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Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact free rant unfiltered by rational argument.

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28/4/2018 1 Comment

Workplace Violence is OK in LegCo.

Ted Hui, assaulter of women.

Workplace violence is unacceptable. Except when a male politician attacks a female civil servant in our parliament. That’s the tacit line taken by politicians Claudia Mo and Audrey Yu, who seek to defend an attacker. Their assertions beggar belief.

I’ve written before about the loutish behaviour of Hong Kong’s democrat community. Just when you think they’ve learnt a lesson, along comes the next clown to prove these people are clueless. The democrats claim that Beijing is working to undermine them at every turn. Well, Beijing doesn’t need to disrupt their standing. They are capable of that without any help or cajoling from anyone.

In the past, they’ve thrown things at officials, threatened harm, and created a scene to garner attention. The LegCo chamber looks like a circus rather than a place of honest debate. Hiding behind their status, they evoke privileges to do things that would earn criminal charges for ordinary folk.

In the latest episode, Democratic Legislator Ted Hui attacked a female civil servant. He snatched her phone and papers, then ran into a toilet. He then appears to have accessed the phone’s contents. I don’t use the word ‘allegedly’ because Hui has admitted most of this in a series of cringe-worthy apologies. This repeated genuflecting has taken on a farcical tone. Standing like a silly schoolboy, head bowed, chastened; he refused to answer questions.

And the best bit. Mr Hui is a solicitor. He’s not some unknowing dilettante or street-thug with no understanding of the law. He’s a member of Hong Kong’s legal fraternity. A fact that speaks volumes about the quality of that profession.

According to reports, Hui now faces possible charges for his disgusting actions. Robbery, theft and indecent assault may be suitable depending on the evidence. Even his party has turned against him, although they are wobbling on what to do next.

Meanwhile, Claudia Mo has declined to stand with her sisters to decry this attack on a woman. Instead, she makes mealy-mouthed excuses, folding the truth in a contortion of spitefulness. Mo and her cohort don’t wish to see Hui censured. In other words, they give an endorsement to an attack on a female.

Even the strident Emily Lau, former head of the Democrats, and not above creating scene, has condemned Hui. She has not chosen to sanction violence against women, something Claudia Mo appears willing to do.

But why has this sort of thing developed? For too long the lunatic fringe in the democratic movement has held sway. Staging stunts to create publicity they've pushed the boundaries. All this lowers the bar on acceptable behaviour. Norms of civilised conduct eroded as Long Hair threw bananas, while Claudia Mo yelled like a banshee. Aggression, threats and violence is the new benchmark.

These antics then spill over to the streets. Young protesters took their cue from these legislators. Some believed it’s acceptable to assault security guards and police officers. When the courts finally get involved, after lengthy delays, it comes as a shock to face jail. Without a hint of shame, the democrats, who fostered this environment, lay the blame on the government. ‘Alice in Wonderland’ twisting of the truth fills their speech. Words such as ‘crack-down’ and ‘suppression’ weaponised to undermine legitimate legal processes.

Hui joins a steady line of democrats facing legal proceedings. In most cases, their arrogance and sheer foolishness brought the downfall. Before Hui, we had Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang (his real name) and Yau Wai-ching. Both won stunning election victories in 2016. Then they threw it away with childish stunts during their oath taking. Next, we have Leung Kwok-hung, Lau Siu-lai, Yiu Chung-yim and Nathan Law. All disqualified for failing to make their vows correctly.

Topping this list is prize clown Howard Lam. He’s pending trial for allegedly faking his kidnapping and assault. You can’t make this up.

The democrats appear to be on a suicide mission. It would be entertaining, except it undermines our governance. However, we’ve learnt a valuable lesson from this episode, the likes of Claudia Mo and Audrey Yu are willing to sacrifice their sisters for cheap political gain.

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27/4/2018 0 Comments

Friday Cartoon.

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26/4/2018 2 Comments

Windrush - Is anyone surprised?

The shocking treatment of the Windrush generation by the UK scratched an old sore of mine. The whole saga is no surprise. It avows my view that you need to hold officials, and their mealy-mouthed political masters, to account. I realise this is not a unique opinion, but experiencing it first-hand is affirming.

In the late 1940s and 1950s, a struggling UK sought people from the colonies to rebuild a nation broken by war. Cheap labour from the West Indies arrived on the first ship ‘Empire Windrush’. Hence a generational name. On arrival simple ‘landing cards’ recorded personal details. This process was the only documentation of new arrivals for many years to come.

Move forward many decades. The Windrush folks have toiled in hospitals, kept public transport running, paid their taxes, raised families.

Then things start to go astray. With the 'landing cards' destroyed in 2009 or 2010 (depending who you believe) they can't prove they've landed legally. Meanwhile, an aggressive Home Office is pursuing them. Theresa May laid the foundations of this approach during her tenure as Home Secretary. As many have no documents, they're trapped. Denied access to medical care, some face deportation, as their lives get torn apart.

Meanwhile, the politicians are busy pointing fingers at each other as a human tragedy unfolds. The countries moral standing is in the toilet. The fact that the Windrush generation is black tinges the whole saga with a hint of racism.

Let's be clear, Britain has a record of double-dealing and insincerity in its immigration policies. In 1948, Clement Attlee, the Labour Prime Minister, sought to acknowledge the debt owed the Empire for helping win the war. He created ‘Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies’. With this status came ‘right of abode’ in the UK. Since then it’s rolled back on those undertakings.

The 1981 British Nationality Act deprived Hong Kong citizens of those rights. Timing is everything. With 1997 negotiations looming, did the UK fear an influx of Hong Kong Chinese? Later in 1983, the UK receded the provisions applying to the Falkland Islanders. It granted them full British citizenship. Admittedly the number involved was small, yet a nasty taste remains in the mouth.

As a serving RHKP officer, these matters come into sharp focus for me in the mid- 1980's. Married to a Hong Kong lady, we had young kids and faced a dilemma. With the return of Hong Kong announced in 1984, I'm encouraged to stay on for continuity. The sudden departure of officers could disrupt policing. And yet the immigration status of my spouse and children remained uncertain.

As negotiations rumbled on between Britain and China, many of us couldn’t wait for answers. In an attempt to provide us reassurance, a series of chinless mandarins arrived from the UK. Politicians, accompanied by patronising officials, relayed the message ‘Britain would act with honour’. It didn’t help that officials couldn't hide their annoyance as we challenged them for details. We were a nuisance, who should shut up.

Some senior police officers were also unhelpful, suggesting we ‘shouldn't rock the boat’. As these men would be gone by 1997, their self-interest was ugly and contemptible.
And yet, the message of ‘honourable’ behaviour didn’t appear to have reached the Home Office. Officers who sought the Home Secretary’s discretion to wave UK residency requirements as members of a 'designated service’ met resistance and rejection. Applications disappeared into the system; then we heard nothing for years. One couple waited three years for a rejection.

Matters came to a head in June 1989. The events in Beijing shook Hong Kong’s confidence. The Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe heard it first hand on 4th July 1989. With nerves frayed, weeks after Tien An Mun, he met with the Hong Kong Police Staff Associations. He took robust views from officers frustrated at the UK's intransigence.

In an attempt to shore up confidence, the UK responded with a meagre offer of 50,000 passports for Hong Kong. The inequity of these arrangements didn't go unrecognised. In a June 1990 Parliamentary debate MP Steven Norris noted:

" ... the extraordinary proposition that if an ethnic Chinese obtains a passport under the scheme and his wife, who is a substantially better position than the ethnic Chinese wife of a British citizen... "

Still, Home Office officials refused to budge. Except that word leaked that officers in specific sensitive departments did get a concession. At the same time, local officers received reassurances in confidential briefings.

Faced with this situation, we opted to go to London. We wrote, visited and canvassed MPs across all parties. In October 1990, we gained a meeting with the cross-party British Hong Kong Parliamentary Group. There was instant understanding and support.

Suddenly, the Home Office awoke. As one MP told us, officials don’t like them prying and asking questions about process. The Home Secretary found himself able to grant an exemption.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department told to cooperate, expedited action. Acting as the UK's agent, it processed and verified applications. Things then got farcical. It was necessary that the wives undergo an English assessment. A Hong Kong official conducted the test, struggling with his pronunciation. Bemused ladies shrugged it off.

The inconvenience we went through was nothing compared to that inflicted on the Windrush generation. I do not suggest to equate the two. The comparison sits in the negative and hostile attitude of the Home Office. Even back in the 1980's, with an opportunity to resolve matters, officials refused to move. They ignored us, scorned us and then only deemed to act as political pressure mounted.

As a vocal, well-resourced group of insiders, we harnessed the media and politicians to campaign. We rejected unworthy voices that told us to keep quiet. Nor would we accept empty verbal assurances. How much more terrible it must be for people without the clout we wielded. It pleases that the Windrush generation's plight is now public. Besides, Mrs May needs to act to restore a sense of decency in the UK.

2 Comments

25/4/2018 0 Comments

Shoot or Don't Shoot!!!

Officer Lam and his Dad

On Monday a man didn’t get shot and die on a Toronto street. Despite the fact he drove through pedestrians, killing ten innocent people. He lived.

As a single police officer moved in to deal with the culprit, Alek Minassian, he claimed to have a gun. Demanding "Shoot me in the head" Minassian is brandishing something in his hand. He points it at the officer. Still, the bad guy doesn’t go down in a hail of gunfire.

"Get down”, officer Ken Lam shouts again and again, as he moves in to restrain Minassian. Lam switches to his baton, holstering his pistol before he applies the handcuffs.

It's not gone unnoticed that this scenario would have played different some 20 miles away in the USA. In all probability, the culprit would have received a single verbal warning before the shooting started. He'd likely be dead.

Some have argued this incident gives weight to the view that the US police are using excessive force. I'm not so sure. Comparisons are fraught with contradictions when so many variables come into play.

During my police career, I was never a ‘gun-guy’. Many of my colleagues took the same view as me; the gun was a tool you'd rather not deploy. While I enjoyed the range courses, the day-to-day carriage of a firearm could prove a nuisance. I can only recall drawing the gun from its holster twice for an operational reason. I never fired it except at the range.

In the early days of my career, the under-powered Colt 38 was secured by a lanyard in a flimsy leather holster. The lanyard was a sensible move. Chasing a pickpocket down Jordan Road, my revolver clattered along behind. Not a good look.

In the 1980s our revolver training consisted of firing at paper targets. You’d be either static standing or kneeling behind a barrier. You fired a single shot, re-assessed and fired again. The target didn’t move except to swivel into view. None of this simulated the distractions we’d face on the streets; traffic noise, people in the way and mayhem.

Later came the video ranges. These proved a vast improvement with evolving stories and real human shapes. Things moved, the lighting changed, and noises acted to distract. The video range put you in the scene to test that you used the appropriate ‘degree of force’. As events unfolded, you’d switch to baton, pepper-spray or revolver. And yet, we never fired multiple-rounds in rapid succession. It was either single shot or two at most. Once hit, the culprit went down. The lights came on as you breathed a sigh of relief.

In 2010, I tasted a different approach to gun training. As 'active shooter’ incidents escalated worldwide, we needed to understand the best international practices. As part of a fact-finding exercise, I found myself undergoing training with a US Police Force. Other officers went elsewhere.

I received a warm welcome. A Brit serving in the Hong Kong Police is an exotic creature to our American cousins. With cultural reference being Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee, it took some time to disavow them of my Kung Fu skills. They qualified me on the Glock pistol. Then my actions somewhat perplexed the instructors.

Put through a scenario in the 'combat house' with an actor firing paintball rounds back at me; I soon discovered my single shot approach didn’t work. With a moving culprit in cover, he kept coming back at me.

Covered in bruises, I soon learnt to multi-fire. Double-tap, keep going until he was down and out. Then quick reload. Put through the drill again and again; car stops, room clearing and always rapid fire. The thing with training is that it works. You revert to things practised as muscle memory kicks in.

You can argue that the US police approach is aggressive, that it will result in deaths. This assessment is a misreading not only of the training but the logic behind the drills.

In the US, because of the prevalence of guns, officers face a significant threat at each encounter. Moreover, events have shown that when they don't act the consequences can be tragic. Officer survival is paramount, it forms the basis of training and shapes policy. Some are on edge with disproportionate responses. Thus the deaths of young black men encountering US Police remains an issue of grave concern.

Officer Lam of Toronto deserves recognition for his cool and well-executed capture of Minassian. But to extrapolate that to cover all incidents is wrong. Every event a police officer encounters is different. He or she doesn't have the luxury of time or the ability to consult before making fatal decisions. For that reason, I'm reluctant to be judgmental of the officer who opts to fire.

Personally speaking, respect belongs to the officer who is actually in the arena, who faces a threat with adrenaline pumping. Striving valiantly to do the right thing, some will err, some come up short or adjudged incorrect. Still, they deserve credit. Even failing merits acclaim over those cold and timid souls who are critical but neither know victory or defeat for fear.

If any lessons or comparisons are to be drawn, it may be worth assessing the training and coaching given officers. Escalating to firearms can become a reflex action if the threat is the only issue in an officer's mind. The quality of training must have an impact on the outcome of incidents. In the US training is far from consistent, with smaller police forces struggling to provide standardised regular coaching.

US Police academies spend on average about 110 hours training recruits on firearms skills and self-defence. Conflict management, mediation and appreciation of situations are covered in eight hours. Meanwhile, the Canadian Police training places a high emphasis on de-escalating situations. Canada’s far lower rate of gun crime certainly plays a role in shaping their approach. Yet it’s something the US needs to consider in the long-term if its to reduce the average 980 people killed each year by police shooting.

A side-note: Officer Ken Lam’s father served in the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.

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