Hong Kong is a curious place. The public and the media seem to enjoy blowing things out of proportion and making a mountain out of a molehill. The universal belief that no news is good news will never be accepted in this city, where a culture of complaining has dominated our lives, allowing the media to thrive and prosper.
As a member of the Independent Police Complaints Council, I can confirm that our city is in the grip of a blame culture, cultivating distrust and fear. The police received more than 4,000 complaints last year, three-quarters of which were unsubstantiated, which indicates a trend of abusing the system.
Honestly speaking, our force is one of the most civilised in the world. I saw a TV news item on Thursday which showed four officers gently carrying away a protester in the July 1 rally while a fifth was holding his belongings.
When a society becomes more open and its system more democratic, it's natural for people to complain more about things. Hongkongers lived for many years under British rule, with limited freedom, democracy and human rights. With an end to those controls, attitudes have naturally swung to the other extreme.
But enjoying freedom and democracy doesn't mean one can recklessly push the boundaries for personal gain, disregarding civic duties and moral responsibility. That kind of selfish political-social attitude, which represents only the needs and wishes of ordinary people, will lead to populism.
A couple of recent incidents in which Cathay Pacific plane engines malfunctioned show the problems of this kind of attitude. One involved a flight to Amsterdam, in which an engine needed to be replaced. Another affected a flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong, when an engine malfunctioned shortly before take-off. And because it needed immediate repairs and the necessary spare parts were not available locally, they had to be flown in from Hong Kong. As a result, the flight was delayed until the next day.