The cover of Carrie Lam’s 2020 policy address reminded me of an old song that goes: “Blue, blue, blue, Johnny Blue”. I might have misinterpreted the chief executive’s intention in her choice of the colour . But I believe there are hundreds if not thousands of people, young and old alike, who have been affected immensely by last year’s social movement and this year’s social distancing. Most people now are not in a good state of mind. Regrettably, we have not mended the broken hearts, treated the old wounds, nor created the harmony that is conducive to improving the social environment and dispelling the blues. The proposal of the chief executive to encourage young people to work and start businesses in the Greater Bay Area came as if nothing had happened! Is this the right time to entice young people to go to the Greater Bay Area? l think young people these days know where the flowers are, and the greener pastures. You don’t have to tell them. It is unusual for the government to be persuading people to leave, and our population pyramid may experience a crisis. Young people are the core of our society, you see. If most of them leave this place, our city will end up lacking vitality and vibrancy. Hong Kong will become a city of the elderly. Should we then also encourage the elderly to move to the Greater Bay Area as the cost of living is lower over there? Is Greater Bay Area the ticket to beat Hong Kong’s land, housing woes? A tide of emigration is already believed to have started. This should not come as a surprise to the government. If the predicted trend takes hold, why aren’t the public planners taking these social issues into consideration? And if the prediction comes true, why do we still need to reclaim land for housing? The Greater Bay Area is big enough to absorb the retirees, too. In closing, however, I still hope to come across young people with smiles on their faces, instead of countless Johnny Blues. Lo Wai Kong, Lai Chi Kok
