Beijing should lead by example on political reform
Feng Chi-shun says when mainland China has improved its governance, Hongkongers may be more willing to listen to it on political development
Commenting on the recent street protests in Hong Kong, a senior mainland cadre pontificated that the people of Hong Kong need to be re-enlightened about the "one country, two systems" concept.
This, of course, came from someone who has toed the party line all his life, and probably has never had true freedom.
But we Hongkongers are different. We are used to all kinds of freedoms. We think independently and we prefer to be in control of our own destiny. We are unwilling to comply with policies which we play no part in formulating, especially those forced upon us by our Beijing masters, who are much disliked by generations of Hong Kong people because of the Communist Party's disastrous past.
Disregarding mainland China's own poor record on human rights, a fair society and good governance, cadres continue to have the father-knows-best attitude when addressing Hong Kong's "problems".
However, a father who drinks, gambles and abuses his wife should be ready to deal with defiance from his children when dishing out codes of conduct for them to follow.
Hong Kong will never be the same again. It has transformed from a money-oriented shoppers' paradise and China's window to the outside world into a city of protests and a thorn in Beijing's side.