Equal treatment for all private clubs in SAR
I wish to tell Commodore Tony Scott of the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club that I am not impressed by the important personages from the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference he refers to in his letter, which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on May 6.
I believe an argument should stand on its own merit and logic without having it approved by higher authorities.
I also feel that it is an insult to the intelligence of the future chief executive and the Special Administrative Region military that dispensation or favour would be given to any entity that drapes itself in the new flag or hangs pictures of Jiang Zemin on walls. Commodore Scott is right that I do not belong to his esteemed club but to another one in Aberdeen.
I am in that sense fortunate to be spared the angst of deciding whether to abandon a name and a tradition to please somebody, even if that pleasure is more imagined than real.
Not being a member of his club does not disqualify a person from addressing a topic of general public interest which is not yachting per se, but the whole issue of loyalty and identity which many others, not necessarily sailors, must square with over the next year or so.
I am sure that the next government and garrison would treat all private clubs on an equal footing, whatever they may call themselves, in keeping with the spirit of the Basic Law clause cited in the column.
No one has to wear his conviction on his sleeve in a free society and to get an edge through pandering to the politically correct preferences and prejudices of the day.
Any name change for a private organisation is not significant in the larger scheme of things.
As for my quote from Shakespeare, it is apt in my context, because the rose smells sweet, however it may be dubbed by other botanists the world over.
DAVID CHU Legislative Councillor
