tim's experiment

Like most people in Hong Kong I have had some difficulty in raising any excitement over the upcoming Chief Executive election. I do not, of course, have any real incentive to make a decision because I do not have a vote. Since the vast majority of the population is in the same boat the campaigning is likely to be rather a yawn. Even if you do have a vote the matter will be decided elsewhere. Reliable rumoures have it that Henry Tang has the Beijing seal of approval, so the race is his, unless he does something awful. None of the ladies being touted as potential candidates has a hope. The electorate consists largely of elderly businessmen. Among their other deficiencies this group is overwhelmingly prejudiced against the idea of women in power. So the race is effectively between Henry and CY Leung, and that only if Henry makes too many mistakes. Well neither of them is officially running yet but he has already managed a few.

Faced with this two-horse race most of us are in a quandary. We have never met either man but the word on the street is that Henry is dumb but likeable, while CY is neither.  Under these circumstances it seems most people will plump for Henry on the grounds that the CE has little real power in our system but someone nice would be less irritating as a constant presence on local TV screens.  Some people will probably change this view after what happened last week, when both non-candidates were taken on a rural ride.

Both men were invited to a get-together with the Heung Yee Kuk. Now the Kuk is endearingly honest about its purpose in life, which is to further the enrichment of rural landowners. Both men were also correctly advised not to bore their audience with talk of wealth gaps, technology hubs, housing shortages or social policy. What the Kuk wanted to hear was what the candidates proposed to do, if elected, for the aforementioned rural landlords. And its votes would be cast accordingly. The proceedings were, in fact, something of an auction.

Mr Leung, to his great credit, virtually refused to participate. He said that an administration led by him would proceed with the development of the frontier closed area. This is a good idea which should have been done years ago and will probably be done anyway, whoever wins. It will be good for the territory and for the New Territories, but lacks electoral appeal for rural landowners who do not happen to have holdings on that strip. Henry, on the other hand, bidded vigorously. He said he would support raising the height limit on village houses (currently three stories) to five or six. This, he said, would help to solve the accomodation shortage in villages.

This was an astonishingly irresponsible and ill-informed thing to offer. It is irresponsible, because all the rural scoff-laws who have already put extra floors on their village houses will now suppose that if they can defy the law for another year or so Henry will legalise their extensions. Meanwhile officials charged with enforcing the law will have to contemplate the distressing possibility that any illegal structures they remove in the near future will simply be put back after Henry has paid his election expenses. It is ill-informed because the Small House Policy and the Kuk’s enthusiasm for it have nothing to do with any shortage of accomodation. The purpose of the Small House Policy is to distribute large sums of money among a small hereditary group of villagers, many of whom no longer live in the village.

The right to build a house is usually sold long before the house is constructed. The going rate (known as the ding) fluctuates but is usually around half a million bucks. This will be paid to the inheritor of the rights by the developer who – it’s a small world – may often be a member of the Kuk. The resulting house will be sold. Most villagers no longer wish to live in villages. If you walk much in the New Territories you will come across whole villages which have been completely abandoned. Many of the people who claim the right to build a small house no longer live in Hong Kong, never mind a village. Those people you often meet in villages who speak fluent English with a Birmingham accent have just come back to the territory to claim their half a million, which inconveniently involves staying for a few weeks. If the person who builds the house wishes to continue to live in the village he will build not a unified house, but three small flats. This will usually be obvious from the location of the staircase. He will then live in the ground floor and rent the other two to outsiders. He will never need to work again.

Now of course this racket will be twice as enriching for everyone concerned if the houses are doubled in height. For the rest of us the picture is less attractive. I fear I can feel myself drifting towards the “Anyone but Henry” camp and I do not think I am alone.