Letters | Why lapses in the Tai Po tragedy are both shocking and familiar
Readers discuss Hong Kong’s light-touch culture, the city’s struggling retail sector, and meeting the emotional needs of men
Early in my career, I worked in a small manufacturing plant run by a foreign owner who depended almost entirely on a local manager. The owner trusted him completely. He didn’t speak the language, didn’t know the informal arrangements, and didn’t want to complicate things. When the business failed, the local manager bought it cheaply and carried on. There was no scandal. Authority simply caught up with reality.
That experience taught me a lasting lesson: when outsiders rely wholly on insiders, the insiders gradually become the institution.
This same logic shaped colonial Hong Kong. The British built a strong legal and commercial framework – and to their credit, it worked. Hong Kong became one of the world’s great entrepôts. But beneath that framework, day-to-day operations were left largely to local intermediaries – the compradors, the fixers – who provided continuity, local knowledge and informal problem-solving while officials and executives rotated through short postings.
This was not corruption. It was pragmatism. Over time, it became habit. Problems were handled quietly. Oversight was light. As long as things worked, few questions were asked.