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Come on UK law socs, where are your junior indoctrination divisions?


The Law Society of Hong Kong has enlisted children to sing the praises of the territory's legal system, resulting in a music video which could not look more like the product of a repressive regime.

'Love for Hong Kong', written by former Hong Kong Law Society President Melissa Pang and sung by a choir of youngsters, has racked up over 20,000 views since it appeared on YouTube last Friday.

In a jaunty call for action, the Eastern District Youth and Children’s Choir sings, "Love for Hong Kong, Don't just hide it in your heart, Sing it out, Speak it out, Let everyone know".

"What can we do to protect Hong Kong from unfounded wrong allegations?", sing the children, making synchronised hand gestures as they answer, "Tell the world we're working well".

C M Chan, the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong, refused to say what the "unfounded wrong allegations" were, telling RollOnFriday that enquiries about lyrics "should be appropriately addressed by the owner and creator of the Song". Pressed to respond on the basis that Pang is a current Council member, a Law Society spokesperson replied that she created the song "in her personal capacity, not as a Council member on behalf of the Law Society". Pang did not respond to a request for comment.

Their reluctance to confirm that the lyric refers to criticism of the national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020, and Hong Kong’s crackdown against pro-democracy activists and human rights lawyers, may be due to fears that authorities would hold them responsible for spreading anti-China sentiments, and lock them up as well.

"Rule of Law is strong", sing the children, before Chan and his fellow council members relay how it is "Based on law and evidence".


puppets

They dance like puppets. Huh. How about that.


"Have faith in the years to come", implore the children, who then cross their fingers, unintentionally signalling that getting justice in Hong Kong will require a great deal of luck, or that they are lying.

"Defenders of the law, Lawyers and Judges, We have trust in you", trill the youngsters, before the lyrics descend into a series of mantras that would not look out of place in a musical reimagining of 1984: "We're all equal before the law, Justice is done, Transparency is here".

That transparency doesn't extend to state crimes, however, with the result that a monument to the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre was removed from the University of Hong Kong's campus last year. The sculpture was called the Pillar of Shame, but now, sing the Law Society choristers, "Rule of law is the pillar of Hong Kong".

The song is delivered in English, but switches to Mandarin for the final line, when the children make the not-at-all sinister announcement, "The new generation of rule of law is me".

Enjoy, or it's the reeducation camp for you:

A lawyer in Hong Kong who opted not to give his name "for political persecution reasons" told RollOnFriday, "it is concerning to me that the HKLS has possibly lost the plot". 

"Does the HKLS really think producing something like this is going to add to perceptions about the rule of law in Hong Kong, or just demonstrate to the rest of the world that Hong Kong is a complete shit show at present reliant on propaganda performed by children?"

Tip Off ROF

Comments

PXS 29 July 22 08:27

I remember HK when it was a serious jurisdiction.  Sad to see it competing with North Korea in the bonkers-but-creepy propaganda stakes.

Lydia 29 July 22 08:46

If they have to do this and produce something as if it came from North Korea then I am afraid the battle is lost to retain that rule of law which started going once we handed HK back when the lease expired. Now is the time for foreign lawyers to leave particularly given the covid restrictions which have made life there hard too for those needing to travel to see family.

 

Ah I see someone also mentioned NK above too - yes it looks just like that - cute little girls and saying things you know are the opposite of what must be so. Show us a lecture instead where the judges have decided against the communist party to enforce the rule of law and it would be more convincing. This will be slow drip drip drip change from democracy to communist dictatorship of course.

solicitor who solicits 29 July 22 08:57

It's sad to see this happening in Hong Kong. 25 years ago, it was all "God save the Queen". Now this.

anon 29 July 22 09:36

some seem to forget that under UK rule, HK was never a democracy. HK hasn't been able to elect it's own leaders - even before the UK took it after the first Opium War (yes, a war the British Empire fought to force China to buy outlawed heroine sold by Scottish merchants). not sure why people are so upset by the transfer of power to the CCP? is authoritarian rule only acceptable if done by a western power?

Anonymous 29 July 22 10:12

"under UK rule, HK was never a democracy"

Neatly glossing over the fact that, under British rule, moves were repeatedly made to democratise the territory but were repeatedly opposed by Beijing (who had rights over legislative changes per treaty arrangements) and by Chinese state funded lobby groups.

Then most progress which had been made was annulled by the Chinese shortly after handover. By way of brief summary of the final days:

"After the departure of Governor David Wilson in 1992, Chris Patten the new governor of Hong Kong, began moves to unilaterally democratise the territory by allowing for the election of half the Legislative Council by universal suffrage, and in the process incurring the wrath of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Patten had judged that: "People in Hong Kong are perfectly capable of taking a greater share in managing their own affairs in a way that is responsible, mature, restrained, sensible". During the final days of British rule, the Patten administration legislated for labour rights and collective bargaining. However, the legislation was cancelled by the provisional legislature upon taking office in 1997."

 

"is authoritarian rule only acceptable if done by a western power?"

Would be a great question if there were any relevant authoritarian rule to point to.

But there isn't, so it's all just whataboutery in an effort to try and draw some false equivalence between the CCP (ongoing genocide of the Uighurs, don't forget) and the modern British government.

TRUE Scotsman 29 July 22 10:19

"the British Empire fought to force China to buy outlawed heroine sold by Scottish merchants"

Nay laddie!

Those merchants may have hailed from bonnie Scotland, but they were BRITISH merchants, nae Scottish.

You must understand that the glorious and enlightened people of Scotland were all passive prisoners of empire who were just as oppressed (if not MORE oppressed) as the natives of the colonies. We were all innocently hauled along by the wicked English - whose fault it all was - and none of Empire's sins are to be laid at our door nor to stain our history books.

To the extent that you may find disproportionate numbers of Scottish surnames in the history of Empire (and indeed, see those surnames with remarkable frequency amongst African-American populations) you are not to be confused into thinking that Scotland was in any way involved or implicated in Empire's crimes.

So let us all remember, all of those Scottish people you may have read about in well researched books were in fact 'British' and thus the nation of Scotland is not to be tarred with any kind of moral blame today.

We are noble victims, just like you.

Death to British imperialism 29 July 22 10:21

So British imperialism and white supremacism was better than self rule? Bunch of trump supporting white privileged racists 

PXS 29 July 22 10:22

"is authoritarian rule only acceptable if done by a western power?"

No.  It wasn't acceptable by the UK in 1842 and it isn't acceptable by the PRC in 2022. 

"under UK rule, HK was never a democracy"

Mostly true.  Under UK rule we had every freedom but (by the Patten era) only limited democracy.  Now HK has yet more limited democracy and ever fewer freedoms.  

Anonhk 29 July 22 14:52

This isn’t as bad as it looks.  
 

Over the last few years, due to a combination of threats and pressure, election rigging (partners forcing assistants to sign blank voting forms) and apathy, pro Beijing forces have achieved a majority on Hong Kong’s Law Society Council. This is just another section of Hong Kong civil society that has fallen in this way since 2019.

Luckily, the pro Beijing council members are, by and large, useful idiots.  Attracted by the chance of earning a quick buck, or getting other more lucrative appointments, they will do as they are told, but have little capacity for independent thought.  This train wreck of a song is a sign that someone in the HK liaison office - the real power here now - has forgotten to give them something meaningful to do.  This is a misguided attempt to curry favour.  
 

it could be worse.  They could be conducting a witch hunt and forcing out all pro democracy lawyers.  

 

Anonymous 29 July 22 16:15

As someone who worked in HK in Law Firms had the "delight" of dealing with the HKLS, this is no surprise that they publicise this nonsense.  What is surprising is that there is still the shrill insistence on Rule of Law - that went down the toilet the day the Nat Sec laws were forced upon the HK LegCo.  It is now Rule of Pooh (or Xi).   I am so sad that HK's sun has set and is now Just Another Chinese City - but this was always Beijing's intent.

Anonymous 29 July 22 17:16

London sees every English speaking foreign country other than Anglo-Saxon territories as a threat and competitor after brexit. It competes with Hong Kong for the arbitration and financial businesses, so it maligns the rule of law in Hong Kong and supported the violence that carried on for over half of 2019. And when the exact same assault on democracy happened at capitol hill, it's instantly domestic terrorism, insurrection and anti-democracy, not pro-democracy as was said about the little terrorists in Hong Kong.

Anonymous 29 July 22 17:35

"London sees every English speaking foreign country other than Anglo-Saxon territories as a threat and competitor after brexit."

Gloriously mental stuff.

I normally need a potent cocktail of dried mushrooms, cough mixture, and cleaning alcohol to come up with theories that mad, but this bro is banging them out at quarter past five on a Friday afternoon.

Respec'

 

"It competes with Hong Kong for the arbitration and financial businesses, so it maligns the rule of law in Hong Kong and supported the violence that carried on for over half of 2019. And when the exact same assault on democracy happened at capitol hill, it's instantly domestic terrorism"

Bro, London's most serious competitor for that stuff is New York. In America. So what you're saying here makes precious little sense.

 

Now, pass me that bottle of Benylin. If I'm going to get to where you've managed to go before the clock strikes midnight, then I'm going to need to get on it hard.

Roy Batty 30 July 22 01:47

Reprehensible and an embarrassment to the legal profession. The fact that we need to use pseudonyms when voicing our disgust over this shameless action by the Law Society speaks volumes about the rule of law in Hong Kong.

Balance 30 July 22 05:59

NY does not compete with London for arbitration. HK and Singapore do and so does Paris albeit more for the civil law variety.

Still, I agree 17:16 is smoking crack.

Johnny Lee 31 July 22 07:57

seems someone was trying too hard and ended up making a fool of herself, and dragging the HK Law Society down with her.

Shame on you, Mxlissx Pxng!

Hackaforte 31 July 22 18:00

Yes, you have to watch those Anglo-Saxon territories. Escanceaster, Hamtunscir, Weogornaceaster, Norvic, especially Eoforwic. All full of mustachioed Woden-worshipping wannabes.

Anonymous 01 August 22 13:05

>The song is delivered in English, but switches to Mandarin for the final line, when the children make the not-at-all sinister announcement, "The new generation of rule of law is me".

Anyone else getting strong "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"-vibes here?

Anonymous 02 August 22 10:40

"The song is delivered in English, but switches to Mandarin for the final line, when the children make the not-at-all sinister announcement, "The new generation of rule of law is me""

Catchy stuff. A good job that China isn't allowed in the Eurovision or they'd walk it.

Anonymous 03 August 22 15:12

We are confused as to why your article does not expressly and repeatedly state that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is part of the People's Republic of China.

Through your omissions of this, and repeated references to "Hong Kong", there is an implication that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is an independent nation. Let us assure you, it is not.

Please kindly refrain from making such omissions in the future.

It is shameful that you are castigating children for singing what is in their hearts and minds.

Your so-called democracy should have given you the cognizance of mind to be aware of this.

以这种方式再次发布, 我们会来找你的。

白魔

We and Us 04 August 22 04:44

"We are confused as to why your article does not expressly and repeatedly state that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is part of the People's Republic of China."

"We" means those of you who represent the Law Society of HONG KONG to write this disgusting song and dance like puppets?

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