The Cobra
"According to sources, the 'horizontal mambo' is the most popular dance."
Actions have consequences, and those consequences can be unforeseen. Fortunately, history is a great teacher if you bother to look. India, under British rule, experienced a surge in deaths due to venomous cobras, especially in Delhi. Keen to show a caring face, officials offered a bounty for every dead cobra. In no time, the savvy folks of Delhi had cobra breeding pens at home as they capitalised on the prize.
Officials realised the deceit, cancelled the bounty, and the citizens released the cobras into the wild. Soon, Delhi had even more cobras, and deaths escalated. Hence the 'Cobra effect'.
History is littered with such lessons. French colonials in Vietnam, fearful of a burgeoning rat population, offered a reward for rat tails.
Rat catchers went around removing tails and then releasing the rats to breed in the sewers—a nice earner for rat catchers, with no decrease in rat numbers. China's 'four-pests' campaign is another example.
More recently, carbon credits have proved a lucrative source of income for companies. In 2003, the European Union gave industries disposing of polluting gases cash for their environmental efforts, except that the companies churned out more of the most noxious gases for no other reason than to get paid. Carbon credits made these noxious gases profitable. By 2013, the EU wised up.
I'm curious if our officials study history because they've announced a $ 5,000 HK reward to folks infected with COVID-19. Granted, they've applied some payment stipulations, but these look surmountable and imprecise. There is no means test. Let's be clear: some people will go to catch COVID-19 to secure payment. Social media is already alive with chats of possible Covid parties.
Meanwhile, citizens who play by the rules, wear masks and practice social distancing go unrewarded. Is Hong Kong the only place paying people to become sick? It seems like it.
The government is struggling to refute claims from the medical profession that compulsory testing will drive carriers underground. The argument goes that the working poor, who can't afford to forfeit days off work, won't come forward for testing. If that's the rationale, then $ 5,000 HK is a token gesture with potentially terrible consequences.
Are any infamous 'dance cluster' in line for a payout? What does the majority of the population think? Absolutely nothing annoys the public more than the idea of rule-breakers being rewarded. Their money is being siphoned off to support the utterly irresponsible.
For the uninitiated, the 'dance cluster' is grabbing the Covid headlines. It's a story with all the tasty elements of a scandal: wealthy 'senior' ladies attending dance lessons with young male 'instructors' who are less well off. The instructors are primarily Eastern European men, some with dubious claims to royal blood. Until now, these 'dance clubs' have operated below the radar. According to sources, the 'horizontal mambo' is the most popular dance. The 'dance cluster' is blamed for our current case surge.
For a long time, it has struck me that officials either don't know or are blind to the mini-cultures and sub-groups in our society. The question needs asking 'Has anyone conducted an audit of activities that present a high risk of Covid transmission because of behaviours?'.
The recent terrible fire in Jordan and the 'dance cluster' suggest the authorities don't have the whole picture. Reports of private parties in hotels, rented apartments and boats are circulating. There is much going on in the veiled corners of society where officials aren't inclined to look. Is the next cluster coming from there?
Instead of throwing public money around with potentially adverse repercussions, how about grappling with risks proactively? Then, put in place early interventions. Would I be straining creditability to suggest an excellent place to start would be Hong Kong's one-woman brothels, which daily serve hundreds of thousands of customers? Is there any action on that potential infection route? Or is Carrie and her team too prudish to recognise the reality of life?
The government has done well in the seemingly endless war of attrition against COVID-19, although the recent clusters suggest a dysfunctional approach in parts. Lastly, there is no word yet on a vaccine programme for Hong Kong. Other places are moving ahead to make plans. Come on, Carrie!
November 2020.
Officials realised the deceit, cancelled the bounty, and the citizens released the cobras into the wild. Soon, Delhi had even more cobras, and deaths escalated. Hence the 'Cobra effect'.
History is littered with such lessons. French colonials in Vietnam, fearful of a burgeoning rat population, offered a reward for rat tails.
Rat catchers went around removing tails and then releasing the rats to breed in the sewers—a nice earner for rat catchers, with no decrease in rat numbers. China's 'four-pests' campaign is another example.
More recently, carbon credits have proved a lucrative source of income for companies. In 2003, the European Union gave industries disposing of polluting gases cash for their environmental efforts, except that the companies churned out more of the most noxious gases for no other reason than to get paid. Carbon credits made these noxious gases profitable. By 2013, the EU wised up.
I'm curious if our officials study history because they've announced a $ 5,000 HK reward to folks infected with COVID-19. Granted, they've applied some payment stipulations, but these look surmountable and imprecise. There is no means test. Let's be clear: some people will go to catch COVID-19 to secure payment. Social media is already alive with chats of possible Covid parties.
Meanwhile, citizens who play by the rules, wear masks and practice social distancing go unrewarded. Is Hong Kong the only place paying people to become sick? It seems like it.
The government is struggling to refute claims from the medical profession that compulsory testing will drive carriers underground. The argument goes that the working poor, who can't afford to forfeit days off work, won't come forward for testing. If that's the rationale, then $ 5,000 HK is a token gesture with potentially terrible consequences.
Are any infamous 'dance cluster' in line for a payout? What does the majority of the population think? Absolutely nothing annoys the public more than the idea of rule-breakers being rewarded. Their money is being siphoned off to support the utterly irresponsible.
For the uninitiated, the 'dance cluster' is grabbing the Covid headlines. It's a story with all the tasty elements of a scandal: wealthy 'senior' ladies attending dance lessons with young male 'instructors' who are less well off. The instructors are primarily Eastern European men, some with dubious claims to royal blood. Until now, these 'dance clubs' have operated below the radar. According to sources, the 'horizontal mambo' is the most popular dance. The 'dance cluster' is blamed for our current case surge.
For a long time, it has struck me that officials either don't know or are blind to the mini-cultures and sub-groups in our society. The question needs asking 'Has anyone conducted an audit of activities that present a high risk of Covid transmission because of behaviours?'.
The recent terrible fire in Jordan and the 'dance cluster' suggest the authorities don't have the whole picture. Reports of private parties in hotels, rented apartments and boats are circulating. There is much going on in the veiled corners of society where officials aren't inclined to look. Is the next cluster coming from there?
Instead of throwing public money around with potentially adverse repercussions, how about grappling with risks proactively? Then, put in place early interventions. Would I be straining creditability to suggest an excellent place to start would be Hong Kong's one-woman brothels, which daily serve hundreds of thousands of customers? Is there any action on that potential infection route? Or is Carrie and her team too prudish to recognise the reality of life?
The government has done well in the seemingly endless war of attrition against COVID-19, although the recent clusters suggest a dysfunctional approach in parts. Lastly, there is no word yet on a vaccine programme for Hong Kong. Other places are moving ahead to make plans. Come on, Carrie!
November 2020.
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