Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee has given so much of herself to the Hong Kong community that she once even shared images of her insides with the public.
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Back then, I commended the then 65-year-old Ip in this space for the “beauty” of her digestive system and for her openness in sharing images of her colonoscopy on Facebook. She wrote back, thanking me for supporting her mission to raise public awareness of colorectal cancer, at a time when then chief executive Leung Chun-ying was planning to introduce free tests.
Colorectal cancer has been among the top three most common cancers and the second leading cancer killer in Hong Kong. The free tests were an early warning system that probably saved many lives.
Like many locals, I have long had a love-hate relationship with Ip. She is the funniest unfunny person I have ever met. Her social media posts are endless sources of memes. Now, though, as she has announced she won’t seek another term, we are going to miss her in the Legislative Council.
Ultimately, I find her to be a tragic figure. She was either too early or too late for the evolving Hong Kong political system after the 1997 handover. She made no secret that she wanted to be chief executive, trying twice but failing both times to win the required Election Committee votes to be a viable candidate. She was certainly qualified, but her blunt style often undermined her public relations, and she didn’t have the necessary support or connections from the powerful corporate and property sectors.
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During much of the post-1997 period, the opposition was only interested in political theatre while most of the people who ran the government had neither style nor substance. Back then, most of us mistook wreaking havoc in the legislature for opposition, a civil service for government, and senior bureaucrats for leaders.