My Take | Hong Kong losing talent because of bickering and grandstanding
The good and the smart are leaving the city in droves thanks to bad policymaking, divisiveness and constant politicising
In today’s no-can-do Hong Kong, bickering and grandstanding is the norm. Is it any wonder that good and smart people are leaving in droves? Soon we will be left with incompetent sycophants and rabble-rousing windbags in positions of power and influence.
News reports on the resignation of University of Hong Kong chief Peter Mathieson have described it as a shock and a surprise. But is it really?
The vice-chancellor once called it the best job in the world; it looks more like one of the worst. Caught between the student Red Guards on campus and the imperious and disruptive Arthur Li Kwok-cheung as council chairman, it must be a total nightmare.
Who wouldn’t quit for the literally greener and more peaceful pasture of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, over the daily urban jungle warfare in Hong Kong?
Already, the usual suspects are speculating why Mathieson quit two years ahead of his contract’s expiry. The pan-democrats claim the pro-government management headed by Li is to blame. Others say it’s the highly politicised and divisive student body led by a few overly radicalised scholars. They are probably both right. Mathieson says he is quitting for “personal reasons”, the classic non-explanation when someone of importance prematurely quits his or her job in Hong Kong.