‘Good fighter’ plus ‘peacemaker’, but can Carrie Lam hold up the sky?
From a passionate student of society to Hong Kong’s top female government official, her possible entry into the chief executive race has brought mixed reactions
Many in Hong Kong would associate Chairman Mao’s famous proclamation – “women hold up half the sky” – with the city’s top female government official, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.
The bigger question though is: can she mend social rifts, steer Hong Kong away from countless political challenges, and create a more cohesive society?
Many believe one of Lam’s biggest assets is her institutional knowledge and her ability to work the system, both from the top down and bottom up, as well as her intrinsic quality of pragmatism, despite her perceivably conservative personality and demeanour as a civil servant.
The city has produced many outstanding female leaders over the years. Each of them made their mark and served the public in various capacities both inside and outside of the government before and after the 1997 handover.
There was the ever so eloquent Lydia Dunn, who became the first female senior unofficial member of the Executive Council.