Like so many others who didn't want to let go, I went down to the Central waterfront the day before the curtain fell on yet another piece of our vanishing historical past. I had expected the now-familiar haze and, sure enough, there it was - doing its polluted best to deny me my view. But the dirty air was of secondary importance that day. I had come to observe something else, which even the smog could not cover up: the dying moments of the Star Ferry pier and its neighbour, Queen's Pier.
Thousands were there to record in film and in memory the last gasps of two of Hong Kong's most recognisable landmarks. That day's images - of so many people fondly saying goodbye to something the government will soon destroy - say a lot about just how far removed our bureaucrats are from public sentiment.
When bureaucrats can go over the heads of citizens to make policies without any consequences, then there is something seriously wrong with our system of government. Our rulers, both here and across the border, have conditioned us to believe that an executive-led government works best for Hong Kong. But if power is to flow from the top down, it is even more imperative for our bureaucrats to govern with an ear to the ground, not with their heads in the clouds. Yet time and again they have shown they are simply incapable of being on the same wavelength as the people.
In the case of the two doomed piers, they looked at a layout of the waterfront, decided a road was needed, and concluded the easiest way - not the best way - to accomplish that was to bulldoze through the history that stood in their way. Little heed was paid to the emotional stress that such destruction would cause to so many people.
Unelected and overpaid, our policymakers operate with an authoritarian streak, using their narrow vision to make decisions they insist are good for us. It is a vision founded on a dollar sign, which they loyally use as the compass to guide their every move. That is why, in addition to a road, the government will use land created by the demolition of the piers to build a giant shopping mall.
The way the Tourism Commission handled the preservation of the former Marine Police headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui is another sickening example of our government's principle of putting profits above people. The commission duped us into believing that its top priority was to preserve the historic site. But its hidden motive was to squeeze as much money out of the project as possible.
