Criticism of ‘dull’ Carrie Lam smacks of sexism

It’s difficult to dig up dirt on someone whose personal life is as dull as Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. The worst the opposition has done so far has been to accuse Lam’s husband of keeping a mistress in London. But wouldn’t that work more as a sympathy vote for Lam, regardless of the verity of the claim?

So now, the opposition has resorted to insinuating that the front runner in the chief executive race is a “control freak”, someone who doesn’t tolerate dissent and who thinks she is always right and everyone else is wrong.

Ming Pao and Apple Daily have run stories recently to such effect, quoting mostly anonymous sources. As an old hack, I can tell you that you can make anonymous sources say anything. That’s why they should be avoided where possible, and used only as a last resort.

Alas, in Hong Kong journalism, they often become the first resort, and the only sources on which a whole story is crafted.

But at least one story managed to quote Lau Sai-leung, a former adviser to the government’s Central Policy Unit think tank, for some unflattering sound bites about Lam. That’s where we got the “control freak” quote. So this is what it boils down to: Lam is used to getting her way and doesn’t listen, while election rival John Tsang Chun-wah is a nice guy.