Just Saying | Has generation snowflake infiltrated Hong Kong’s mighty police force?
Yonden Lhatoo sets aside his usual sympathy for Hong Kong’s police force to question whether officers have become too soft and oversensitive, given all their politicking and theatrics these days
There’s no doubt Hong Kong’s police officers have become far more political these days than they ought to, but are they getting a bit too soft as well?
The Junior Police Officers’ Association, which represents two-thirds of the 30,000-strong force, is up in arms over a perceived insult by development minister Michael Wong Wai-lun last week.
Wong, a former deputy security chief, was holding a sharing session with youngsters at the Hong Kong Book Fair when he quoted a famous Japanese author while contextualising some social problems: “Criminals are not necessarily all bad guys – there are many objective factors behind a crime or reasons to be sympathetic. Likewise, not each and every cop is a good guy.”
It was enough to cause deep offence among the sensitive souls tasked with protecting this city, and they fired off a letter of complaint and condemnation to the hapless minister.
“The association expresses deep regret over the minister’s remarks. The comments could mislead members of the public to believe the minister intended to criticise police officers,” the letter read. “This has deeply hurt the officers’ confidence.”
