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Raymond Yung Kai-man (centre) and Damien Shea Ying-fai (right). Photo: SCMP Pictures
Opinion
Public Eye
by Michael Chugani
Public Eye
by Michael Chugani

Hong Kong politicians’ moral outrage over lawyers’ Beijing KTV escapade reeks of hypocrisy

Moral mocking forced Damien Shea Ying-fai and Raymond Yung Kai-man to quit their membership of the loyalist China-Australia Legal Exchange Foundation, but exposed the self-proclaimed moralists for what they are – hypocrites

So what if two loyalist lawyers sneaked off to a Beijing karaoke bar three nights in a row where they sang, drank and danced with shapely young women. I would too if I had to listen to hours of monotone droning about One Belt, One Road, which the duo had to do. Belt and road in the day, babes at night – sounds like a fair exchange. But no, everyone went moral instead, in a society where countless married men keep mistresses on the mainland. The media had a field day with lurid details of the two men with arms wrapped around scantily-clad karaoke cuties. Scantily clad? I saw those pictures on the internet. They exposed less flesh than Hawaiian hula girls yet no one goes all morally ape when overweight tourists in flowery shirts and baggy shorts hung below pot bellies cavort with them at a beach luau.

It made me laugh when politicians lectured the pair about having to be mindful of their position and behaviour when attending official functions. So it’s fine to frolic with foxy young things in KTV lounges as long as you’re not on an official trip? What kind of moral logic is that? KTV is a fact of life on the mainland, as it was in Hong Kong until exorbitant prices drove locals across the border where prices are cheaper, the girls prettier, and the service better. I am not being sexist or demeaning to women but I see nothing wrong with karaoke bars as long as the hostesses are not under age, not victims of sex slave rings and have voluntarily chosen their line of work. What lawyers Damien Shea Ying-fai and Raymond Yung Kai-man did is their own business. They broke no laws. Any moral issue arising from their KTV escapade is a matter between them and their wives and families. Society has no right to impose moral standards on them.

Yet moral mocking forced them to quit their membership of the loyalist China-Australia Legal Exchange Foundation, which organised the Beijing belt and road trip. Legislator Priscilla Leung Mei-fun even quit out of moral outrage over the behaviour of the pair. This is the same self-proclaimed moralist who wants asylum seekers locked up. Not one of these moralists expressed outrage over the disgustingly racist mainland advert for a laundry detergent that went viral last week. But then that’s what self-proclaimed moralists are – hypocritical fakes.

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