Images of Farouk
February 13th, 2009It is increasingly apparent that senior officials’ image handlers cut their teeth on the late King Farouk. The condescension, weak pally patter and popular disconnect demonstrated by Chief Secretary Tang and Constitutional Secretary Lam, buying things in shops in public to encourage people to spend, was quite as silly as anything the plump pampered and clueless last king of Egypt might have considered.
The difference is that Farouk would probably have passed on the idea because he could not be bothered. Practically any other politician I can think of, good ill or idle, would do the same because they could not bear the thought. Try and think of one past British official who would have wandered the streets in front of cameras to prod Hong Kong Chinese into conspicuous consumption.
You can’t. Yet here and now, their successors will and I wonder who was more out of touch. You could see the credibility gap yawning across the crowd’s faces.
“Look, Mr Tang,” they were thinking, “it was rich sods like you who worshipped analysts who didn’t analyse and auditors who didn’t audit and now you want us poor sods to try and bale you out by spending . As a device, it has as much chance of working as Paris Hilton but we will be left without savings when the aftershock hits by the second quarter. We are sure that your stock of vintage wines will still be in their dehumidified cave, come what may.”
In Hong Kong these days, it is no longer a matter of race but class.
Farouk used to wear small round sunglasses in tortoise shell frames. I am sure I have seen Steven Lam in something like them. He should bring them out more. When you have chosen your part, you should look it.
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