Letters | Anti-mainland sentiment in Hong Kong has been allowed to fester for too long

Readers discuss the urgent need to address discrimination against mainland Chinese, the rumour mongering targeting organ donation, and effective use of the government’s open data portal

Hong Kong

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 5 Jun 2023

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The Cathy Pacific discrimination scandal is a big wake-up call for Hong Kong. Why has discrimination against mainland Chinese been allowed to go on for so long? If we don’t get to the bottom of it, Hong Kong people, especially the younger generations, will suffer for sure in the long term.

The sad thing is many mainland Chinese have lost their affection towards Hong Kong. While the mainland is developing at high speed and provides many opportunities for growth and prosperity, both in and outside China, Hong Kong is seriously lagging behind with its short-sightedness and narrow-mindedness.

Hong Kong has to revamp its school education and nurture students with a broader mindset and inclusive values.

More importantly, Hong Kong students must make more effort to understand Chinese history and current developments in the country for their own sake. Without a doubt, China’s influence will overtake other countries’ in the world in the next 20 years or even less, whether you like it or not.

One of my clients in Shenzhen has a big operation in Kenya and its bight young executives are busy travelling between China and Africa. Another client is expanding its business in central China and is recruiting more scientists.

Meanwhile, I delivered a workshop on understanding Chinese culture and people to a group of Indian executives who came to China a few year ago. They worked for a Chinese company.

Wake up, Hong Kong. We have wasted so much time in the past and are now seeing the damaging consequences. Let’s continue to educate our young people and remind ourselves that it is a long journey.

Having said that, I applaud the Hong Kong government’s recent efforts to bring Hong Kong closer to the mainland. We have seen a series of visits to the Greater Bay Area and other Chinese cities by Hong Kong officials and other organisations. Keep up the good work and do more.

Fion Yip, Guangzhou

Rumours targeting acts of kindness are despicable

There’s a Chinese expression that says saving a person’s life is more meritorious than building a seven-storied Buddhist stupa.

Many Hongkongers are kind. One indicator of our kindness is the increase in the number of registered organ donors from about 45,000 in 2009, soon after the centralised organ donation register was launched, to over 357,000 now. These kind-hearted people will surely accumulate a lot of merit with their generosity.

In this light, the controversy over a government plan for cross-border cooperation in organ donation is disappointing. Some people were apparently spreading rumours about the cross-border scheme, leading a wave of applicants to withdraw from the scheme.

Some of the rumours were: the scheme would lead to mainlanders being prioritised over locals for organ transplant, residents would be considered an organ donor unless they opted out, and people would be sent to the mainland as living donors.

These rumours cannot be true. The authorities have reiterated that organs donated by Hongkongers would be used on the mainland only when there was no suitable local recipient. Besides, given the shortage of organ donors and the long wait for transplant patients, the chances of the reverse happening – organs donated by mainland donors coming to Hong Kong – may even be higher.

The police are investigating the spread of false information. Even if the culprits are not caught, they will surely suffer bad karma for their evil deeds.

Randy Lee, Ma On Shan

Why so little promotion of Hong Kong’s open data portal?

Launched in 2011, the government data portal features more than 100 data providers. It includes all the government bureaus and departments and major corporations of public interest, such as the MTR and New World First Bus.

Although data has been aggregated and made available to the community for over a decade now, only 39 applications have been developed so far. To fulfil Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s vision of building a data-driven smart city, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), which administers the data portal, should persuade more government staff to develop strategic plans for releasing data.

To populate the data portal, government departments and bureaus are expected to develop an annual open data plan. This should be more than a list of data items the department expects to release. Rather, officers should think through what data to release at what pace to create maximum value for the community.

The OGCIO should also proactively invite data sharing from the private sector, such as by establishing a webpage explaining the procedures for corporations to contribute data.

We urge the Audit Commission to review the open data sharing scheme and suggest ways for government departments and bureaus to develop action plans and partner with the private sector to harness the power of big data.

Yu Ching Larissa Cheung, Huiling Feng and Grace Koo, Kowloon Tong