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The patriots are not competent and the competent are insufficiently patriotic.

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  1. #1

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    The patriots are not competent and the competent are insufficiently patriotic.

    So there is an article in the SCMP by commentator Mike Rowse lamenting the state of HK politics as it arguably reaches it nadir with this Beijing imposed election changes. But there is one sentence he wrote which neatly encapsulates the whole problem, when he argues that Bejing is frustrated by the fact that:

    " the patriots are not competent and the competent are insufficiently patriotic."



    https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion...ys-future-must

    That in a nutshell is the root cause of many of the govenrance problems in HK since the handover. But there is a bigger question raised by the above sentence that the article didn't really acknowledge adequately, Beijing's own complicity in creating that problem in the first place. Beijing shot down any attempt to introduce wider democracy and more representative government. It instead insist on unquestioning loyalty and obedience to the diktats of the CCP. But the problem is, many "competent" HK folks do not enjoy working as a mere "cog in the machine", especially to a "machine" that is unaccountable, demanding and unyielding to reason, one that disposes of you when you when you are no longer deemed "useful", no matter how much loyalty you gave to it previously. So the CCP demands total loyalty but disposes of (or even punish) the people that worked for it the moment their usefulness is up, without so much as a blink or acknowledgement of their past contribution. How would "competent" people enjoy working for such an organization in HK?

    So the only loyal people that Beijing could attract are of course lapdogs, scums and scoundrels. These people know they cannot amass power or influence based on their own merit or ability, so they have to do it through displays of fealty to Beijing. Problem is, as Beijing openly have said, in their own words, these are "pro-establishment garbage", short on intelligence and ability and only capable of being yes-men, and not competent yes-men at that. But again, Beijing never stopped to think why that is the case? It only see a problem, it never questions why that is the case, or its own role in contributing to this problem.

    And of course, the ever more radical action by pro-democrats is also caused by their frustration over Beijing's own broken promises in greater democratic representation. Even so, the pro-democrats are not without faults of their own, that I can acknowledge too. Some of them advocated extreme positions and oppose anything the government does, not based on substantive issues, but simply to win votes. But again, why is that the case? Again, Beijing has a share of blame here. They explicitly made sure the opposiiton can never win power or form a government in HK. So with the prospect of actually being responsible for governing HK ruled out, some of the radical pro-democrats can act irresponsibly, because they don't have to face the consequences of their action when they are actually have to govern the city.

    Unless Beijing develops some self-reflection ability (fat chance of that happening), I don't see how this "incompetence" issue will go away with these "election reforms".

    Or am I...wrong?

    Last edited by Coolboy; 21-03-2021 at 06:14 PM.
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  2. #2

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    Are you suggesting I got paid for writing that? I don't think you are familiar with my position, in that case. I am just tired of the SCMP missing the key points again and again.

    Face it, incompetence is caused Beijing's own action. Or are you saying that is actually not the case?
    Last edited by Coolboy; 21-03-2021 at 06:23 PM.
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  3. #3

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    Nah, I'm not Rowse, I got better things to do then getting screwed over by Disney. Apologies for misunderstanding your comment. Interesting, it is rather ironic for Rowse to say that...incompetence.
    Last edited by Coolboy; 21-03-2021 at 06:30 PM.

  4. #4

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    If you think Mike or the organisation he ran successfully on an upward curve of achievement, is incompetent then your intellectual level is nearer moronic than imbisilic. Of course you're probably just repeating the oft thrown rotten eggs of the offices efforts to get HK open again after SARS. His efforts led to a decade of continual growth attracting new investment year on year. All facts published and vetted.

    Compare that with the present situation, with or without Covid, as the investments and expertise are draining away. Having personally benefited from Mike and his organisation back in the day, I say he is head and shoulders, knees and toes above this present lot and idiots like you. Considering your level of mental understanding I expect you would fit right in with this present lot.
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  5. #5

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    I wouldn’t call Mike Rowse completely incompetent but he does display a bizarre (however in this region of the world often seen in older white males) inability to see the failings in himself and the government.

    Just listen to him on the HoHoHo podcast recently where he revealed that as the chief negotiator for the government on Disneyland, he had zero experience in negotiations. And when it came to the political situation he seems quite clearly happy to insinuate that Martin Lee and all the very pedestrian (and frankly also a bit old school but upright) democrats were all paid instigators for the CIA
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    So, will the (political) incompetence problem become even worse after the electoral changes? I suspect so...I mean, how could it get better? Or is there a way?


  7. #7

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    Yeah, it does seem too convenient for this party to suddenly pop up out of nowhere. No doubt Beijing groomed it behind-the-scenes. Whether they would be any more competent though than the existing pro-establishment garbage is another question though...

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Coolboy:
    So, will the (political) incompetence problem become even worse after the electoral changes? I suspect so...I mean, how could it get better? Or is there a way?
    Absolutely not. 20 years of near zero policy chnages the city is ripe for massive step change improvements and tackling long term vested interests. There should be a huge improvements in the coming couple of years

  9. #9

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    We have a number of armchair experts on this forum who have all the answers for making Hong Kong a better city for the citizenry at large. As many have aptly opined, it is mostly a question of standing up to the monopolistic vested interests.

    Taking a look over the border, one notices that a strength of the CCP has been an ability to deliver broad-based quality of life improvements to the masses, when it wants to.

    Look how the weather vane is blowing now. Oligarchs will get less wealthy, and the people at the bottom (those who stay here) will have cheaper flats. But don't expect more democracy. That is what the Bauhinia Party 'offers'.


  10. #10

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    Fully agree there have been QOL improvements on the Mainland, but have those exceeded those achieved by the Asian Tigers decades earlier? It seems many of the younger generation are also struggling with affording housing there too, I wouldn’t be so quick to proclaim victory on the individual front for the median younger person. In fact, one could suggest they might be feeding the nationalistic bear and collective progress to distract from their individual misery, with quite some success.

    On the original topic, the two Tsangs seem slightly closer to the threshold of competent and “patriotic”, but maybe not if that is defined having no original thoughts in your head, so it may be a question of selection not just pure availability (there’s certainly a lot of deadweight, but that’s the type you do attract in those conditions).

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