Uncle Chen - The Passive Aggressive Ninja

(中文在下方)

I guess after 40 years in journalism your view of people, particularly politicians, can get more than a little jaded. So call me an old cynic, but when I see a masterful answer to a journalist’s question, I naturally assume it is a quick-fire, intentional put-down of a political rival. 

So when Uncle Chen was asked for his reaction to Mayor Malfunction’s assertion that everyone who tested positive for Covid should immediately be put on medication, he gently, and kindly, replied that perhaps the journalist was mistaken and was misquoting MM.

But the journalist was right, the MM actually did say that. 

My initial somewhat cynical reaction was that Chen’s reply was a masterpiece of political passive-aggression by suggesting, without actually saying it, that - If the Mayor thinks that, he has no business being a doctor, or a Mayor if he gives such moronic advice to other doctors and the public. 

Anyone with a functioning brain knows full well you don’t start shoving medication down people’s throats before proper diagnosis. To test and then medicate automatically would be the act of a madman.

But was I really witnessing a superb piece of lightning-fast political expertise? Or, is Uncle Chen more like he seems on the surface, a decent, honest and unaggressive politician who doesn’t have his eye on the main chance and is truly dedicated to the task in hand. 

It seems to me that MM has little respect for his own job or the people he claims to represent, coupled with an aggressive nature where blaming everyone else for his own inadequacies is his default position.

This makes Chen all the more dangerous for him to tangle with, as the way the Minister deals with things is so apparently effortless. A true wolf in sheep’s clothing… a wolf doesn't try to be aggressive, it just is.

It is now abundantly obvious that Uncle Chen is living in the Mayor’s head rent free, as MM clearly took it as a devastating put-down and rapidly reverted to type with a display of apoplexy akin to road-rage. 

His indignant reaction in which he backtracked hugely with a “of course I didn’t mean that” speaks volumes of the man. (Let’s just hope someone who does not think before he speaks quite as often as our malfunctioning Mayor, never sees real political power.)

There is something rather pathetic about a doctor trying to be a clever politician being unwittingly outmaneuvered so completely by a dentist who tries hard not to play political games but is somehow unconsciously brilliant at it.

Like a Ninja who quietly and effortlessly deals devastating blows, there is something truly awesome about someone who has the ability to make a political opponent froth at the mouth and dribble with rage with no apparent effort. 

Tinkerty tonk…  

在新聞業打滾40年後，我對人，尤其是對政治人物的看法，可能變得有點枯燥制式，所以你可以說我是個憤世嫉俗的老記者。但當我看到政治人物對記者問題的巧妙回答時，我自然而然會認為這是他們對政治對手的掃射打擊。

因此當陳叔叔 (Uncle Chen) 被問及他對故障市長 (MM, Mayor Malfunction) 說法的反應時，也就是 MM 認為快篩檢測出Covid陽性的人都應該立即服藥，他溫和而友好地回答說：也許是你們扭曲了MM 的意思了。

不過記者說的沒錯，MM 確實這麼說的，快篩陽性就應該給藥。

我最初的反應是，陳叔叔的回答是政治上被動攻擊 (passive aggressive) 的傑作，他雖沒有明說，卻暗示了如果 MM 這麼認為，或者如果他給其他醫生或是民眾這種愚蠢的建議，他就沒有資格當醫生或是市長。

任何大腦功能正常的人都非常清楚，在正確診斷之前，你不會想立刻將藥物塞入人們的喉嚨，確診之後沒有診斷就自動用藥是瘋子的行為。

但究竟我是親眼目睹了一個政治人物閃電般的政治才能嗎？或者 Uncle Chen 其實更像他表面上看起來那樣，只是一個正派、誠實、不咄咄逼人的政治家。他不是機會主義者，只是致力於他手頭上的任務。

在我看來，MM 不尊重自己的工作或他代表的人，再加上一種攻擊性，把自己的不足歸咎於其他人，好像是他與生俱來的一種態度。

能運用被動式攻擊的人可不是等閒之輩，因為這是不費吹灰之力就達成了，是真正的披著羊皮的狼。。。等等，不是的，狼不會試圖變得好鬥，狼就是這樣。

很明顯 Uncle Chen 一直不必付租金住在 MM 的腦袋裡 (Uncle Chen is living in the Mayor’s head rent free)，而 MM 顯然認為 Uncle Chen 給記者關於用藥的回答，是一種毀滅性的貶低，因此 MM 的本質立刻顯現出來了，差不多類似小擦撞的行車糾紛就要拿出球棒那樣 (road-rage)。

在 MM 事後憤憤不平的反應中，他用「我當然不是那個意思」縮回去了，這充分說明了這個人的本質 (speaks volumes of the man)。我們只能希望像 MM 那樣經常說話之前不思考的人，永遠不會得到真正的政治權力。

一個試圖成為聰明的政治家的醫生，在不知不覺中被一個不玩政治遊戲，但不知何故在不知不覺中表現出色 (unconsciously brilliant at it) 的牙醫完全打敗了，這有點可悲。

就像一個安靜的忍者輕而易舉打出毀滅性的一擊，政治人物能毫不費力讓對手口吐白沫 (froth at the mouth)，並且帶著憤怒噴口水 (dribble with rage)，真的很了不起。

Tinkerty Tonk… 掰掰！