Politicians' lapels are getting crowded
Promotion of the government proposal for the 2012 elections is really high on the administration's agenda these days. You can tell. Just look at how the ministers and political appointees are getting behind it. On Saturday, they took to the streets in T-shirts bearing the slogan 'Act Now', handing out pamphlets selling the reform package. Now they have been given big lapel pins featuring the slogan and told to wear them on their suits. Unfortunately, some of those lapels were getting a bit crowded. Political Animal notes that some ministers had to remove their flying dragon logos to make way for the 'Act Now' pins. Sticking to your principles, you might call it.
Ahoy, it's the pirates of the South China Sea
All sorts of slogans are floating round about the reform package and one has floated poor Donald Tsang Yam-kuen into range of some netizens' ridicule - as if he didn't already have enough on his mind. Somebody from the government apparently thought the Chinese phrase for 'weigh anchor' would make a nifty motto. Unfortunately it led to the chief executive being portrayed on Facebook as captain of a pirate ship and his ministers as crew, apparently based on the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean, in which Johnny Depp played the crafty buccaneer Jack Sparrow. Make them walk the plank, Donald.
Democrats respecting their elders - sort of
Many remember how, in 2005, the pan-democrats were mustered to oppose the government's constitutional-reform bill under pressure from several pro-democracy veterans. This time round the Democratic Party leadership is taking no chance of being criticised for not respecting the views of the elders - although whether it will actually heed them is another matter. On the eve of their meeting last week with Li Gang, deputy director of the central government's liaison office, core negotiators of the party paid courtesy calls to at least three political heavyweights - veteran Democrats Szeto Wah and Martin Lee Chu-ming, and former chief secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang. One who attended the meetings said the elders had been 'informed' of the decision to start a dialogue with Beijing.
