Lau Kong-wah's silence wins accolades online

Online observers have dubbed Lau Kong-wah, undersecretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, as the "most valuable player" for the government in Tuesday's dialogue with students on political reform. Why? For his utter silence. The former Beijing-loyalist lawmaker was well known for his provocative remarks against pan-democrats before he lost his Legislative Council seat in 2012, so people were expecting him to at least say a few words on Tuesday night. But in his uncharacteristic silence, the five articulate students stole the limelight from Lau's colleagues, who were criticised for their dull recital of the official line. On Facebook, a cartoon circulated showing a vase, a cassette recorder and a rubbish bin on a table. The bin represented Lau, the vase the also-silent director of the Chief Executive's Office, Edward Yau Tang-wah, and the cassette recorder stood in for all three who spoke: Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung and Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen.

Occupy protests forced the cancellation of the Democratic Party's 20th anniversary celebration, which had been scheduled for tomorrow. Party insiders told that the leaders decided to delay the dinner until March. The Chinese restaurant in Tsim Sha Tsui where they had reserved 50 tables did not ask for compensation for the cancelled order as it had not yet bought any food for the banquet. Plus, the management "understood the difficult political atmosphere", the Democrats said. Perhaps that's for the best. Would the Democrats not look a bit out of touch celebrating lavishly while pan-democratic colleagues slept in the streets with protesters in Mong Kok?