We Deserve Better TV Channels, Sai Wan, and Beyond _ 陳俊豪 _ 主場新聞

陳俊豪

曾在中環打滾的80後。先後在香港、英倫及新英倫接受教育。

2013-11-8 10:50:34

The old Sir James Goldsmith used to poke fun at politicians trading short term electoral gains for the long term well-being of society. Of course he paid the price and stomached the humiliation of an election defeat, losing out to a short-sighted politician he despised.  Even though universal suffrage is lacking in Hong Kong, Sir James’ wisdom appears to be as relevant to the city as it was to the British political scene in Sir James’ time, if not in present day Westminster.

Political commentators and critics have long criticized the faulty political system of Hong Kong and the risks of tolerating such deficiencies that entails. We are never short of glaring examples of screw-ups: the latest episode of Hong Kong Television is just another case in point. Since the Hong Kong Television issue has triggered widespread public outrage, the Chief Executive has been getting all the uninvited limelight. Even Ricky Wong is trying to direct the accusations to the Chief Executive and deflect the blame from Sai Wan (Western District). However, to paraphrase Sir James, the administration of Hong Kong seldom confuses the profitability of private enterprise with the health of Hong Kong economy. Whether the crisis is primarily CY’s own making or not, it is difficult to imagine Sai Wan has no role in this spectacular failure.

It is widely perceived that the Chief Executive’s legitimacy to govern Hong Kong, if there is any, does not come from his fellow Hong Kongers, but the mandarins in Beijing, or via their agents in Sai Wan. The political reality is that Sai Wan has unfettered power in influencing the Chief Executive. It is an open secret whom CY kowtows to. With public support for CY foundering, CY could only hope against hope that Beijing continue to support Hong Kong by generous economic packages. I see this as a ransom to silence the dissenting voice that is getting much louder. Hong Kong is the richest city in China and should not get the concession. This is a disgrace. Nonetheless, as inequality and the high cost of living are worsening, this political gift could only buy little time for the CY administration. The remaining authority of and respect for Sai Wan and the CY administration are dying from a prolonged death by a thousand cut.

In business, market force will provide the discipline to ensure that a failing strategy is duly rectified. However, as is typical in Chinese politics, a failing strategy will almost always warrant propaganda and internal power struggle. Sai Wan is no exception: instead of righting its wrong political philosophy, it has stepped up its mobilization of pro-government politicians and pro-Beijing press to advance their political agenda. Whether it is an unfortunate coincidence or not, the last election also saw the highest number of election complains and tampering. In my view, this has only further alienated the city’s disgruntled elite and middle class. We are seeing coordinated efforts to save a sinking ship by sealing the leakages using bandages; yet what needs to be done is to dry-dock the ship and get a complete makeover. Otherwise, wreckage will be the eventuality.

"They sacrificed the long term for the short term and now the long term finally arrived."

- As quoted from Sir James Goldsmith, from www.sirjamesgoldsmith.com

It has never been clearer that a substantial review and reform on the Sai Wan administration are needed. However, we know the mandarins in Sai Wan have short tenure in Hong Kong and are mostly in the prime time of their career. The career risk for them in overhauling the secretive Sai Wan administration is just too high. Adding to that is the different ideology that Sai Wan mandarins have succumbed to. It is difficult to be optimistic about the much needed political reforms and civil rights movement of Hong Kong.

If there are lessons to be learned from this failing “one country, two systems” experiment, they should be, amongst other things, that an advanced, service based economy built on a civic and open society is incompatible with a closed political system that confers unyielding control to the Party. China is facing tremendous challenges as it is realigning its economy to a tertiary-based, sustainable and a high value-added one on the one hand, and is reforming the ineffective political system on the other. As the next generation of Chinese leaders is deliberating the future of the Middle Kingdom in arguably the most important conclave since 1978, it is my hope that the Chinese leadership can learn from the unfortunate lessons of Hong Kong and embark on the much needed reform imperatives in China.

- http://centralmonkey.blogspot.hk/2013/11/we-deserve-better-tv-channels-sai-wan.html

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