Hong Kong executive council convenor calls for 'middle-ground' solutions to solve governance issues

Systematic public engagement in the policy-making process could be a way to tackle the governance problems facing the administration, according to Executive Council convenor Lam Woon-kwong.

"For Hong Kong to survive, we have still got a lot to do in social policy. It's not just constitutional issues we should focus on," Lam said.

For example, he said, the city needs fresh ideas to tackle issues such as a land shortage and urban planning problems.

"When we talk about this problem, there shouldn't be only the extreme ideas like 'let's develop land in the country parks' or 'the land should be kept for agriculture'. We need many more middle-ground solutions," said Lam, who has been in the civil service for 40 years.

A lot of young, well-educated people had approached him to share their ideas on various areas of policy, Lam said, and the government should tap on those talents.

"The civil society does not have a political axe to grind. Young people have a lot of imaginative ideas and instead of ruling them out, we should put them to a pragmatism test."