Chow Sir stood in front of the cameras Sunday and said the bottom 5% of officers get no pay rise this year, and don't worry, there'll be "more communication." That's the fix. Not more money, more talking about the money you're not getting. Officers are already calling it a "shoe-shining culture" forming, promote the ones who suck up, freeze the ones who don't. You know who thought of the bottom 5% rule? Someone who has never once had to explain to their own team why Officer Chan gets nothing this year and Officer Wong, who brought donuts to the last three briefings, gets a nice bump.

Here's the part that should worry Commissioner Chow more than it does. Police morale in this city isn't an abstract HR problem, it's the thing that decides whether an officer writes you up for jaywalking or lets it go. Freeze the bottom 5% of a workforce that's already stretched thin during a Very Hot Weather Warning, with hikers being airlifted out of Tuen Mun this weekend, and "more communication" isn't a policy, it's a placeholder. Watch whether the actual compensation review, the one the force keeps promising, shows up before the next performance cycle closes, or whether "communication" is all anyone gets twice.