So you think it can't possibly get any more jaw-dropping. You would be wrong. If the events of the past few weeks have left you in a daze, don't bother trying to recover. Get used to it. The skeletons tumbling out of cupboards mark a new norm, not an aberration, in our politics.
First came the dark secrets of chief executive candidate Henry Tang Ying-yen's wife-cheating. The scandal that followed over rival Leung Chun-ying's conduct in judging an arts hub design contest made us shake our heads in disbelief.
Then we were whacked by news of Tang's palatial, but illegal, basement hidden under his Kowloon Tong house. Before we could recover from that shock, we heard revelations of Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen living the high life, riding private jets and luxury yachts belonging to Hong Kong and mainland tycoons. We were then stunned again with the revelation that a tycoon had arranged a luxurious Shenzhen retirement penthouse for Tsang.
Long-time political commentator Allen Lee Peng-fei, who is never lost for words, struggled to find them when I asked if he could make sense of it all. The only sense I can make is that we have finally broken away from the old order. We are now in new political terrain without a sure footing. The cherry-pickers packed with TV cameras that dangled over Tang's luxury house, filming officials searching for evidence of wrongdoing by a former government No 2, were just a taste of what lies ahead.
Beijing's preferred choice for chief executive was forced to suffer the humiliation of skeletons in his cupboard being paraded for all to see. Revelations of his sex life and possible crime in concealing an illegal basement have stripped him of all credibility as a future leader. Even if the tycoons ensure he wins, it will be virtually impossible for him to govern. The people have, in effect, rendered politically dead the man favoured by Beijing and the tycoons. Who would have thought the day would dawn in our politics when the people could stare down the ruling class?
Who would have thought alleged wrongdoing by Leung dating back 10 years would be dug up and displayed? Who could have imagined that our chief executive would be forced to suffer the indignity of detailing what he had for breakfast aboard his tycoon friend's yacht to prove it wasn't sumptuous? Or that he would be forced to dispel the public perception that he is somehow guilty of wrongdoing in the way he obtained his lavish retirement home from a mainland tycoon?
