To quote a recent popular saying: 'This city is dying.' I think quite a lot of people in Hong Kong will agree with me that the University of Hong Kong is dying along with it. Its centenary celebration last August turned out to be a big mess which led to an internal investigation.
The subsequent report admitted to the mess and faulted the university for administrative blunders. Now, those supposedly responsible have resigned - behaviour typical of a dying establishment.
In what kind of a university would students be caught making a nuisance during a grand celebration, then lying about how events unfolded? And in which other university can we find a dean of the law faculty making a rash statement on a point of law against the university, which he later retracts but without a word of apology? Surely, if a practising lawyer made such a mistake, he wouldn't keep his job.
This fiasco is rooted in the fact that the university didn't know what it was doing and what it wanted. And when something happened, many of its staff - from the vice-chancellor down - panicked. This is not how one of Hong Kong's most celebrated academic establishments should conduct itself.
It has now transpired that the police did not force their way into the campus but were invited by the university to assist in maintaining law and order during the ceremony; they became an easy scapegoat.
Vice-Premier Li Keqiang was the main victim in the affair. He came in good will at the invitation of the university and brought gifts, not only to the host but to Hong Kong. But he was portrayed as the chief villain from the moment he sat in the VIP chair on stage, provided by his host; he was criticised for dominating the ceremony and influencing the security arrangements.