Following the problems with the mainland over Sars, there was a lot of hand-wringing and a flood of promises from both Beijing and our own administration. Then came the pig-borne disease, with contaminated freshwater fish hard on its heels. Again and again, there were communications problems.
The whole world now awaits an avian flu pandemic. There is no question of 'if' here - only when and where it will start. It could be tomorrow, or several years from now: nobody knows. There is a strong possibility that it will begin in the mainland.
Can any of our senior officials pick up the phone and get through to his or her counterpart in Beijing for firm answers? Recent experiences with the pig-borne disease and seafood tainted by malachite green suggest they cannot.
But we have Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's assurances that closer ties with the mainland will be in place soon. Such promises are easy to make but much harder to realise. We can send any number of officials on study tours to Beijing: all too often, these are just tourist visits.
We at the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) hope that Mr Tsang, in his policy address next week, will tell us how he intends to achieve better understanding between mainland and Hong Kong officials.
This is now very important, because if a pandemic breaks out in our area, these communications channels must work. There is no alternative. Many lives are at stake.
But, this is only one of several issues that we believe Mr Tsang needs to address if he is to improve governance.