In 'Tycoon warns over pace of democracy' (May 12), Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung said he feared a quick move to democracy would destroy Hong Kong's success.
'Politicians who promise everything for the masses will win all the seats ... they will not just promise free lunches but free dinners and breakfasts', he said. Sir Gordon made a welcome reopening of the democracy debate, but the silence from other tycoons and the rich and powerful is deafening - are they all too busy feeding themselves with such free lunches?
Have they not been feeding off those free lunches for decades? What if their free lunches disappear? Better not mention changing the system then.
The point is that if Hong Kong people had the power and chose to directly elect a government which promised 'free lunches', if that government did not deliver, the common man could vote for an opposition party next time.
Hong Kong people are an educated, quick-thinking, pragmatic lot who would responsibly accept the task of voting for their future and I suspect that Beijing would not stand in the way.
The Hong Kong political hierarchy is like a dictatorship clothed in pseudo-democratic suits. We are promised little of substance by our leadership, delivered even less, and we are not empowered to try another government.
We have the freedom and power to choose almost everything in our lives but not the people who govern us. Is this rational? Are we not to be trusted?
