Former Hong Kong leader CY Leung ups pressure on Chief Executive Carrie Lam over housing, city’s culture
- Leung calls for new bureau to coordinate city’s arts and culture policies in interview with pro-Beijing media outlet
- Former leader also accuses civil servants of hampering government’s ability to get things done
“We cannot wait until the next administration to re-plan the development of the cultural and creative industry …. If we do well with this cultural bureau, we can build a new platform for young people interested in a career in arts and culture,” he said, referring to a government restructuring plan which was derailed by opposition lawmakers in 2012.
He also accused officials of a lack of urgency in increasing land and housing supply. He said the government’s efficiency of implementing projects was undermined by the lack of a “do or die” attitude among civil servants.
His tone and detailed policy-like approach have sparked speculation of a possible leadership comeback bid ahead of the chief executive election next March.
Last month, public broadcaster RTHK launched a new programme, with Lam interviewing members of the Election Committee on various areas of public policy.
In the interview, Leung told Andrew Fung Wai-kwong, formerly his top media aide at the Chief Executive’s Office, that “many golden opportunities have been missed” throughout the nine years since he first proposed creating a new cultural bureau to the legislature as the chief executive-elect in 2012.
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He pointed to the recent development of the West Kowloon Cultural District, and the upcoming world-class art exhibitions including Art Basel and Art Central hosted in the city later this month, as well as the many large auctions of Chinese and foreign art held in Hong Kong.
“A year passed is a year lost,” he said. “With the archived documents [in 2012], the current administration could simply push forward the establishment of the cultural bureau in the Legislative Council, so as to use the full potential of Hong Kong and formulate long-term development strategies.”
Under his plan, the new cultural bureau would take up cultural policy functions of the Home Affairs Bureau, Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and Development Bureau. The proposal was shelved in 2012 after opposition lawmakers mounted a filibuster against it.
Leung also accused civil servants of being inefficient when it came to executing housing policies, and said it was common for a document to take weeks to be circulated among government departments, before it could be implemented.
“Many civil servants often fail to adopt a ‘do or die’ attitude,” he said. “Some traditional values and ethics were actually bad habits that affected the efficiency in implementing construction projects that could benefit the general public.”
He urged Lam’s administration to “race against time” to speed up the construction of public housing for lower-income families by learning from experiences of the mainland and Singaporean governments.
The Post has contacted the Chief Executive’s Office for comment on his suggestions.
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Speaking to the press in April, Leung said he did not rule out a second bid for the top job in the city. He and his predecessor Tung Chee-hwa have also been tipped for the newly created role of convenor of the Election Committee, which will be responsible for choosing the city’s leader next March.
