AMERICANS CALLED IT a near-perfect speech when United States Democrat Al Gore announced his election concession to George W. Bush earlier this month. Commentators said that even though Mr Gore lost the presidency, he won the people's hearts with his warm and eloquent address.
Rising to the occasion, he told the American public that although he did not agree with the US Supreme Court ruling which might have cost him the presidency: '. . . tonight, for the sake of our unity . . . and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.'
President Jiang Zemin has, similarly, won praise for his powerful speeches. When hitting out at corruption, he stormed: 'Several leading cadres are exchanging power for money and power for sex. It has reached the point where they are blinded by lust for profit, their hearts are blackened by greed, their audacity envelops the heavens, and they defy all laws, human and divine!'
The purple prose of Mr Gore and Mr Jiang - including the latter's angry attack on the 'naive' Hong Kong media - were this week picked out as being among the notable quotes of 2000 by Reuters news agency.
Memorable quotes from Hong Kong were conspicuous by their absence. Local officials and politicians fail to score highly when it comes to sparkling political speeches. Indeed, they have a reputation for turgid, ill-prepared and uninspiring oratory.
Legislators in particular fail to make their briefings exciting enough to provoke the interest even of news-hungry reporters. When copies of their speeches flood the Legislative Council press room every Wednesday sitting, they often remain unread.
