My Take | Is Hong Kong becoming a protectionist society?

We like to think of our economy as open and free, but you may wonder if we are actually protectionist at heart.

The annual Global Competitiveness Index this month ranked Hong Kong in seventh place, the same as last year, but scored us on the low side for education and innovation. It looks OK on the surface, considering it ranks 144 economies on such things as infrastructure, education and institutions. But we are left in the dust by Switzerland, which led the index and, horror of horrors, second-placed Singapore.

Perhaps our cup is half full, but we should worry because it's also really half empty. Protectionism and regressive practices exist everywhere. We have a labour shortage in many industrial sectors and an ageing population with fewer and fewer working bodies, yet union leaders oppose importing foreign workers. Our private doctors, and the Medical Association which represents them, are worse. They behave like a cartel and make it extremely difficult and unattractive for foreign doctors to work here, even though our public hospitals are overstretched and public doctors and nurses are overworked because of chronic understaffing.

Private businesses have mostly refused to introduce family-friendly and pro-women policies, while our government is light years behind places like Singapore in helping young families to have children and live in a place of their own. When I was a journalism lecturer at a local university, I was shocked by the level of resentment many local students felt, largely towards mainland students.

More and more parents I know are deserting the public education system, including many, if not most senior government officials, who are putting their children in direct-subsidy, international and private schools. The middle, upper and ruling classes have hijacked the education system, making sure their children have a head start over those from poorer families.

I don't have to mention such well-known problems as our business monopolies, which make it difficult, if not impossible, for newcomers to compete. Meanwhile, the government and the Monetary Authority sit on massive but idling assets but won't let anyone touch them. It seems every sector we turn to has a siege mentality against outsiders.