In the midst of Hong Kong’s turmoil, Carrie Lam must prioritise the housing crisis and get tough with property developers

The chief executive found the political will to introduce the ill-judged extradition bill. Surely her energy would be better expended on securing land in the New Territories for public housing projects, using emergency powers if necessary

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Extradition bill protesters sit outside a property agent’s office during a rally in Hong Kong. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:30am, 10 Aug 2019Updated: 9:30am, 10 Aug 2019

Unless our Hong Kong administration is clinically stone-deaf, and whatever its (or China’s) views on the black shirts’ demands, this summer of conflict and unprecedented street demonstrations have highlighted one problem that must receive urgent and courageous attention: Hong Kong housing.

While the demonstrations of recent weeks have drawn out many groups with many grievances – including those on either side of the deep and unbridgeable divide between fealty to China and independence – it is the appalling failure of housing policy over the past two decades, along with the stress it has created, that has played a unique role in mobilising ordinary people in ordinary communities around Hong Kong.

I concede that after the dark and violent past fortnight, there are certain priorities that overshadow everything: bring an end to the violence and get protests off the streets and into manageable forums where grievances can be heard and considered.

Our leaders must at the same time start thinking about a framework and timetable for addressing the constitutional shortcomings of the Basic Law, and how to build democratic arrangements that are more effective in hearing and responding to community needs and concerns. It is worth thinking about such a framework taking the form of a resolution commission tasked over a year, perhaps more, to make recommendations for long-term solutions.

But in the midst of the short-term crisis management, and laying the foundation for a long-term resolution, the grievances that have clutched the hearts of so many Hong Kong people also need public attention. None is more pressing than housing – and none is more amenable to such a clear menu of well-considered solutions.

Through the course of 2018, as the Task Force on Land Supply toiled under the thoughtful technocrat Stanley Wong Yuen-fai, a clear picture emerged of the scale of Hong Kong’s housing needs and how these needs would be met, after years of wilful neglect that followed the appointment of Donald Tsang Yam-kuen as chief executive in 2005.