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Written by: comment editing room
2020-11-03 07:00
Last update date: 2020-11-03 07:00
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor visited Beijing on Tuesday (November 3) to discuss the measures proposed by the SAR government to support the Hong Kong economy, and then transferred to Guangzhou and Shenzhen to discuss the construction of the Greater Bay Area and Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperation to enrich her expectations by the end of November. The "Policy Address" issued.
After the anti-amendment campaign in 2019 and the new crown epidemic in 2020, Hong Kong is undoubtedly standing at a key point in history.
This key point is not only at the political level, but also at the economic and social level.
Because of this, the "Policy Address" that outlines the blueprint for governance is even more important.
Superiority alleviates social contradictions and promotes economic fairness; while mediocrity perpetuates structural problems, turmoil waits for opportunities to recur.
For the Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, this is not only her fourth Policy Address, but also the penultimate one during her term of office.
From the campaign to the early days of taking office, the work that was promised to promote will be more or less successful. This "policy address" may have predicted.
If the political platform has not been implemented and the changes have not been put in place, how can all sectors of society hope that after the storm, she can lead Hong Kong to start again?
From this perspective, the "policy address" can be said to be closely linked to his personal political future.
Hong Kong's financially sound public funds should be used for the people
Surprisingly, before the "Policy Address" was originally scheduled to be published on October 14, Lam Cheng actually predicted that there would be no major moves.
Looking at the grass-roots sub-divided houses, the citizens bearing high rents and strenuous mortgages, the waiting time for public housing has risen from 4.7 years when she took office to 5.5 years, and as many as 260,000 people are unemployed under the new crown epidemic, and they work in all walks of life. Tsai was placed on unpaid leave. Seeing that the supply of places for people with special needs was in short supply, and the chronically ill patients were not getting adequate care, the government still cares about how much money the warehouse has.
Taking into account the burden of public finances is a good thing, but Hong Kong’s treasury reserves are still about 800 billion per capita, which is much higher than that of Singapore, Europe and the United States. Moreover, there are not many debts and the finances are very stable. Officials should use public funds to make real improvements. Civic life.
In fact, the public money for the treasury comes from taxation, which is taken from the people, and should be used by the people, as long as it is used properly.
Whether it is used properly or not will test whether the government can redistribute resources to serve the society. This is also the greatest value of its existence.
But take the housing problem as an example. When a large number of people are suffering for one watt, there are widespread voices in the community calling for the resumption of the Fanling Golf Course. However, Carrie Lam released 140 hectares of land, and the 32 hectares of land promised to be recovered also expired this year. Three years later, this is obviously not justified.
Lam Cheng recently described the land construction work as very hard, and blamed it on the fact that the society was "slowing down the progress due to confrontation with the government." However, the reality is that there are thousands of hectares of idle agricultural land and brownfields, but Lam Cheng has not reclaimed land to build public housing.
For real estate developers who have 1,000 hectares of unused private agricultural land, the government also prefers public-private partnerships and puts development in the hands of businessmen.
The rich in Hong Kong have nowhere to stand, and the poor have nowhere to stand. The chief executive must bear the greatest responsibility.
Ensuring the lives of citizens and developing economic industries
In the final analysis, this is about officials' understanding of the role of the government.
Ironically, during the election campaign, Lam Cheng was advocating that the government should have a new role, including "providing reliable, professional, and cost-effective services", "seeking greater benefits for the society", etc., and said that he was "wise "Use the society" the fiscal surplus that "takes it from the society".
But the slogan is a slogan. When the new crown epidemic interrupted economic activities, society saw the government still crept on its feet.
As early as February, many citizens were given unpaid leave one after another. In the United Kingdom, where the epidemic broke out later than Hong Kong, its Conservative government announced in March that it would pay 80% of the wages to the affected workers, but the Hong Kong government has not seen any support. Measures, the details of the wage subsidy program for guaranteed employment were announced in mid-May, and the funds were also distributed to employers, and did not directly help the majority of workers and the unemployed.
As a result, many profitable companies are still receiving generous subsidies. At the same time, employees who have hit the industry still have to take unpaid leave or even lose their jobs. This proves that the Lam Cheng government has failed to "seek greater benefits for society."
If officials understand the importance of unemployment support and are willing to establish a sound social security system, they will not be so distressed when the epidemic is economically difficult.
As the saying goes, "The wind knows the strong grass." In fact, this can be two sides of the same thing. At the same time, the wind knows which foundation is not good and it is vulnerable.
Under the double blow of the anti-amendment legislation and the new crown epidemic, the Hong Kong government's weaknesses have been exposed.
Take the economic recovery as an example. The Cathay Pacific Group laid off more than 5,000 employees. From an objective point of view, it is a business decision made by a company that is difficult and impacting the local economy. However, if Hong Kong continues to have new industries born, there will be no shortage of new job opportunities. The decline in the industry and layoffs can be replaced in other areas.
It is a pity that the Hong Kong government has not developed new industries for many years, and the economy has been "ridden by landslides" for many years. Even after the social unrest or the new crown epidemic, some people think that they can only look to the real estate agent or tour guide industry. To put it bluntly, the choices are limited and not long-term. Of the policy.
During the election campaign, Lam Cheng promised to promote innovation and technological development, and "promote the "Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park" project in the Lok Ma Chau Loop as soon as possible. However, three and a half years later, only the land formation project in the Loop has been completed. The Science Park has not yet a certain period.
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor obviously did not consciously want to promote industrial transformation, and even hurriedly stopped two days before the announcement of the "policy address" in October. He first went north to attend the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. President Xi Jinping indirectly reminded him to strengthen innovation in the Greater Bay Area. Science and technology cooperation, and later arranged to go to Beijing to discuss cooperation in finance, health and security.
From the perspective of this postponement arrangement, it can be seen that Carrie Lam has realized that Hong Kong is at a decision-making junction and the importance of this "policy address".
If one month’s supplementary time is added, Carrie Lam still fails to hand over a blueprint for reforms, so that people can see the dawn of housing issues, social security, and economic industries. What is the point of her continuing to be an official?
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