Election over, Hong Kong must try again to agree on political reform to heal the rifts in society
Ronny Tong is disappointed by the lack of effort on the part of all three chief executive candidates to bridge the gulf in society, and believes the winner cannot wish away the main source of the disagreement – democratisation
The divide we have been lamenting since the Occupy Central protest movement is now even deeper than ever. Illustration: Craig Stephens
Just the other day, a friend of mine asked me: “What do we get from this chief executive election?” It was a simple enough question, but it stunned me for a while. Yes, come to think of it, apart from getting a new leader, what do we get from this election? Or more to the point, what can we expect from our new chief executive that may be different from what we got from the last three?
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If you look back over the course of the election campaign, you cannot but come to the dreaded conclusion that the divide we have been lamenting since the Occupy Central protest movement is now even deeper than ever. And there is no sign of relief in sight. It is true that all four hopefuls (if you include Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee), throughout their respective campaigns, said they would do their best to mend the rift within our community; but do we see anything concrete done or proposed by them? Sadly, no.
Watch: Woo Kwok-hing says he is determined to prevent Carrie Lam from winning
Do you remember what former judge Woo Kwok-hing said on the day he handed in his 180 nominations? He said, “I’m 200 per cent committed to preventing Carrie Lam from being elected!” If he was not appearing on television at the time, you might have thought that was “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung talking. Since when is the goal of a candidate to “prevent” one of your opponents from being elected, rather than trying to win the election yourself? That is the mentality of opposition right there, rather than a desire and commitment to work for the betterment of Hong Kong; and it is precisely such a mentality on both sides that is tearing Hong Kong apart.
If a candidate would pander in this way to a particular group, what would he be like as a leader?
Perhaps Woo, as a candidate, was only trying to win over the pan-democrats, but if a candidate would pander in this way to a particular group, what would he be like as a leader? More importantly, if you are willing to be led by the opposition to fight against, rather than lead the opposition to win over, the other side, what chances do we have to overcome the gulf of differences between the two sides?
John Tsang Chun-wah is no better. If he thinks that getting some nominations and support from the pan-democrats and a few nominations from the pro-government camp means our rift in the community can thereby be bridged, he is sadly mistaken. The irony is that his most staunch supporters do not care about bridging the rift within the community. The political parties that support him want him to “fight against” the central government’s liaison office and, presumably, Beijing.
And if you go to Lam’s social media page, you will find his supporters using the foulest language to vilify her daily. Did Tsang call for calm and restraint on the part of his supporters? Did he make any concrete proposals to convince everyone to adopt a more conciliatory and forgiving attitude in order to build a more harmonious Hong Kong? Sorry, no.
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In a way, Tsang was spot on when he said earlier that, if Lam were elected, Hong Kong would be further torn apart. The only thing is, it will not be due to the efforts of Lam alone.
Watch: John Tsang says Carrie Lam’s election would tear society apart
