Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has publicly ditched the city's long-held fiscal policy of positive non-interventionism in favour of an appropriately proactive policy. Back in the 1970s, as a young administrative officer, I cut my teeth on the old policy in the Finance Branch, headed by Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, a strong proponent of positive non-interventionism. Backed by the rule of law, this policy was also buttressed by pillars of strength such as: A dutiful and efficient bureaucracy, which was also humble enough to respect the good business sense of businessmen. A low tax regime productive of revenue. An open government with prudential supervision to ensure a level playing field and a free flow of information. Much admired for his powerful intellect and steadfast strategies, Haddon-Cave steered this city through choppy economic waters to achieve the proud status of an "Asian dragon", alongside Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Milton Friedman, a Nobel Prize winner and architect of the famous "no free lunch" realism, praised this city as exemplary of a free economy. This economic tenet meant the government neither sustained a market nor devised a false market through incentives or manipulation. It picked no winners, and let high flyers fly high. This approach kept interventions to a minimum. Even so, the government took dynamic action whenever necessary to resolve problems and provide the required social conditions for maintaining the city's prosperity, stability and upward social mobility. Examples include: The establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption to counter rampant graft. The introduction of the first public assistance scheme, a precursor to the current Comprehensive Social Security Assistance scheme, to help financially vulnerable people. The planning and construction of satellite towns and later new towns. But times are changing, and we must move with the times. In dumping the old policy, the chief executive's stated objective is to take advantage of the mainland's "One Belt, One Road" plan. He also intends to set up a new bureau to do that. I wish him good luck. After all, we are still waiting for the long-promised bureau for innovation and technology. In Deng Xiaoping's famous words, "No matter a cat is black or white, it is a good cat if it catches mice." So too is a government's efficacy judged not by its intentions but results. With the old policy now pronounced dead, the question is whether the new policy might transform our Asian dragon into something else. A phoenix, perhaps, rising from the ashes of the past? Or something that just fades away? Only time will tell. Elizabeth Wong Chien Chi-lien was secretary for health and welfare from 1990 to 1994 and a lawmaker from 1995 to 1997