AN ITEM IN SINGAPORE'S Straits Times on Wednesday caught my eye. The headline read: 'HK needs to shift from 'make a fast buck' philosophy'.
The story began: 'Hongkongers must shift their mindset from opportunism, quick profits and property development, to commitment to innovation and technology so as to compete in the knowledge-based economy, said a report.'
Now this, it turns out, was not a case of Singaporeans trying to run down Hong Kong. It was simply a Singapore newspaper reporting objectively on a study done by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, which compiled the views of more than 200 businessmen, academics and government officials expressed in a series of forums organised by the university this year.
I will not bore you with the rest of the article, but I was surprised that I had not read the report in the Hong Kong press. Then it occurred to me: of course, it cannot be news in Hong Kong that people are out to make a fast buck. In fact, it often appears that the raison d'etre of Hong Kong is to make a fast buck, or at least to find any excuse for making money.
I remember, many years ago, when I was young and innocent, being struck by the fact that prices were constantly going up. And the reasons given were often contradictory.
I could be mistaken, but I seem to remember on one occasion a proposal that tunnel tolls should go up because too many cars were using the tunnel. The increase was to discourage the use of the tunnel.