Cantonese Rant Gone Viral

Kwan Ying-yi speaking at the Legislative Council earler this week

A friend posted an interesting video on Facebook, showing a young woman in a purple hoodie sitting in the Legislative Council giving a three-minute rant.

My friend commented it was like a rap song and it really does sound like one even if you don't know Cantonese.

In it Kwan Ying-yi knows she only has three minutes so she crams it all in, but she speaks in a calm demeanour, laced with sarcasm at the Leung administration. Here's the version posted on Apple Daily with music:

http://hk.apple.nextmedia.com/enews/realtime/20160223/54790251

Here's the video with English subtitles minus the music thanks to YTSL:

She was there as a "concerned citizen" to discuss retirement protection earlier this week. This is what she said:

Your so-called "universal" retirement plan puts an HK$80,000 asset limit on applicants but only offers them a paltry payment of HK$3,230 per month. Are you kidding me? There is so much government-business collusion and inflation these days that we can't even buy a catty of contaminated vegetables for HK$30!

Chief Secretary Carrie Lam rejected the need-blind proposal [favoured by the public] because she claimed it would lead to a government deficit. What she said made me laugh out loud! The government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayers' dollars on white elephant projects like the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge and the high speed rail link, only to nickel and dime the poor on social programs. How dare she mention the word deficit.

Then she talked about law and order:

What happened after [Chief Executive] Leung Chun-ying was accused of accepting HK$50 million in secret payments? Nothing.

What happened to the pro-Beijing camp after it blatantly rigged the district elections? Nothing.

In our topsy-turvy city, firing shots into the air is considered compliant with police protocol. The ethical standards for the government and the police are as "flexible" as the arm of the officer who hit passers-by with his baton and called it an "extension of his arm". Lawmakers are permitted to spread unfounded rumours in Legco, like the one about one of the abducted booksellers taking a speedboat to China to procure prostitution.

To be honest, I am worried that after making this speech today, I too may disappear and "go to the mainland using my own methods". [She is referring to the missing booksellers who have presumably entered the mainland without proper documentation]. Why bother with retirement protection when our personal security is unprotected?

Finally on Leung and his administration:

I want to offer Leung, his senior staff and the Hong Kong Police a piece of advice: there is something called karma in this world.

There isn't much we can do to stop you now, but future generations of Hong Kong people will be watching you. Your karma will catch up with you one day!

And then when her three minutes were up, her microphone was shut off. And not long afterwards the video of her was uploaded online and was viewed over 300,000 times in 48 hours.

Many praised her for speaking out people's frustrations with Leung, and some even encouraged her to run for Legislative Councillor in September. However others criticized her for being aggressive, others for not being aggressive enough.

Nevertheless, Kwan has definitely gotten people talking about the state of Hong Kong, and maybe she will inspire others to speak out in Legco too.