Has Carrie Lam lost Hong Kong in her bid to push through extradition bill?

The chief executive has made mistakes aplenty, not least of which was underestimating the public’s anger over the bill and fumbling her apology

But while some are calling time on her political career, she insists it is a long way from over as she tries to ride out the storm she helped create

Reading Time:14 minutes

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor on June 18 apologises to the public for causing “disputes and anxieties in society”, two days after an estimated 2 million people took to the streets in protest of a proposed extradition bill. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:00am, 29 Jun 2019Updated: 12:11pm, 2 Jul 2019

Throughout her 13 years at St Francis’ Canossian School and its sister college, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was always top girl – with one exception.

She came fourth in a midyear class examination and went home in tears, fearful of how her teachers and family would regard her, she revealed in a 2016 interview, just before taking office as Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

Asked what she did next, Lam replied: “I took the No 1 place back.”

While she had shared the story as one of the memorable low points in her life, it is safe to assume that has been superseded in the past two weeks while Lam has been caught in the worst political storm to ravage Hong Kong in the two decades since the handover – one that has seen her sink to the bottom as far as public opinion is concerned.

What began as public anger at a controversial extradition bill, which critics said could effectively remove the legal firewall between Hong Kong and mainland China, morphed rapidly into expressions of hatred towards Lam not only as author of the legislation but also as an arrogant leader insistent on bulldozing its passage.

The combative Lam doubled down even after an estimated 1 million Hongkongers marched on June 9 to protest against the bill, their presence on the streets scored by chants demanding her resignation. The massive turnout was double the number that took part in a historic 2003 procession that forced the government to shelve a controversial national security bill.

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Has Carrie Lam lost Hong Kong in her bid to push through extradition bill?

The chief executive has made mistakes aplenty, not least of which was underestimating the public’s anger over the bill and fumbling her apology But while some are calling time on her political career, she insists it is a long way from over as she tries to ride out the storm she helped create

The chief executive has made mistakes aplenty, not least of which was underestimating the public’s anger over the bill and fumbling her apology

But while some are calling time on her political career, she insists it is a long way from over as she tries to ride out the storm she helped create