Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying yesterday delivered his Policy Address, entitled Make Best Use of Opportunities, Develop the Economy, Improve People's Livelihood, Build an Inclusive Society. This is the last Policy Address delivered by Leung Chun-ying as the Chief Executive given his announcement not to seek reelection for a second term.
Hearing him delivering his "last Policy Address", many people had a tinge of emotion. Around this time five years ago, a Leung Chun-ying full of aspirations and enthusiasm announced he would run the CE election, and he eventually was successfully elected. During his five-year term, the SAR has had its ups and downs, and Leung Chun-ying himself has also got mixed appraisal with his work. Today, with only a little bit more than five months left before he leaves his office, Leung Chun-ying can say without misgivings: what he had promised to undertake in his election campaign platform has been basically accomplished, and ways have been paved for accomplishing the tasks yet to be accomplished.
Looking back at his work in the past four and a half years, Leung Chun-ying could say loud and clear: "My conscience is clear." Not to mention others, just taking housing and land use for example, as it is pointed in his last Policy Address, during his five-year term, land put up for sale has a capacity to produce about 51,100 housing units, more than double that of the five financial years under his predecessor; and the projected supply of first-hand residential properties for the coming three to four years was 94,000 units at end-December last year which is 45% higher than the figure at the beginning of the current government, while supply of public housing increased by one third. Even those critics biased against Leung Chun-ying should shut up in face of such facts.
Needless to say, this "last Policy Address" of Leung Chun-ying is not aimed at "singing his own praises", let alone making "heroic utterances". Just like his practical approach in developing the economy and improving people's livelihood in past four and half a years, what the Policy Address proposes is still a series of policy orientations for solving problems, and what it still stresses on is handling concrete affairs in a down-to-earth manner and efficiency. It is not drafted in a perfunctory manner just because his administration now is somewhat a "caretaker administration". Nor does he dare not to raise controversial proposals in fear of criticisms.
Among others, on the issue of retirement protection that arouses most concerns, Leung Chun-ying insists that he has never pronounced the word "universal" in his election platform and throughout the four and half a years in office. What he has been saying is to provide "retirement protection" for those in need. Leung Chun-ying points out: the "cake" of public resources is limited, if everyone in Hong Kong wants to have a bite, those who are really in need cannot but have less to eat. "Why should we strain the resources for the elderly who live on scavenging cardboard boxes or beer cans?"
The Policy Address proposes to add a higher tier of assistance to the Old Age Living Allowance (OALA) and relax the asset limits for the existing allowance, which is expected to benefit half a million elderly people. In addition, it proposes to lower the eligibility age for the Elderly Health Care Vouchers from 70 to 65, and to progressively abolish the "offsetting" of private enterprises' severance payments (SP) or long service payments (LSP) with MPF contributions. Such proposals are reasonable and practical, which should be acceptable to whole society and the Legislative Council (Legco). If the opposition blocks it from being passed by insisting on having "universal retirement protection", then taking the brunt of this will only be the poor elderly people really in need. In that case, these legislators in the name of "pleading for justice on behalf of the people" in fact would stand on the opposite side of the people.
Another "shining point" in the Policy Address which will also likely arouse controversy is the proposal to release land resources from some country parks of relatively low conservation value for property development. Right now, the land area of country parks is six times that of our total residential land, namely, for one square foot of land for housing there are six square feet of land for country parks. Now it is time to make a change given that land is very scarce and one has to wait for over three years to get a public housing flat. But in this regard, there will be "judicial reviews" filed by strong resistance from conservation groups and strong resistance from the opposition. This is a big issue left by Leung Chun-ying in his last Policy Address to his successor and all Hong Kong people.
19 January 2017
