THE chorus of criticism directed at Professor Edward Chen Kwan-yiu has done nothing to dull the enthusiasm of the Consumer Council's chairman for the task of examining competition - or the lack of it - in Hong Kong. Which is just as well, for without the questions which Mr Chen and his team are raising, we would all be condemned to suffer the complacency which too often inflicts big business in this territory.
Some of the criticisms which have been attracted to the Council's report into banking - the first of five into big business and cartels in Hong Kong - are being aimed very much at Mr Chen personally. Questions are being quietly put around the clubs and boardroom lunches as to his suitability to tackle, for one, such a large and complex subject as banking. In reply, he has had the dignity to remain impersonal. He is blaming the system, not the bankers who operate it, and quite rightly points out they would be foolish not to take advantage of it.
Undaunted by the contemptuous response from some of the most powerful establishment figures in town, Mr Chen was giving warning yesterday that he would continue to question vested interests and entrenched opinions. This may not suit the old guard, or many of the new brigade, but they should be under no illu-sion that they are up against an idealist.
Mr Chen does not fit into the mould of Western consumer crusaders, he wants more freedom not less, so stands out against a cumbersome anti-trust law. But that still leaves him the option to recommend a Monopolies and Merger Commission, or similar body when his final verdict on competition in Hong Kong is produced later this year.
Hopefully he will not need to, and other, more flexible methods will be found to ensure that monopolies do not prosper at the expense of their customers. Such bodies can turn into bureaucratic star chambers, stifling the free market, if only temporarily,while they debate on cases placed before them. Better by far for some self-examination and voluntary adjustments of policy.
But Mr Chen is doing more than offering Hong Kong's consumers the comfort that their position is not being ignored - although not blindly defended at all costs. He is also providing a possible weapon against the dangerous erosion of Hong Kong's competitiveness in the region.
