What the hey? Boris Johnson has a Blog ?
I’m not one to speak given this past week of inactivity, but I’m not so sure that Boris has the time to dedicate to a cogent blog, let alone cope with the constant criticism and debate.
Sure I welcome his arrival on the Blogosphere, new ideas are always enjoyable to read (with the obvious choamskyite exceptions) but I hope he has more to offer than the PR pap his staff seem to be posting at the moment.
After the whole ‘bicycle stop’ affair with his slightly dubious unamed source quoting I’m not so sure that he has the credibility to stand too long when it comes to criticizing the journalistic status quo.
Later
John
The election results arrived on the Monday although it took a day for the consequences to be fully appreciated. The Democrats in spite of receiving something in the region of 58% of the vote are not in fact the largest party in Legco. What devilish instrument of electoral black-magic hath brought about this turn of events? Surely it is the work of the dastardly first-past-the-post system as many Lib Dem/Green supporters would assert.
Well, actually it isn’t. Hong Kong uses a modified electoral list system. So why, I wonder, when you are given the chance to modify an electoral system that’s primary failing is its predisposition to give rise to weak coalition legislative control, do you enact changes that further exaggerate this aspect?
There is of course some considerable rancor amongst the democratic ranks resulting from Martin Lee’s infamous comments before the election. This matter stems from the aforementioned list system.
Through its arcane machinations, the system obliged the Democratic Party to put forward two lists for their candidates to allow them to field ‘the whole team’ so to speak. One list was headed up by Martin Lee and the other led by Audrey Eu (what is it with barristers and Hong Kong politics?) and on the popular radio talk show “Teacup in a Storm” Lee said that his seat was far from guaranteed as complacency amongst the voting public might lead to voters supporting Audrey Eu’s list with disproportionate vigour in light of Lee’s perceived “Safe Seat” status.
Unfortunately, with no real way of ensuring that people distributed their votes equally between the two lists, the Democrats ended up squandering many votes. Martin Lee’s comments resulted in his list sailing through with a massive lead, whilst Audrey’s managed only enough support to get her through, leaving her running mate high and dry.
It therefore seems entirely understandable that following my grandfather’s return to the bar on Saturday (more on that later) our efforts to contact Martin to give him notice that we will be taking down the temporary partition between the corridor of our chambers and his, have been rather frustrated. He’s apparently taking a holiday in Paris for a bit, whether he intends to ‘escape the heat’ of Hong Kong’s rainy late September or his party’s grassroots is anyone’s guess.
My grandfather’s restoration to the roll of barristers took place last Saturday amongst the usual collection of fresh-faced new solicitors and barristers who are sworn in (in the case of solicitors that is, barristers take no such oaths at the hearing). There was actually only one barrister being admitted and his wig was the snowy white that denoted his very junior status, for as barristers practice their wigs tend to be discoloured by age till they become a yellowy affair, almost like the tomes of case reports found in any chambers.
The motion moved by my father was brisk in comparison to the customary recount of all the new practitioners’ qualifications and past experiences. In fact some of the submissions took on the dreary aspects of those “What I Did On My Summer Vacation” essays that one completes as a primary school pupil.
Interestingly, one of the young fellows had his motion moved by non-other than Mr. Egan, the barrister who was arrested by the ICAC on Murphy Road a few weeks ago. He seemed to concentrate rather a lot on that particular matter as opposed to actually speaking about the new lawyer, which seemed a tad insensitive, perhaps even conceited. I daresay I wouldn’t be too glad to have my admission to the bar being used as a soapbox.
After my grandfather had been restored to the roll of barristers, a gaggle of reporters crowded him and began asking questions. Evidently of the opinion that everyone in the territory should be kept abreast of my continuing studies, the photographers and journalists asked that I be included in a few photos. Mercifully I was not plastered over the 2nd page of the SCMP, as had been the case last year – the South China Morning Post saw fit to instead use a clipping of my grandfather from that previous shoot. (I later discovered I had not been so fortunate with the Chinese-language press who had apparently decided that the picture in which I looked the most unkempt and generally gormless should be shared with their readership.)
However, 7 million people were reminded once more that I am reading law at London Met and that I intend to follow in the family tradition and practice as a barrister here in Hong Kong with my father and grandfather. I take solace in the fact that the couple of paragraphs of text that my uniquely uninteresting story took up may have knocked an Independent article off the pages of the SCMP.
(Every now and then I come across a passage so disgustingly anti-semitic, outrageously biased or appallingly ill-sourced in the paper and scan down to the now familiar “The Independent” tag at the end of the article which signifies that the SCMP has once again indulged in some monumentally poor journalistic outsourcing.)
The amount of mocking I’d receive if I was still at Sixth Form here would be truly epic in scale. As it goes most of the people I went to Shatin College with are probably elsewhere. Otherwise this would rank somewhere near the time that someone found out how many Jaguars my family drove.
Still, it’s great to have the big-two at the bar together again and it means that in another two years or so, the bar register will list, Sir John Swaine SC, John J E Swaine, John L Swaine.
That does unfortunately make me John Swaine Jr Jr, but it’s certainly something I’m looking forward to. Hell – if anyone’s got enough money to spend they can have all three of us working on the same brief.
Later
John
For the first time in 18 months I’m back on Hong Kong soil. It marks the end of the longest period I’ve gone without at least visiting the big lychee - when the Dim Sum on a Cathay Pacific flight tastes good, you know you’ve been away too long.
In my absence I missed several large protests, SARS* and most importantly - McDonalds’ Hello Kitty promotion No. #340975.
*And with it my chance to experience that most-rare of Hong Kong phenomena - the empty elevator. I am informed by an uncle who has since left the metropolis that all you had to do was cough conspicuously and people would kindly vacate the vessel with astounding gusto.
I also managed to arrive on the day of the Legco Elections. The entirity of my election coverage has thus far been provided by Hemlock’s diary keeping and as a result my knowledge of the candidates was sufficient to discern what on earth the South China Morning Post was getting at in its write up of the pre-polls poll. Whilst almost the entire population heads off to the polls (a zesty 85% turnout is forecasted for only the vaguest semblence of electoral power putting me in mind of the massive queues for even the poorest snoopy memorabilia deals offered by local companies) I am left tending to ankles that have been forced into disturbingly acute angles by economy seats.
In all fairness, Cathay’s economy seats seem larger than anyone else’s. Unfortunately I’ve recently attained the 6’3” milestone-height that leaves me predisposed to extreme discomfort in just about any transportation seating. A small price to pay for being just above eye-poking height for the umbrella phalanxes that are mustered each time it rains here.
Rather interestingly in the SCMP poll although a fair few were put off by the Democratic candidate sex scandal, some 7% of those polled said it made them more likely to vote Democrat. Clearly the city supports a burgeoning population of sex-service enthusiasts who, upon finding common ground with the candidate, have plumped to vote for the unfortunate fellow.
Anyhow, more to come once I find a stable net source, or manage to go more than 2 minutes without attracting that ‘beep’ telling me that someone has started the 15 minute timer. When such time has elapsed you are obliged to relinquish your terminal here.
Come in number 19 - your time is up!
Later
John
Yep, been a while but I’ve finally managed to sit down at Pacific Coffee Company and post afew entries to the Blog.
Having had Broadband hooked up to his flat just as I arrived my father is in full compliance with the Sod’s Law, being without any form of computer to connect to it (waiting on a new power cable for his laptop). Naturally I had made the foolish mistake of stepping out with my Newton without its ethernet card so my posting has had to wait till this $15 bottle of water pit-stop.
So here follows my first few days.
Well, my flight leaves today at 18:30 so I’m off to the land of the Shiny Green Suit, whereupon blogging shall recommence. Beware the soaring rhetoric printed below.
On a rather sobering note this does mean that I’ll be flying on September 11th. A far happier destination awaits me on this day than did the other John Swaine just 3 years ago. However it helps to bring home to me exactly why I’ve been writing this blog. It started out as a pointless journal but it grew into something more important for me. I’m part of ‘the big debate’ - even if my traffic is considerably smaller than the big blog dogs - and I’m part of it because I want to be, because 3 years ago to this day all my illusions about the world of current affairs were shattered.
It’s why I can’t stand to watch the BBC News inform me of the last moments of the ‘attackers’ in Beslan, or why it sickens me every time that I’m told how ‘US Imperialism’ is to blame for the current state of affairs. Terrorists slaughtered thousands this day three years ago, they killed hundreds a year and 31 days later, murdered more on march of this year and have killed countless hundreds in between.
How can it be that 3 years on, and thousands dead later there are still some who will not acknowledge this threat? Who refuse to call evil by its name?
It wasn’t a militant who took John’s life, or an insurgent, not a freedom fighter or a rebel. It was a terrorist and if saying that makes me guilty of using his name for a political purpose then so be it - because the determined destruction of terrorism is not a policy, but a necessity for the survival of the values that my parents taught me to believe in.
I said a brief prayer this evening for those who survived that fellow, I don’t know if he had kids, or parents or siblings but I do know that there’s one less John Swaine in the world and I wish the 9/11 printed on my ticket didn’t cause me to think of him.
Best Wishes
John