Tuesday 6 March 2012

Verbal Diarrhoea #13

"It was a random draw. Three is a quite good number. The number plate of one of my cars is `3388'".
Claims a 'smiling' and beleaguered Henry Tang Ying-yen


Incidentally, Henry Tang was the government minister responsible for introducing Hong Kong's customized vanity car plate system, whereby 'boring' and unimaginative people with bags of money and no creativity simply buy up clever-sounding or numerically-pleasing vanity car plates.


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Reference

Leung gets the luck of the draw (SCMP; paywall)
Coincidence sees candidates line up on the ballot paper in order of weekend forum popularity poll
Colleen Lee
Mar 05, 2012

The draw may have been random but the result was an accurate reflection of their popularity at a weekend forum on green issues.

When Mr Justice Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor, the returning officer for the March 25 chief executive race, pulled the names of the three contenders from one box and the slots on the ballot paper from another yesterday, each candidate's place coincided with their relative public opinion ranking among attendees at the Saturday forum.

Taking top spot on the ballot paper was former Executive Council convenor Leung Chun-ying, with pan-democratic candidate Albert Ho Chun-yan second and former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen third.

Scandal-plagued Tang was quick to dismiss suggestions that the draw mirrored his popularity compared with his rivals.

"It was a random draw. Three is a quite good number. The number plate of one of my cars is `3388'," he smiled.

Leung refused to be drawn on the result.

Yesterday's draw, held at the Central Library in Causeway Bay, also determined where in the city each candidate could post his election advertisements.

Tang, once tipped as Beijing's favourite for the city's top job, secured just 2 per cent of the vote in a poll of 500 members of the public and green campaigners at the forum.

Leung, constantly leading in surveys since declaring his candidacy, took 63 per cent of the audience vote, followed by Ho with 23 per cent.

Tang argued that he was told all three of them performed similarly well at the forum.

That event marked the candidates' first public appearance together and was a chance for them all to respond to audience questions on key environmental areas.

Earlier in the day, National People's Congress Standing Committee member Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai said in Beijing that the election was no longer a "gentlemen's competition".

Tang declined to comment on Fan's remarks, saying only that he agreed with Ho and one-time hopeful Tsang Yok-sing that the race was full of scandals targeting candidates.

"It has seriously hampered the professionalism and credibility of the election. It has also led to a stronger call among the public for universal suffrage," he said. "The election should get back to the right track."

8 comments:

  1. He's about as vapid as a personalised plate as well.

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  2. Thanks M. Totally agree with your sentiments about Henry Tang.

    I wonder; do all CE's (and potential CE's) share this trait? Think Tung Chee-hwa and Donald Tsang.

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  3. aimlesswanderer18 March 2012 at 16:01

    They are all male, rich, bland, middle aged, and, most importantly, Bejing approved.

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  4. Many moons ago, former Chief Secretary Anson Chan would have been the popular choice of the people. What chance of a female Chief Executive of Hong Kong?

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  5. aimlesswanderer22 March 2012 at 15:20

    What happened to Anson? Did he start to use his brain? Say bad things about the CCP?

    Gawd, isn't HK an ultimate Old Boy's Club? A rather slim chance.

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  6. The results are in. Dragon boy or "Mr Pig" Henry Tang lost at the final hurdle, as the Chinese Communist Party shifted their allegiance to "Mr Wolf" Leung Chun-ying. Fascinating developments for Sino-watchers.

    Let's see whether Mr "Smiley" Tang will be prosecuted for knowingly having an illegal structure (i.e. a basement larger than the footprint of his mansion) in his residence.

    Anson doesn't like CY Leung because she doesn't like how two-faced, cunning and indirect CY is.

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  7. aimlesswanderer30 March 2012 at 15:44

    And then Leung went to pay homage and bend over to the local CCP minder. Always a good look!

    Even if he does get prosecuted, it's not like he's going to jail. He has plenty of money and friends, he won't starve or anything!

    We'll have to see how the supposed elections due in 5 years go then. Will certainly be interesting.

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  8. Everyone's jockeying for position at present. Interesting times.

    Henry went on holiday and has dropped out of the limelight for the time being.

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