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Descent into soap opera

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Forget about the row over civil rights proposals and the provisional legislature, the territory has been fascinated the past week by the real-life dramas surrounding Cantonese opera star Tang Wing-cheung and little Chung Yeuk-lam.

The extensive coverage by most Chinese-language print media and television stations of the dispute among the Tang family over everything from the funeral arrangements to the family fortune would have shocked many from outside the territory. With less than 70 days before the territory is handed over to China, the international media expects sensation on other fronts, not a Hong Kong version of Dallas, nor heavy coverage of the fate of an eight-year-old illegal immigrant from the mainland.

On the assignment list of the fleet of foreign journalists here there will have been the clash between the outgoing and incoming governors and the two legislatures, fears of curbs over civil liberties and the press, as well as the sentiments of 6.4 million people over the imminent changeover of power.

Many may understandably feel confused over what is really on the minds of the people of Hong Kong.

But if my foreign colleagues feel perplexed by the state of mind of the community, that is precisely the way many in the territory feel over the many twists and turns in the transition.

Even though the 13-year countdown to Chinese rule is about to come to the end, political bickering and controversies are no less intense now than at any time since the fate of the territory was sealed in the 1984 Joint Declaration.

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