City Beat | Leaders using Hong Kong Book Fair to get youth on same page a win-win situation

There was something worth reading into over the past week while the Hong Kong Legislative Council was beset by chaos as the pan-democrats continued to give the government a hard time, despite calls for reconciliation by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. The city’s new leader and some of her principal officials seemed to have discovered a better “soft power” channel to connect with the public – the Hong Kong Book Fair.

They all made a beeline for the book fair – Lam first, followed by her cabinet members such as commerce and economic development minister Edward Yau Tang-wah, constitutional and mainland affairs chief Patrick Nip Tak-kuen and education minister Kevin Yeung Yun-hung.

Each had his or her own reading preferences: Lam revealed that she enjoyed cookbooks as well as romance novels by a famous Taiwanese author and local writers; Yau bought a book on backpacking and another on China’s trade strategy, the “Belt and Road Initiative”; and Nip shared his reflections on a book about the recent conquest of Mount Everest by local physiotherapist Elton Ng Chun-ting.

Nip said he was not just a workaholic but someone who would spare time for physical exercise, and that he was even planning to run a marathon next year. He also bought a belt and road book, reflecting the importance the local government is placing on China’s grand plan to open up international trade along a new Silk Road.

Yeung, as the man in charge of education, went for something a bit more official – he joined a reading event with 1,000 youngsters from both Hong Kong and the mainland.

They were not at the fair as regular book lovers, and all their sharing sessions targeted one audience – young people. Another important, though subtle, takeaway was they were fulfilling their duty as principal officials to promote the trade initiative and make it relevant to Hong Kong, particularly to the younger generation, who are the city’s future.