Djokovic, Johnson, Hong Kong’s ‘partygate’: why this is the year of #YouToo
- The world has been transfixed by reports of people in positions of power and influence behaving as if coronavirus measures did not apply to them
- Leaders and sportsmen should be role models with a moral compass. Like the Weinstein scandal that led to #MeToo, the current scandals should drive a new movement of social responsibility
As my British Airways flight was approaching Cape Town last November 25, my neighbour, J.D., said something to me that has stuck to this day. The only unmasked passenger I saw throughout the 12-hour journey, J.D. revealed he didn’t like a mask on his face.
Manners maketh man. It is in trying times when one’s character, or the lack thereof, is unmasked, through choices one makes.
In the past fortnight, Hong Kong, the UK and the world have been transfixed by reports of people in positions of power, influence or responsibility behaving as if coronavirus measures did not apply to them.
Nationwide, tens of thousands of people have been fined for breaching lockdown rules and many have had to say their goodbyes to dying loved ones via Zoom. One member of parliament has described Johnson as “socially distanced from honesty, responsibility and integrity”.
Djokovic’s countrymen’s health didn’t concern him much, either. Shortly after testing positive on December 16, 2021, the basis of his medical exemption to take part in the Australian Open, Djokovic attended public events unmasked despite Serbia’s 14-day self-isolation rules. He also fulfilled an interview and photo shoot commitment because he didn’t want to disappoint the journalist.
With Djokovic’s parents equating him to Jesus and Serbia’s president feting him as a national hero, would the journalist have chosen to meet Jesus and risk being infected, if Jesus had let him make his own choice?
A federal circuit judge quashed the cancellation of Djokovic’s visa as procedurally unfair because border officials had made their decision 48 minutes too early. Australia’s immigration minister has since exercised his statutory personal power to cancel Djokovic’s visa for a second time, “on health and good order grounds … in the public interest”. A full federal court unanimously agrees. Good character always is an entry condition under Australian law.
In seeking to absolve themselves of responsibility, the likes of Djokovic pleaded errors of judgment – or in plainer language, being an idiot. But you don’t get to be the crème de la crème of Hong Kong’s political world, prime minister of a G7 country, or the world’s No. 1 tennis player, if you are an idiot.
Instead, they each suffer from too much intelligence, while thinking everyone else is an idiot in sticking to the rules.
Since the novel coronavirus was identified in Wuhan in January 2020, governments across the world have imposed draconian restrictions, in the name of public health, on all aspects of our daily lives.
As the third year of the pandemic looms, we have normalised such restrictions so much so that partying, travelling unvaccinated and flying unmasked are for people who consider themselves powerful, rich or intelligent enough to be outside the rules that apply to the masses.
As we come to live with the coronavirus, political leaders, marquee sportspersons and others in positions of power, influence or responsibility must be role models with a moral compass.
Just as allegations against Harvey Weinstein in 2017 led to the #MeToo reckoning, so must Covid-19, with millions dead, mark the dawn of #YouToo.
Ultimately, in a pandemic, we are all role models with power, influence and responsibility for others and ourselves, so I hope J.D. wore a mask on his return home to London. A restaurateur should know his desires and preferences are not agreeable to everyone’s palate.
One can always be a little humbler.
Phil C.W. Chan is a former senior lecturer in public law and global governance in Australia