The Alum-Gate: A Masterclass in the Fossilization of Power
Humans are fundamentally creatures of hierarchy and territory. In our ancestral past, tribal councils were meant to voice the concerns of the collective; today, they have evolved into high-end "Country Clubs of Stagnation." The current state of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Convocation is a perfect laboratory for observing the darker side of institutional preservation.
When an organization fails to hold an annual general meeting for years, disqualifies candidates until the "elected" seats are empty, and leaves the room occupied solely by appointees, it has ceased to be a representative body. It has become a sarcophagus. This is the "Loyal Garbage" phenomenon: a group of individuals who maintain their grip on power not through merit or popular will, but through their sheer ability to remain stationary while others are pushed out.
From an evolutionary perspective, we are seeing the "Fixed Interest Barrier" in its final form. In any social structure, once a dominant sub-group secures the resources—or in this case, the committee seats—they will instinctively manipulate the rules to ensure their survival. The fact that the Convocation only allows the "Old Four" colleges to participate through the Federation of Alumni Associations, while treating the newer colleges and graduate schools like second-class citizens, is classic tribalism. It’s an elite clique protecting their hunting grounds from the "newcomers," even if those newcomers have been there for decades.
This is the irony of the "educated elite." They speak of democracy and tradition while operating a system that resembles a defunct monarchy where the king is dead but the court refuses to leave the banquet hall. To see these self-appointed "representatives" squatting in their positions without a shred of public mandate is not just an embarrassment to CUHK; it is a testament to the human instinct to hoard status at the cost of function. Purging such a system isn't just an administrative necessity; it’s an act of mercy for a dying institution.
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