【明報專訊】THE WEEKEND following the government's announcement of the constitutional reform proposal, politically appointed officials tried to go into the community to drum up public support. However, they were only able to do an open-bus parade of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories, and were unable to discuss with the public the reform proposal. They failed to reach out because they wanted to avoid the chaos threatened by a handful of radicals. Clearly, government officials are trying hard to shun radical groups. This also shows that the constitutional reform movement has come to a point where the pan-democrats, dominated by radical groups, have taken up a position that makes rational discussion impossible. If for this reason the reform proposal cannot be pushed through, it will be very unfortunate for Hong Kong, a highly civilised society as it is said to be.