Say NO to law-breaking acts

After the New Year's Day rallies, a small group of protesters blocked main roads in Central during the night, leaving traffic severely disrupted. Most of the rallies during the day had been peaceful and orderly, following the city's good tradition of expressing one's demands in a mild way. But the action of that small group of people, which paralyzed the traffic in Central, was deliberate sabotage of public order and breach of the law.

The whole society, even the anti-CY Leung rally organizers, strongly condemned such irresponsible behavior, which defies Hong Kong's core values and the rule of the law. It was totally necessary and appropriate for the police to arrest the troublemakers and restore order in Central. Opposition lawmakers Leung Kwok-hung, Bull Tsang Kin-shing and Albert Chan Wai-yip were among the arrested.

The police's efforts to maintain Hong Kong's social order and rule of law have been widely confirmed and appreciated by the society. The small group of radicals' behavior of paralyzing Central has aroused the anger of local residents. Feeling this social outrage, anti-Leung groups rushed to draw a line between themselves and those lawbreakers. For instance, Jackie Hung Ling-yu, the Civil Human Rights Front convener, said the protesters who blocked traffic in Central should explain their motives; while Emily Lau Wai-hing, chairwoman of the Democratic Party, expressed her objection to the traffic occupation, saying that social rallies in Hong Kong have always been peaceful, rational and non-violent and such a tradition should not be destroyed. The Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions also objected to the road blocking action. The police later issued a statement, explaining that the authorities respect the individuals' right for peaceful and orderly demonstrations, but won't tolerate acts that destroy public order and threaten social security.

The whole society's strong condemnation of those who paralyzed traffic in Central and the anti-Leung camp's severing of ties with those radicals show that law-breaking behavior won't get support in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's core values respect rationality, fairness, peace, freedom and progress. Such civil awareness is the cornerstone for Hong Kong's stability and harmony. Those who paralyzed Central not only broke the law, but also defied our core values.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on Jan 3.

Support social enterprises

Siu Chor-Kee

Recently, some commentators gave pessimistic views about the future of social enterprises in Hong Kong. They believe these enterprises' space of survival is limited and our citizens have no obligation to support them with conscientious consumption.

These observers are neither objective nor perceptive, for they've just witnessed the initial period of the development of social enterprises in the city. Hong Kong is a free market economy, they say, so all the lucrative business opportunities will be seized by profit-seeking investors, leaving little chance for non-governmental organizations. Meanwhile, most of the social enterprise leaders are not good at business management, therefore the chance for them to succeed will be slim. That's why most social enterprises rely on government support to survive for just two or three years.

Such opinions sound reasonable, but in fact cannot stand in logic. Those commentators only knew most people in the world are striving to acquire wealth, but they ignored the fact that there are people who are making efforts for other courses instead of money. It's very simple that, from the perspective of religion, there are many more meaningful things in our lives apart from earning wealth.

That's why some influential and responsible business leaders establish social enterprises in some lucrative industries to create job opportunities for the weak social groups. These business leaders are not working for welfare institutions, but they have the conscience and capability to manage the social enterprises well and make them grow in a sustainable way.

There are always some people in this world who are not living for money. They establish social enterprises to help the weak social groups with their sense of mission, wisdom and hard work. What a bless it will be if these social enterprises can grow up, even beyond the founders' initial imagination! It's hoped that those who are pessimistic about the future of social enterprises have more patience, so that social enterprises in Hong Kong can have more space and opportunities to expand in the market. Such social enterprises, with a mission on their shoulders, are a fortune for Hong Kong residents.

The author is the permanent honorary president of the Hong Kong Kowloon City Industry and Commerce Association. This is an excerpted translation of his column in Hong Kong Commercial Daily published on Jan 3.

(HK Edition 01/04/2013 page3)