“i _ AR"‘HIST IGHTL "° 2'" VOLUE 38 N923 HONG KONG CORRUPTION p2 = CAMILLO B_ERNERl p9'1O l"'G WE HAVE BEEN inundated with a iet-stream of propaganda from both sides in the present con- frontation between the firemen and the govern- ment for a wage-claim between IO and 30 per cent which is over the government's laid- down limits. To some extent much of this brou- ha—ha is a ‘demo’ by the government of how they are standing firm against inflationary wage claims. The firemen, of course, have no option but to press their claim, go on strike and rely on the obvious public sympathy for their position, and wait, without strike - pay, for something to give. The position is complicated by the drafting of army, air-force and navy fire-fighters, the existence of part—time firemen and the s_uppos- ed neut ralism of the fire-masters or chiefs who are available for instructing novice fire-fight- GT5. Undoubtedly the firemen are public servants with a greater claim to popularity than the similarly placed police. Their record of serv- ice deaths and injuries is higher and the sob- appeal approach of a fireman carrying a child is a surer card to play than the proverbial pol- iceman escorting the proverbial old lady ac- ross the street. - nobody ever got beaten up in a fire station. Strangely enough the emphasis of the fire service's function is the preservation it was union hostility, the threat of unemploy- anti—inflation counter claims the realities of of life - not the preservation of property - ment (which hovers over all contemporary ind- life and death shoulder their way to the front which is responsible for more firemen's deaths ustrial relatiore) and the lack of strike pay, of the stage. How much is a life worth? How than that of saving life.—_ which made it a fiasco. much should we pay those who daily risk life and health? How much should we pay those The government, like the fire brigade, is trust- The organisation of public sympathy (although who daily sa ve the lives of others? ing to public opinion to exert pressure on the a_ll strikers are in fact members of the public) firemen to go back. Public opinion, which may seems to walk along a razor's edge between We know that man as raw material is worth just be something got up by the newspapers, is special cases and blackmail. Reared on a TV- very little. Man (and by that l include woman a fickle iade and may depend upon a fluke, glass teat diet of emergency ward pap - public is expendable in war and in industry. But occ- deeper political motives behind the press, or opinion of the nurses emerged from their wage asionally the courts, for the very important a mere wave of sentiment occasioned by a struggle still regarding them as ministering reason of administering property and in$ur<IInCe lucky or unlucky accident. angels; firemen still have the smoky halo. claims, assess the value in terms of solid cash of a human life at a cash value acceptable to lt is claimed that the recent unofficial power- § the bereaved and which will not financially workers' strike was called off by pressure of public opinion but one is inclined to think that But in the shadow-play of wage claims and (C out P9 7) R 2 ority. This is still not clear. The declaration of the amnesty was greeted with amazement. It was already clearly a surrender to brute force. The Governor had been held to ransom and the state's authority had caved in. What had Dr. David Owen, the Minister ulti- mately responsible for the colony, to say? It all hangs together so neatly. The police control the workers. The work- A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The Questions. What is the function of a police Secretary of State's attitude is one of ' force? ers lose themselves in drugs and gamb- ling. The police control the drug deal- full support for the Governor's deci- Answer: To preserve law and order. sion. " Q: How does it perform this function? ers and gambling racketeers. The State A: By impartially collecting evidence is happy. The police are happy. Busin- A few days after the police riot Dr. which leads to "the arrest ‘-of a wrong- ess is happy. Owen made a speech to the Fabian Soci- doer who is then taken to court for But to attract business investment a ety in London. He spoke of his vision of trial and, if found guilty, punishe.-.'. State must inspire confidence. Investors of what the Labour Party should be. "A Q: This weighty Function demands the are not only interested in short term party, " he said, "which fosters indivi- highest qualities-of probity and reli- yields but also demand long term polit- duality and decentralised control. " ability of those to whom it is entrusted, ical stability. As the stories of corrup- He declared: "Community co-operation, does it not? tion began to seep out, undermining the participation, workers’ democracy, A: It does indeed. corporate image of the State, this con- decentralised decision-making and the Q: What would happen in the event that fidence was in danger of waning. virtue of the small unit have always I almost an entire police farce were So in 1974 an Independent Commission been high among the values of British found to be deficient in these qualities? socialism. " — A: Hong Kong. Against Corruption was set up to ass- Q: l beg your pardon? uage alarm and encourage businessmen Hypocrisy is an" overworked word in A: Hang Kong. Nothing would happen. that something was being done to pres- political debate. But Dr. Owen, who erve the security of their investments. presumably took the Hippocratic oath A commission of this kind is in a diffic- when he became a doctor, must have I-I‘0l\TG KONG is one of the last British ult position. Nominally independent, it followed this with the hypocrite's oath Crown Colonies. It is ruled by a Gover- is inevitably appointed as a public relat- when he entered politics. nor, Sir Murray Maclehose, appointed ions exercise. It cannot afford to be too Hong Kong is a colony. Imperialism is from London. The British Minister res- successful. But once investigations be- capitalist exploitation writ large. The ponsible for the colony is the Foreign gin it is irrfpossible to stop at rooting i people of Hong Kong are ruthlessly Secretary, Dr David Owen. out a few corrupt individuals and giving driven by businessmen whose interests Hong Kong's economy is based on the them exemplary punishment. the State exists to protect. A police exploitation of cheap labour including Corruption in the police - as we saw at force is essential to keep the people that of children. It is attractive to for- Scotland Yard - must be institutional- eign investors. According to one source, ised. It must necessarily be part of the "Expatriate businessmen enjoy a flat day to day running of the force. Investi- _-I 4-—- income tax of l5 per cent and expect to gation will lead to the exposure of syn- _,_-l" get a full return on their capital in five dicates reaching to the very top. years. There are beggars and some It was this dilemma that the Commis- people starve. " The industrial accident sion found itself in. There was no way rate is staggering. _ ‘Zl- out. Set up to inspire confidence, it fls 1 The State has two ways of warding off could only wring its hands in alarm as the revolt that a situation of this kind it became obvious that at least 80 per must leadfto. The first, the liberal cent of the Hong Kong police were cor- method, is reform s-- the amelioration of rupt. More and more suspensions, ar- suffering. But even Maclehose admits rests and prosecutions could leave the that social security in the colony is "on colony with no police force at all. a piecemeal sort of basis. " It was at this point that the self-preser- I-The other method is repression. There vation instinct of the police intervened is the overt oppression of a police force, decisively. A mob of them marched on with troops in the background, openly the Commission offices complaining dis-ceuraging rebellion. And with this is that the investigations were being con- a more insidious, less open form which ducted "unfairly". They were not inter- diverts people's energy and despair into ested in the political problems of bol- gambling, prostitution and drugs. stering the confidence of foreign invest- ords but in their own survival. They It is the second method that Hong Kong beat up five investigators. and, therefore, the British Foreign Secretary have chosen to use. The Government's policy was now in ruins. If he refused to make conces- The police force is 17, 000 strong. It is sions Hong Kong was faced with a civil predominantly Chinese and the senior war in which British troops would be officers are mainly British. In the early shooting it out with the police. What 1970s it became clear that the force was in subjection, no matter how rotten and as bent as a paperclip. this could lead to was unthinkable. The stability he set out to achieve would be corrupt it may be. Like their counterparts at Scotland Yard a joke. Owen tells us his dream of socialism, a the Hong Kong police were operating a Maclehose announced an amnesty.