The government's about to make you talk about your sex life, and honestly, someone should say that out loud, because "sex offense law consultation" sounds like a headline you skip. Don't skip it. Secretary Paul Tang put himself out front on RTHK defending an overhaul of Hong Kong's sex offense laws, and the government opened a public consultation the same day. That is the government picking a fight in the open, which around here counts as news on its own.

Here is the part nobody explains: consultation season in Hong Kong is a ritual. Officials hand you a document, some think-tank type prepares a five-minute summary, business goes on. Tang skipping that step, standing up and defending the substance himself, tells you this one has teeth: real changes to what counts as a crime, how it is proven, who has to change how they behave. If you have ever wondered why a "consultation" got a press conference and a named minister instead of just a PDF, that is the tell. Watch for the submission deadline. That is the actual date this stops being talk.