An Iron Heart for an Iron Lady?

Margaret Thatcher, the ex-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom passed away last week. This formally marked an end to the colourful international political scene in the 1980s. Without a doubt her political career is filled with controversies. As the only female Prime Minister in UK's history, she made quite a number of marks in the history of this country - cracking down the power of the unions, the Falkland Wars and the return of Hong Kong to China when the 150 years lease was due.

Being a politician is not an easy job in a country like UK. Being a female leader in an all man's land is even harder. What Margaret Thatcher accomplished is something that I think her opponents would never understand in their lives. UK politics is brutal. It is more than just yelling at each other about trivial matters and procrastinating important things as we saw in Australia. When I was in high school studying history, I remembered that if you want to learn true politics and statesmanship, the British are the ones to learn from.

I always have respect for Margaret Thatcher. I know this statement might push a lot of people's button. But being brought up in a unique Hong Kong culture that would probably not be seen again, I do have a different view about the Thatcher era. I still could not forget that she led the government that gave Hong Kong back to China. But then I do not think, and still believe so, that there was a choice. I still resent the fact that I was suddenly classified as a second class British national with my passport changed from British to British Nationals (Overseas), which officially stripped me of the right to live in UK. I felt I was left on my own device to look for an identity.

However that said, I am a person who was brought up in a unique Hong Kong culture that if you want a future, you would have to fight for it. I was taught never to take things for granted because no government or entity has ultimate responsibility for you (which was proved to be correct with how the returning of Hong Kong to China was handled). Hong Kong is never a welfare state. In the Hong Kong I grew up with, if you stop working, you stop eating. Now some people might think this is cruel, but this is just the world we live in no matter what social system we are painting our society with. For me while I could understand that the workers should be taken care of, demands have to be within a reasonable framework. I have a lot of respect for the unions, especially those representing artists and performers, but that does not mean I agree to all actions for each and every single union. In Margaret Thatcher's case I believe she must have her own reason to act the way she did. Whether it is appropriate to the minds of all people, all I can say is you can never please everyone. So you just need to act what you think is the best for your position.

I am sure Margaret Thatcher had made quite a number of enemies along the way and during her career. However even the greatest man on earth would have enemies - just remember how Abraham Lincoln and Ghandi died. For me no matter how much you dislike Margaret Thatcher celebrating her death is extremely bad taste. As a person who recently lost a family member and had the first hand experience of how much it hurts when people comment on this matter in a completely unempathetic manner, I personally do not agree with these so-called "Ding Dong!" Celebrators. I think they are mean, unkind and disrespectful. In the Chinese culture, we have a saying about "If you don't want to be on the receiving end of something, don't be on the giving end yourself". So I would like these people who popped their champagnes and rally for BBC Radio to broadcast the "Ding Dong!" song to think about whether they want the same to happen to them when their loved ones died. You can always justify your actions as that is an innate ability of the human species, but this is a conscience question - something reaching far deeper than even ethics.

Margaret Thatcher's life will continue to be scrutinized in history classes. However I do think at this point no matter one loves her or hates her because of her policies, she deserved to be respected as a fellow human being.