Every October, the Chief Executive goes to the Legislative Council to outline the administration's objectives for the coming year.
In more settled times, it was an important exercise. But in an era of overnight change, faster responses and greater flexibility, the process has outlived its usefulness. It continues as a tradition, symbolic but ultimately restricting.
The housing policy debacles since 1997 are a graphic example of how things can fall apart despite well-laid plans and good intentions.
Prediction is an inexact science. Never more than now, with the United States waging war against terrorism and the entire world gripped by anxiety. Hong Kong, as a major financial centre, is closely affected by events in Afghanistan. But for months before that, its slow emergence from the Asian financial crisis was being crushed by economic reversals in the US.
To be knocked back on to the canvas just when the city was struggling to its feet is particularly hard. That is why some of the community's legendary vitality has waned. But the gloom in the streets far outweighs the size of the problem, and it is not all attributable to negative equity.
If Tung Chee-hwa can do something to relieve the plight of householders struggling to repay mortgages at rates far in excess of the present ones, he will help to lighten the mood among the middle classes. It was his Government, after all, that encouraged people into home ownership. They are not entirely unjustified in expecting it to offer aid in their present troubles, though it should be restricted to family homes.
