李怡，1936年生，香港知名時事評論家、作家。1970年曾創辦雜誌《七十年代》，1984年更名《九十年代》，直至1998年停刊。後在《蘋果日報》撰寫專欄，筆耕不輟半世紀。著有文集《放逐》、《思緒》、《對應》等十數本。正在Matters連載首部自傳《失敗者回憶錄》：「我一生所主張所推動的事情，社會總是向相反趨向發展，無論是閱讀，獨立思考或民主自由都如是。這就是我所指的失敗的人生。」

Memoirs of a Loser 196: Queen Elizabeth II and Mao Zedong

Sep 13, 2022

In colonial Hong Kong, what does the Queen have to do with Hong Kong citizens? In fact, almost all Hong Kong people only know the existence of the Queen, and they jokingly call it "the head of the business" (the boss's wife). Almost all government agencies have her avatar, but this kind of existence seems to be absent.

On September 9, Britain lost Queen Elizabeth II, who had reigned for 70 years and was revered by the world. On the same day forty-six years ago, China lost Mao Zedong, the dictator who caused the unnatural deaths of some 50 million people. The world may be a little uneasy about whether the Queen of England's model can be passed on; however, Mao Zedong's authoritarian politics not only continued, but also had a tendency to revive the policies of the Mao era.

Hong Kong's "anti-extradition" movement has developed into a movement that almost half of the citizens directly and indirectly participate in. The reason is that Hong Kong's good governance from the British era has worsened after the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, making Hong Kong people more and more intolerable. After the Queen's death, many people in Hong Kong went to the British Consulate General to lay flowers and sign condolence books. If it weren't for the blood drop of the National Security Law circling overhead, I believe there would be more condolences.

Today, China, to which Hong Kong's sovereignty belongs, is completely different. For the people of Hong Kong, Xi Jinping's power is a real existence, and it is an existence that has a full impact on the lives of citizens.

Earlier I excerpted the text of Chapter 17 of Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching. At the moment of the Queen's death, I thought of the full text of Chapter 17:

"It is too high, and it is known to the lower world. Secondly, it is praised by relatives. Second, it is feared. It is inferior, and it is insulted. If you don't have enough faith, you will not believe it. Take care of your precious words. When you succeed, the people all say: I am nature."

"To be too high" is the best state; "to know that there is something" is that the people know that there is a government, but they don't care about it. Just like the existence of air, everyone is independent, independent and free to do their own thing. matter.

"Secondly, praise them." The second best state of governance is to love and praise those in power. Why is it not the best but only the second best to govern a country and be loved and admired by the people? For being loved and praised is the result of the government's benefits and favors to the people. People are "pro-familiar" with the regime, which means that the regime has become the center of social wealth distribution. The premise is that the regime needs to collect taxes to obtain wealth. People who rely on government welfare to live will gradually lose their ability to survive independently, and the whole society will lose its vitality.

After "familiar with him", followed by "secondly, fear him". It means first-class governance again, and the people fear the regime. This is the state in which those in power rely on violence and intimidation to rule. "Let's insult it." The lowest level of rule is the people's contempt, ridicule, and abuse of the regime.

"Lack of trust" means that the regime lacks integrity, and "unbelief" means that the people no longer believe in the regime. The deeper meaning is that there is also a lack of mutual trust between societies.

"Youxi's precious words". Those in power should be at ease, and "precious words" are not too much to say, so as not to disturb the people.

"When things are done, the people all say: I am natural." This means that when things are done, when they tell the merits, the people all say, I did it myself. No thanks to the government. The premise of this kind of society is that everyone is independent, free, and self-respecting. This is the best state of society.

From colonial Hong Kong, to the transfer of sovereignty 25 years ago, Hong Kong has changed from the state of "too high" to "down to low".

I used to think that the state of "superiority" mentioned by Lao Tzu was just an ideal and did not exist in the world. But now that I think about it, Hong Kong in the British era was at least in a state of being close to "superiority". The reign of the Queen of England seems to be absent. The only thing I've heard about is that the "Public Security (Amendment) Bill" passed in Hong Kong in 1986, as mentioned earlier, puts the burden of proof for distributing fake news on the defendant, which means that the press should reveal the source of the news. After the regulation was passed, it has not been implemented for two years. I later heard that this law was sent to England, but the Queen of England has not signed it. The government repealed the ordinance two years later.

Why the Queen of England did not sign it, no one knows. I guess she's based on her values of press freedom. But "youxi's precious words", she didn't say it.

In the 70 years of his reign, although he is a constitutional monarchy, his responsibility is to maintain the honor of the country and the royal family. In fact, every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and the royal family is no exception. There are a lot of problems with husbands, sons, daughters-in-law, and sisters alone. The country has also experienced a state where the sun never sets, and the colonies are independent one by one. The maintenance of the British Commonwealth is largely dependent on the flexible diplomacy of her symbolic head of state. In the decline of international influence, the queen not only does not take the responsibility of maintaining honor externally, but also needs to transition from a high-level monarchy to a real-world monarchy internally.

In 1957, Lord Altrincham criticized Elizabeth II in the newspapers as "conceited," "old-fashioned," and "conservative." The Queen reads British newspapers every day. Her secretary, like other subordinates, asked her to not read the newspaper that criticized her that day. But the Queen watched, and also watched Lord Altrincham's TV interview. Her secretary invited the Lord to Buckingham Palace, and the Queen met him and asked his opinion in person. He proposed such things as canceling the Ladies Ball, allowing more commoners to get close to the royal family, the Queen should give a Christmas speech on TV, and ensure that the royal family keeps pace with the times and so on.

The Queen actually took almost all of the Lord's advice. On Christmas Eve 1957, Queen Elizabeth II gave her first Christmas speech on live television.

Listen to opinions and follow the flow of goodness. Don't think this is easy to do. As the head of state, it is extremely difficult to hear criticism after being shielded by layers of subordinates. It is also extremely rare to be willing to meet harsh critics. It is even more valuable to accept the criticisms and opinions of the minority at that time to improve, which is rare in the world.

British folks have circulated some short stories about the Queen's seventy-year reign, her closeness to the people, her humor and so on. Given how long she has been in power and her rich experience, there are really not many stories, or even too few. But isn't she the most admirable thing about her lack of stories? As the person in charge of the highest power, what she has achieved is the ideal state of Lao Tzu: "I know what I have," "You can make your own words," and "When things are done, the people say: I am natural."

Because of her, I believe a constitutional monarchy may be better than a republic.