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City Beat | Lessons to learn from Hong Kong’s great mask giveaway
- Though Carrie Lam’s Covid-19 strategy has won her international applause, greater transparency is critical to regaining public trust in her government
- In the CuMask+ saga, the government must be fair to both the companies it chose and the public feeling left in the dark amid too many missing links
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The road to hell is always paved with good intentions.
The old adage is proving true for the Hong Kong government’s highly publicised scheme to distribute free reusable masks to every resident.
The controversy over the CuMask+ scheme must be hugely frustrating for embattled Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, whose administration is now facing concerns and accusations ranging from possible conflict of interest, since the commissioned manufacturers did not go through proper tender procedures, to health concerns raised by some experts questioning the copper filter components. Even the design of the masks has been mocked over a resemblance to underwear, and critics have also raised concerns about the risk of personal data leaks through the government’s online registration system.
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The dramatic shift in the public mood has been swift and telling, initial enthusiasm giving way to suspicion and politics with Lam’s opponents interpreting it as an attempt to “buy” support for the pro-establishment camp ahead of the Legislative Council elections in September.
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So what went wrong? Are these attacks just part of the usual opposition to almost anything the government does these days, or has it really messed things up?
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