With the arrival of May the issue of constitutional reform, on which the future development of Hong Kong hinges, is nearing the moment of truth. As a member of the Government’s political team, it is my duty to help promote the Government’s constitutional reform package. Last Saturday, I joined other teammates to visit the districts and distribute leaflets, with a view to soliciting public support for the Government’s proposals. As there are different views in the community over this controversial issue, we understood that Government officials would not be universally greeted by supportive citizens during our district visits, but would also meet with opposing voices, criticism and even verbal attacks. This is exactly why Hong Kong is valued as a free and open civic society. We are obliged to listen to different views with humility and we will keep up our efforts to win public support with utmost sincerity.
During these recent times I have learned about the rationale of people who oppose the Government’s proposal. I understand and respect their perseverance to follow democratic ideals. Regarding the constitutional reform package, I do not intend to talk about my personal views here as I am no expert on this subject. However, having spent two years working in the Government, I am fully aware of the difficulties in handling complicated and controversial public issues. It is never an easy task to find a way between idealism and reality, or to make a breakthrough despite various constraints and complications so as to achieve the greatest benefit for society as a whole.
Let us take increasing housing land supply as an example. In general, most members of the community agree that there is a pressing need to increase housing land supply in Hong Kong. However, views are divided as far as specific measures or priorities to be adopted are concerned. Having carefully considered various feasible options, we believe that short, medium and long-term measures should be adopted concurrently, including the reclamation and development of new towns in the long run, and rezoning of land use in the short and medium run to strive for a stable and sustainable land supply.
Some in the community are against the short to medium-term measures of land use rezoning. Their common criticisms are that such measures affect our environment, and that “in-fill needle-type development” impacts on the livelihood of nearby residents. As such, they do not regard land use zoning as the best kind of planning. Instead, they propose to develop brownfield sites or explore other ways to increase land supply. We have given due consideration to their views and suggestions and in fact accepted some of them, such as to conduct studies on the development of brownfield sites in Hung Shui Kiu and Yuen Long South as one of the measures to increase housing land supply in the long term.
Nonetheless, we still have to face the constraints of reality – it will take time to develop brownfield sites including conducting the relevant studies, implementing necessary infrastructural facilities and proceeding with land clearance and rehousing. Therefore, it is unlikely that such options can increase housing land supply in the short term. Given the public’s pressing need for public housing and home ownership, the Government and society in general have to make hard choices and decisions. While rezoning land for housing development may not be the most desirable measure for everyone, we believe that this is the most pragmatic and feasible approach and the one that best serves the interests of the community as a whole under the current circumstances. Furthermore, moving forward with the pragmatic and most feasible proposal in the short run will not prevent us from adopting other proposals in longer term planning. It is always possible for idealism and reality to co-exist.
At present, there are still many people who oppose the Government’s constitutional reform package. I fully understand and respect their perseverance in following democratic ideals. However, at the same time there are also many people who want our political system to take a step forward by implementing the Government’s proposal. I believe that people with aspirations for democracy will have nothing to lose and they will not have to surrender their beliefs if the proposal is approved. Neither will Hong Kong’s democratic development be halted as a result. So why don’t we take a step forward while continuing to work towards our ideals, even though this step might not be perfect? It is my belief that Hong Kong people belong to one big family, so much so that even if we have different views, we should go beyond the “zero-sum game” mentality. In this issue of constitutional reform, we Hong Kong people will only win, or lose, together.
Last but not least, happy Mother’s Day and blessings to your family.
10 May, 2015
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