Govt threatens election discussion
The government says criticising the flawed District Council nomination system is tantamount to "inciting hatred", but the fast-moving nomination goalposts are making life hard for potential candidates
State-owned newspaper Wen Wei Po ran a warning last night that criticisms of the District Council nomination arrangements could be considered as “inciting hatred towards the government”.
Given these warnings are usually followed by the clumsy footprints of national security police, one should take heed.
So, treading very carefully here, and with great respect and love for our glorious leaders... will the people in power please stop lying about how easy it is for prospective candidates to find the nomination committee?
Because it’s not easy at all.
I’ve been a reporter for 30 years and I came closer to finding Bin Laden in Pakistan than I will ever get to unveiling half of these elusive buggers.
It’s pretty disappointing that, instead of listening to genuine and fair complaints, the government is simply rolling out its freshly-greased propaganda machine, including a visit by Home Affairs chief Alice Mak to a Kwun Tong secondary school on Thursday telling the students (who are below nomination age and can’t experience this for themselves) about all the bad people who expect the government to do all their work for them and how those bad people will fail because they are not patriotic.
Sadly Mak, who was a District Councillor from when they were invented in 1994 until 2019, is confusing the sycophantic district banqueting world of committees and District Offices with actual work1.
She gives the example of school principals, several of whom are on the Kowloon City committees (and none of whom have yet responded to my emails or calls).
And yes, being a school principal is hard work. And yes, they can contribute greatly – if they have a heart – to the community.
But I’ve long learned that principals don’t necessarily get their hands dirty on small road safety campaigns. In the case of one major local Kowloon Tong school, the junior school heads and traffic marshals know my name and face. Car-owning parents had a Facebook group dedicated to what an asshole I am, but the parents who don’t drive have said they appreciate what I’ve done, which was aggressively target drivers who parked on pavements and pedestrian crossings (I systematically blocked their cars and called the police). Together with the work of those tasked with handling this, the situation improved somewhat. I hesitate to share these “r/thathappened everybody clapped” moments, but I’ve been approached for selfies by parents AND the local police sergeant whose job it is now to keep this road clear.
A marshal who used to fart in my general direction told me that I may be annoying but that this approach has worked. We’ve reached a compromise where I only now target the most dangerous drivers (parking on pedestrian crossings) and ignore the other widespread illegal parking, while the marshals also work to respect those spaces, daylighting corners and crossings where possible. Sadly none of those parents, cops or marshals are on the nominating committees.
The point is, I’m strongly committed to figuring this out, from the street level up, yet I’ve have never had any contact with the particular principal who is on the Area Committee. And she won’t return calls re: nomination2. I’ve had actual meetings with other principals in boring rooms and put myself in danger (and subject to violent assaults on several occasions) on the street. The road, a major Kowloon Tong thoroughfare, is now safer and public transport zips along faster. And I’ve never even put this down as a “campaign” or put it on my CV, it’s just daily life. Other projects, such as district-changing Lion Rock Tunnel walking project ARE on my CV – and in developing those, I’ve had no contact with district committee members either.
By saying that the only district work that matters is that involving a lofty school principal and some hard banqueting, Mak is dismissing the many thousands of people who have a heart for their district but are not enmeshed in the party apparatus.
A parallel example might be the Road Safety Committee, whose members never engaged or returned my calls as editor of Transit Jam, even though I was running the only daily newspaper in the city (and possibly the country) dedicated to road safety. One I called didn’t even know she was on the committee, which speaks volumes to committee culture in Hong Kong.
So why didn’t I follow Alice Mak’s advice, find out where they lived, doorstep them, demand we schmooze over a massively over-priced roast pig with flashing Tao Bao LED lights stuffed in its eye sockets? Because I quickly figured out I didn’t need them and that they were happier sitting around giving their friends contracts to create nonsense than actually attaining “zero accidents on the road”, their stated goal. And I was happier holding them to account than slapping their backs and playing the game the way we’re supposed to.
Obviously this is all very politically naive, but then I am not a politician. I’m just appalled how the government has shifted the goalposts from “any law-abiding patriot can stand in the election” of a few months ago to “only those who’ve wined and dined a secret group of people for the last 28 years are eligible”.
If you don’t know the nomination committee, it’s not because we’ve hidden them, it’s because you’re not up to the job. That’s grossly unfair to candidates from all walks of life who may not be marching in step with one particular district management style.
And rather than admit this, the government is now claiming those who can’t find nominators are lying or stirring trouble. Trying to “discredit the election” or “incite hatred against the government”.
Are you receiving me?
The biggest lie of the election is that the government has provided a contact system for candidates to reach nominees.
There’s no contact system, or if there is, it’s entirely unreasonable and impractical.
What they’ll do is forward your email address in a generic email saying “this person has requested contact”.
We candidates are allowed no accompanying text, message, request for nomination or attachment.
John Lee says the nominator can then decide “whether to give the candidate the nomination”. Based on what? We can’t even send a single 8-bit character. It’s very misleading for him to say this, unless candidates are supposed to be judged solely on their email address. The committee member has no obligation to respond and, given around 200 of these “requests” have already been forwarded, it’s unlikely many will.
I have had exactly TWO responses from this exercise. That’s 1.3% of the 155. Both asking what I wanted and then responding with a non-committal message when I told them I was seeking nomination. I will, of course, continue to follow-up.
Of my own list research, (because, despite what Alice Mak says, I’m not sitting back waiting for the government to spoon-feed me the info I need), I’ve still only had two responses from my calling, visiting boarded-up offices, emailing.
So, please Miss Mak, don’t say I’m not working hard enough. It’s been a full-time job. And stop with this make-believe nonsense that “all” you have to do is be persistent. I am one of the most persistent mofos in the city, I’m not giving up on this list but time is running out. Nominations open on Tuesday for less than two weeks – and forms need to be physically signed by the nine secret committee nominators and 50 district voters. I understand now why Anglican churchman and flag-waver Peter Koon spent $30,000 on chauffeur services for the three day LegCo nomination period – that’s a lot of running around for a candidate with a day job, even assuming you’re in good contact with them and they all want to support you.
Hopefully I’ll be seeing some of you on the campaign trail next week: do come say hi if you see me around Kowloon City with banner and leaflets!
This is a little unfair. Bite me.
Alice Mak says we should just show up at schools and demand to see the principal. Let’s see how that works out…