Advertisement
Advertisement

Not the usual politics

Chris Yeung

Top Hong Kong officials have often pointed to the increased number of protests and rallies after the handover to silence those who are critical of the 'one country, two systems' policy. The rise shows that freedoms and the way of life have been preserved, they argue.

Over the past few years, however, there has been a marked change of mood over how dissent is expressed. Betty Tung Chiu Hung-ping, the wife of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, was one of the opinion leaders in society who cast doubt on whether people have gone too far. She has cautioned against the tendency of the public to 'complain, complain, complain'.

This culture of complaining and protesting does seem to have grown. A study published on Monday found that a rising number of people are taking to the streets to vent their frustrations. In 2002, there were 2,303 demonstrations, compared to 1,008 in 1996, according to police figures.

The Hong Kong Council of Social Services, which used the figure in its Social Development Index, called for a revamp of the administration's consultation mechanism to help bridge the gap between the government and the people.

Daniel Shek Tan-lei, who led the study, said the rising tendency of people to stage protests and take their grievances to the Ombudsman shows deficiencies in the political structure. He warned that social harmony and government efficiency would suffer if nothing was done.

Under the strategy of the so-called 'administrative absorption of politics', the colonial administration largely succeeded in maintaining effective governance at a time when civic awareness was growing. The vast number of advisory committees was an integral part of 'government by consultation'.

With the post-1997 fate of Hong Kong sealed in 1984, the British government speeded up development of a representative democracy through elections to the then three-tier structure: the Legislative Council, municipal councils and district boards.

Promulgated in 1990, the Basic Law laid down a 10-year timetable for the increase of democratically elected legislators after 1997. The ultimate goal, it says, is to elect the chief executive and all members of the legislature by universal suffrage.

Full democracy will, of course, not mean the end of protests and rallies, which are part and parcel of a free society. Nor is it a natural substitute for 'government by consultation'.

It is, however, a cause of concern if people are more inclined to take to the streets because of a feeling of helplessness, disconnection and distrust in the political structure.

Political disorder may prevail if people feel that their views are not being heeded by the government, Legco representatives, or are not being reflected by the media.

The political system has come a long way from a 'government by consultation', to a partial democracy, but there is little doubt that the system is at a critical juncture. Its capacity to cope with the fast-paced change in the wake of the two July 1 rallies has been put in doubt.

Against that background, more people have resorted to what is seen as 'direct democracy' in fighting for their cause on issues ranging from the protection of the harbour to the pursuit of political accountability over the Sars outbreak.

In the meantime, the government has been exploring an innovative idea of a social-strata-based consultative network via the internet to better engage the elusive middle class in policy formulation.

All this says a lot about the anomalies and deficiencies within the political system, even as officials tell us that it is business as usual for protests and rallies.

Chris Yeung is the Post's editor-at-large

Post