Carrie Lam should know arrogance is no virtue, especially in someone aspiring to be Hong Kong’s leader

Alice Wu commends the chief executive aspirant for her toughness as an official, but says her tendency to dismiss public concerns out of hand alienates Hongkongers, fanning populist discontent

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Carrie Lam meets the press to announce her resignation. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 8:02am, 15 Jan 2017Updated: 6:39pm, 15 Jan 2017

We have to thank Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor for stirring the dead pond which was the chief executive election race. For months, we’ve been sitting on next to nothing, save some riddles and a line borrowed from Shakespeare, so we should be glad that Lam has finished reconsidering.

Lam managed to wrap up her government work – throwing in a new controversy for good measure – and kick-start her campaign all in one go, so we know multi-tasking is one of her strengths. It will come in handy; juggling the Beijing bosses and the ones in Hong Kong is no small feat.

Hong Kong’s ice cool Iron Lady with a will of steel

And with our growing list of problems, it takes a lot of courage to want the top job. This iron lady has got courage, for sure. Defending the government’s response after excessive levels of lead were found in tap water in several housing estates, Lam said she could be as bold as she wanted as “a government official with no expectation is always courageous”. The only problem, as can be seen from her handling of that scandal, is her other quality, one less flattering: arrogance.

To be clear, boldness can be an asset. Activist-turned-lawmaker Eddie Chu Hoi-dick made a name for himself when he took on the Heung Yee Kuk in his efforts to expose land corruption in the New Territories. It must be said that Lam took on the kuk boys over the issue of illegal structures, back in 2012 when she was serving under chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen as his secretary for development.

But boldness alone isn’t enough. The boldness of Donald Trump got him elected as America’s 45th president, but being bold and arrogant is also dangerous. That’s when one starts treating others like idiots.

Watch: Meryl Streep’s speech at the Golden Globe

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Carrie Lam should know arrogance is no virtue, especially in someone aspiring to be Hong Kong’s leader

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Hong Kong’s ice cool Iron Lady with a will of steel

Watch: Meryl Streep’s speech at the Golden Globe

Hong Kong’s ice cool Iron Lady with a will of steel