APPEARANCE is everything. And for some, first impressions count more than anything else. That is why it might be worthwhile for the business community to consider carefully what role it should play in the handover process in June 1997.
Getting the handover right is going to be of seminal importance.
Sentiment is also crucial. In the weeks leading up to the handover there will be a congregation of journalists, film crews, writers and media representatives, the likes of which will have never been seen in Hong Kong.
The Olympics, which comes around every four years, attracts something like 3,000 to 4,000 of these media types. The countdown to June 30, 1997, and the handover ceremony are almost guaranteed to attract a greater number. Some estimates put the figure as high as 6,000. What is critical for Hong Kong is that they all leave in a good mood.
Why should this be of concern to the business community? It is fair to say the Government Information Service will go into full swing in organising coverage of the event. And hopefully Xinhua (the New China News Agency), as the representative of the incoming team, will go out of its way to inspire a feeling of confidence and business as usual.
The business community is no passive body, however. Nor is business a stranger to organising collectively to lobby for various interests in Hong Kong and abroad.
Hong Kong business has proved that through the regular tussles over China's Most Favoured Nation trading status, following the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre. The territory's business elite turned the annual event into a set piece, helping to bring round the United States administration until the MFN issue was finally de-coupled from human rights.
