Be tolerant and build consensus

Aprimary school teacher’s verbal abuse of police officers on duty led to a standoff between her supporters and detractors totaling nearly 3,000 earlier this month, with a few of them resorting to push-shove tactics that caused widespread concern as well as dismay. When Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying visited a neighborhood to interact with local residents a few days later, a similar confrontation broke out between his supporters and opponents. It sounds like some scenes from a movie, but unfortunately those incidents really happened in Hong Kong and are expected to happen again and again in the days to come. All it takes is a spark to ignite any of the tinder boxes somewhere in this cosmopolitan city: housing shortage, landfills, waste incinerators, golf park, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, the Legislative Council (LegCo) and even unauthorized building structures in private homes. Little wonder a recent front-page report in Oriental Daily News cried out in huge bold type: Hong Kong is ill!

Whether these issues are big deals or otherwise, they all reflect the reality that Hong Kong is teettering on the edge of an executive cliff as indiscriminate politicization is going berserk, society being torn apart, the government struggling to do its job and the economy unable to advance. What has turned Hong Kong from the envy of Chinese communities around the world into a “city of protests”; and what has turned local residents, best known for their law-abiding common sense and hard-working enterprising spirit, into a flock of “angry birds”? This is a question for each and every person who sees Hong Kong as their home to think over thoroughly.

I believe Hong Kong people’s ability to build consensus is fast draining toward empty. This ability is vital to the healthy development of society. Without it society cannot even focus on the right thing to do in social development, let alone powering it forward with high efficiency. Currently Hong Kong society is being stretched thin in a tug of war between two camps of rivaling ideologies with no sign of a compromise in sight. It could not have happened at a worse time as the city’s democratic development has reached a critical stage.

Up until recently the pro-establishment parties have exercised restraint much better than the increasingly confrontational opposition camp did, which seldom missed an opportunity to “crash a party” held by its opponents regardless of the purpose of that event, earning itself the distinction of opposing anything it wants to just because it can. Now the pro-establishment side has decided there is no good in putting up with the opposition’s bullying and provocations any more, which is why some groups from this side have begun “returning the favor” by protesting at the opposition’s gatherings over contentious issues.

With one side of the political divide now showing willingness to match the other side in radical behavior, the Hong Kong Police Force finds it harder to remain unaffected than before and is beginning to lose “composure” when the provocateurs go too far.

The fact that some 1,000 retired and off-duty police officers gathered in Mong Kok on Aug 4 to support fellow law enforcers on duty sent an alarming signal that it is only a matter of time before frontline officers lose their restraint if radical parties continue to challenge them by violating the Public Security Ordinance whenever and wherever they want. Clueless activists have no idea that acting as a flesh-and-blood fence between them is simply maddening. As Hong Kong approaches the Chief Executive Election by universal suffrage in 2017, and the LegCo elections in the same manner in 2020, one can expect to see more chaotic scenes like the one in Mong Kok earlier this month, unless all parties concerned return to their senses soon.

From a positive point of view the bickering and occasional chaos Hong Kong society has endured in recent years may be seen as the pain an expectant mother experiences before and while giving birth. Even so, we cannot but hope sincerely for less internal strife and even hate in Hong Kong society. We hope all parties concerned will exercise as much tolerance as possible and try their very best to build consensus on the greatest common denominator that is the collective interest of local society as a whole, which requires the following:

First, tear down the wall between the proestablishment and opposition camps, because there must only be a Hong Kong camp. After all, it is our common responsibility to maintain Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability. A closer look at past elections will show the voter bases of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong overlap in more than one constituency; while the Federation of Trade Unions and the Labour Party both work for the interest of the grassroots working class. There is no good reason why we only have “winners take all” or “zero-sum” in democracy.

Second, we understand that all Hong Kong residents share the same democratic dream and we have no doubt about the central authorities’ commitment to honoring their promise regarding the realization of it. That is why, to quote LegCo President Jasper Tsang Yok-sing’s words, all parties should sit down and “talk it over”, because dialog is always better than duel.

Third, it is common among democratic societies to have diverse opinions and demands which make it hard to find common ground, but they must recognize the bottom line of mutual respect and never lose sight of it. Constitutional democracy is not just about universal suffrage. It also depends on rule of law, the supreme position of the constitutional law and judicial independence. Universal suffrage is not the finish but a new beginning for Hong Kong’s democratic development. It is merely an election process and most definitely not all that democracy is about.