The Dubious Achievement Awards 2009
Let’s face it—compared to the financial roller coaster ride that was 2008, this year has been relatively relaxed, with nary a sexyphotogate or an underage Olympic gymnast scandal to spice things up. But that’s not to say we’ve missed out on weird, wild and downright ridiculous news. From the rise of pseudo models to government officials and their non-sex scandals, we present to you: The Dubious Achievement Awards of 2009.
Dubious Achievement Award 2009
Winner: The Chrissie Chau Phenomenon
Let us clarify this right now. We’re not saying that Chrissie Chau is the most dubious person of the year. Far from it. She has in fact emerged on top in 2009. What we are talking about here is all the news and criticism surrounding the new red-hot model in town. 24-year-old Chau made her breakthrough in 2009 when she starred in a TV commercial for a slimming parlor, where she strips while crossing the busy roads of Central. She became a star overnight, with her swimsuit pictures dominating the newspapers and online forums, and her photo book—which features provocative and revealing pictures such as toothpaste foam sliding down her cleavage—became a bestseller at the Hong Kong Book Fair. And as if that wasn’t enough titillation for her fans, she released best-selling life-sized pillows with her semi-nude image printed on them.
What puzzles us, however, is how much negative sentiment there’s been against the poor girl. One highlight was a bizarre “forum” conducted at the University of Science and Technology, where Chau was invited to share her views on the pseudo model phenomenon with an academic from Lingnan University, Professor Li Siu-leung. Professor Li asked questions so ridiculous and confusing that proved impossible to understand, not only by Chau, but the rest of Hong Kong. At one point Li asked Chau, “Do you have a desire or impulse to organize the very complicated identity of yourself?” The media (and the students who attended the forum) used the forum as an attempt to portray Chau as a bimbo, but what was really revealed was the pomposity and arrogance of a certain professor.
Loser of the Year
Winner: Kam Nai-wai
It’s a sad fact of life that people fall in love all the time—and sometimes that love goes unrequited. But few have had it worse this year than Democratic Party politician Kam Nai-wai. After years of trying to make it in politics, he finally won a Legco seat last year—and is now likely to lose it, all because of a dame.
In September, news broke that the 49-year-old married legislator had fired his assistant, former ATV news anchor Kimmie Wong, after she allegedly denied his love. Initially denying any wrongdoing, Kam finally confessed that he had told Wong that he had “feelings” toward her.
Wong, for her part, refused to go public with the story, or to undergo investigation by the Democratic Party and Legco. However, earlier this month she wrote a 2,000-word letter to the press, explaining what really happened between her and Kam. According to Wong, she had been approached by Kam, but as a Christian, she had refused to engage in extra-marital relationships and was subsequently fired. Kam retaliated in a Legco special session, where he stated Wong’s “ten crimes” that led to her dismissal, including not turning on MSN Messenger at work. Legco has begun an internal investigation as to whether there was any misconduct on Kam’s part. The worst possible outcome will be that Kam loses his much fought-for seat in the chamber, resulting in his bidding farewell to politics forever.
Runner-Up: Donald Tsang
Chief executive Donald Tsang makes it into our Dubious Achievement Awards every year—and quite frankly, he only gets more dubious. Aside from his usual arrogance (he criticized pan-democratic legislators for displaying a grammatically incorrect slogan at Legco—but it turned out the slogan’s grammar was actually correct), he really outdid himself this year, when he said in Legco that “he represents the view of all Hong Kong people” while commenting on how Hong Kong should move on instead of criticizing the Chinese government for the June 4 massacre 20 years ago. His comment upset Hong Kong, and triggered 150,000 people to attend the candlelight vigil on June 4 at Victoria Park—the highest number since the handover.
Other missteps in Tsang’s administration include pushing ahead with the Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Guangzhou high speed rail, and the hiring of more overpaid political appointees. Tsang’s popularity has sunk lower than that of his predecessor, Tung Chee-hwa. Which leads us to....