XN000022-1985-05-30 — Page 4

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THURDAY, AI 30, 1985

+SOUND ADVICE, I'M SURE, FOR IF ONE DOES SNAP BACK, ONE IS ACCUSED OF BEING OVER-SENSITIVE OR DEFENSIVE AS ONLY A BUREAUCRAT+ CAN BE AND, SOMEHOW, THE COMMENTATOR ALWAYS HAS THE LAST SAY AND, ANYWAY, THE TACTICAL ADVANTAGE ALWAYS LIES WITH THE ACCUSER. YET, IF ONE DOESN'T ANSWER BACK ONE IS ACCUSED OF BEING INDIFFERENT TO PUBLIC OPINION AS ONLY A +BUREAUCRAT+ CAN BE (AS IF THE MEDIA AND FREE-STANDING COMMENTATORS REFLECTED PUBLIC OPINION: THAT REALLY IS, OF COURSE, ONE OF THE GREAT MYTHS OF OUR DAY AND AGE).

+BUT I'M GRADUALLY DIGGING A GREAT HOLE FOR MYSELF OUT OF WHICH I SHALL BE UNABLE TO SCRAMBLE AND IN WHICH SOME OF YOU WOULD BE ONLY TOO HAPPY TO BURY ME. THAT WOULD MEAN I MIGHT NOT LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO ENJOY THE PEACE AND QUIET OF RETIREMENT AND PURSUE A LIFE LONG AMBITION TO WRITE A DEFINITIVE WORK ON THE SEX LIFE OF THE BLACK BUTTERFLIES OF WESTERN MADAGASCAR. HOWEVER, AS

I HAVE NOW INADVERTENTLY DRIFTED INTO A DISSERTATION ON GOVERNMENT AND THE MEDIA INCLUDING FREE-STANDING COMMENTATORS, LET ME SAY THIS, EVEN AT THE AWFUL RISK OF BEING SERIOUS FOR A MOMENT. THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE SO FOND OF HAMMERING THE SYSTEM AND RESURRECTING OLD SHIBBOLETHS CONVENIENTLY TO SUSTAIN THE ARGUMENT OF THE DAY, SHOULD BEAR THIS IN MIND: IF THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT OF HONG KONG IS TO BE SUCCESSFULLY CONVERTED INTO THE GOVERNMENT OF THE HONG KONG SAR - AND, BY SUCCESSFULLY, I MEAN WITH THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS RETAINED - THEN THERE IS A LIMIT TO THE AMOUNT OF DEROGATORY SARCASM AND NEGATIVE CRITICISM THAT THE SYSTEM CAN WITHSTAND WITHOUT PARTIALLY DISINTEGRATING BEFORE THE CONVERSION PROCESS GETS UNDER WAY.

+THAT IS TO SAY, GIVEN YOUR PREDILECTION TO AMBIVALENCE - DEFINED FOR THIS PURPOSE AS A SIMULTANEOUS ADHERENCE TO CONTRARY VALUES - GIVEN YOUR MADDENING HABIT OF PUTTING TWO AND TWO TOGETHER AND MAKING FIVE, OR SIX, OR EVEN SEVEN, GIVEN THE CASUAL WAY IN WHICH YOU DEAL WITH CAUSE/EFFECT RELATIONSHIPS, GIVEN THE CARELESS WAY IN WHICH YOU TEAR SUBJECTS OUT OF THEIR HISTORICAL CONTEXT, AND GIVEN YOUR FREQUENT LOVE FOR SEMANTICS RATHER THAN A CONCERN FOR SUBSTANCE, GIVEN ALL THESE MANY SHORTCOMINGS OF JOURNALISTS AND OTHER COMMENTATORS, THERE IS A RISK THAT THE SYSTEM - OR AT ANY RATE THE MORALE OF THE SYSTEM WILL SUFFER REAL DAMAGE JUST AT THE TIME WHEN THE CONVERSION PROCESS MUST BEGIN,

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+NOW ALL THAT SOUNDS RATHER HARSH AND DEEP DOWN I'M OF A KINDLY DISPOSITION. SO LET ME PUT THE POINT I'M TRYING TO MAKE ANOTHER WAY. IT IS THE JOB OF GOVERNMENTS TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO. THERE IS SELDOM A CLEAR-CUT CHOICE BETWEEN WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG. AS ELSEWHERE, IT IS THE TASK OF THE PRESS HERE TO EXAMINE WHAT THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAS DECIDED TO DO, AND HOW IT DOES IT, OBJECTIVELY BUT THIS EXAMINATION OFTEN AMOUNTS TO LITTLE MORE THAN INSTANT CRITICISM. GOVERNMENT BASHING AND STORIES OF PROTEST, REAL OR IMAGINARY, MAKE GOOD COPY. CAREFUL DISPASSIONATE EXAMINATION OF ALL ASPECTS OF A PROBLEM SENDS READERS TO SLEEP. ALL THIS IS PART OF LIFE, AND CIVIL SERVANTS LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE HAVE TO LEARN TO LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD (AND, IN ACTUAL FACT, THAT IS PRECISELY WHERE CIVIL SERVANTS DO LIVE, AT ANY RATE MOST OF US FOR MOST OF THE TIME). BUT GIVEN THE COMPLICATED AND SENSITIVE TASKS FACING THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY IN HONG KONG OVER THE NEXT TWELVE YEARS, GIVEN YOUR ROLE AS PART OF THE COMMUNITY AND AS THE BENEFICIARIES, AS WELL AS THE GUARDIANS, OF DIOGENES' PROCLAMATION, I FELL BOLD ENOUGH TO ASK YOU TO TRY WHAT MAY BE A NOVEL, BUT CERTAINLY COULD BE AN INTERSTING EXPERIEMENT: PUT YOURSELVES IN OUR SHOES, PREFERABLY BEFORE SETTING PEN TO PAPER.

/+I AM