He apologised because
he knew he was caught...
Peter Wu
I don’t need to tell anyone that the two most
common downfalls for the rich and famous, royalty, the celebrities and
politicians (and mortals like us) are sexual indiscretions and unethical behaviours. They cause many a derailment of high-flying
careers, political ambitions, distinguished reputation. What makes them
uniquely dangerously is that they have a tendency to come to bite at the most
awkward of time, or when it is least expected.
Well it certainly comes back to bite our good mate
Bowtie Tsang, just as he thinks he is on a cruisy
home-run to retirement, or switching roles to become a mega-buck earning
‘consultant’ or company director.
For the second time in as many months, he stood
before the media expressing his remorse for exercising ‘poor judgment’ about
those air-borne, land-based and water-borne ‘advantages’ he took. The SCMP said
he was fighting back tears as he expressed his contrition. I disagree. To me,
it looked as if he was trying to squeeze some tears of the ‘crocodile’ variety
from his eye sockets. It was yet another award-winning
Why did he stand before the media to express his
‘remorse’? Did he do that out of his own volition? Did his conscience suddenly
prick him to come clean about his wayward behavior? Well your guess is as good
as mine but I suspect the big brothers up north may have something to do with
it, just as Tung Chee Hwa was told to admit his handling of the HK’s economy
during his reins was less than satisfactory.
The auditor’s report about Donald’s spending and
global trotting is pretty damning. Despite the grudging disclosure and the
icy-cold co-operation from his office, the auditor was able to say that he
virtually broke all the rules governing civil servants’ spending and travelling – massively and blatantly. In other words, he
really lived up large. He thinks HK is his little fiefdom and the treasury, his
own little piggy bank.
The HK Oriental Daily News has been relentless on
the attack about his spend-thrift behavior in recent months. One estimate puts
the total cost of his and his office during his tenure as Chief Executive as
HK$1.2 billion. Had he been a little bit more frugal, I am sure the average Hongkonger would have got more than the HK$6,000 wind-fall
they had got last October.
Talk about the law of high cost and low return!
PS Rumours had it that he
was hell-bent on getting the treasury to buy him a private jet, modeled on Air
Force One used by President Obama. If it comes to
fruition, there can only be one name for it: The Greedy One.