bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jeffie Lam

In our special series on Hong Kong’s future, we talk to veteran ex-legislator Paul Cheng Ming-fun
Q: How should Hong Kong move forward?
A: We should take greater advantage of being part of China and to work with China rather than blocking it …
The sooner the city's denizens accept that Hong Kong is Chinese and part of the mainland, the better off they will be, says entrepreneur and former legislator Paul Cheng Ming-fun.
It is time to embrace the reality that the city's fate is inextricably linked to that of the mainland, he suggests.
His advice runs counter to the essence of the Occupy protests last year. Indeed, a common chant among the protesters was "Don't let Hong Kong turn into just another Chinese city" as they implored the government to preserve the city's core values and introduce genuine democracy.
But 78-year-old Cheng says Hong Kong has enjoyed tremendous advantages over the decades because of its geographical location and it should press on with integration if it wants further success.
"What's wrong with being a Chinese city?" he asks, describing the protesters' worries as "overblown". "From an economic point of view, we better integrate. The sooner we integrate the better," he adds.
"Who's coming out with the wild dream that Beijing is suppressing this and that? It's the minority … I don't feel any threat. What is Beijing doing to us? Nothing. They helped us when we were in trouble."
Cheng, who took the helm of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce from 1992 to 1994, has served as chairman of a number of corporations, including The Link Management and Inchcape Pacific Limited.
In urging Hong Kong to increase its cooperation with the mainland, he says the aim first should be to integrate with the Pearl River Delta Region and consider both places as one economic entity. Citing his own experience of studying and working in the United States in his younger days, Cheng notes that Americans are used to the idea of commuting an hour or two for work. Similarly, Hongkongers could learn from the American experience as they get used to the idea of working in the Pearl River Delta.
Hongkongers might find more opportunities if the government could create more jobs and improve the border crossing in this area, he says. Creating a Pearl River Delta Region economic authority could also boost development.
Cheng has another suggestion - link up the Hong Kong International Airport with the airports at Zhuhai and Macau, which have both been underutilised.
While the city remains divided over whether to build a third runway, Cheng believes that such runway would not be necessary after the link-up, especially when the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is built.
"Right now we are committing suicide," Cheng laments, referring to pan-democratic lawmakers whom he says have actively blocked the government's initiatives.
Looking ahead, Cheng calls on the government to reform the education system to get young people to think outside the box instead of pushing them for good grades by simply memorising.
That change to inject more creativity, he says, could help young people to convert their ideas to useful products and services that would help with the city's innovation and technology development.
His suggestion comes just weeks before the pan-democratic lawmakers killed the long-promised innovation and technology bureau proposal in Legco after rounds of filibustering. It was their bid to punish Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying whom they accused of running the executive-legislative relationship.
Cheng, who was appointed to the Legislative Council from 1988 until 1991, and then from 1995 to 1997 and another year in the provisional legislature, after the handover from Britain, still maintains an active interest in politics.
And his verdict of the current impasse: he is dismayed by the increasingly politicised society which he fears is hurting the city's future.
Five of the city's chambers of commerce, including the General Chamber of Commerce which Cheng once led, had jointly condemned the plan of Occupy Central in a press conference before the sit-ins took place last September. Cheng was the main force in his capacity as a former chairman and heavyweight who called for that message.
"I'm very sad actually to see how the society is deteriorating partly because of a certain minority of activists stirring up the whole political situation. As a city, why do we have to be so politicised? What's so good about it?" asks Cheng.
"Nothing gets done as certain lawmakers are basically opposing to everything that the government comes through … In my day, we were very serious about our work." He says that while Hong Kong is still ahead of its rivals as an international financial centre, especially after the recent launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong stocks through-train scheme, the city is losing its edge to rivals such as Singapore and Shanghai.
Unlike Hong Kong, Singapore is not beset with political gridlock. While he concedes it is "quite authoritarian", the Lion city gets things done.
"Freedom without discipline is not workable," he says. "Singapore has discipline. They control and manage things very tightly … getting things done is key right now. Hong Kong is just stagnating because things are so political."
Cheng describes the current executive-legislative relationship as untenable, and he lays the blame on the pan-democrats who spend "an inordinate amount of time performing both indoors and outdoors rather than doing proper work in the legislature".
He wishes these lawmakers would work to ensure the laws passed were fair to public instead of opposing the government at every turn, and just delaying many worthy initiatives.
While lawmakers claim they represent the people, the inconvenient truth is that many got in through constituencies with votes of less than 50,000, he says.
Those who participated in the "umbrella movement" were only a minority, he insists, even though, at its peak, it brought thousands onto the streets.
Cheng, who wrote the book On Equal Terms in which he tried to redefine China's relationship with the West, praises China's effective governance model, saying democracy might not always produce good outcomes.
"Democracy sounds good, democratic model sounds good … but now it is already beginning to show some cracks. In Washington nothing gets done," he says.
Cheng is particularly disappointed with some of the young activists that joined the sit-ins, whom he said had been misled by the ideology debate.
"Why can't young people be more practical?" he asks.
"In Hong Kong, we enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of press and a solid judiciary regime. I can only conclude that students wearing T-shirts with 'Freedom Now' logo are simply trying to mislead the public," Cheng says, referring to the signature shirts of the Hong Kong Federation of Students at the Occupy sit-ins.
Asked if he understands young people given their vastly different lives, he replied: "I went down there … to the tent, walked by and talked to the young people," he says, referring to the protesters in Admiralty. "I understand their frustration and their concerns about their future. I think we need to have a model where the government can do something."
He is referring to policies by the government to hear their frustrations, not to accede to universal suffrage as they see it.
Asked about the possible alienation some young people might feel, as witnessed in several leaving the city after Beijing announced the tighter electoral framework for choosing the chief executive last August, he shrugs.
"The grass is always greener in the next lawn until you get there, then you would know where is better. I think they will be foolish to do that," he says. "However, for those activists who are always complaining all the time without coming up with some constructive contribution, they should leave."
"If you really don't like Hong Kong and you have the opportunity to go somewhere, then why not go? Why stay here, complaining and disrupting the whole atmosphere?" he asks, adding that he was not being cavalier with his words but wants them to be clear-eyed about their choices.
On the path ahead, he says: "I hope in 2016 the voters would be smart enough to elect people who are genuinely doing things for Hong Kong and for the next generation and are willing to work properly and not to treat Legco as a stage."
 
PAUL CHENG MING-FUN
Paul Cheng Ming-fun is a well-known entrepreneur frequently invited to sit on company boards and foundations and a former legislator who served for five years prior to the city's handover to China in 1997.
Born in Gulangyu, a small island near Xiamen, Cheng pursued his bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry after receiving a scholarship in the United States and later did an MBA in Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania. He worked in countries such as the US, Singapore, Malaysia before moving back to Hong Kong in 1969 to work for Warner-Lambert, an American pharmaceutical company, where he headed its Asian operations. He also spent 10 years as partner of Spencer Stuart & Associates, a leading executive search firm until 1986.
In 1987, Cheng was invited to join the Inchcape Pacific, a leading British trading company, as its executive director and became chairman in 1992.
Today, he sits on four publicly listed boards, including being deputy chairman of Esprit and an independent director for Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group. He started a hedge fund two years ago.
He was active in the education sector and served for many years as a Council member at both Chinese University and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, being awarded honorary fellowships at both institutions. He also set up an international exchange scholarship at CUHK to help students from humble family backgrounds to go abroad on exchange programmes.
The businessman entered the political arena in 1988, when then governor Sir David Wilson appointed him to the Legislative Council and he represented the Commercial (First) constituency from 1995 to 1997. He is the only businessman who has chaired both the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
Beyond the legislature, Cheng was appointed to the preparatory committee for HKSAR ahead of the handover where he was part of the 400-strong selection committee which chose the city's first chief executive.
In 1999, after reading what he described as a life-changing book Repacking Your Bags: Lighten Your Load for the Rest of Your Life, he decided not to seek reelection in Legco and to spend more time with family and his own personal pursuits, according to his book On Equal Terms published in 2011.
Even though he left the political arena, Cheng continued his business career.
In 2005, he stepped into the public spotlight again when he was appointed by the government to chair The Link management, which operates a listed portfolio of shopping malls and car parks it took over from the Housing Authority.
But he walked away early from his three-year appointment in 2007 in protest over actions by the Children's Investment Fund Management of Britain, then the largest investor in The Link, pressuring management to kick out small tenants in favour of large chain stores to obtain higher rents.
After all these years, Cheng, who will turn 79 in October, says the city's politics is never far from his mind.
"I am an old guy and I am just sad to see what is happening in Hong Kong," he says. "The silent majority must speak up to let the legislators, especially the pan-democrats, know how they truly feel. I hope we can all support the proposed reform package so that we can move forward to focus on improving the livelihood of our fellow citizens."
 
 


First China ore shipment rewards Guinea coup leader’s push for Simandou alliance

How China pulled off a critical mineral production tech revolution in just 10 months

As US, EU and Japan boost defence spending, is stimulus their true intention?

AI tops the mind of this fifth-generation Illinois farmer in China-owned Syngenta’s mega IPO

Focus

Time for a reality check on being a Chinese city

Former legislator Paul Cheng Ming-fun says Hong Kong has enjoyed tremendous advantages over the decades because of its geographical location and it should press on with integration if it wants further success. Photo: Jonathan Wong

News

Hong Kong

Integration with mainland is best way forward, as the Pearl River Delta could offer Hong Kong workers opportunities to commute and prosper


The sooner the city's denizens accept that Hong Kong is Chinese and part of the mainland, the better off they will be, says entrepreneur and former legislator Paul Cheng Ming-fun.


Moving Forward

Time for a reality check on being a Chinese city

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Integration with mainland is best way forward, as the Pearl River Delta could offer Hong Kong workers opportunities to commute and prosper

Integration with mainland is best way forward, as the Pearl River Delta could offer Hong Kong workers opportunities to commute and prosper