Consensus is a code word for inaction
Is there such a thing as a totally harmonious society where everybody agrees on everything? OK, stupid question, but go and tell that to Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah. If you cannot find him, he is probably in cloud cuckoo land where harmony rules. The other place with unquestioned harmony is North Korea, where you face a firing squad if you disagree with the Dear Leader.
Tsang thinks we in Hong Kong can all agree to agree, too. Maybe he's gone cuckoo. That happens when you spend too much time in a make-believe world. He wrote in his blog that we must all reach a consensus before the government considers a universal pension plan, which the Democrats have been pushing for.
Is Public Eye missing something? Are there really free societies out there where governments act only when consensus is reached on divisive issues? Is it possible for Hong Kong's powerful business sector to reach a consensus with the working class on a universal pension plan? Another stupid question. Just look at how fiercely bosses opposed a minimum-wage law. Look at how they are now trying to avoid paying workers for rest days and meal breaks.
No, Mr Tsang, you have been in your dream world too long. Visit us more often. Here, when bureaucrats speak of a consensus, we see it as a code word for inaction. We do not need the world's highest-paid bureaucrats if all they do is sit back and wait for consensus on everything. We pay them for leadership. When society is divided, we need leaders who dare to lead by doing the right thing. So please lead by telling us a universal pension plan is the right thing to do for our ageing population, or tell us it is not. Do not pussyfoot.
Fund managers get free ride for another year
Let us look at the truth about Hong Kong's current pension plan - the Mickey Mouse plan called the Mandatory Provident Fund. The truth is you cannot retire on it. For those now nearing retirement age, the total payout may cover a few holidays, but that is about it. Our bureaucrats were hallucinating up in cloud cuckoo land when they dreamed up the scheme.