Jogging in a Small Circle
March 22nd, 2007
In his column in the South China Morning Post on Monday, Chris Yeung wrote, ‘“Barring unimaginable scandals or gaffes before Sunday’s ballot, chief executive Doanld Tsang Yam-kuen looks set to beat his rival……â€
I think we have entered the realm of Noddy and Big Ears here. Chris, even including unimaginable scandals or gaffes, the Chief Executive is set to beat his rival. God forbid, post-mortem, he’d probably win.
Also with a column in the Post is my old chum Steve Vines, an esteemed correspondent on East Asian political and economic affairs, a star purveyor of bangers mash and fried noodles to tertiary education institutions and also a master planner and plotter with the Civic Party. Some months back he swung a more powerful incense of illusion. He memorialised to the effect that for a man like Alan Leong to participate in the CE elections was a good thing after all because it brought the principles of democracy into public play and the spirit of debate and adversarial politics for all to see and marvel over.
I bought into this for a while because, at the same time, I was feeling critical of the Democratic Party in Thailand for refusing to take part in the election against Thaksin because they knew they would not win it and because they had hoped, by creating a constitutional crisis, to provoke a royally appointed government whereas, instead, they got a royally approved military coup.
But it dawned on me that Hong Kong’s little arrangement was nothing approaching the lamented Bangkok experiment in democracy. Our ‘electorate’ is still, unbudgingly of 800 placemen most of them placed there to pre ordain the election of the one person whom our own establishment, aristocracy, and ‘throne’ require. I do not know how much the little adversarial game Mr. Leong played made our people marvel but I do not think it has disturbed the ‘throne’.
Mr. Leong agreed to jog alongside Mr. Tsang. A little heat was generated but no great pace was reached nor did they get anywhere in particular. They shook hands at debates and neither side used knuckle dusters. The Communist Party must have been delighted at the cheery impotence and miniature scale of the thing. It fits in well with the ‘harmonious society’ which has been the buzzing expression at the NPC.
Mr. Leong is too bright not to be both aware of and uncomfortable with this. He actually joined in with the 25 people (conservative police estimate) who walked last Sunday for democracy and against the restrictions of the election. That was certainly a case of wanting to have your sofa stuffing with shaving cream Maxim’s cake and eat it. It shook my faith in his game.
I have to confess to being suddenly swayed by Emily Lau’s passionate denunciations of the ‘small circle’ election and her condemnation of other democrats for taking part in it. I am tempted  go and sit out on that limb with her if she’ll budge over. In this at least, she and her Frontier folk are right and pure and everybody else is wrong and muddied and Ms. Lau is absolutely certain in that, of course.
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