Selective silence of social elite is the biggest accomplice of tyranny
BeWater(15 Mar) Due to the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak in Hong Kong, the public has become highly aware of health and hygiene, which makes some experts the most credible group in the society. Prof. Yuen Kwok Yung, Microbiology lecturer at HKU, and Prof. Gabriel Leung, dean of medicine at HKU, are two of the most credible members in Carrie Lam’s expert team.
Portrayed as proper and professional through the lens, do they really care about the welfare of Hongkongers as portrayed? Other than seeing what they said, more importantly, we have to see what they did not do and what they deliberately avoided.
Yuen and Leung are both honourable GBS JP (Gold Bauhinia Star Justices of Peace), social elites approved by the government. One of their duties is to visit detention centers such as prisons, listen to the complaints from the detainees and prevent additional penalties other than court judgments imposed on them.
Have they voiced out for any detainees or prisoners in the past nine months? According to Stand News, over 100 detainees were absent from first hearings due to injury, 20 complained of being beaten up by the police, 8 were even beaten to fracture. Have they voiced their concern for this group of detainees who were suspected to be tortured by police brutality? When Edward Leung was transferred to maximum-security prison, has any of the JP bothered to find out why?Large numbers of protestors were refused bail, detained, but charges were withdrawn after investigation. Have they questioned the excessive arrest? Have they performed their duty as JP to speak out for social injustice?
These people are no ordinary people like you and me. They are doctors, infectious disease specialists and people with social status. If they say a word of justice, it would make it to the news, it would put pressure on the regime, it would have left a remark in Hong Kong’s history, yet they chose to stay silent.
Some might say, “they’re doctors, not politicians. They shouldn’t make political statements”. Conversely, Gabriel Leung was the ex-deputy director of the food and health bureau (FHB), and also the ex-director of Chief executive’s office. He is a politician from the beginning. As to Yuen Kwok Yung, when asked if he thought it was double standards that the HK government closed borders to countries such as South Korea, but not China, he nervously replied that he “doesn’t know politics”, he only focuses on science. On the other hand, during a media interview, Yuen would praise Sophie Chan, director of FHB, that she could handle great pressure. Selective silence and inaction shows that it’s not that they don’t know politics, but in fact, they use their scientific professionalism as their halo to deceive the public’s trust. They are downright propaganda machines.
Looking back, even if we are only talking about public hygiene and epidemiology, have they done their job properly and speak fairly? Did they voice their concern when HA staff needed to share a facemask for two weeks? When Tuen Mun hospital requested medics to wear the same N95 mask for different surgeries and different patients, which is against the CDC guidelines for aerosol generating procedure, did they question the authorities? Even for the situations occurred within their expertise of infection control, did they say anything of justice to HA?
From Leung and Li’s social status and expertise, their word of criticism would be more powerful than the whole of HA Union, and would put more pressure on HA. However, they chose to play safe and protect themselves.When the public was standing up against police brutality, they chose to remain silent. When medics went on strike to protect their health, they chose to side with Carrie Lam. When journalists got attacked reporting the truth, they didn’t dare to make a noise, not a single word on police brutality.
As a social elite, can they push all their social responsibilities away just by saying “I don’t know politics”? Can they heal Hong Kong, which was already on the brink, just by finding the origin of the virus and its infection path? In major issues of right and wrong, these social elites and experts are only hypocrites who enjoy the halo of professionalism given by the public; they would only protect themselves and maximize their own benefits.
Source: Stand News