That's right, blame it on her dark skin. That is what immigration director Eric Chan Kwok-ki did when asked why his staff did not notice the horrific torture scars on Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih as she exited Hong Kong. Chan's lame excuse was that the officer had only a brief encounter with Erwiana during immigration clearance, had a hard time noticing the darker scars on her dark skin, thought she had a skin disease, and since she had not asked for help, let her go. We're speechless. Skin disease? A brief encounter? Aren't immigration officers trained to quickly spot abnormalities in people at checkpoints? Isn't that how they sniff out terrorists and drug traffickers? How safe are we if our officers cannot tell the difference between torture marks and a skin disease? The truth is our officers ask questions only when dark-skinned people arrive. They couldn't care less when they leave.
Three ministers have made remarks so stupid that you may finally understand why Public Eye always says our overpaid bureaucrats live in a different world. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Greg So Kam-leung's remark was not just idiotic, it was offensive. When asked about Hongkongers having to wait for several MTR trains because of the crush of mainlanders, he said if they couldn't board one train, they could always wait for the next. Fine, let the people eat cake. But only if So surrenders his people-financed, chauffeur-driven car, and fights the crowds with the rest of us peasants. Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung boasted that government cooling measures had tamed the property market. What planet is he living on? Ask ordinary Hongkongers if they can afford to buy a home, Mr Cheung. Ask renters if landlords are still raising rents. The only thing the measures have done is dampen home sales. That is very different from having tamed prices. Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man boasted that the two-tin limit on baby milk powder had stabilised supplies. Maybe in la-la land it has, but here, some stores are still raising prices. The truth is that mainland demand is just too huge for local prices to stabilise. Only when mainlanders trust the safety of infant formula back home will supplies stabilise.