Editorial | Important that Carrie Lam leads Hong Kong by example
- Chief executive argues she is right to sometimes remove her face mask during televised briefings, but this strategy will only open her up to criticism
Wearing a face mask in public has become commonplace over the past two years, even more now amid a worsening Omicron outbreak in the community. Intriguingly, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor deliberately shed her mask when speaking to the media recently, saying the public had to see clearly how worried she was about the situation.
“I am the chief executive of the special administrative region; people need to understand and feel my feelings,” she said.
To be fair, Lam has been seen wearing masks at many public occasions. Defending what she maintained as a “well thought-out” behaviour, she said it was important that the public could understand her message and emotions clearly through televised media and Legislative Council sessions.
That the Lam administration is fighting an uphill battle against the fifth wave of the virus is reflected in the exponential rise in daily infections and the changing responses in recent weeks. Regardless of whether Lam is masked or not, the public is well aware of not just the deepening crisis, but the government’s inadequacies in tackling it.
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We are not sure whether people would get a false sense of security just because officials are wearing masks. According to Lam’s rationale, health officials should also shed their masks to get their message across.