Hong Kong now has a historic opportunity to create an environmentally friendly harbourfront that will improve the quality of people's life for generations to come.
The government has promised that there will be no further reclamation and, therefore, the decisions made now will create the city's harbourfront for the rest of time.
The choice should not be based on personal prestige, self-interest or party politics. Instead, the leaders of our community should show wisdom and integrity. They must also consider three fundamental issues.
First, who should enjoy this unique and valuable piece of land? Should it be the public? Should property developers, enjoy the benefits of Tamar, as proposed by the government five years ago? Or should it be officials who benefit, as the Tsang administration is now proposing?
Tamar is a piece of public land reclaimed from the harbour using public funds. Therefore, logically, it should be enjoyed by the public - unless the administration can show there is a greater need that overrides the public interest.
The second issue is: has the government demonstrated that there is an urgent and overwhelming need to build its offices on the Tamar site, and nowhere else? The documents it has produced up to now do not support this.