LettersThe rule of law in Hong Kong only works for the select few
- Who can blame the rage of the youth when the rule of law is in reality a selective enforcement in favour of the rich and powerful?
The Hong Kong government and the police adhere to what I would call a selective rule of law. For many years, it has been common practice for laws on the books to go unenforced, whether deemed a nuisance to enforce by the police or other government departments, or due to pressures exerted by tycoons or businesses to look the other way.
Laws meant to protect all Hongkongers, and not just the rich, are routinely flouted and disregarded by the government and the police. The rich few benefit while the masses, especially young people, see the blatant hypocrisy of the government, which might explain their taking out their rage on the Legco chamber.
A simple example would be the pedestrian right of way on street crossings. In my 30-plus years living here, I have never seen, even once, a policeman stop or even warn off a taxi driver or a big, black Mercedes driver for causing hordes of pedestrians on a zebra crossing to have to jump out of the way!
The fact that taxi owners have lost millions of dollars because of a failure to enforce the rule of law may seem unimportant. Maybe there were a few taxi owner/drivers among the masked intruders in Legco on Monday!