OpinionCarrie Lam must tackle Hong Kong’s political hot potatoes in her policy address, not play safe

While the Greater Bay Area and the pandemic are important issues, the government must reach out to the community, particularly young people, and not sweep the fallout from the extradition bill protests under the carpet

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Around 1 million protesters march against the Hong Kong government’s proposal to amend the city’s extradition laws to allow the transfer of fugitives to mainland China, on June 9, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:15pm, 1 Nov 2020Updated: 5:59pm, 3 Nov 2020

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s policy address has the potential to be a disaster or a triumph. The Hong Kong political climate is rather fragile so the customary damp squib will not be sufficient. The city badly needs a roaring success.

The temptation will be to opt for the safe ground. Emphasising the need to continue to control the pandemic is an obvious choice. Playing up the need to revive the economy and stressing the opportunities available in the Greater Bay Area are also worthy of mention.

But although these subjects are important, addressing them is not the most urgent need: the top priority must be to re-establish communication with the wider local community, and in particular our young people. The huge numbers who marched peacefully on two consecutive Sundays in June last year were a reflection of the estrangement between the government and the people.

There was not just concern over the details of the extradition bill, but also frustration that the people were not being listened to, that our opinion didn’t count for anything. How else to interpret the 20-day consultation period for an important piece of legislation than as contempt for ordinary citizens on the part of the political leadership?

As far as our young people are concerned, the estrangement goes even further back, at least to the Occupy saga of 2014. I recall seeing a photo in the first few days of that movement, when roads near the Hong Kong Club in Central were blocked by students sitting peacefully. The then financial secretary, John Tsang Chun-wah, was pictured walking past. I remember asking myself, “Why doesn’t he just sit down in the road and talk to them?”