When I reflect on Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's election slogan: 'I will get the job done', one half of me lives in hope, the other half in trepidation. This is, after all, the government which 'got the job done' on Central reclamation, Tamar and the demolition of the Star Ferry Pier. There are few things more frightening than a government determined to 'get the job done' using a defective blueprint.
Mr Tsang's election declaration speech, from February, revealed an understanding of changing values and expectations among the people of Hong Kong, and the desire to transform our city.
He spoke of the need for a more open political system, one where public participation in the earliest stages of policy formulation must replace the colonial-era system of decision-making driven by government officials. He also recognised a public craving for a higher quality of life through protection and enhancement of our natural environment and heritage.
Mr Tsang's election manifesto reveals someone who cares deeply about Hong Kong, someone who is thinking carefully about how to press forward with a transformation among all the complexity and vested interests - and the structural impediments of an old development model that must be unravelled in order for that transformation to be achieved.
Having said that, there are three areas of concern. First, public participation in policy-making takes effort. Above all, it takes time. Does Mr Tsang have the patience? The prognosis is not good.
The controversy over the planning of the Central harbourfront reveals an impatient government determined to get its way, hiding behind 'due process' - despite a clear and dramatic change in public opinion - displaying stubbornness and inflexibility, and holding defective forums masquerading as public consultation.