tim's experiment

Let us consider, as calmly as we can, whether it is a good idea for the Chief Executive – any Chief Executive – to turn up at the scene of accidents and disasters and “take charge”. Our present leader has not been in the job very long and has not had time to give much thought to this matter. Perhaps we should not blame him if he errs on the side of hyperactivity.

Now, there is certainly a role for a regional or national leader in moments of crisis. There may be a need to override departmental boundaries, to abandon cherished practices in haste, to knock heads together and ensure that large egoes are subdued by a common  purpose. There may also be a need to seek external help. But these are things which can, and perhaps should, be done by phone.

The idea of the CE, or his counterpart in other places, actually arriving at headquarters and taking charge is rather more controversial. No CE since the hand-over has had any relevant expertise. Mr Leung’s many qualifications do not include any tuition or experience in maritime rescue, traumatic surgery or post-catastrophe counselling. As a controller of rescue operations he would be as much use as any citizen pulled in off the street for the purpose. I hope he has the sense to leave the decision-making to the professionals, but that does not entirely eliminate the drawbacks of his presence. If the CE, or some other bigwig, turns up on occasions of this kind then he or she has to be met, greeted, catered for and found a place to hang out. He will wish to be briefed, and protocol will probably require the briefing to be done by some very senior person who might better be employed on more urgent matters. The over-eager leader will also probably bring the political press pack in his wake, and something will have to be done about them.

Then there is a danger that underlings will try too hard to be seen to be doing their bit. Consider the news, after last week’s tragedy, that seven seamen had been arrested. It transpired the next day that this was in fact the entire crew of both the boats involved in the collision. This was clearly an abuse of power. Arrest is a major infringement of the rights of the detained person and it should be reserved for occasions when said person is plausibly supposed to be guilty of a crime. It should not be deployed on a basis of “arrest them all and sort out the legal details later”. Clearly on the night of the accident the police had no idea who, if anyone, might be supposed to have committed a crime. Accidents happen. Lay persons obstinately suppose that if there is a fatal accident then someone must be proportionately to blame. People in the law and order business should know better.  Actually the police do not have a great deal to do with marine disasters. The firemen do the rescue work and the Marine Department does the inquiry. Well we all want to look busy.

No doubt Mr Leung will reflect on these things. Naturally one wishes to show one’s concern and sympathy for the victims of unhappy incidents. On the other hand the appearance of a large number of high-ranking amateurs was one of the factors in the Manila bus tragedy, to which we feel so superior. A good compromise is to turn up a bit later when the situation has stabilised and the urgent work has been done. Senior colonial officials used to turn up in their wellies the following morning. Nobody complained that this was too late.

We can come to a crisper conclusion about the merits of turning up with a senior official of the mainland’s liaison office. I do not understand how anyone could have such a tin ear for Hong Kong politics that he thought this would go down well. Mainland practices for dealing with accidents and disasters do not inspire confidence. People like to think that some decisions are made in Hong Kong and the sort of decisions which this situation required are on that list. If Mr Leung is going to turn up at important occasions with a mainland official at his side people will begin to wonder who in this partnership is Ratman and who is Bobbin. I am not a huge fan of Mr Leung but the urge to make comforting noises in moments of tragedy is a nice urge. It would be a pity if Mr Leung’s observations on such occasions met with the response that we want to hear from the organ grinder, not the monkey.