Then & Now | Transparency is the only way to regain lost public trust and turn things around in Hong Kong
- Truths become mutable when facts are made malleable, official statements around well-documented events are distorted and honest critics forcibly silenced
- In such circumstances, steadfast insistence on transparency in public life becomes more vitally important than ever
British economist John Maynard Keynes’ characteristically honest reflection upon his own thought processes – “When the facts change, I change my mind; what do you do, Sir?” – and those facts’ seemingly contradictory nature when observed by others over time, remains instructive.
But when historical facts don’t change – what happened in the past did actually happen – no authentic choice remains; one must stand by those earlier conclusions.
In these febrile times, truth’s inevitable mutability into falsehood inexorably follows when cold, hard facts are deliberately rendered malleable, official statements around certain well-documented events are wilfully distorted, multiple eyewitnesses are serially gaslighted and honest critics are forcibly silenced.
Steadfast insistence on transparency in public life, then, becomes more vitally important than ever.
On a recent Middle East trade mission, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu proclaimed to the world that Hong Kong had “no restrictions whatsoever” in terms of Covid-19-related controls.
