當年今日
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We must be extra vigilant from now on| Allan Au Ka-lun

蘋果日報 2020/12/20 09:21


Every Tuesday morning, we should be extra careful not to accidentally watch live TV, as it will be once again showing Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s traitor, smirking with her mask on. That alone could ruin your beautiful morning. This week, however, Lam was stony-faced when meeting the press before the Executive Council, possibly because she was not asked to see Xi Majesty in Beijing, plus her anti-pandemic measures have been heavily criticized. Some of the comments she made while defending herself have caught some attention:
“A small number of people have a hidden agenda and intentionally made up rumors. They spread many untrue comments to smear and politicize events and quote negative speech from anonymous people. I advise everyone to be very vigilant in the future to confirm the sources of the information. Don’t believe hearsay easily.”
Her comments were to respond to a newspaper claim that many anonymous experts said they have never suggested the government to use China-made vaccines. But Lam said, “be very vigilant in the future.” Did she predict a bigger scale attack? What can some experts and low-lying pan-democrats do?
Her prediction was right. Criticism from numerous people of the pro-Beijing camp came flooding in within two days. They blasted the government senior officials for failing to fight against the pandemic and having not considered mandatory testing for all citizens. The pro-Beijing newspaper implied that Lam’s administration does not have enough determination and courage. From former Chief Executive to think tank to authors, they all have launched their attacks on Lam and government officials. The political scene after the pan-democrats’ departure from the Legislative Council is like after the docile animals moved away from the big African forest, the wild dogs and wolves started fighting each other and causing chaos.
It all looks so familiar, like what happened during the Cultural Revolution: two parties fight each other, and when the enemy lost, the winning side would start to fight within its own party; the party would then split, and two sides would fight each other. It went on and on. The problem with this system is, only one leader decides who should be praised or punished. That means if you show unconditional loyalty to the leader, you will be protected even if you have destroyed all the good. To show loyalty, everyone fight to the extreme and the end.
Lam loves being in power and has put herself in this helpless position with no public support. Everything she said has no credibility, and everything she did is unpopular. She has achieved nothing. Indeed, all she has is the police force, which has 30,000 officers. But the Hong Kong police are relatively simple. They are used to follow commands from the superior without asking questions. After the departure of the pan-democrats, the wild and aggressive creatures appeared from all corners. Everyone is eyeing up the power and ready to pounce. Moreover, the Bauhinia Party, founded by the “new Hongkongers,” sprang out of nowhere and is keen to join the battle. The only weapon Lam has against her surrounding enemies is emphasizing her position as the leader of the Special Administrative Region and reminding everyone that she is the chosen one.
This year is coming to an end. Lam has given herself a Christmas and New Year present: a sworn allegiance to her from various senior officials. It has given her some comfort after falling into a whirlpool of criticism and attacks. Sooner or later, all the senior officials will be forced to swear allegiance en masse. How would these elites feel?
There are different quotes from famous people printed on each day of my desk calendar. And today, it was from an Argentinian director, who said, “those who work for the criminals are committing a crime themselves.” So please stay in your own position and use a suitable way to atone.
(Allan Au Ka-lun, veteran journalist)
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