A foreign-Hong Kong citizen saw her forthrightness thrown back in her face yesterday after she was forced to scrub her name off a petition when news crews pointed out that she was supporting the government’s political reform proposal.
Roisin Rainey, who has lived in Hong Kong for 30 years, signed the petition – organised by the pro-Beijing group Hong Kong Federation of Trade Union together with the Alliance for Peace and Democracy – in Wan Chai, believing it was for fair universal suffrage in Hong Kong’s chief executive elections.
She was then swamped by reporters asking her why.
“It’s for universal suffrage”, she answered matter-of-factly, adding that she is “definitely not” in support of the government proposals.
She was then forced to do the short walk of shame back to the booth after reporters clarified that the petition was calling for the exact opposite of what she stands for, as a video footage from Ming Pao shows.
Never sign something without reading it first!
As if to cerment her position afterwards, Rainey said, “It’s [the government’s proposal] not the universal suffrage promised under the Basic Law. You will not get it [universal suffrage] if you don’t stand up”.
Yeah, just make sure you know what you’re standing up for.
Meanwhile, a number of cabinet members, including Chief Secretary Carry Lam, have signed the petition, while other officials say they signed in a personal capacity.
Lam, together with Secretary for Mainland and Constitutional Affairs Raymond Tam and Secretary of Justice Rimsky Yuen, have been promoting the proposal to the public.
The Alliance for Peace and Democracy claim they received 360,000 signatures over the weekend, RTHK reports.
Photo: Mingpao screengrab (subtitles: Then I’ll tear it up)
Reader Interactions