Hong Kong needs active governance and Carrie Lam can deliver

Mike Rowse gives the chief executive good marks for her first policy address, for pledging proactive action in many areas including the use of fiscal reserves, as well as for having the good sense to leave out any mention of independence

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam talks about her policy address during a Commercial Radio interview in Kowloon Tong on October 14. Photo: Edward Wong

Published: 12:04pm, 22 Oct 2017Updated: 5:30pm, 22 Oct 2017

I am inclined to give a high mark to the 2017 policy address: a B, maybe even a B-plus. The title – “We Connect for Hope and Happiness” – was a bit cheesy but the overall spirit was definitely right.

Take the timing and setting. By bringing the speech back to its traditional October date, as members requested, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor gave face to the Legislative Council. After all, the main purpose is to set out the government’s priorities for the year, almost all of which will require either legislation, funding approval or both. It is surely more appropriate to do this at the first session of the legislative year so that members have a good picture of the overall workload coming their way.

Restricting the content to major themes and principles enabled her to deliver the speech in less than an hour, with all the nuts and bolts of government activities set out in a separate document. This was surely a welcome break from tradition, as many past speeches came across more like a shopping list than a thoughtful political treatise.

Our legislators should preserve their stamina for the substance of the job, not fighting off yawns. Lam’s manner and bearing also pointed toward a more cooperative approach than the guerilla warfare of recent years.

Lawmakers attend a Legislative Council meeting in Tamar on October 19. Chief Executive Carrie Lam will need support from lawmakers to enact the agenda she laid out in her policy address. Photo: Felix Wong

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Most important, the overall spirit of the speech was optimism and determination to act in all the aspects of concern to Hong Kong citizens. Yes, we face problems and challenges, but we have the resources to address them and a new-found willingness to draw on our copious fiscal reserves to do so.