Rising 'wantocracy' is a minority demand being loudly stated
Some 10 years before the handover of Hong Kong was made to China, thousands of hours were spent crafting the final agreement with a view to protecting the lifestyle of the average Hong Kong resident.
Some 10 years before the handover of Hong Kong was made to China, thousands of hours were spent crafting the final agreement with a view to protecting the lifestyle of the average Hong Kong resident.
In those days, I was a directorate member of the government with a staff numbering hundreds of Chinese personnel.
Many of them had worries as to what the future held for them and their families but they were beginning to accept things, as they were told that their future would not be radically altered. They were told that the Chinese government had agreed to permit the status quo to carry on with no changes and that they would have some say in the election of various levels of governing bodies.
Their mindset was to change when a new governor was appointed by Britain, one Christopher Patten, who after 150 years of colonial rule, suddenly started to speak of democracy. As a Cantonese speaker, from that point on I became aware of disquiet amongst the average people who I worked with.
This flame was fanned by the liberals for whom the term democracy became "wantocracy", and members of the Chinese government were not amused, and you could not expect them to be. I am no lover of Communist China, but more often than not when making agreements such as this they tend to meet the needs.
The average resident in Hong Kong has freedom to move about, has a job to go to, children are well fed and education levels are excellent; medical care is more than adequate, and, more to the point, I know of not one person who has suffered at the hands of authorities. So why make waves?
Weighed against the present situation here in Thailand, the same answer applies as a minority makes a lot of noise to ensure its views are heard.
