Opinion | Look to the past for the fuel to drive Hong Kong’s return under John Lee

Name: Hong Kong has until 2049 to fix its housing crisis, but is it possible?
Uploaded: 2022-10-09T22:45:13.000Z
Duration: 10 min 8 s
Description: Hong Kong has until 2049 to fix its housing crisis, but is it possible?

As the city prepares for Lee’s first policy address, looking back 25 years to the first post-handover address could help the new administration

Many of the challenges Tung Chee-hwa faced are still present today, as are the city’s advantages and fighting spirit that have carried it to this point

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Chief Executive John Lee attends a press conference ahead of an Exco meeting at government headquarters in Admiralty on September 27. Photo: Yik Yeung-man

Alice Wu

Published: 6:45am, 10 Oct 2022

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu is sure to be busy preparing for his first policy address speech on October 19. The government has been dropping hints about what we might expect, such as a doubling of the plastic bag levy and toll adjustments including a congestion levy for vehicles using the cross-harbour tunnels.

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has been very vocal about what is to come. There will be “bold measures”, he said, for attracting investment, businesses and talent. But, as the government prepares to lead the city into the future, it would also be good for Lee and his team to look back.

And they could start 25 years ago, with the opening policy address from the first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa. Hong Kong was a very different place then, but if we look at the main areas of concern for Tung, it seems like we are stuck in a time warp.

Addressing the city’s housing problem was a main focus for Tung. It’s a reoccurring theme really: the need to increase land supply, streamline government procedures, and build more public rental housing to meet applicants’ waiting time targets.

While the Tung administration still holds the record for the longest average waiting time for families to enter public housing – 6.6 years – the Lee administration has inherited an average six-year wait. That is double the target of three years by 2005 that Tung set in his first policy address.

10:08

Hong Kong has until 2049 to fix its housing crisis, but is it possible?

We have had four previous chief executives, and the challenges remains much the same to this day. But there is reason for hope, because it is also from 25 years ago that we learned how tough and bold Hong Kong can be.

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