2012 has been a funny year, with
protests and anger at the government on a scale that we’ve not seen in
Hong Kong for almost a decade. Each successive scandal has exposed just
what an old boys’ club it is in our top tiers of government—but hey, at
the end of the day (or year), you just gotta laugh, right? We’ve rounded
up some of the most ridiculous, juicily scandalous stories of the last
12 months.
In other countries, sex and money are usually the cause of a
politician’s downfall. But here in Hong Kong, it was our officials’
illegal structures that ruined them. Former Chief Secretary for
Administration Henry Tang—who had long been tipped as Beijing’s favorite
candidate to succeed Donald Tsang as Chief Executive—found himself out
of a job after his illegal “underground palace” was revealed by the
press. The surprise discovery led to a media frenzy, with many news
outlets hiring cranes to peer into Tang’s Kowloon Tong mansion. Rival CY
Leung exploited the opportunity to attack Tang, portraying himself as
someone with integrity, and eventually scored the top job. However, in
June, local media discovered that Leung himself also had a bunch of
illegal structures at his home in the Peak. Leung, a professional
surveyor, had lied about the existence of his own illegal structures; he
refused to explain the incident to the public for several months,
citing a lawsuit. He has also refused to accept responsibility for the
debacle.
In addition to appearing on their husbands’ arms at public functions,
politicians’ wives have a new role in Hong Kong: to take the fall for
any indiscretions dear hubby has incurred while in office. The trend
began with former Tang, who said it was his wife’s idea to build the
aforementioned “underground palace” in his mansion. His old boss and
former CE Donald Tsang adopted the same strategy when he was embroiled
in a scandal for getting a bargain lease on his retirement home, a
6,000-square-foot flat in Shenzhen. Tsang said he needed so much space
because his wife had so many posessions. Two new members of the BMW club
include development minister Paul Chan and Executive Council member
Franklin Lam. When it was revealed that Chan owned an illegally
subdivided flat, he claimed that it was his wife’s business, while Lam
said his wife was the one behind the selling his two luxury flats before
the implementation of the special stamp duty.
Hong Kong is known as the city of demonstrations, but it’s rare that a
single prop can cause as much controversy as the colonial flag has in
the last year. Former Beijing officials—including Chen Zuoer and Lu
Ping—were infuriated with the constant sightings of the British-Hong
Kong flag; they couldn’t stop complaining about how it made them upset,
and even went as far as saying that a secessionist movement was taking
root in Hong Kong. Ironically, this only upset Hongkongers even further,
and now we find ourselves in a negative feedback loop of flag-waving
and offense-taking.
The anti-graft body has had a busy year. Not only has it had to deal
with Donald Tsang’s boat trips to Macau, Henry Tang’s illegal structures
and CY Leung’s false statements (he claimed that he had no unauthorized
additions in his home) during the elections, but ICAC investigators
also made one of their most high-profile arrests ever since the body’s
establishment 38 years ago. In March, the ICAC arrested Sun Hung Kai
Properties co-chairmen Thomas Kwok and Raymond Kwok, and former Chief
Secretary for Administration Raphael Hui. It was alleged that Hui
received $40 million in bribes from the Kwok brothers between 2000 and
2009.
Thanks
to ATV, the Communications Authority had to handle a record number of
complaints in 2012. As everyone knows that hardly anyone watches ATV, it
really is quite an achievement to receive so many complaints from such a
small audience. The authority received more than 42,000 complaints from
the public after an episode of ATV Focus, which labeled activist group
Scholarism a “destructive” force. As if that didn’t not give the
Communications Authority enough to chew over, ATV also staged a protest
to deter the government from issuing new free TV licenses and
broadcasted it live. The program won ATV another 2,200 complaints. The
complaints related to ATV this year actually equals the total number of
complaints the Communications Authority [its predecessor was called the
Broadcasting Authority] has received in a decade.
Hunger strikes are usually kind of a joke in Hong Kong, because most
of them only last a day or so. But earlier this year, a real hunger
strike took place to protest against the proposed national education
curriculum. Three teenagers from the student organization Scholarism:
Lily Wong, Ivan Lam and a young man who called himself Kaiser—all aged
18—stopped eating for 56 hours to protest against the implementation of a
required, mainland-mandated patriotic course. Encouraged by the trio,
25 adults, including parents, teachers and academics, continued the
hunger strike. Among the protesters, retired teacher James Hon was the
most persistent, refusing food for 171 hours. Moved by the hunger
strikes, thousands of Hongkongers visited the Central Government Offices
over nine consecutive nights. At the peak of the occupation, more than
120,000 Hongkongers, clad in black, had stationed themselves at Tamar in
protest.
Any Hongkonger knows that elections in Hong Kong—whether it’s for the
Chief Executive, Legco or the District Council—are all for show, as the
real decisions are made up north. However, we gotta say that it was a
heart-warming moment when about 230,000 citizens lined up for hours
outside polling stations just to cast a mock vote in the Chief Executive
election. The civil referendum, the brainchild of Dr. Robert Chung of
the HKU Public Opinion Program, received little attention at first.
However, a large number of Hongkongers decided to participate after the
polling system was attacked by hackers (believed to have been from the
mainland). Hongkongers are still chasing the ever-elusive idea of
universal suffrage, but this little incident showed that we are united
in the pursuit of democracy.
In April, singer Anthony Wong wowed the public by coming out on stage
at the end of Tat Ming Pair’s 25th anniversary concert—the only openly
gay singer in Hong Kong in nine years (the last one being the late
Leslie Cheung). Wong’s bold move seemed to encourage other well-known
figures to follow: we now have our first openly gay lawmaker Ray Chan;
popular singer Denise Ho also came out as a lesbian at the pride parade.
On another note, heiress Gigi Chao married her long-time girlfriend
Sean Yeung in France. However, her father, tycoon Cecil Chao, could not
accept the happy union. He told the press that his daughter isn’t a
lesbian, and even offered a dowry of $500 million to whoever would be
his “future son-in-law.” The incident grabbed global attention, and Gigi
has since been bombarded with thousands of missives from would-be
suitors.
After more than two years, the government finally dropped its plans
to demolish the West Wing of the old Central Government Offices and
erect a commercial building on the site. Government Hill—which has stood
testament to Hong Kong’s 170-year history—will be preserved and used as
office space by the Judiciary.
The waters of Lung Mei in Tai Po are so dirty that no one really
wants to swim there, but that little detail isn’t going to prevent a
manmade beach from being built, paving the way for more lucrative
property development. Obviously, it’s the property developers and
land-owning indigenous villagers who will pocket massive gains from
these projects. Sadly, it comes at a high ecological price—Lung Mei is
home to many marine creatures.
Tensions have been escalating between mainlanders and Hongkongers,
and the climax came when a group of netizens raised more than $100,000
in less than a week to buy a full-page advertisement in the Apple Daily.
The poster showed a large pack of locusts [the propagator does not
admit that the insects on the poster are locusts], to symbolize
mainlanders stealing welfare services and resources from Hongkongers.
Some people decried the xenophobic nature of the poster, but
nevertheless, it seemed to strike a chord among many.
Roughly 150 tons of plastic pellets were swept into the sea after
Typhoon Vicente—Hong Kong’s first signal-10 storm in 13 years—passed
through our city. These translucent pellets posed a threat to marine
life, because they could be eaten by animals that would then absorb
their toxins. The government did nothing until the expat community in
Discovery Bay alerted the public to the plastic disaster. It was
encouraging to see so many people volunteer to clean up the coastline,
but some nurdles (now that’s a new word we learned this year) still
remain on our beaches.
Man of the Year:
1. Illegal Structures
2. The Golden Face Mask Award for Epidemic of the Year:
Blame My Wife (BMW) Syndrome
3. Runner Up:
The Colonial Flag
4. Busybody Award for the Busiest Official Body:
The ICAC
5. Runner-Up:
The Communications Authority
Thanks
to ATV, the Communications Authority had to handle a record number of
complaints in 2012. As everyone knows that hardly anyone watches ATV, it
really is quite an achievement to receive so many complaints from such a
small audience. The authority received more than 42,000 complaints from
the public after an episode of ATV Focus, which labeled activist group
Scholarism a “destructive” force. As if that didn’t not give the
Communications Authority enough to chew over, ATV also staged a protest
to deter the government from issuing new free TV licenses and
broadcasted it live. The program won ATV another 2,200 complaints. The
complaints related to ATV this year actually equals the total number of
complaints the Communications Authority [its predecessor was called the
Broadcasting Authority] has received in a decade.6. The Real Heroes of 2012:
Anti-National Education Hunger Strikers
7. The Golden Ballot Award for Fake Election of the Year:
HKU’s “Civil Referendum”
8. The Fight For Gay Rights
Hong Kong has a long way to go in terms of achieving LGBT equality, but there have been at least a few events that sparked public discussion about gay rights in our city.Yay: Celebrities Come Out
Nay: Sexual Orientation Equality Bill Consultation Voted Down by Legislators
Moments like this make you wonder if Hong Kong is still stuck in the Middle Ages. In November, lawmaker Cyd Ho of the Labour Party started a motion calling the government to start a consultation on a gay rights law. The motion would not have led directly to legislation—just a chance for discussion—but nonetheless, it was rejected by the conservative, pro-Beijing bloc.9. Triumphs of Heritage Preservation Vs. Meaningless Development
The government is obsessed with developing Hong Kong, but there have been some victories in halting the meaningless destruction of certain monuments.Win: The West Wing of the Old Central Government Offices
Win: Tsim Sha Tsui Bus Terminal
The bus terminal next to the Star Ferry was going to be bulldozed to make way for a public piazza. However, in August, the government made a surprise announcement: the plan to redevelop the terminal had been shelved. Activist group Our Bus Terminal had been fighting to preserve the terminal since 2009. Finally, a happy ending.Fail: Lung Mei Beach
10. The Running Dog Shield for Most Effectively Hurting the Feelings of the Politburo Winner:
The Locust Poster
11. Environmental Disaster of the Year
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