Around the News Desk -- From Hong Kong to Kosovo
Who says Hong Kong is being overrun by officials with communistic
inclinations? On Tuesday the government announced the lowest pay rise for
civil servants for 15 years. But get this, the good folks in the lower pay
ranges - the troops in the trenches - are getting just 5.79 percent. On the
other hand, the higher echelons and directorate are looking forward to a
6.09 percent increase.
Those that perhaps need it most, aren't getting it. Those who have a
somewhat more substantial cushion against inflation, are getting even more.
The gap between rich and poor grows ever wider.
Unemployment in Hong Kong has reached a 14 year high - and currently stands
at about 4 percent. With layoffs and a bleak economic outlook, one could be
forgiven for thinking the government would have set a standard, an example.
But then, we live in a capitalist society here.
To more deadly business. At the time of writing the death toll from
Saturday's earthquake in Afghanistan had reached about 4,000 with 70,000
homeless. International aid organisations are stretching themselves to the
limit to help the unfortunate victims - with money donated voluntarilly or
from our taxes. Meanwhile, the warring factions have announced there will be
no ceasefire simply because 4,000 of their fellow countrymen and women have
died in a natural disaster. Each side is accusing the other of actually
taking advantage of the tragedy to mount offensives.
I was always told that God helps those that help themselves - and God help
those that don't. I have to be honest, when I heard that the fighting would
continue despite the earthquake, my first reaction was to say: "Screw them,
spend the money and distribute the sympathy somewhere where it will be
appreciated!" But then I remembered the kids.
Generalisations are dangerous, but I'd bet that most editors and reporters
reach a stage in their career when they begin to suffer from 'sympathy
fatigue.' We are exposed to more of the day-to-day horror and stupidity that
goes on around the world than the average newspaper reader or television
viewer. And we don't have the option of tossing the paper aside or switching
off. But I don't care how hard-nosed and cynical the editor or reporter may
have become, the kids will get you every time.
It also diminishes any respect or confidence we may have in politicians. It
was a political decision to continue fighting, and it was by political
instigation that hundreds of kids this week marched through the streets of
the Kosovo capital, Pristina, holding placards supporting the Kosovo
Liberation Army. The way things are going, we could soon see those same
healthy kids receiving minimum aid rations in Albanian refugee camps. Then
we'll start hating the bloody Serbs all over again.
According to figures released on Tuesday, at the latest count 589 rebels
have been killed so far this year with the loss of 20 members of the
security forces. More than 39,500 soldiers are involved in the offensive and
they have completely ignored national sovereignty and crossed international
borders. Since 1984 about 37,000 people have died in the conflict - the vast
majority of them were civilians. Sorry, perhaps I should have mentioned this
at the top of the paragraph, I am talking about NATO member and Gulf War
ally, Turkey - not Yugoslavia.
The Kurds and the Kosovo Albanians have a lot in common - except for one
significant difference. Yugoslavia is no longer considered important to
Western foreign policy makers. When the Cold War ended Yugoslavia, the
moderate communist federation, lost its strategic significance. Fair enough,
Turkey is paying a price for its war on the Kurds and its 1974 invasion of
Cyprus, not least of which is being blackballed by the European Union
membership decision makers. But it isn't facing anywhere near the criticism
and economic hardship that has been imposed and is being considered to be
imposed on Belgrade. Why is that?
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