THE blunders at Chek Lap Kok continued to draw flak from the Chinese press over the past week, with a number of papers calling into question the SAR Government's ability to govern.
The Oriental Daily News lamented a lack of talent to run Hong Kong. It said senior officials were once praised by Chris Patten as the world's best civil servants. However, one year on, the performance of the same officials called the former Governor's praise into question.
The SAR Government, if it was still conscientious enough, should launch a management reform programme to encourage creative thinking, the paper said. Hong Kong needed a strong and forceful leader, but unfortunately there was no such candidate.
Apple Daily said it was a shame the fiasco had made Hong Kong a laughing stock around the world. The project cost billions, but had become a flop because of poor management by the Airport Authority and inadequate supervision by the Government.
Even though Hong Kong people had always looked down on Malaysians, Chek Lap Kok was worse than Kuala Lumpur's problematic new airport, the paper said.
The popularity rating of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's administration had plunged to less than 20 per cent, enough to bring down an elected government elsewhere. But Mr Tung had shown no sign of remorse by resigning, something that made the rumblings in big business about overthrowing Mr Tung more understandable.
