LETTER TO SCMP
"Journalist turned lawmaker" Claudia Mo says "I will always try to do as much as I can for Hong Kong". (‘My Life’, Post Magazine, February 16).
Very well, Ms Mo. How about standing up for the Seven Freedoms we already have? Namely:
Mo represents a party she co-founded, "HK First", which supports for "localism", including independence for Hong Kong and the use of force to achieve it.
This is a delusional and dangerous policy. It will only draw the ire — and ultimately the fierce crackdown — of the hated despots in Beijing (we all hate them, Ms Mo!).
If you want to bring ruin to our city, keep calling for "Independence", keep being violent, and see what happens!
Ms Mo: If you care for our city, as you say you do, please work for something achievable: the maintenance of the Freedoms we already have. Which means working with the Hong Kong and Beijing governments, hated as they may be.
I'm a conservative in the sense that I want to conserve our Freedoms. Ms Mo could consider herself a progressive for doing the same. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that supporting localism, supporting independence, supporting violent "freedom fighters" on our streets is reckless and ruinously dangerous. It will have the opposite effect. "The road to hell…." and all that.
I stand for Freedom. Which is why I stand against violent protest, why I stand against "independence for Hong Kong", and why I stand against the policies of "HK First".
I also stand against Ms Mo's "mainlandisation" concerns, for they seem to me little more than nativist bigotry.* A kind of Cantonese Supremacy. Racist, in short. [Like this]
PF, Etc..
Published 22 Feb
Related:
* My SCMP letter on bigotry in the protest movement (24 Nov 2019)
* My post on bigotry in the protest movement (6 Dec 2019)
ADDED: “So, what would l do, to conserve these freedoms?”. Good question. I’ll look at that over the next little bit.
"Journalist turned lawmaker" Claudia Mo says "I will always try to do as much as I can for Hong Kong". (‘My Life’, Post Magazine, February 16).
Very well, Ms Mo. How about standing up for the Seven Freedoms we already have? Namely:
- Freedom of Conscience
- Freedom of Assembly
- Freedom of Movement
- Freedom of Press
- Freedom of Expression
- Freedom of Religion
- Freedom of Capital
Mo represents a party she co-founded, "HK First", which supports for "localism", including independence for Hong Kong and the use of force to achieve it.
This is a delusional and dangerous policy. It will only draw the ire — and ultimately the fierce crackdown — of the hated despots in Beijing (we all hate them, Ms Mo!).
If you want to bring ruin to our city, keep calling for "Independence", keep being violent, and see what happens!
Ms Mo: If you care for our city, as you say you do, please work for something achievable: the maintenance of the Freedoms we already have. Which means working with the Hong Kong and Beijing governments, hated as they may be.
I'm a conservative in the sense that I want to conserve our Freedoms. Ms Mo could consider herself a progressive for doing the same. It doesn't matter. What does matter is that supporting localism, supporting independence, supporting violent "freedom fighters" on our streets is reckless and ruinously dangerous. It will have the opposite effect. "The road to hell…." and all that.
I stand for Freedom. Which is why I stand against violent protest, why I stand against "independence for Hong Kong", and why I stand against the policies of "HK First".
I also stand against Ms Mo's "mainlandisation" concerns, for they seem to me little more than nativist bigotry.* A kind of Cantonese Supremacy. Racist, in short. [Like this]
PF, Etc..
Published 22 Feb
Related:
* My SCMP letter on bigotry in the protest movement (24 Nov 2019)
* My post on bigotry in the protest movement (6 Dec 2019)
ADDED: “So, what would l do, to conserve these freedoms?”. Good question. I’ll look at that over the next little bit.
