weekly
Written by: Liu Yanwen
2021-04-25 21:07
Last update date: 2021-04-25 21:07
After the anti-amendment turmoil in 2019, the central government introduced the blockbuster "Hong Kong District National Security Law", and the SAR government therefore proposed the "Public Service (Participation and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021", which requires district councilors to Public officials must swear to uphold the Basic Law and allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is expected that the second reading will resume in the middle of next month.
In Hong Kong, which is highly politicized, many people believe that this move is aimed at suppressing the democratized district councilors who took advantage of the anti-amendment law to make a complete comeback. Some even refused to take the oath to resign.
This is really thought-provoking. As a member who shoulders the burden of community governance, is it important for political expressions or for people's livelihood practices?
As for the SAR government, which has the "power of life and death," when it is in charge of the destiny of district board members, should it adopt a "one size fits all" political stance or should it be realistic to allow more "patriots" to participate in the work of community governance?
"Hong Kong 01" interviewed four district councillors with completely different political spectrums to see how they reflected on "community governance" after many political shocks.
Rethinking Community Governance Series Report 5
"The first time I landed was in 2016. At that time, I was an intern of the Civic Party. I landed with AY (Yang Yueqiao). I have been discussing different issues. I have cultivated feelings with the neighbors for almost five years. The neighbors also hope that I can Candidate." The reporter asked whether Mai Zijian, a member of Suihe District and a member of the Civic Party, was elected because of political reasons. He said "half and half", saying that political attitudes were not all the reasons for his victory.
The establishment was defeated in the district council elections in 2019. Some people shirk political factors and believe that voters use their votes to make political statements. This is "unfair" to them. In fact, this result is not just a single reason.
Mak Tsz Kin's election to the district council, in addition to hoping to "contend" with the regime based on district work, he also has certain expectations for improving people's livelihood. "As a political person, you expect to be able to bring changes to the council. For example, I can improve the traffic problem when I enter the parliament, and it may also improve the problems of the housing estates in the district." Although Mak Tsz Kin has an established political stance, what he wants to change after entering the parliament is mainly people's livelihood issues.
Mak Tsz Kin's election to the district council, in addition to hoping to "contend" with the regime based on district work, he also has certain expectations for improving people's livelihood.
(Information Picture/Photo by Huang Weimin)
Suihe District was elected by the establishment district councilors from 1994 to 2019, and two of them were automatically elected.
Mak Tszkin said that in the more than two decades that the establishment was "dominated", the citizens were often unaware of regional affairs, and only "suddenly realized" after some regional bills took effect.
He criticized the establishment for failing to "do something" for this community. "Talking about the traffic problem more on the ground. The traffic congestion problem of the English Foundation (International School in the district, moved to Fo Tan in 1985) has not yet been resolved." He added, The "timing" (time) for political work is very important. Traffic problems should be considered when the district starts planning and before the construction of various buildings. By the time he is elected, everything in the district is a foregone conclusion. Solve the problem within time.
The district council is a bridge that allows the government to "be grounded". Under normal circumstances, residents can only speak through the district council. If the district councillors have not been able to effectively express their appeals to the district council for many years, they will be eliminated when public grievances arise. Thing.
Mai Zijian believes that the duties of district councilors are not only to discuss district affairs in the council, but also to think about how to connect with residents in the district.
Even though there is less and less room for discussing political issues in the district councils, residents still expect district councilors to bring changes to them. "Although the district councils are fettered on the political level, (we) will still try our best on the people’s livelihood level. They (residents) have all seen some changes, and we also make them care more about the community.”
He criticized the establishment for failing to "do something" for this community. "Talking about the traffic problem in a local area, the traffic jam problem in the English Foundation has not been resolved." (Mak Tsz Kin FB photo)
Mai Zijian said that after more than a year, seeing the changes in the neighborhood, he will spontaneously open groups and hold events on social platforms.
The epidemic has reduced his contact with residents and can only be limited to online interaction. However, the residents are still enthusiastic and actively discuss affairs in the WhatsApp group, and no longer "self-cleaning the door" as before.
Many district board members’ publicity slogans will include words such as "community unity", but how easy is it to contact tens of thousands of residents?
This is not something that can be achieved only with "Snake Zhai Bing Dumpling".
After the district councils changed from the establishment to the democrats, the government's attitude towards the district councils became more and more indifferent.
Mak Tsz Kin’s expectations for the work of the council were dismantled due to the government’s distrust of district councilors. “I don’t think the government wants to cooperate, such as some transportation issues. I have "hoeed" them and they did not do it for a long time." He pointed to the traffic problem. It has been brewing in the district for many years, but the government "doesn't catch it or ignore it."
When asked whether the government was unwilling to cooperate due to political issues, Mak Tsz Kin said that the district councils dominated by the establishment had even had room to discuss the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in the last term, but this term is different. "We are very concerned about the'police violence' and also They are very concerned about people's livelihood issues, but they do not discuss with us, so I think it is a matter of political opinion."
Officials discussing people's livelihood issues also leave
In fact, the original nature of the district councils was not primarily to discuss political issues, but the government should reserve the space for the district councils to discuss people's livelihood issues.
Even if the political views of district board members and the government are not the same, they are still politicians and their goals should be the same-all to improve the lives of citizens.
In October last year, the Kowloon City District Council deleted the agenda for the meeting with the Commissioner of Police, causing the establishment and officials to leave the scene.
(Profile picture / Photo by Luo Junhao)
In addition, this year the District Council has a rare phenomenon in the past-government officials cheering away.
Statistics show that as of November last year, officials from the District Office had left more than 40 times in the middle of district board meetings, and they had reached more than a dozen times in the Central and Western District Councils alone.
According to an official from the Home Affairs Department, the reason for leaving was that the discussion of affairs by the District Council did not meet the functions of the District Council.
Mak Tsz Kin pointed out that they had discussed welfare policies, MPF schemes and home affairs advisory services in the district councils. The Home Affairs Department refused to provide secretarial services and government officials did not attend the meetings.
Although welfare policies and MPF are territory-wide affairs and are not included in the functions of the district councils, there are issues related to Sha Tin district affairs, such as whether to open a welfare office in Ma On Shan and the Sha Tin District Home Affairs Consultation Center. Etc., were all refused to discuss.
There will be no secretary for the meeting of representatives from the Civil Affairs Department when they leave the meeting and they will not be able to write meeting minutes. "We have always felt that meeting minutes are very important because we must let the residents of Sha Tin District know that we are following up something. (Next meeting) we can recover the government. The matter that has not been followed up is a document for different departments to refer to." Mai Zijian pointed out that the absence of government officials will have a great impact on the district councils. "It becomes a meeting with myself and no officials can ask questions. What else is there in this meeting? Significance?" He hopes that residents will no longer be "later-conscious" on issues in the district and can participate more in policy formulation, but the first issue is that residents must have the right to know.
The above is excerpted from the 262th "Hong Kong 01" Weekly Report (April 26, 2021) "Rethinking Community Governance-What kind of district council does Hong Kong need". If you want to read the full text, please
click here to
sample the weekly newsletter and browse more in-depth reports.
Featured content of the 261 issue of "Hong Kong 01" Weekly News:
District Council District Council Election 2019 Sha Tin Community Sha Tin Civic Party 01 Weekly Report in-depth report