Greater effort needed to help public appreciate govt policies
Updated: 2013-01-19 07:59
By Chan Chan-ning(HK Edition)
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The Chief Executive's (CE) first Policy Address (PA) focused on both the economy and people's standard of living, with policies and measures to boot. Despite this, some local residents felt down, primarily because of the introduction of already mature government policy. The authorities need to help the public understand why, while the general public need to adjust their expectations to a more realistic level.
Some people say the CE prefers quality of life issues and grassroots communities over the economy and business, but they should have noticed the PA stated clearly that neither should be elevated to the neglect of the other. The improvement of people's well-being depends on economic development and the purpose of boosting economic development is to improve people's standard of living. That is why it includes many measures aimed at increasing economic growth, while making it clear the government will follow the principle of living within one's means faithfully, and maintaining a simple tax regime for the sake of Hong Kong's low-tax business environment.
More importantly, the PA presents a number of measures designed to boost cooperation with the mainland in recognition of the fact that the global economic center of gravity has shifted from the West to the East, as well as seizing the opportunity presented by the country's 12th Five-Year National Development Program. As for livelihood issues, the PA highlights land and housing supply as well as poverty alleviation, aging and the environment, with a lot of details on ways to find more land for public/subsidized housing development.
Another complaint is that the PA lacks substance, but it is clearly unfounded. Although some of the measures listed in the PA cannot produce results right away, they do confirm the CE is determined to solve outstanding problems with strong actions that will have profound impacts on Hong Kong's development. For example, the establishment of poverty line to allow reasonably accurate calculation of the population in need of assistance and how effective relief efforts are.
Another example can be found in the HK$10 billion put aside to help vehicle owners acquire "clean" engines to replace heavy-polluting diesel powered commercial vehicles. This is a sizable chunk of spending and is expected to take a toll on some drivers' lifeline, but it will help improve air quality noticeably. Posterity will thank us for leaving them a healthier environment.
The PA also states that the government will work on a complete set of industrial policies according to the guideline, to seek change as well as maintain stability. Faced with fierce competition from Singapore and major mainland cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai, the HKSAR government must make sure the city's economic growth can stay ahead of its competition.
It must keep its traditional edge while trying to gain new strengths. For instance, health care and education are seen as two of Hong Kong's six pillar sectors, but both have suffered setbacks in recent years and are constantly under fire from members of the public. The PA indicates the government is well aware of the problems and will review relevant policies to see what can be done to turn them around for the better. This is evidence the new SAR government is realistic and pragmatic in its approach to policy updates.
It must be noted that some local residents are disappointed by the PA mainly because their expectations were too high for their own good. Over-expectation in this case can be traced back to irresponsible hyping by some media entities and opinion leaders on certain issues. In other words, they were led to believe the PA would introduce measures that could bring immediate results. Naturally they felt let down when that didn't happen.
For example, the PA offers no new measures aimed at cooling the white-hot property market, whereas many people expected such promises from the government anyway. They also forgot the authorities already dealt not long ago "two tough blows" at speculative buying, which is the culprit in the runaway housing prices and rents.
Such "advance" measures would have won a lot of applause from members of the public had the CE chosen to present them in the PA instead of introducing them earlier, but the fact is he didn't wait and the measures achieved their objectives. The government should explain to the public the details of the PA, so that people would appreciate its intentions better and support them more willingly.
The author is a member of the Asia-Pacific Society on International Relations.
(HK Edition 01/19/2013 page3)