I refer to the article headlined 'Findings put government on defensive' (October 17) in relation to the Sars internal inquiry. Anyone who has paid attention to local affairs in the last few years may find that this headline can apply to almost everything our government has been involved with.
The government has had to be defensive in almost every governance issue, such as housing policy, Article 23, Sars and harbour reclamation. These are matters it has to address either by law, by mandate, or just as part of its normal administrative responsibility. Defensiveness is common every time a government official opens his or her mouth to address a controversial issue.
Why does our government look so helpless in the face of challenges and criticism? Could it be that most of the top government officials were trained during the colonial time when whatever the government said and did were seldom criticised, let alone challenged? But now, seeing the government constantly attacked and humiliated, and becoming weakened in the process, I at times feel nostalgia for the old system.
I want to see the government held accountable and challenged in good faith. But it is disenchanting to see it being constantly assaulted in the name of popularism, challenged left, right and centre by opposition parties and individuals promoting their own selfish agenda, or simply to shore up their own popularity.
It is easy to blame the present SAR government for being incompetent and weak, but is it fair to subject it to constant onslaught of unproductive criticism? How well can Hong Kong recover and prosper economically under a dysfunctional or paralysed government for the next four years?
JERRY PANG, Happy Valley
