Amid the gloom of the pandemic and the uncertainty of the security law it was encouraging to read the opening of Professor Kerry Kennedy’s essay of July 15, which stated that now is the time to institute a democratic agenda for Hong Kong, working within legitimate and accepted boundaries (“ Why security law should not end Hong Kong’s democracy push ”). For many people, as he concedes, the essence of democracy is elections, but he casts doubt on their primacy by citing elections in Poland and Hungary that are “fraught with problems” and support authoritarian governments. Nonetheless, he suggests that our Legislative Council, that is “partly democratic”, should at some point in the future become fully democratic, while the popular election of the chief executive, he states, is an aspiration of the Basic Law and of the majority of Hong Kong people, and an obvious step in our democratic development. He has clearly failed to read Article 45 of the Basic Law that deals with the election of the chief executive and which was reflected in the 2015 bill for the reformation of that electoral process. Legco rejected the bill on the grounds that it did not offer a proper popular vote. Professor Kennedy contends the development of democracy is embedded in political and social institutions. As examples, he cites the judiciary, the legislature, the executive government, voting rights, civil rights and bodies like the Equal Opportunities Commission. He believes the key to democratic advancement is developing these institutions. He praises our judiciary and legal system and notes these are protected by the Basic Law. Otherwise, on how these vital institutions should be developed he is silent, apart from the improvement to electoral processes mentioned above. And finally, he urges us to understand developing democracy takes time. In the case of Britain, he estimates it took 79 years, so we must not get overexcited. In summary, his agenda amounts to recommending modest election changes, at least one of which is inconsistent with the Basic Law, and unspecified developments of our social and political institutions that over a period of decades will ensure Hong Kong is a fully functioning democracy. Not exactly inspiring. David Hall, Mid-Levels