In March 1994, I settled in Hauz Khas, New Delhi. The district lies to the south of the awe-inspiring parade route with its vista of the Indian Parliament, heart of the world's largest democracy. If not quite on this grand scale, my new neighbourhood enjoyed sufficient status to be chosen by Pierre Cardin for a major fashion show, staged just after my arrival.
On my first night in Hauz Khas, I went for a walk. The pavement ahead was unlit and I failed to notice an open drain (thieves routinely steal manhole covers for the metal). I stepped straight into the hole and my right leg scraped against two jagged metal rods. The injuries were not pleasant. The surprise came three years later when I discovered that the same hole was still there in the road.
Indian cities are not alone in having faults. In some ways they are superior to English and US cities, which suffer from excessive anti-social behaviour. But big cities, anywhere in the world, are big places and cracks can easily be papered over. Hong Kong is no exception. Take Aberdeen Main Road, which crosses under a pedestrian bridge leading to Tin Wan. In the last few years, I have witnessed five traffic accidents at this site. Cars spun out of control and struck the concrete walls of the bridge. Clearly, there is a need for vehicles to travel much slower when approaching this "black spot". Yet officials have failed to establish an effective warning system.
Take Aberdeen harbour. Fishermen keep dogs to guard their boats. Some of the animals are chained but others wander about the area. During the parched summer months, the dogs on the loose get thirsty - and "hot under the collar". Several times in the last few years, while crossing the car park where the fish-delivery trucks park, I have been preyed on by the barking, snapping creatures. I froze and eventually they went away. But those four-legged hazards should be brought to heel.
Is America any better at sorting out local problems? Certainly not. I used to hear New Yorkers declare that the best service in the city was a garbage-collection operation run by the Mafia. They weren't joking. Another adage: Keep New York Clean, Dump Your Trash in New Jersey.
What interests locals in any city? An international trade treaty enacted by their government? Or "small" issues like a loose balcony?In my early reporting days in England, I covered village parish council meetings. Councillors would discuss the most trifling irritations troubling villagers. There was no way an accident "black spot" would get overlooked. A vote would be taken on whether to put up suitable signs to warn motorists.
But no city is capable of scrutinizing all the minutiae. Nor is it practical to run meetings that cater for locals who speak a myriad of languages in an urban Tower of Babel.
Winston Churchill said: "Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
The Indians I met in India loved their country, but hated the officials who ran it. The "small" needs of city dwellers were ignored, creating fatalism. My Sikh landlord was an electrical engineer, but quit because he was disgusted by the corruption.
Most people, anywhere in the world, would be happy with the political setup if it sorted out the "small matters" - from bus routes to safe crossing points for children. The latest technology can improve on the machinery of "small-issue democracy". China itself is following this trend, with "mounting calls for e-government services" (China Daily, April 5).
Hong Kong is well suited to advance the Information Age a step further. It could improve on websites where citizens make their voices heard. "Fix-this problem" podiums could be installed in key points around the city. Multi-lingual computer setups for keying in complaints.
A more "democratic" version of this would enable Hongkongers to vote electronically on "issues of the parish". In small English towns referendums have been held on such "small" matters as the staging of weekly markets. Hong Kong could sound out public opinion on "parish affairs". A technically sophisticated voting system allowing frequent polling on local questions troubling the populace of particular districts - from North Point to Shatin.
E-poll podiums, at a district level, would have to ensure that all votes were correctly recorded and that all votes were the votes of real, live, bona-fide Hongkongers.
Whatever the method, the perfection of an e-poll mechanism would see the mathematization of political science - providing the digital mandate of the people.
(HK Edition 04/13/2004 page8)
