Philip Wong's famous middle finger!

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  1. #1

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    The famous middle finger ...

    Asked shortly after the incident whether he should apologise, Mr Wong said the gesture was the way he wanted to express himself. He said there was nothing wrong in making the gesture.

    "Everybody chooses to express themselves in different ways, just like some of you like to protest,'' he said. "You cannot take that [raising a middle finger] away from me.''
    In reference to Mr Wong flipping off the demonstrators last night.

  2. #2

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    Remarks by the same bum the following day were a wee bit different! Sobering effect of Legco-served alcohol wearing off or instinct for self-preservation talking?

    The ink hasn't yet dried on the govt's citation for Golden Bauhinia Star award "in recognition of his distinguished public and community service" when his true feelings (aided by alcohol) towards a good part of the ordinary public and community slip out.

    This OCTS experiment has become more absorbing with the passage of a few years!


  3. #3

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    a cartoon AND an editorial......

    things are heating up for Phillip "the finger" Wong, but look at it this way ,when he runs for Chief Executive his digit will have given him a head start.

    following is from the unlinkable SCMP

    Friday, July 11, 2003

    EDITORIAL/LEADER

    Pointed example of what's wrong with Legco
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Like a character from central casting, Philip Wong Yu-hong played the role of the insensitive lawmaker perfectly on Wednesday night. While 50,000 demonstrators gathered around the Legislative Council building to politely ask for better performance from their government, Mr Wong was filmed raising a middle finger and smiling mischievously as an official minibus whisked him from the scene. Given the current political climate, he may have a hard time living this one down - and perhaps he should not be allowed to.
    If the gesture was symbolic of anything, it would be the gulf that exists between the general public and most of the legislators who have been elected by functional constituencies. As they answer only to the vested interests in their own professions, there is little motivation for them to brush up on public relations skills or appeal for wider support. Considering that Mr Wong has been a rock-solid supporter of government policies within Legco, down to the push to keep functional constituencies beyond 2007, no one expects him to share the views of the demonstrators. However, the arrogance and lack of savvy embodied in the gesture still came as a shock.


    The political landscape we have now looks radically different from the one that existed before July 1. Many of the protesters on that day were demonstrating against impending passage of the bill on national security, but a good number also objected to precisely the kind of government Mr Wong represents - government by a few, for the narrow interests of a few, with little room for hearing the concerns of the rest. That day's march and Wednesday's rally must have everyone in government, from the chief executive down, contemplating the reasons behind such displays of unhappiness. Mr Wong's behaviour betrayed wilful ignorance of the change of wind, or worse, no concern about it.

    The apology was swift but hardly reassuring. He said he had been drinking alcohol on Wednesday evening (Legco serves alcohol to members). He said he made the gesture after someone in the crowd had made the same obscene gesture to him first.

    Some lawmakers are urging disciplinary action, though there is little leeway for such a step because the incident happened outside the Legco chamber. The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, which elected Mr Wong to Legco, has been silent. It is likely there will be no more than a slap on the wrist coming his way in the near future. He will soon be presented with a Golden Bauhinia Award, one of the highest honours Hong Kong can bestow. However, Mr Wong may have undermined the cause of keeping the functional constituencies by reminding Hong Kong people why they want the chance to choose their representatives.


  4. #4

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    Here's a picture of Phillip Wong's salute to democracy.

    Three cheers!

    Hic! Hic! Up Yours!
    Hic! Hic! Up Yours!
    Hic! Hic! Up Yours!


  5. #5

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    suitable for framing?

    AIYA!!! ME IS FRAMED!!!


  6. #6

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    Origins of the middle finger salute.

    For all our readers following us from the newsletter, here are the links that I promised.

    A modern day urban legend on how the salute of the middle finger originated.

    http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a980904.html

    In the film Titanic the character Rose is shown giving the finger to Jack, another character. Many people who have seen the film question whether "giving the finger" was done around the time of the Titanic disaster, or was it a more recent gesture invented by some defiant seventh-grader. According to research, here's the true story:

    Before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French, anticipating victory over the English, proposed to cut off the middle finger of all captured English soldiers. Without the middle finger it would be impossible to draw the renowned English longbow and therefore [soldiers would] be incapable of fighting in the future. This famous weapon was made of the native English yew tree, and the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking the yew." Much to the bewilderment of the French, the English won a major upset and began mocking the French by waving their middle fingers at the defeated French, saying, "See, we can still pluck yew!"

    Over the years some "folk etymologies" have grown up around this symbolic gesture. Since "pluck yew" is rather difficult to say, like "pheasant mother plucker," which is who you had to go to for the feathers used on the arrows for the longbow, the difficult consonant cluster at the beginning has gradually changed to a labiodental fricative "f," and thus the words often used in conjunction with the one-finger salute are mistakenly thought to have something to do with an intimate encounter. It is also because of the pheasant feathers on the arrows that the gesture is known as "giving the bird."

    And yew all thought yew knew everything!
    And perhaps a more authentic version of the origins of the pluck yew gesture is this one ..

    Now for the facts. The "one-finger salute," or at any rate sexual gestures involving the middle finger, are thousands of years old. In Gestures: Their Origins and Distribution, Desmond Morris and colleagues note that the digitus infamis or digitus impudicus (infamous or indecent finger) is mentioned several times in the literature of ancient Rome. Turning to our vast classical library, we quickly turn up three references. Two are from the epigrammatist Martial: "Laugh loudly, Sextillus, when someone calls you a queen and put your middle finger out."

    (The verse continues: "But you are no sodomite nor fornicator either, Sextillus, nor is Vetustina's hot mouth your fancy." Martial, and Roman poets in general, could be pretty out there, subject-matter-wise. Another verse begins: "You love to be sodomized, Papylus . . .")

    In the other reference Martial writes that a certain party "points a finger, an indecent one, at" some other people. The historian Suetonius, writing about Augustus Caesar, says the emperor "expelled [the entertainer] Pylades . . . because when a spectator started to hiss, he called the attention of the whole audience to him with an obscene movement of his middle finger." Morris also claims that the mad emperor Caligula, as an insult, would extend his middle finger for supplicants to kiss.

    It's not known whether one displayed the digitus infamis in the same manner that we (well, you) flip the bird today. In another of his books Morris describes a variety of sexual insults involving the middle finger, such as the "middle-finger down prod," the "middle-finger erect," etc., all of which are different from the classic middle-finger jerk. But let's not quibble. The point is, the middle-finger/phallus equation goes back way before the Titanic, the Battle of Agincourt, or probably even that time Sextillus cut off Pylades with his chariot. And I ain't kidding yew.

  7. #7

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    he's at it again!

    Philip Wong Yu-hong (left) "just likes to point a lot".


  8. #8

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    lol.....true


  9. #9

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    One-finger Wong escapes censure

    Legislator Philip Wong was yesterday criticised by colleagues for making a crude gesture towards pro-democracy demonstrators, but he escaped any immediate censure.

    His one-fingered salute, which had plenty of media coverage, drew 438 complaints from television viewers, the Broadcasting Authority said.

    Wong had apologised for his indiscretion but the head of the Democratic Party, Yeung Sum, asked the legislature's Committee on Members' Interests (CMI) to look into the matter.

    Wong, who did not attend yesterday's Legco meeting, said later he did not think his gesture would affect his status in the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. He also said he would not take the matter seriously and would continue to express his opinion when the opportunity arose.

    ``Everyone has the right to express an opinion including legislators,'' Wong said. ``After all, some legislators were even agitating the masses to surround the Legco building.''

    David Chu, chairman of the CMI, said it could not do anything because the issue would need to go before the full Legislative Council, where a two-thirds majority could lead to a member's dismissal.

    Lawmaker Cyd Ho said the gesture was a direct insult to the masses.

    But she called on the public to channel their anger through the media instead of seeking a solution through the legislative process.

    ``Such a humiliating and crude gesture incites public anger,'' lawmaker Audrey Eu said after the meeting. ``Many people think this affects the Legislative Council as a whole.''

    Legislator Sin Chung-kai, deputy chairman of the committee, said he did not think the public would accept the disqualification of a legislator just for making a crude gesture.

    `` I think the image of the Legislative Council would be spoiled to some extent,'' he said. ``I think the matter is not serious enough for us to consider a motion of censure.''

    However, Sin advised all legislators to follow ``a higher ethical standard which the public expects''.

    Outside Legco, a woman surnamed Lee, approached legislator Margaret Ng to protest about Wong's gesture.

    Lee said that Wong had set a bad example to children and had severely damaged the prestige of Legco.

    In reply, Ng advised Lee to write to all legislators and urge them to take action. ``If I have to write letters whenever legislators misbehave, then I would have to write letters every day,'' Lee replied.


  10. #10

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    "Guv" Arnie does a philip

    But I somehow that will effect his chances
    But he should really get a speech writer [or a better one]

    Schwarzenegger, 56, announced his decision during a taping of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," calling it the toughest he's made since deciding to get a bikini wax in 1978.


    "The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing," he said. "The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled and this is why I am going to run for governor."









    Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger repeats his famous line "Hasta la vista, baby" as he refers to California Gov. Gray Davis during taping of "The Tonight Show" in Burbank, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2003.


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