Beijing, with its desire for social harmony and its watching brief on Hong Kong, should be deeply concerned by some recent events. First we have 'Belter Bokhary', the judge's niece who seems at liberty to thump police officers without fear of jail time.
Last week, Amina Bokhary's third assault on a police officer won her just one year's probation and a light fine. Apparently, she suffers from bipolar disorder, but to many of us, she seems to be a spoilt rich kid who can't control her anger - a view the government, which has asked for a review of the sentence, appears to have woken up to.
Then we have Kwun Sai-leung, a Sham Shui Po district councillor who stole HK$51,730 from a mutual-aid association. Kwun has been jailed - for 21/2 months - but he will not lose his council seat. Felonious district councillors must step down only if they are sentenced to three months or more - and Kwun's sentence was reduced by 11/2 months because he entered a guilty plea.
In sentencing Kwun, the magistrate said his offence was 'not the most serious kind' and the magistrate in the Bokhary case said her being from 'a well-off family' was a factor in keeping her out of jail. Is it any wonder most people in Hong Kong say their quality of life is at a seven-year low, according to a Chinese University survey?
When the law treats the rich and well-connected more leniently than everybody else, when property prices are forced into the stratosphere by rapacious developers who are coddled by legislators and when powerful companies can practice patronage and flout the rules, then the masses tend to lose faith in the system and head for the streets. Hong Kong has experienced social unrest because of iniquitous divisions before; let's hope somebody is paying attention.
