Francis Neoton Cheung

Big business is stepping up where the Hong Kong government has fallen short in the coronavirus fight, but it can do more

Donations of money and supplies have rushed in even as company managers rally round to make new work arrangements to contain the virus spread

But more is rightly expected of these conglomerates. They could learn from mainland companies that have harnessed their strengths to answer on-the-ground needs

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People wearing masks walk through the Hong Kong business district of Central on February 19. Given their wealth, resources and organisational heft, conglomerates in Hong Kong ought to be doing much more to contribute to bettering the coronavirus situation. Photo: AP

Francis Neoton Cheung

Published: 6:30am, 22 Feb 2020Updated: 6:46am, 22 Feb 2020

The Hong Kong government has stumbled from one crisis to another, and its handling of the coronavirus public health emergency has laid bare the incompetence, insensitivity and lack of preparedness of those who, in theory, lead what they boast to be “Asia’s world city”.

With public trust in the Carrie Lam administration hollowed out following months of bruising anti-government protests in 2019, there has been a considerable display of resourcefulness, resilience and solidarity among the public to counteract the pall of gloom.

Small-scale shops and members of civil society have been resourceful in sourcing face mask supplies from all corners of the globe. Less prominently, major businesses in Hong Kong have also contributed to the crisis response.

As the government wasted the entire Lunar New Year weekend dithering over border entry controls and face mask supplies, I was encouraged to see that New World Development was among the first to act, spending HK$10 million (US$1.3 million) on face masks, hand sanitisers and disinfectant wipes for working-class members of the community and its own staff.

Mindful of the palpable risk of a community outbreak of the coronavirus, the developer then announced that staff who could work from home should do so, one day before the government made a similar arrangement for civil servants. The company also took the lead within the property industry in shutting down all its construction sites for two weeks as infection figures rose.