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Lau Nai-keung

There has been a general breakdown of moral ethics in political behaviour in Hong Kong, and the situation is deteriorating quickly.
It began with the collapse of mutual trust. Nothing is secret, as no pledge or understanding is sacred - starting with the Executive Council's stringent code of confidentiality. Private phone conversations are liable to be leaked to the public, and off-the-record and anonymous comments are published with clear attributions.
 The 'big mouth' is the hero for protecting the interests of the public and its right to know, and the one denying the quotes is called a liar.
With this in mind, no public figure will speak out unless they have a private agenda. Instead, they keep silent or, when they are forced to make comments, utter a few politically correct words. 
Government officials in particular are trained to toe the line and avoid making mistakes, and they are accused of being 'human recorders'.
When mutual trust has evaporated, nobody can have any discretion in public decisions, which are supposed to be fully transparent in accordance with pre-set rules and after full consultation with all stakeholders.
 As objections can be raised at any stage and existing rules can be challenged at any time, few decisions can be made. Things are only decided much later when there is no alternative but to reach a consensus as issues have become unbearable. With the loss of mutual trust, the populist media has risen to the occasion, posing as moral-gatekeepers and the Fourth Estate, resulting in the current prevalence of trial by media. Politicians of all sorts are only too happy to go along with this, as they gain media exposure, popularity and votes.
It is now customary to force each and every politician and official to take a stand on hot issues, especially those related to the central government. The recent death of Li Wangyang is a case in point. I sympathise, and agree there are a number of puzzles in this mysterious case, and that is exactly why public figures have to be extra cautious in their comments, especially when this is a matter outside our jurisdiction. 
I can stand young hotheads claiming that it was a political assassination, but for some delegates to the National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference deputies to rush in, join the protests and add to the chorus of questions is simple unthinkable. 
One CPPCC member, Lew Mon-hung, even took out full-page adverts to demonstrate his self-righteous indignation.
Meanwhile, the chief executive, and several bureau heads who clearly have not been invited to join the next administration, started to make odd comments. That a chief executive facing corruption allegations would choose his last appearance in the Legislative Council to be one where he thumbed his nose at the central government is beyond political decency. But the top prize goes to Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok, who said he doubted Li had hanged himself, and urged Hongkongers to speak out. How low can you go Dr Chow? 
Top of the general category for recent inappropriate comments is unquestionably Joseph Yam Chi-kong. Throughout his days as head of the Monetary Authority, Yam championed the currency peg. Yet, suddenly, he comes out and openly advocates dropping the peg to the US dollar, a statement that could have caused havoc in the financial markets if it had not been handled swiftly by the government. 
Yam is of course a high-profile backer of Henry Tang Ying-yen, the losing candidate in the recent chief executive race, and this perhaps could explain his most improper and irresponsible action.
Yet, the more horrible phenomenon is that these unethical acts have not been roundly condemned in public. Are we to assume, then, that such behaviour has become the norm in our society?
Lau Nai-keung is a member of the Basic Law Committee of the NPC Standing Committee, and also a member of the Commission on Strategic Development



Sharing secrets and courting media is simply irresponsible