous they will just not to. After all, running a business is not the cup of tea for all people nor all young people are capable to. Meanwhile, for those who are not tech savvy, it seems start-up is just something unrelated. The fact is that even nowadays the majority of the young people are still in the employment market.
The low interest rate era just torn the world into two, ie., the haves and the don't haves. The haves will continue to enjoy the assets appreciation and growing wealth while the don't haves just keep suffering from the consequences of soaring assets price. This is the scenario particularly the generation Z, the don't haves, is facing.
This is a miserable generation.
**(Matthew 25:29, For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.)
2019年6月17日 星期一
Monsieur, you would like to go for a duck soup? How about a lame duck
Naturally lame duck is not really the name of a dish but a famous phrase brought up by the late China official responsible for Hong Kong handover, Lu Ping. This was what he cursed on the pre-handover Hong Kong government when the then governor Patten who advocated the electoral reform. The long forgotten term lame duck government came back to live when our "loving" mama, Lam, faces the greatest set back in her life. So is the governance of the SAR government when the same curse makes its second visit.
Following her predecessor C.Y's rout, Lam was appointed in the hope to rebuild a healthy dialogue among the severely torn society with her feminine gentleness. Despite Lam was once labeled as C.Y. 2.0 yet she once did create a honey moon with the opposition camp lawmakers. The hostility among the blue and yellow camp has once calmed down to a certain extent. However, gone were those days when the society had a chance to lick its wound resulting from the political divergence since the emergence of the extradition bill.
Only after Lam's last Saturday announcement on the de facto withdrawal of the Bill, Beijing and the locally China Liaison Office released some routine supportive statements. Pro establishment lawmakers also emerged for speeches as well. Apparently a tone was finalized by the CCP therefore propaganda in all forms started to kick in.
Lam's official description on the handling is suspension but not withdrawal. Of course it will be a secret for good to the public on whether it is Lam's or Beijing's idea on such move. No matter whose, however, this is apparently a bad decision. That failed to act as a clean cut off on the core concern by the public. As expected, the demonstration in the following Sunday still drew hundreds of thousands, if not million, participants. The suspension not only failed to bring the ease on the pressure to the government but otherwise. On the other hand, Lam's apology via the government's announcement is also a stupid action. The apology is criticized as lack of sincerity so is rejected by the public.
In the game of politic, if one's action is not out from autonomy but forced to, this puts him/her in the underdog position. Lam was forced to suspend the bill and to make the apology. This is already a total loss of her alpha image in the past. As and when the pressure on withdrawal of the bill and her personal appearance on apology mounts and Lam is pressurized to follow, her leadership will just go totally bankrupt. Lam will be literally a sunset chief executive and a lame duck government is not far away then.
Chef, a lame duck in hot soup, please.
Following her predecessor C.Y's rout, Lam was appointed in the hope to rebuild a healthy dialogue among the severely torn society with her feminine gentleness. Despite Lam was once labeled as C.Y. 2.0 yet she once did create a honey moon with the opposition camp lawmakers. The hostility among the blue and yellow camp has once calmed down to a certain extent. However, gone were those days when the society had a chance to lick its wound resulting from the political divergence since the emergence of the extradition bill.
Only after Lam's last Saturday announcement on the de facto withdrawal of the Bill, Beijing and the locally China Liaison Office released some routine supportive statements. Pro establishment lawmakers also emerged for speeches as well. Apparently a tone was finalized by the CCP therefore propaganda in all forms started to kick in.
Lam's official description on the handling is suspension but not withdrawal. Of course it will be a secret for good to the public on whether it is Lam's or Beijing's idea on such move. No matter whose, however, this is apparently a bad decision. That failed to act as a clean cut off on the core concern by the public. As expected, the demonstration in the following Sunday still drew hundreds of thousands, if not million, participants. The suspension not only failed to bring the ease on the pressure to the government but otherwise. On the other hand, Lam's apology via the government's announcement is also a stupid action. The apology is criticized as lack of sincerity so is rejected by the public.
In the game of politic, if one's action is not out from autonomy but forced to, this puts him/her in the underdog position. Lam was forced to suspend the bill and to make the apology. This is already a total loss of her alpha image in the past. As and when the pressure on withdrawal of the bill and her personal appearance on apology mounts and Lam is pressurized to follow, her leadership will just go totally bankrupt. Lam will be literally a sunset chief executive and a lame duck government is not far away then.
Chef, a lame duck in hot soup, please.
2019年6月14日 星期五
Her days are numbered (2)
As there is no Legco meetings in these days so the tension in our society is relaxed quite a lot, at least no confrontation between the police and protesters now. Perhaps some casual topics can bring a few doses of relaxation for the once tensed nerve.
Some people may puzzle why Carrie Lam, the C.E., ends up in such a flounder. Naturally despite her repeated reiteration that it was her idea to activate the proposal of the extradition bill, no one has a second thought that it is not a political assignment. So her big mistake is not why she did it but how she maneuvers the process. And the biggest mistake, among all, perhaps is the choice on the other two team members of the trio task force. There is a popular saying that a piggy teammate is a harm more than help. First of all, I think people just has a deeply rooted bias on pigs which are actually not that stupid. Likewise, the two piggy teammates that Lam picked are not low in intellectual indeed. Say, piggy teammate number one, Teresa Cheng the secretary of justice, as an example. What makes her piggy is exactly because she thinks she is highly intelligent.
Before I go too far away, let's get back to the original topic that Lam's biggest mistake that led her sitting in this flounder is her choice on the members of her trio task force, ie., Teresa Cheng and John Lee, the chief of Security Bureau. More precisely speaking, in the first place Lam's choice on Teresa Cheng as the secretary of justice is already a deadly mistake. Integrity scandals has never stopped spinning around this lady since her appointment. For secretary of justice, a position which personal integrity is of utmost importance, the candidate choice should be a flawless, if not perfect, person at least appears to be. In fact it is proven that Cheng became Lam's burden rather than a boost soon after Cheng started her work. Critiques and doubts on her integrity have always undermined her credibility thus leading to the hindrance to the progress on the government's agenda.
So when it came to the time for the promotion of this extradition bill, Cheng, being the secretary of justice, should naturally be playing an important role in explaining the rationale and most of all, selling this idea to the public. Unfortunately her low credibility is a deadly hindrance on this task. On the other hand, her arrogance during her speeches in different occasions not only failed to get the message across but just a disservice. The public did not receive the intended message but just got the feeling from her facial expression that Cheng's subtext was saying hey, you guys know nothing about law, fxxx off, will you?
While piggy teammate Cheng behaved too aggressive but another piggy teammate, John Lee, just did the opposite. His always sleepy face and the monotone on speeches just projected an image that he is reluctant on this job or disagrees on the idea that he is selling. The most extreme example is that in the occasion when being questioned in the Legco meeting that whether he really believes there is fair trial in China, Lee refused and avoided to give a clear answer but just responded that fair trial is written in China's law. His response gave away that even himself does not genuinely believe in what he is promoting. This is the classic example of piggy teammate is harmful more than helpful.
Lam's piggy teammates are doing the disservice but then how about her master? Beijing's respond on this recent social unrest is quite bizarre and is unlike the past incidents like the movement of Occupy Central, disqualification on opposition camp lawmakers and the 2016 Mongkok commotion. So far there was only one mild supportive announcement from the central government. Unlike those past firm and definite statements showing explicit support on what were done by the HKSAR government, on the contrary the China embassy in London, during an interview, even said Beijing did not at all instruct Lam to do that. Apparently in this case Beijing is keeping a quite clear distance from Lam. Likewise, the pro-establishment law makers' unusual silence since last Sunday indicates a clear sign that Lam has been abandoned, both locally or by Beijing.
Carrie, you are a dead man now.
Some people may puzzle why Carrie Lam, the C.E., ends up in such a flounder. Naturally despite her repeated reiteration that it was her idea to activate the proposal of the extradition bill, no one has a second thought that it is not a political assignment. So her big mistake is not why she did it but how she maneuvers the process. And the biggest mistake, among all, perhaps is the choice on the other two team members of the trio task force. There is a popular saying that a piggy teammate is a harm more than help. First of all, I think people just has a deeply rooted bias on pigs which are actually not that stupid. Likewise, the two piggy teammates that Lam picked are not low in intellectual indeed. Say, piggy teammate number one, Teresa Cheng the secretary of justice, as an example. What makes her piggy is exactly because she thinks she is highly intelligent.
Before I go too far away, let's get back to the original topic that Lam's biggest mistake that led her sitting in this flounder is her choice on the members of her trio task force, ie., Teresa Cheng and John Lee, the chief of Security Bureau. More precisely speaking, in the first place Lam's choice on Teresa Cheng as the secretary of justice is already a deadly mistake. Integrity scandals has never stopped spinning around this lady since her appointment. For secretary of justice, a position which personal integrity is of utmost importance, the candidate choice should be a flawless, if not perfect, person at least appears to be. In fact it is proven that Cheng became Lam's burden rather than a boost soon after Cheng started her work. Critiques and doubts on her integrity have always undermined her credibility thus leading to the hindrance to the progress on the government's agenda.
So when it came to the time for the promotion of this extradition bill, Cheng, being the secretary of justice, should naturally be playing an important role in explaining the rationale and most of all, selling this idea to the public. Unfortunately her low credibility is a deadly hindrance on this task. On the other hand, her arrogance during her speeches in different occasions not only failed to get the message across but just a disservice. The public did not receive the intended message but just got the feeling from her facial expression that Cheng's subtext was saying hey, you guys know nothing about law, fxxx off, will you?
While piggy teammate Cheng behaved too aggressive but another piggy teammate, John Lee, just did the opposite. His always sleepy face and the monotone on speeches just projected an image that he is reluctant on this job or disagrees on the idea that he is selling. The most extreme example is that in the occasion when being questioned in the Legco meeting that whether he really believes there is fair trial in China, Lee refused and avoided to give a clear answer but just responded that fair trial is written in China's law. His response gave away that even himself does not genuinely believe in what he is promoting. This is the classic example of piggy teammate is harmful more than helpful.
Lam's piggy teammates are doing the disservice but then how about her master? Beijing's respond on this recent social unrest is quite bizarre and is unlike the past incidents like the movement of Occupy Central, disqualification on opposition camp lawmakers and the 2016 Mongkok commotion. So far there was only one mild supportive announcement from the central government. Unlike those past firm and definite statements showing explicit support on what were done by the HKSAR government, on the contrary the China embassy in London, during an interview, even said Beijing did not at all instruct Lam to do that. Apparently in this case Beijing is keeping a quite clear distance from Lam. Likewise, the pro-establishment law makers' unusual silence since last Sunday indicates a clear sign that Lam has been abandoned, both locally or by Beijing.
Carrie, you are a dead man now.
2019年6月11日 星期二
Her days are numbered
Emotion changes rapidly. What is happening in Central now is a good example. But is it really without any clue? Opposition sentiment mounted after the mega protest ever in Hong Kong's history in the past Sunday. Yet the HKSAR chief executive, Carrie Lam, still stood firm saying the second reading of the Extradition Bill remains to be examined in Legco in today without any re-consideration on amendment or whatsoever. That sparkled the public's anger which spreads just like hill fire on a dry savanna. Proposals of all kinds like strikes and besieging the Legco building popped up shortly after Lam's announcement.
Frankly speaking, I feel pity on Lam because despite her firm stance on the issue but I don't think, nor do the majority, that it is really her own idea to wrap this bill up in an extraordinary pace. While Lam thinks herself and perhaps her team are smart but the public is not dumb neither. We all know what this Bill is all about despite Lam repeatedly said people does not really understand and even are misled. But folks, be pragmatic, what do you want her to say, being a stooge? Lam, in different occasions, reiterated that getting the Bill done is not a political mission at all but just about the justice on the Taiwan murder case. This saying is the activation of the proposal of this Bill but despite of different workable ways to get around this Bill were suggested by some knowledgeable experts yet were all turned down. Lam now stands in a dilemma that she just neither cannot withdraw from her initial advocate nor can she admit that the Bill is indeed a political mission.
Please, give me a way out, will you? Perhaps this is what Lam is crying out loud inside her mind. But don't worry, madam, your ordeal will soon be over. When Lam, at the beginning stage, stressed that it is hers and her administration's own idea to raise this issue up but not an assigned task, I thought it was really a clumsy excuse saying so because this is something an insult to people's wisdom. But now I realize that indeed this is a "smart" move. Sorry but not for Lam but for Beijing only. The reason is that Lam literally acts as a firewall between the central government and this incident. Imagine when things here in Hong Kong get further ugly, it is totally Lam's fault because it is her who brought the whole thing up. When all anger fires at her then her stepping down could be an exit of the incident. Let's say if the Bill is passed then Beijing gets what it wants and if Lam gets her finger burnt, Beijing can stay at distance with her and at most to lose a stooge only and that what stooges are for. Take a look of uncle Tung's leg ache, C.Y.'s sudden knowledge about the need on him from his family and Tsang's imprisonment then you will know that disposable is the name of the game. Her fate was sealed in day one of her appointment.
Sorry, stooge, it is your time.
Frankly speaking, I feel pity on Lam because despite her firm stance on the issue but I don't think, nor do the majority, that it is really her own idea to wrap this bill up in an extraordinary pace. While Lam thinks herself and perhaps her team are smart but the public is not dumb neither. We all know what this Bill is all about despite Lam repeatedly said people does not really understand and even are misled. But folks, be pragmatic, what do you want her to say, being a stooge? Lam, in different occasions, reiterated that getting the Bill done is not a political mission at all but just about the justice on the Taiwan murder case. This saying is the activation of the proposal of this Bill but despite of different workable ways to get around this Bill were suggested by some knowledgeable experts yet were all turned down. Lam now stands in a dilemma that she just neither cannot withdraw from her initial advocate nor can she admit that the Bill is indeed a political mission.
Please, give me a way out, will you? Perhaps this is what Lam is crying out loud inside her mind. But don't worry, madam, your ordeal will soon be over. When Lam, at the beginning stage, stressed that it is hers and her administration's own idea to raise this issue up but not an assigned task, I thought it was really a clumsy excuse saying so because this is something an insult to people's wisdom. But now I realize that indeed this is a "smart" move. Sorry but not for Lam but for Beijing only. The reason is that Lam literally acts as a firewall between the central government and this incident. Imagine when things here in Hong Kong get further ugly, it is totally Lam's fault because it is her who brought the whole thing up. When all anger fires at her then her stepping down could be an exit of the incident. Let's say if the Bill is passed then Beijing gets what it wants and if Lam gets her finger burnt, Beijing can stay at distance with her and at most to lose a stooge only and that what stooges are for. Take a look of uncle Tung's leg ache, C.Y.'s sudden knowledge about the need on him from his family and Tsang's imprisonment then you will know that disposable is the name of the game. Her fate was sealed in day one of her appointment.
Sorry, stooge, it is your time.
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)