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  • Walter's Blog.
  • Home
  • Introduction
  • About Walter
    • 1980 Joining Up - Grafton Street >
      • Arrival and First Impressions
      • First Week
      • Training
      • Passing Out
    • Yaumati Cowboy >
      • Getting on the Streets
      • Tempo of the City
      • Jumpers, pill poppers and the indoor BBQ
      • Into a Minefield.
    • Why Tango in Paris, when you can Foxtrot in Kowloon? >
      • Baptism By Fire
      • Kai Tak with Mrs Thatcher.
      • Home; The Boy Returns
  • 1984 - 1986
    • PTU Instructor & Getting Hitched
    • Having a go: SDU
    • Starting a Chernobyl family
    • EOD - Don't touch anything
    • Semen Stains and the rules
  • 1987 to 1992 - Should I Stay or Go?
    • Blue Lights, Sirens & Grenades
    • Drugs, Broken Kids & A Plane Crash
    • 600 Happy Meals Please!
    • Hong Kong's Best Insurance
  • Crime in Hong Kong
    • Falling Crime Rates - Why?
    • Triads
  • History of Hong Kong Policing
    • History 1841 to 1941
    • History 1945 to 1967
    • Anatomy of the 50 cent Riot - 1966
    • The Fall of a Commissioner.
    • History 1967 to 1980
    • Three Wise Men from the West
    • The Blue Berets.
    • The African Korps and other tribes.
    • Getting About - Transport.
    • A Pub in every station
    • Bullshit Bingo & Meetings
  • Top 20 Films
    • 2001 - A Space Odyssey.
    • The Godfather.
    • Blade Runner
    • Kes
    • Star Wars
    • Aliens
    • Ferris Bueller's Day Off
    • The Life of Brian
    • Dr Strangelove.
    • Infernal Affairs
    • Bridge on the River Kwai.
    • This Is Spinal Tap.
    • Chung King Express
    • An Officer and a Gentleman
    • PTU
    • Contact
    • Saving Private Ryan
    • Family Guy Star Wars
    • Zulu
    • Hard Day's Night
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Walter's Blog

Reflections on recent events, plus the occasional fact
free rant unfiltered by rational argument.
 
"If you want to read a blog to get a sense of what is going on in Hong Kong these days or a blog that would tell you what life was like living in colonial Hong Kong, this blog, WALTER'S BLOG, fits the bill."  Hong Kong Blog Review
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12/5/2019 1 Comment

This Great Stage of Fools

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Democracy is about consensus, give and take; it's not about abuse, violence nor giving and taking punches.

​Thus, the scene that unfolded in our LegCo chamber on Saturday morning is both shocking and frightening. Matters have moved beyond rational debate into the realm of the beer-hall putsch. 


We could debate the merits of the extradition bill, LegCo procedures and house-rules, but there is no point. Neither side is listening nor has any willingness to listen.

In my opinion, if you wanted to give democracy a bad name, you couldn't have staged a better performance. 


The litmus test of a real democratic system is when you lose a debate or vote, you take it with good grace and struggle on through legitimate channels.

When the USA elected Donald Trump, Obama didn't block his way to the White House or surround him with yelling goons. No, he acted with dignity. Even Hilary Clinton had the courtesy to turn up at Trump’s inauguration. 


"I'm here today to honour our democracy and its enduring values," Hillary tweeted on the morning of the inauguration in February 2017. 

What values are our lame politicians signalling? If you’re defeated, then it's acceptable to assault and block your opponents physically; use fascist tactics of noise, intimidation and throw yourself at them.​

Then feign injuries by crashing to the floor, to seek sympathy suggesting your opponents caused the harm; if you can get yourself in an ambulance even better. 

My concern is that the brutality we witnessed legitimises the aggression of young hotheads on the streets. Moreover, if so-called democrats politicians can block corridors and doorways, then anyone can. 

They've lowered the bar. I'll make a prediction; the same tactics will soon be used against them. The dye is cast.


So where do we go from here? LegCo has descended into chaos. Reasoned debate is no longer possible in a climate of vitriol.

It's no good Claudia Mo yelling that everyone else is to blame, when her antics and those of her cohort contributed to this mess.

​Each side has erected it barricades; they've dug-in ready for a long battle. 


Meanwhile, they've provided Beijing with all the ammunition it needs to cast doubt on the merits of democracy. 

The BBC reported Humphrey Hawksley observed in his book 'Democracy Kills' … “the British colonial government and, it turned out, the non-democratic Chinese gave Hong Kong people enough dignity, wealth and freedom to make democracy a worthy vision, but not one worth dying for" 


​The so-called democrats are not dying for democracy; they're killing it.
1 Comment
Chris Emmett
12/5/2019 10:31:19 pm

Article 45 of the Basic Law talks of ‘...gradual and orderly progress...’ towards universal suffrage. Yes, there are caveats but when the Beijing hard-liners see this, they must be raising a glass to the Pandems.

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    Walter De Havilland was one of the last of the colonial coppers. He served 35 years in the Royal Hong Kong Police and Hong Kong Police Force. He's long retired. 

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