The opposition claimed victory in the recently concluded district council elections in Hong Kong.

What happened over the weekend was a cause for celebration – no protester sabotaged the voting and no rioter destroyed the process. It was democracy in all its aspects.

Community-level councilors did not yield much power, but probably the opposition is already over this election. They are not in power in Hong Kong, but they want to. What worries me is that power is the only thing they want.

Western-style democracy, like any political system, has its strengths and weaknesses. The good thing is that it values equality and liberty, while the not-so-good part is that sometimes it evades liability, which should never be forgotten by those who practice politics.

This is the problem that is paralyzing the U.S. politics now. The blue party and the red party are battling it out for power, but are losing the sense of why they are in power. 

They are intoxicated by their own ideological purity or partisan interests and have forgotten there are a lot of real problems that need to be solved in the real world. And the real world does not need passion, but demands liability. You do something, and time and justice assesses it. You will be held liable. 

Let us hope the opposition in Hong Kong realizes this.

Any political system needs to land in reality. Does the opposition get that? The opposition and some pro-establishment candidates seem fixated on their political standings rather than sustained commitment to public service. 

I have heard enough about how they want to be in power. But how do they plan to make Hong Kong work? How do they plan to redistribute wealth, grow the economy and be a vibrant part of China and a proud special administrative region?

I have not heard plans on these issues, but I hope they have ideas.

One better have a plan if one chooses to oppose. Otherwise being in power is more dangerous than fighting for power.

Some of the opposition leaders are young and they seem to like games. In fact, they are playing games out on the streets in the real world. In games, you shout hooray when you move up levels, you get praised for beating the monsters.

Script: Zou Yue

Video photographer: Li Ang

Video editors: Jiang Yuting, Yang Shengjie

Designer: Li Linxi

Producer: Wei Wei

Supervisor: Mei Yan

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