41
street protests, for example, had increased six times in the
period 1984-1990.40
Fifthly, a battered government also invites the rise of
criminal activities of various sorts, which have already led to
? an alarming deterioration in public order and a drop in public
confidence in the police. The sudden surge of violent and
organized crime lately constitutes a serious and embarassing
challenge to government authority. To rub salt into its wounds,
the recent discovery of corrupt and immoral behavior among a
number of senior officials and public figures cannot but further
undermine the credibility of the government and for that matter
the colonial establishment as a whole - in the eyes of the
public.
-
Finally, people are less deferential to governmental
authority than before. Officials are constantly lambasted and
ridiculed in the mass media and in public occasions. Even the
Governor is not immune from public disapprobation, a drastic
change from the past when Governors used to inspire tremendous
respect and even awe among the colonial subjects. In my 1988
survey, when asked about their attitude toward those people who
constantly criticized the government, it was somewhat unexpected
to find that 37.4 percent of respondents said their attitude was
favorable. Only 27.5 percent of respondents did not like the
38 Lau and Kuan, 'The Changing Political Culture,' pp. 37-41; and Lau and Kuan, The Ethos, p. 102.
39 Anthony B. L. Cheung and K.S. Louie, Research Report on Social Conflicts in Hong Kong During 1975 to 1986 (June 1990,
mimeographed.)
40 South China Morning Post, April 14, 1990, p. 4.