MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, President. This year’s Policy Address is a full-fledged one. Just as the Chief Executive has emphasized, it is a “Policy Address for each and every one of us”. As such, it gives the public a rather comprehensive account of the Government’s work. Although it takes more time, the high level of transparency makes it easier to enlist public support, which greatly facilitates policy implementation.
This Policy Address covers a number of government policies, including creating strong impetus for growth, expediting land production and housing construction, improving governance, and addressing people’s concerns. It can be said that the Policy Address dares to tackle deep-seated problems at root and makes far-sighted planning
On the other hand, the Policy Address has also responded positively to many of the prevailing social aspirations, including those relating to coping with extreme weather, cross-boundary healthcare, dental services, encouraging childbearing, tackling the issue of subdivided units, the property market and the stock market. These are all hot topics in the community, and this Policy Address has taken them into account, which positively reflects that the Government has the intention to seriously listen to public opinion and genuinely cares about the public.
The Policy Address proposes to fully implement the principle of “one country, two systems”, including safeguarding national security and promoting patriotic education. These are all obligations that Hong Kong should fulfil under “one country”. I fully support both the enactment of legislation on Article 23 and other patriotic education initiatives. The overarching principle of “one country” is moving in the right direction. Now that “one country” has been properly upheld, it is necessary to make vigorous efforts to properly implement “two systems”, that is, to foster “a vibrant economy”, which is part of the theme of the Policy Address. Hong Kong must do a good job in this regard before it can achieve stability and long-term success.
Hong Kong is at a critical juncture of industrial upgrading and transformation, and its position as an international financial centre and a cosmopolitan world city is facing grave challenges at present. Over the past decade or so, Hong Kong has been held back by the opposition camp. As a result, instead of moving forward, Hong Kong has slid backward in industrial development and now lags behind Singapore on many fronts. Therefore, in addition to consolidating our foundation and regaining vigour, it is even more important for Hong Kong to develop new industries for the future. Hong Kong should integrate into the overall development of our country, be committed to the development of the Greater Bay Area, and sharpen its edge as the “eight centres”.
In short, we should capitalize on the advantages of enjoying strong support of the motherland and being closely connected to the world to make Hong Kong the best place in the world to do business. This is by no means an easy task. Therefore, Hong Kong must improve governance, demonstrate a new style of governance, and seriously implement the various proposals in the Policy Address.
Speaking of improving governance, I would like to talk about the relationship between the executive authorities and the legislature in particular. One of the main tasks of the Legislative Council is to monitor the work of the Government, while another important task is to support the implementation of policies, so that the work of the Government can be translated into reality in a down-to-earth manner.
As a matter of fact, the Government must implement policies from a medium to long-term perspective. However, as members of the public usually focus more on short-term results, policy implementation may not be able to satisfy all the aspirations of the public immediately, and when it falls short of some people’s expectations, it is inevitable that there will be voices of discontent in the community. Therefore, it is necessary for the Government to explain to the public the reasons for its policies. To do a good job in this regard, senior officials are certainly duty-bound to make proactive efforts, and Members of the Legislative Council also have to act as a bridge, not only to reflect public opinion to the Government, but also to explain to the public the difficulties faced by the Government in its work.
Therefore, in the new era of “patriots administering Hong Kong”, we have to be “new-era Members” who are markedly different from those in the past. In my opinion, the Government should allow Members to participate more in the formulation of policies and the enactment of legislation, or should at least strengthen cooperation and communication with Members, so that Members can gain a deep understanding of the Government’s administration, see where its difficulties lie and know the reasons behind its actions. Then, through their own networks and in the districts and trades and industries to which they belong, Members can do some explaining to the general public and disseminate correct information. Finally, the voices collected from the general public can be provided as feedback to the Government, so that it can incorporate the views into its policy implementation.
I believe that through the efforts of Honourable Members, the public’s misunderstanding about, and dissatisfaction with, the Government can be turned into confidence in the Government’s administration, thus achieving “more understanding and less misunderstanding”. I am convinced that closer cooperation between the executive authorities and the legislature will definitely improve Hong Kong’s governance.
Thank you, President.