LettersAfter Covid-19 failures, Hong Kong’s next chief executive faces a tall order

Readers expect their next leader to fix the cracks in Hong Kong exposed by the pandemic, and suggest John Lee may not be the best candidate

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John Lee Ka-chiu, former chief secretary, speak to the media last December 29. Lee is Beijing’s choice for the city’s top job. Photo: May Tse

Published: 2:30pm, 9 Apr 2022

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History has shown again and again how a capable leader can make a difference to the fate of a country or territory. In spite of the general public apathy about the coming chief executive election by a small circle of electors, there are those of us who are concerned that a right leader should be chosen to lead Hong Kong for the next five years.

A good example under British rule was the appointment of Sir Murray MacLehose as governor of Hong Kong. MacLehose laid down some of the most significant long-term policies in Hong Kong history that led to the prosperity in the ensuing decades.

The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the inadequacies of the current administration and the failures in the infrastructure that should have been able to carry us through a crisis.

To say that our medical system is on the brink of collapse is an understatement. It has arguably already collapsed, as evidenced by the Covid-19 death toll that has shot up and still hovers around 100 a day. Compare this with the toll in Singapore, a city similar to ours, which is now in the single digits. Hong Kong’s situation is even more alarming when we consider that Singapore has changed its policy to “living with the virus”.

The next chief executive therefore has the mission of fixing our overwhelmed medical system and inadequate elderly care infrastructure, opening up our borders and re-establishing our relationship with the West, which is so vital to the sustaining of Hong Kong’s role as a financial and transport hub.

It is a tall order and requires someone with international vision, economic understanding and capable administrative skills. I do not wish to comment on whether former chief secretary John Lee Ka-chiu, the only person so far to formally declare his wish to serve Hong Kong as the next chief executive, would live up to the Hong Kong people’s expectations. But as the great majority of us are not one of the very few electors in the poll, we can only hope that these electors will exercise their collective wisdom to do their best for Hong Kong.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Readers expect their next leader to fix the cracks in Hong Kong exposed by the pandemic, and suggest John Lee may not be the best candidate

Readers expect their next leader to fix the cracks in Hong Kong exposed by the pandemic, and suggest John Lee may not be the best candidate