TR EMERITUS

作者:梁文道‧香港牛棚书院院长 公元2000那一两年，香港竟然出现过上千场示威集会，平均一天一次有多，照这个数字看来，整个香港社会更该变得火头处处，动盪不安才是。可实况却不是如此，香港这个中国城市究竟经歷过甚么样的变化，使得过去那种警察如临大敌，群眾情绪激动，双方剑拔弩张的局面一去不返？ 从头想起，我发现並不是回归前后的香港反而变得更西化，学到了更多美式示威的神髓，而是香港政府和市民都变得更成熟，摸到一种现代社会里的政治生活之道。 简单地讲，那就是不要把群眾集会 (public assembly) 看得太严重。香港官员回应游行示威的必有官腔是：“我听到了部份市民的声音，一个正常的社会有不同的意见是很正常的，他们只不过是在表达自己的意见罢了”。 这种官腔有时的確会叫人恨得牙痒，除了这句陈腔滥调，他们基本上甚么都没说过。可是你不能不承认，比诸从前，这种应对確实高明瞭许多，因为他们至少没说那场游行是非法的，是动乱；更没把出来示威的人当成別有用心的捣乱份子，甚至敌人。 另一方面，香港市民的態度也相应地变了。三、四十年前去游行的人，多多少少都可能有点壮怀激烈的慷慨，他们知道自己即將面对的是警棍和囚室。所以临行之前会 有点紧张，例如在70年代，甘浩望神父带领水上艇户爭取陆地居留权，他对群眾喊出的那句香港社运史名言：“不用怕港英的爪牙，敌人只不过是头纸老虎”！你把我当敌人，我就当你是讎寇；不难想像，接下来的场面简直就像战爭一样了。 现在呢，游行人士也真把自己的行动看成是“表达诉求”，上街就和上网差不多，只不过前者要花的成本更大，表达的態度也更坚决。游行的目的自然是要向政府施压，希望它接受自己的意见，而它最终的结果通常是把政府压回谈判桌前，绝对不是你死我活的闹革命。 说到底，反对兴建一座焚化炉，或者反对输入外劳，又哪有那么严重？香港一年1000场游行也没有嚇怕外资，更没有破坏社会和谐呀！理由很简单，大家的心態都很和平，谁都不怕谁，政府不怕人民，人民也不怕政府，大不了街头推撞一下，回头还得坐下来好好將对方当成伙伴般交谈。 广州政府最近要在番禺兴建垃圾焚烧发电厂，引起很多市民签名反对，他们號召集会，甚至发动上街。结果警方以“涉嫌组织煽动非法集会”的理由，找了其中一些人夜谈，叫他们“支持和谐社会建设，做好亚运东道主”，取消种种行动。我觉得“煽动”这个字眼真可怕，比较像是在搞革命，完全令人想不到，这些人其实只不过是对发电厂的选址有意见。 我仰慕厦门美名已久，却直到最近才第一次见识它的风光人情，其中一个很大的动力，就是去年的“PX事件”，让我嚮往它的政府和市民竟然那么温和、文明而可爱。如果群眾聚会就要闹垮一座城市的形象，那么我的香港早该沦落到万劫不復的地步了。 来源：星洲日报  Read More →

From our Correspondent The deceased Ng Chee Kiang, who set fire on his flat before plunging down from 12 stories to his death was reported by Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao to be a devoted husband who doted on his wife. Knowing that his wife loved branded stuff, Mr Ng spent more than $130,000 to satisfy her which caused him to end up in debts. Colleagues and friends point to marital problems as the likely trigger for the tragic event last Saturday. Mr Ng's wife, 28-year-old saleswoman Ong Lay Choo, and the family's maid were out when it happened. A colleague at Japanese food specialist PTC-Nakajima Suisan, where Mr Ng worked as a manager, said the couple began having problems about a year ago. Mr Ng was reported to owe loansharks thousands of dollars who frequently came to harass his family. Unable to withstand his gambling habits, his wife wanted to divorce him. Mr Ng finally agreed to the divorce last month when he realized it was impossible to salvage his marriage. Insiders speculated that Mr Ng killed his two children because he was afraid that he might not win the custody of them after his divorce as he was a bankrupt. Some even claimed that Ms Ong had found a new love and was preparing to bring her children along to re-marry. Mr Ng used to earn up to $6,000 monthly as a manager of a Sushi-chain restaurant. Had he not gambled his savings away, he would still have a happy family now. News source: Lianhe Wanbao  Read More →

Background: U.S. Talk Radio News Service Bureau Chief Ellen Ratner speaks with Mr. Chee Soon Juan, the opposition leader in Singapore. Dr Chee tells Ms. Ratner that he and his supporters would like U.S. President Barack Obama to address the serious human rights abuses taking place in Singapore when he visits that nation later this week. Dr Chee adds that Obama must hold political leaders in Singapore accountable for various violations involving the country’s legal system and crackdown on the press. Ellen Ratner: Can you tell us a little bit about what the opposition is doing in Singapore? Dr Chee: Basically Singapore is not a democracy and so we hardly have an opposition in Parliament. We are just trying to survive here in Singapore with all the laws that we have here, the opposition is lucky to be able to survive. For example, we have the Internal Security Act which allows the government to detain citizens without trial on an indefinite basis and we have a political prisoner for longer than Nelson Mandela was in prison. His name is Chia Thye Poh, a Singaporean opposition MP who was imprisoned without trial for 32 years. Ellen Ratner: Wow, 32 years! Did he have any visitors? Dr Chee: Well, he had a couple towards the end and he was only released a few years ago and so you can imagine the kind of situation we are in. And we also have a recent law which was passed a few months ago specifically for the APEC which Mr Obama will attend and this law stipulates that not even one person is allowed to conduct a peaceful protest, so this is the extent to which the Singapore government has gone to curtail the political rights of citizens. Ellen Ratner: You know something interesting. I was India and one of my hosts is a well-known and well-connected businessman here and he was hearing me talk about the fact that I would be doing an interview with you and he said to me that it was not a democratic kind of situation, that this was controlled by one family and other wealthy members of the upper class, that anybody in the opposition would be disregarded and jailed. Dr Chee: Yes, not just imprisoned. My colleagues and I have faced multiple charges for  in public without a permit and giving out flyers. I have been in prison on seven different occasions already simply for taking part in small peaceful protests in Singapore. Besides persecution, I have been sued repeatedly for defamation by Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the paramount leader in Singapore. I have ordered by the court to pay hundred of thousands of dollars to the plaintiff. I have sold off my house and car to pay them off and now I am a bankrupt. Ellen Ratner: Have you considered leaving the country? Dr Chee: No, no, certainly not because leaving the country would mean that they win and if they win, the people lose and so I will stay on and continue to fight for democracy. Ellen Ratner: One of your concerns is that President Obama had not addressed the human rights issues in Singapore due to U.S. business interests in Singapore. What are your views on that? Dr Chee: It is very disappointing that President Obama is as myopic as he is because if he looks at the situation, democracy makes good economic and business sense because if you are talking about the trade is conducted, shouldn't you be talking about more transparency and accountability after what happened after the financial crisis because there is so little transparency. Ellen Ratner: What would you like Americans to know about what is happening with Obama's visit and what should they do? Dr Chee: It is a shame that a U.S. Singapore would come to a place like Singapore and extol the virtues of doing trade and basically speaking up for the MNCs and not really taking into consideration the rights of the people that America do business with and as a result of the unwillingness to talk about human rights, Singaporeans are exploited and suffer. Hear the full interview here  Read More →