Aficionados of the art of unrestrained, indeed compulsively incontinent, shoe-shining reach with glee for their favourite sick-bags this morning as the Standard indulges in an unseemly double-grovel of tycoon Li Ka-shing and his number-one son Victor.
The paper leads with the story of how the plutocrat is personally getting involved in the dock-workers’ strike at Kwai Tsing container port, and so “with Li’s help, the strike will end very soon.” Reuters seems to think otherwise, but what would they know? And while we’re waiting for Superman to solve his (or his contractors’) industrial relations problems faster than a speeding bullet, we are invited to relish the glowing coverage of boy Victor in the HK General Chamber of Commerce’s 
hitherto unheard-of bulletin, The Bulletin. Hong Kong’s disharmony is a media-made fiction, the green-friendly visionary scion intones (no strikes here!), and the city has a special place in his heart. (The Bulletin is here; tragically, it won’t open properly without an obscure add-on from Adobe – the PDF obsequiousness plug-in – which I can’t be bothered to download.)
Former Central Policy Unit boss Lau Siu-kai doesn’t share Victor’s optimism. He sees radicals hijacking the Occupy Central protests next year, with the result being bloodshed. He is not alone. Ever willing to encourage the elderly to play a productive role in the community, the South China Morning Post kindly publishes a letter from former Chief Secretary Sir David Akers-Jones of West Kowloon (the 33rd floor at Sorrento, to be precise). One flap of a civil-disobedience butterfly’s wing, he warns, might cause a tornado of rioting because, after all, it’s still 1966 isn’t it.
One or two likely participants won’t be happy until and unless the police pepper-spray them on camera. But this sort of demonstration, should it transpire, depends entirely on non-violence to have any chance of making an impact. Assuming the vast majority of protestors understand the Thoreau/Gandhi/King principles, things will only get nasty if the Hong Kong Police make it so. And being, as we all know, a bunch of counseling-dependent pussycats, they probably won’t unless someone higher up in government is dumb enough to insist they play rough in order to dissuade onlookers from joining the sit-down. Can we assume that our decision-makers realize that this would be counterproductive and boost public sympathy for the demonstrators?
The SCMP quotes the property tycoon who runs the Tourism Board as worrying about what would happen “if these young people run onto the road and are hit by cars.” Which makes him sound a bit, you know… sort of dim. But then he says Occupy Central could deter tourists. And suddenly, all bets are off. Rioting. Rubber bullets. Broken windows. No tourists. Yes, please.
I thought the same thing, two pro-Li articles on the same day? What a coincidence. I’m surprised old aching-bones didn’t object on the basis that Central’s streets were far inferior for such a protest in comparison to the streets of Tsuen Wan designed by erm, him.
So there are no plans to block foot traffic? Eg access to CY’s fortress, HSBC/BoC or the Army? Now I finally know what all the walkways are for.
What a pity Knackers-yard-Jones doesn’t possess a time machine so he can travel back to the halcyon days of yore and lecture Ghandi and King and the young Mandela on what very naughty boys they are.
Aching Bones Akers-Jones is just wrong. Civil disobedience doesn’t mean breaking the law. It means, historically, insisting on your rights.
When I get really old, I hope to be like Manny Shinwell or Michael Foot or hopefully Tony Benn.
Radicals live almost forever if they are not bumped off. Righteous indignation keeps you young. Reactionaries and fascists age faster than W H Auden. Akers-Jones has looked and sounded 85 all the time I have know about him.
33rd floor? Jump!
….“if these young people run onto the road and are hit by cars.” !? !
It’s impossible for any car to move at more than 1 mph these days in Central what with all the traffic jams, double parking, and traffic wardens standing around looking like ostriches with their heads in the sand ( well – concrete)
@ Sojourner ( from yesterday) : maybe we could ask the tycoons to invite these occupy central activists for a round of golf somewhere to discuss the dock strike and how the tycoons can help, and THEN ask fat boy to nuke them ( heck – he only has at most one missile capable nuke, so might as well use it where it will do the world some good)
@RTP, I doubt many Occupy Central activists play gold. You’d need to bring both sides together at one of the venues for the HK Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, or some such location.
@ Sojourner
I agree. We need a MASTER PLAN to bring this all together without any nuclear fallout over HK !
Any suggestions ? 🙂
It’s not a very charitable thought , I realize, but sometimes these days I really want fat boy to let off his steam, nukes, whatever, then let the USA nuke the hell out of Pyongyang
Yes , that would nuke out a million or two North Koreans, but they would mostly be the privileged few who have sucked up to fat boy and his parents, and their instant deaths would release 20 + Million genuine North Koreans from lifetime slavery
( Sorry, I take that back …. no nuke war is good war. Ever . Full Stop)
@ RTP, joking aside, I’m actually an Occupy Central supporter so I’d limit the damage to the tycoons.
@Real Nuke Launcher … it wouldn’t take nukes. Saturation conventional bombing would do the trick if you’re that way inclined.
This is OT, but I can’t resist. It shows how insidious the Mainland has become, ‘sexy’ dogs:
http://www.sharpdaily.hk/realtime/chinese/20130403/51328920/免費派清明祭品-孝子賢孫都話正/圖輯-汪星人着黑絲襪-估唔到咁sexy
I’m REAL RTP
@ Sojourner all the way
Of Course we all are joking ( bear mind some-one somewhat higher up is really monitoring this stoopid tiny blog, even though he/she/ it cannot understand what the f**k we are really talking about)
If there really is an ‘occupy central’ thing I will go there and throw rotten eggs at them. I cannot think of a more stooooopid way to express our very valid, but very simple democratic views on what is future democratic HK
FUCK long hair and albert-who-ever PPD whatever blah blah
I have paid 100x , 1000x more tax over the years than any of these idiots, so DO have my vote $-wise
FUCK them all
BJ – go Go GO !
Sorry
The last posting was really REAL TAX PAYER ( NOT REAL ALL PAYER)
Here is RTP en claire ( THE REAL tax PAYER thereof)
Kinda hard to cope with jet lag and keep sober, back in ole blighty….. where politics are super-irrational HK-wise .
Done it / Read it / total BS
Fuck the pro-dems, tycoons and fat boy / N Korea
Let them all nuke themselves and let the rational world get on with being rational (at least NOT pro-dems kind of irrationality)
Sorry that last posting was REAL TAX PAYER ( NOT THE REALIST REVENUE RECEIVER)
Listen, all this occupy central nonsense is just that; nonsense. My Chinese Wife told my Chinese Friend that I’ve known after living and working and paying tax in CHINA for nearly a millienia, That Deng knew that these layabouts wouldn’t know how bad the UK is and how CY has finally begun to right the ship. The Chinese people i’ve payed tax with are all aghast at the situation, at least that’s what I told Hemmers when we bumped into each other at CYs campaign headquarters, but i just want to say bravo to one and all! What a blog post! My Chinese Chinese has me so inspired as to leave you with a little ditty..
CY jumped for joy when
Joy lost her PR..
.. actually maybe we could discuss it over a pint?
This would be so much more enjoyable than Occupy Central
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22110887