tim's experiment

OK, I promise – last one on this topic. The Post’s coverage of anti-locust protests continues to explore new areas of journalism. On Sunday there was a mini-protest in Mong Kok. Numbers on these occasions are notoriously unreliable but apparently the protesters were heavily outnumbered by the press. Meanwhile a few blocks away the Voice of Loving Hong Kong, led by chairman Patrick Ko, was collecting signatures for a “we love locusts” petition which they will send to the relevant policy secretary.
So far, pretty normal coverage, with a few quotes from both sides. Only in the last paragraph do we enter the Twilight Zone:
“Halfway through the (anti) protest Ko somehow found himself at the scene. His presence caused a commotion, with protesters hurling insults at him…”

Well reading that must have given a great deal of innocent pleasure to the demonstrators for various causes who have found themselves similarly treated by Mr Ko’s Loving supporters. The bit that bothers me is the “somehow Mr Ko found himself”. After all there is no mystery here. Having got his petition set up Mr Ko, as any normal person would, wanted to know how the opposition’s knees-up was going. Perfectly legal – nothing wrong – easily covered by some such phrase as “Mr Ko arrived”. It seems our reporter was concerned that this might imply to a suspicious mind that Mr Ko had actually deliberately gone where he went. A careful writer, our reporter might suppose, should choose a phrase which could cover other possibilities, like:

Mr Ko was heading into the Mong Kok tube station when he ran into an officious Good Fairy. “You like demonstrations,” she said, “let me send you to another one.” and Poof, Mr Ko found himself …

Mr Ko was abducted by aliens and subjected to experiments unfit for readers of a family newspaper. He was then beamed back to Earth but the careless Spock in charge of the machinery dropped him right in the middle of the protesters…

Mr Ko was struck by a falling object and wandered in a state of amnesia through the streets of Mong Kok. When he awoke, he found himself …

Mr Ko suffers from a rare brain ailment which occasionally leads to him walking helplessly and quite unconsciously towards the nearest public demonstration. When he woke up…

A simpler solution to the writing problem would have been to ask Mr Ko how he came to somehow find himself. As so often these days seekers of this information were better catered for by the Standard. Mr Ko, apparently, told their reporter he was “just passing by”. Sure he was.

Meanwhile my moles tell me that the Post management has banned the use of the words “locust” and “anti-locust” altogether unless unavoidable (which usually means in direct quotes). This is supposed to be part of the Post’s policy against “hate speech”. This is a subtle way of taking the government’s side in the matter. The use of locust is not a piece of hate speech. Locusts do not have any embarrassing habits or satanic connotations. Nor in the Hong Kong contest are they a notorious pest. All most of us know about locusts is that they arrive in huge numbers and consume voraciously. This is a pretty good metaphor for the government’s “let ’em all come” tourism policy and its consequences. Officials do not like being criticised, especially when the criticism is justified. If you haven’t a good answer for the critics it is easier to complain about their language. Support from media lackeys in this matter is very welcome and no doubt will be rewarded in the usual way.