Just Saying | Australia’s travel warning for Hong Kong is dodgy, dishonest and just not fair dinkum
- Yonden Lhatoo calls out the Australian government for playing fearmongering politics at the cost of hurting its own citizens by telling them they are not safe in this city
Some weeks ago, I faced the prospect of hunting for a taxi after a dinner event in a part of town that is off my beaten track, and was rescued by a very kind gentleman who offered me a ride in his official car back to civilisation as I know it.
He was the head of Canberra’s consulate-general in Hong Kong and, like just about every Australian I’ve met over so many years, he came across as a typical product of his country – friendly, helpful and down to earth.
My impression of the people from down under may sound somewhat stereotypical, but I’ve always found them to be warm, honest, hardworking, straight-talking folk, by and large, with a keen sense of fair play and what they call “mateship”. They’re always up for a good laugh, even if it’s at themselves.
Hong Kong is home to some 100,000 of them, one of the world’s largest expatriate Australian communities, and just as they have prospered here, so has this city benefited from their contributions to society as entrepreneurs, academics, medical specialists and legal professionals. Journalists, too – some of the best people I know in the business are Australians and I’m privileged to work shoulder to shoulder in the trenches with them at this paper.
Keeping all that in mind, their own government appears to have a few kangaroos loose in the top paddock as it resorts to completely unnecessary fearmongering with its asinine warning in place for citizens travelling to or living in Hong Kong.
