avatar image
Advertisement

Opinion | Djokovic, Johnson, Hong Kong’s ‘partygate’: why this is the year of #YouToo

  • The world has been transfixed by reports of people in positions of power and influence behaving as if coronavirus measures did not apply to them
  • Leaders and sportsmen should be role models with a moral compass. Like the Weinstein scandal that led to #MeToo, the current scandals should drive a new movement of social responsibility

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
3
A specialist disinfects the reception area of the Legco complex on January 6, after officials and lawmakers were found to have attended the same birthday party as a person who tested positive for Covid-19. Photo: May Tse

As my British Airways flight was approaching Cape Town last November 25, my neighbour, J.D., said something to me that has stuck to this day. The only unmasked passenger I saw throughout the 12-hour journey, J.D. revealed he didn’t like a mask on his face.

Feeling mellow, at heart a libertarian and blissfully unaware South Africa had reported a new coronavirus variant to the World Health Organization the day before, I merely replied that a mask was useful as I was freezing (seated by an emergency exit). But I couldn’t help wondering: who likes to wear a mask, apart from the Japanese?

Manners maketh man. It is in trying times when one’s character, or the lack thereof, is unmasked, through choices one makes.

In the past fortnight, Hong Kong, the UK and the world have been transfixed by reports of people in positions of power, influence or responsibility behaving as if coronavirus measures did not apply to them.

In Hong Kong, numerous senior government officials – including Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui Ying-wai, who is in charge of coronavirus measures; Commissioner of Police Raymond Siu Chak-yee; and Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Simon Peh Yun-lu – plus newly minted Legislative Council members, have had to serve time at Penny’s Bay following a birthday bash with over 200 attendees in honour of a Hong Kong delegate to China’s National People’s Congress.
Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui is among the government officials sent to quarantine after attending a birthday party hosted by Witman Hung Wai-man, a Hong Kong delegate to the NPC. Photo: May Tse
Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui is among the government officials sent to quarantine after attending a birthday party hosted by Witman Hung Wai-man, a Hong Kong delegate to the NPC. Photo: May Tse
Along with false positives and phantom guests who did not register their presence as required by law, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s absence surely must be one of the event’s weakest links. Lam was very disappointed.
Phil C.W. Chan is a scholar in public law, human rights, international law and global governance. His books include China, State Sovereignty and International Legal Order (2015), Protection of Sexual Minorities since Stonewall: Progress and Stalemate in Developed and Developing Countries (2010), and Equality in Asia-Pacific: Reality or a Contradiction in Terms? (2007). He holds a PhD in international law and Chinese law from the National University of Singapore and law degrees from the University of Hong Kong and the University of Durham. He is a recipient of the 25th Human Rights Press Awards (Merit, 2021) for Commentary Writing for his three-part series in the Post in 2020 on Hong Kong society under China’s national security law for Hong Kong.
Advertisement