Opinion | Security chief was victim of political correctness over rape comments
It's a sad symptom of our times that a sensible comment would evoke such a barrage of abuse
There used to be a wonderful shop in Kowloon City called "Fat Men's Trousers". No beating about the bush, the name said it all. No need to shuffle in sheepishly wondering whether there would be anything in your size. Everything was in your size.
The staff would just get the extra long tape measure round your middle, note the result and point to the right pile.
Of course, once you found a pair to fit your nether regions, the legs would be too long - in my case, by up to 30cm. But no problem! The service included trimming the length and sewing the ends off neatly, all within the quoted price.
The shop is gone now, though it is unclear whether it was killed off by high rents or the political correctness police objecting to its name. Who knows, perhaps it still exists but calls itself "Fuller Figure Fashion" so no one knows what it sells or cares where it is.
This talk of political correctness brings me to the subject of our Secretary for Security Lai Tung-kwok.
In presenting the crime statistics for the first quarter, Lai noted that there had been an increase in the number of reported rapes, and that one factor in many of the crimes was the victims' high alcohol consumption. In some cases, their faculties were so diminished that they were unable to describe their attackers or identify them in a police line-up, he said.
Lai proffered the perfectly sensible comment - one every father of a teenage daughter would be familiar with - that moderation in consumption would be a good idea.
