Frankly, I’m not gripped by the gravitational pull of the coming chief executive election. Without universal suffrage, the best we commoners can do is to watch on the sidelines; much like watching reflections of flowers in the mirror or the moon in the water, as the Chinese saying goes. Surreal, really! But our chief executive is anything but surreal. This individual will affect our way of life: the way we “live, move and have our being”. In service to this city and freelancing as a part-time politician, I am thinking of ways I might help with electing a person who will defend our way of life and core values. Leadership election not only shines spotlight on candidates – Hong Kong is on parade Additional to the four criteria set by the Chinese leadership for selecting our chief executive, I have set some probing questions relevant to the choice of our leader: •How committed is the individual to the rule of law? The rule of law is fundamental to the successful application of the “one country, two systems” principle. To abandon this is to dice with death – the death of this city. •Can the individual earn our trust? Now, this is a difficult question. We might have to rely on the acumen of our ubiquitous media friends, who are good at smelling things fishy and telling it like it is. My yardstick is: if the individual tells just one lie, the rest of the truths will become lies. •Does the individual have the “wow” factor of uniqueness, even if a little weird? To me former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen , nicknamed “bow tie”, has the wow factor. Unfortunately, he has bowed out and his hands are tied, figuratively. •How will the individual engage the opposition? Einstein said, “Great spirit has always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds”. Opposition flourishes where free spirit thrives. As we are all free-spirited, having opposition is part of life here. •Is the individual amassing fortunes on earth? Or storing it in heaven? Money is not the root of all evil. But the love of money is. Here again, we might have to rely on the media for ferreting things out: things like hidden treasures or affairs, etc. •What about the individual’s idea of building a legacy? All self-respecting leaders build legacies that will stand the test of time. Legacies are not just about bricks and mortar. Legacies are about investing in people, particularly young people for the future. And there you have it! Elizabeth Wong Chien Chi-lien was secretary for health and welfare from 1990 to 1994 and a lawmaker from 1995 to 1997