Just last year, the pan-democrats suffered a big setback in legislative by-elections because they couldn’t work together with the localists. Thanks to the chief executive, the factions are more now united than ever.

Beijing insists on loyalty to Carrie Lam but issues direct messages to the Hong Kong police and pro-Beijing politicians. Add Lam’s public absences, and the demise of ‘one country, two systems’ may be unfolding differently than expected.

The PLA threat is real and looming. The city needs dialogue and leaders unafraid of being shouted down. Let Hong Kong’s chief executives, past, present and future, step forward now and do their duty by the city.

As Hong Kong descends into pandemonium and the Carrie Lam government sits on its hands, how long would it be before Beijing declares a state of emergency in Hong Kong and sends in the PLA?

Beijing seems to be rethinking its system of monitoring Hong Kong and assessing how to deal with the political crisis. If it refuses to let Carrie Lam resign, other Executive Council members must take the fall so that trust can be rebuilt.

The massive upsurge in voter registration since the protests began can only mean bad news for the establishment. Many factors contributed to this point, but the biggest problem is their repeat of the mistakes of 2003.

Both the Hong Kong and Beijing governments need to step back and carefully consider their next moves. Many missteps have contributed to the destructive protests, and another mistake could have even worse consequences

The longer Lam stays in office, the more of a drag she’ll be for Beijing. It would be better for her to go soon, and for the central government to start thinking about how to address the issues behind the mass protests.

With their complete lack of understanding of public sentiment on the controversial extradition bill, the privileged members of the Executive Council have let down Carrie Lam, and possibly done serious damage to ‘one country, two systems’.

In her election manifesto, the chief executive promised a new consultative style of governance that is absent in her initial response to opposition to the extradition bill. Her Executive Council must also share the blame for not stepping up sooner to deter Lam from rushing through the bill.

A lawmaker’s attack on a homemaker’s petition against the government’s extradition bill, suggesting that housewives are politically irrelevant and worthy of ridicule, is profoundly misogynistic.

Billionaire Joseph Lau’s statement suggests that opposition to the extradition bill signals a lack of patriotism, an impression the government has done nothing to counter.

The take-up rate of the letting scheme for subsidised flats in Hong Kong has been outrageously low, with only 13 of 13,000 eligible owners signing up. Did the government pull the policy out of thin air, instead of doing research and evaluation?

Government initiatives aimed at ‘improving’ our young people in various ways miss the point. It’s the mismatch between youth expectations and economic opportunities that breeds social discontent, and what officials must address.

While the government’s move to amend Hong Kong’s extradition law has dominated the headlines recently and consumed the energy of the administration, the city’s most critical problem remains the lack of affordable housing.

The Lam administration has not been able to sell Hongkongers on anything, from Lantau reclamation to extradition. And its tough stance on the extradition bill is dangerous, when all signs point to a repeat of the political disaster of 2003.

The sentencing of the protest leaders doesn’t really close the case for the city. The protests had their roots in political and social problems of the last administration that need to be solved before they crop up again.

Measles is making a global comeback because of misinformation and ignorance. The Hong Kong government needs to dispel the false claims and ensure all the facts are freely available, to avoid an epidemic in the densely-populated city.

Kaohsiung’s Han Kuo-yu pulled off an impressive political tightrope walk during his trip to Hong Kong and the mainland. But the success of his visit and a remark made by Hong Kong lawmaker Abraham Razack also speak volumes about Beijing’s tolerance.

With a recent study finding that fibres found in deep-sea creatures came from textiles, it’s time for everyone in this city to realise that our obsession with fast fashion is killing Planet Earth.

If plummeting public confidence in the government translates into an electoral defeat for the pro-establishment camp, it may set alarm bells ringing for Beijing, putting at risk the city’s high degree of autonomy.

‘Legacy places’, wealthy donations, pricey tutors and education consultants – the education systems in Hong Kong and elsewhere routinely favour the wealthy even without this most recent outrage.

Hong Kong is deep in a rut so it’s no wonder the city is falling down many regional and international rankings. If it can’t even address its miserable record on women’s safety and opportunities, then it deserves to be forgotten.

Paul Chan successfully lowered public expectations for his most recent budget and, most unusually for this government, has showed the ability to apologise sincerely.

Hongkongers would appreciate the government spelling out the plan to link cities in Pearl River Delta region in pragmatic terms instead of indulging in grandiose sloganeering. Meanwhile, the usual predictions of doom also ring hollow.

A ban on the sale (but not use) of e-cigarettes will only push young people to black markets, or perhaps to traditional tobacco products that may be even less healthy.

There’s no need to read fortune sticks to know what looks really ominous for the city this year: Lam’s mishandling of various government proposals, from elderly welfare to toll adjustments, is dashing hope for change.

The government’s ‘we know best’ attitude to policymaking did it no favours in the Year of the Dog. The Lunar New Year should herald a more humble and consultative approach.

While the chief executive stressed the importance of building an inclusive society, at the World Economic Forum, the government’s callous attitude to the poor and the elderly is evident in its recent handling of welfare payments.

The chief executive once congratulated herself for improving relations with Legco, but her changes to elderly welfare payments have instead united rival legislators against her.