CORRUPTION.. 3
How do experts in Hongkong rate the chances of success of the ICAC? The general mood here is cautiously optimistic, well summed up in the view expressed by a civic leader, that if Jack Cater cannot clean up some of the government departments of known and unknown corrupt officials, nobody else here
can.
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However, the confidence in one civil servant or in the department he heads obscures the fundamental problems inherent in the free-for-all laissez-faire system that operates in Hongkong.
The Commission has as much power to investigate alleged corrupt practices in the private sector as it does to probe graft inside the administration.
But can it use this power without rocking the boat? Can it launch a drive against mercantile graft, an evil that has permeated the entire fabric of the booming private sector, without creating some panic among a section of Hongkong's traders and businessmen?
While these questions remain unanswered, some experts are also concerned about the lack of social motivation against corruption among the four million people in the colony. They are being asked to co-operate in the clean-up operation. But will an ordinary Chinese trader have the courage to report a corrupt British police officer? Will he bring charges against a Chinese official and risk being dubbed a "running dog" of the white man's administration? The chances are he will not. In all probability, Jack Cater knows this too.
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Herein lies the biggest challenge facing the Independent Commission Against Corruption. What is important is, instead of running away from the challenge, the Hongkong administration has decided to face it and see if, despite the difficulties and risks involved, a start can be made to create a better life for the people of this colony.
GEMINI
K
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: S.M. Ali a journalist of Bangladesh, now lives in Hongkong and works as a freelance writer. Author of a book on Bangladesh, "After the DArk Night" Ali has worked as Managing Editor of the Bangkok Post and the Hongkong Standard.
Copyright Gemini News Service Limited (1974) We would appreciate one cutting of this article
GN 1314/3
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