Heed Wen's advice for a better tomorrow
Premier Wen Jiabao visited Singapore last week for important regional meetings and returned to Beijing with Hong Kong on his mind. He later told Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen why. '[Hong Kong] is facing very strong competition - the situation is pressing,' he said in talks on Friday during Mr Tsang's duty visit to the capital.
Mr Wen was comparing the city with its neighbours, but it is hard to escape the observation that Hong Kong is in danger of being eclipsed by Singapore. He suggested four areas for priority action if Hong Kong is to remain competitive with its neighbours - boosting technological innovation, improving the knowledge base, nurturing talent and ensuring environmental conditions are good.
This is a timely reminder that Hong Kong must improve its act. In many ways, Singapore is ahead of Hong Kong. Its landmark cultural developments have been completed while ours remains on the drawing board. As we make the first step to becoming an Islamic financial centre, Singapore, with its sizeable Muslim community, is already one.
On his way home yesterday, Mr Tsang stopped over in Guangzhou, where he held talks with top Guangdong officials and told them that he intended to make it a practice. Many key projects rely on willing co-operation with Guangdong, but conflicting interests and different systems of government on both sides of the border can raise difficulties.
Mr Tsang secured Mr Wen's endorsement for planned cross-border projects such as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. But whether this will smooth co-operation between Hong Kong and Guangdong remains to be seen. Much will depend on the province's perception of his efforts to lobby state leaders to press it to work with Hong Kong.
It is soothing to hear Guangdong party secretary Zhang Dejiang saying the two places' interests are interwined. At the end of the day, however, while Hong Kong needs to work closely with its next-door neighbour, it must primarily rely on its own efforts to build a better tomorrow by heeding Mr Wen's advice.
