The View | Chief executive chosen by universal suffrage can bridge divisions in Hong Kong
For years, Hong Kong's tale of two narratives played together nicely, but transformation in the 90s and events since have changed all the rules
The student protest and Occupy movement is, on the surface, motivated by democratic ideals. But more fundamentally, it is a sign that the deepening economic and social contradictions in Hong Kong brought about by the mainland's opening and economic globalisation have reached a tipping point.
For many years, there was a balance between two narratives on Hong Kong's future development - the "establishment narrative" and the "bottom-up narrative". This balance emerged in the aftermath of the 1966-67 riots, which had many origins including the critical underlying issue of a rapidly rising industrial economy. The government sought to deal with the deep contradictions that emerged back then by healing rifts in society and giving industrial capitalism a kinder face.
The social sector received funding support and a greater role in public policy, while the business and economic sector continued to play the dominant role in policy matters. This political narrative became embedded in the Basic Law, which was promulgated in 1990.
But in the 1990s, Hong Kong's economy underwent another colossal transformation into a service economy. A new political narrative was needed to articulate the economic and social challenges of the new era. It became imperative that both sides worked together to resolve these challenges. Unfortunately, this failed to happen.
Adherents of the "bottom-up narrative", who were associated with the social sector, had little understanding of the challenges of economic transformation and were not interested in articulating an economic policy agenda. For them, democratic elections became a political means to advance their social policy agenda.
Fears of populist encroachment from this approach drove supporters of the "establishment narrative", associated with the business and economic sector, closer to Beijing, which had fallen out with the adherents of the "bottom-up narrative" over the June 4, 1989, crackdown and the attempted enactment of Article 23 in 2003.