Are Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing bores ranting uncontrollably about people disrespecting the Chinese national anthem as part of a competition to see who can shoe-shine the Communist Party most avidly? Or are their often-contradictory screeches masterminded by psy-ops United Front controllers at the Liaison Office to mesmerize us? The grim Rita Fan, Maria ‘heavyweight’ Tam and now former Justice Secretary Elsie Leung are all spouting dire warnings ahead of the forthcoming respect-the-anthem law.
Elsie says the new law could be retroactive if too many young people are naughty and misbehave during the anthem in the interim. She obviously intends to intimidate, but it also reveals her instinct for ‘rule by law’ – under which the regime micro-manages how and when actions are criminalized on an ad-hoc basis depending on the degree of harshness citizens deserve at the time.
A legal expert opines that a retroactive law would be unconstitutional. But of course this would be true only under a system of constitutionalism, also known as rule of law. Where Hong Kong is going, anything is constitutional if the Leninist one-party state says it is.
Beijing’s obsession with eradicating incorrect activities (and, before long, ideas) in Hong Kong seems to contrast with its total obliviousness to what might be causing resentment and opposition. Communist logic seems to say the youths are misled because of a lack of indoctrination in childhood, and probably hostile foreign forces – it can only be fixed through coercion.
It must be frustrating to Beijing officials. After decades of struggling against Hong Kong’s older, now exhausted, democrats, they find the post-colonial generation is nightmarishly worse. The traditional mainstream pan-dems always supported the return of the city to the motherland; the kids don’t even want to be Chinese.
But maybe the Communists know full well how abhorrent and vicious they are, and they are just being realistic in assuming that state violence is the only option worth bothering with.
Either way, the only response in the Communist toolkit is force – the one that will harden and deepen the alienation-going-on-hatred. ‘If you do not love me, I will force you to’. That’ll fix everything. Otherwise we set Elsie on you.
Looking forward to PLA goons patrolling the streets of HK in pods of 4-5 with truncheons and AKs but wearing the powder blue uniforms of HK police, so as to not scare non mainland tourists too much. Yet.
So if ‘too many’ people crossed the road before there was a set of pedestrian lights and the appropriate laws passed would they all be prosecuted too?
Hands up, I jay-walked once in 2005 so will I now be prosecuted under so-called ‘retrospective’ legislation? Oh, and I do seem to recall that my grandfather crossed the same tracks 100 years ago when it was just a field – will he now be prosecuted also?
Don’t you just love the Three Aunties, though I guess Ria and Maria are in transition to become uncles, #genderfluid, how hip.
Didn’t Elsie got her law degree through mail or something? Can’t remember what exactly was wrong with that great legal mind but there was something smelly going on.
Those 3 should start a comedy act together. How about the ‘Cobweb Sisters’ ?
@HillnotPeak – I’ve also observed Rita’s increasingly masculine appearance of late. However, I don’t think one can fairly accuse Maria of having any gender at all.
“Beijing’s obsession with eradicating incorrect activities (and, before long, ideas) in Hong Kong seems to contrast with its total obliviousness to what might be causing resentment and opposition. Communist logic seems to say the youths are misled because of a lack of indoctrination in childhood, and probably hostile foreign forces – it can only be fixed through coercion.”
Why would they think otherwise? It has worked for them for the last 70 years. You could go on about why it would never work in a cosmopolitan, pluralistic society like ours yadda yadda, but maybe we will discover that we aren’t that special. Make insubordination costly enough, and the majority of people will curse and spit but decide they actually do like having jobs and being solvent. A minority will flip their shit, but you beat them over the head hard enough and perhaps the rest will conveniently decide that those folks be crazy.
Talking of the weird sisters, l note that both Rita and Maria are Commanders of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (Motto: “For God and the Empire”).
Were these two to team up with Old Mother Hubbard in order to form a girl band, might l suggest that they choose as their name “Red Elsie and the Hypocrites”?
Groovy!
I always use Rita as my go to ‘peaking too early’ mental image. Works like a charm.
@reductio – believe it or not, she was quite a beauty in her (long long ago) youth – https://abbyinhk.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/rita-fan-before-and-after/.
I’m sure all you geezers are all fine specimens of Adonis-like masculinity.