Over the last few years, I have spoken and written extensively on what I believe to be the qualities essential to good governance. If I were to try and sum up all of these qualities into one of overriding importance, it would be trust; once a government has lost the trust of its people, it becomes well-nigh impossible to govern effectively, no matter how worthy the policy intent.
Sadly, I believe that the current administration has, in fundamental ways, lost the trust of Hong Kong people. Why has this happened?
The principal cause seems to be the growing perception that the central government is seeking more and more to influence decisions that should fall squarely within the bounds of Hong Kong's autonomy, under the Basic Law. The concept of 'one country, two systems' is being progressively eroded, and the emphasis increasingly seems to be on 'one country' rather than 'two systems'.
A case in point is the imminent introduction of a new national education curriculum. At the moment, it is far from clear what this will encompass; given the current lack of transparency, it is understandable that some fear it will evolve into a form of patriotic brainwashing in which the less palatable aspects of recent Chinese history and social evolution are omitted. The government must meet these concerns and ensure that a proper balance is struck between fostering an appropriate sense of belonging to the motherland and continuing to emphasise the vital role that 'one country, two systems' plays in safeguarding the rights and freedoms that Hong Kong people enjoy, but our fellow countrymen on the mainland do not.
Then we have the blatant attack on what little democracy we now have, in the form of the government's intention to push through amendments to the Legislative Council Ordinance to abolish by-elections in the event a Legco seat becomes vacant midterm. As someone who was elected to the council by means of a by-election in December 2007, I know at first hand that the nature of the contest and the issues raised were quite different from those that had captured public attention when the seat was last contested, three years earlier.
As former British prime minister Harold Wilson famously said: 'A week is a long time in politics.' It is therefore nothing short of scandalous that the government should be rushing through, without any public consultation, a measure that will quite simply rob voters of their democratic right to elect the representative they want in light of the prevailing social and political issues. The legal profession and leading academics have quite rightly strongly condemned this move.
I urge those Legco members who are currently inclined to support the government's proposal to weigh very carefully the implications of this dangerous precedent for undermining the democratic process. We cannot afford to remain silent on a fundamental issue that challenges our basic rights.
