Scrub away the bloodshed with waves

The murder of Abby Choi has horrified the whole city. While authorities have sent their sharpest investigators and evidence collectors over the last three days, the tragic circumstances have gradually come to light. All of the suspects in the case are thought to have been apprehended, according to the law enforcement agency. However, the uncooperative nature of the suspects has complicated the investigation and trial of the case. Still, Justice has long arms, and it is expected that Abby Choi will get justice as a result of the relentless investigation by Hong Kong's professional police officers.

This case's suspects are an actual family of rats and snakes. Abby Choi's ex-father-in-law, Kwong Kau, was a former police officer who won the Hong Kong Police Force Long Service Award and held the highest rank. Nevertheless, in 2005, while serving as a detective sergeant and stationed at the Mongkok Police Station Criminal Investigation Team, he was accused of raping a woman he met while investigating the case. Following the incident, he quit the police service voluntarily for 18 years.

Alex Kwong, the ex-husband of Abby Choi, is suspected of defrauding others of gold investments and then became wanted for absconding; his mother has been declared bankrupt; and his brother has a history of indebtedness and is being pursued by the bank.

After marrying Alex Kwong, Abby Choi reportedly purchased a home at Kadoorie Hill, Ho Man Tin, for HK$68 million. In order to avoid a substantial sum of stamp duty, she purchased the home in the name of her ex-father-in-law (Kwong Kau), who pledged to transfer the ownership to Choi.

Abby Choi wanted to sell the house for cash at the end of last year, but the deal was met with tremendous opposition, and a homicidal scheme to control the property was suspected. While Choi was not registered as married to her current partner, the suspect erroneously anticipated that after the murder, the money would be inherited by her children from her ex-husband, who was still in the Kwong family. Kwong Kau's profession as a police officer led Alex Kwong to assume he would handle the situation without errors, thus getting the guts to murder his ex-wife.

According to the information disclosed by the police, the murder was premeditated and meticulously planned; the walls and windows of the village house used for dismemberment are hung with canvas, and a number of dismemberment tools were placed there, including meat shredders, mincing machines, electric saws, hammers, long raincoats, gloves, and masks, etc.; the body was dismembered and cooked to prevent odor, and taken to a distant location to be disposed of as soup scraps.

In a society as pristine as Hong Kong, it is considered that such a vile deed by the Kwong family was a solitary, exceedingly fortuitous incident, and the general public should not be too concerned about Hong Kong's law and order. A similar incident occurred in 2013, nearly ten years ago, in a subdivided apartment in Tai Kok Tsui, including the murder and mutilation of a family member. In Hong Kong, a society regulated by the rule of law, it is evident that the general public still has a clear vision, and abides by the law, let alone invites unwanted calamities due to their adherence to the law.

According to statistics released by the government, the total number of crimes committed in Hong Kong in 2022 was 70,048, a minor rise of 8.7% over the previous year, with a number of significant crime numbers reaching their lowest levels since Hong Kong's reunification. The rise in total crime is also mostly attributable to the growth in fraud cases, which grew by more than 8,000 instances, presumably as a result of the evolution of the Internet's virtual world and the relative lag in regulation.

Within this group, there were 8,830 violent offenses committed, a decline of 757 (-7.9%) over the previous year. For those severe crimes, including sex crimes, criminal intimidation, criminal damage, serious drug offenses, and auto theft, the total number decreased significantly. The number of robberies and break-ins was at its lowest level since records started in 1969, and there were just 30 killings, 15 of which involved family or related violence and were all solved. The numbers thus indicate that Hong Kong is still a safe and secure place to live, and the people should not be concerned about particular instances or lose faith in the police force's ability to reduce violence and preserve law and order.

The authorities must also increase their efforts to promote "Hello Hong Kong" to demonstrate that Hong Kong is a charming city full of love and vitality so that the waves and breeze of Hong Kong’s beautiful scene can wash away and clean up the occasional bloodshed, and demonstrate to the world that Hong Kong is still the charming East, a safe city full of love and peace.