Opinion | John Lee’s policy address needs proper evaluation, not just praise

Lee’s list of more than 100 KPIs looks impressive, but not all hold up under scrutiny

Some are superficial measures that don’t fully address structural problems, while others come with a ‘pandemic permitting’ get-out clause

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Chief Executive John Lee attends a question and answer session on the 2022 policy address at the Legislative Council in Admiralty on October 20. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:45am, 24 Oct 2022

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has got off to a good start, judging by the reaction to his policy address. Gone are the days of interruptions, ejections and the hurling of objects at the podium. Those chamber theatrics were replaced with a round of applause and signals of support from legislative councillors.

Beijing’s own applause followed closely, in the form of press releases issued by the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing and the central government liaison office in the city, both praising Lee for effectively responding to public concerns, “showing a new style of governance that is not afraid of difficulties”.

Starry Lee Wai-king, chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, called it a “forward-looking policy address”.

That’s all well and good, but aren’t policy addresses, by definition, forward looking? Sure, there was no mention of Hong Kong having begun as a small fishing village, and that’s refreshing. And we were spared another rendition of the “Under the Lion Rock” song. But we are talking about initiatives the government plans to implement in pursuit of its vision for the city. That’s what policy addresses are for.

To John Lee’s credit, he took close to three hours to try to convince people that he is not just doing something, but many things. We are talking about more than 110 key performance indicators. Take a look through the list and it’s obvious that it’s no small delegation feat.

So, in that sense, the praise from Beijing on a new style of governance is well deserved. But, as for the policy address indicating an administration “not being afraid of difficulties”, time will tell.

Starry Lee (centre) and other Legislative Council members meet the media after John Lee’s policy address on October 19. Photo: Dickson Lee

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