Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s fourth Policy Address is very comprehensive, covering all aspects we can think of: economic development, physical and mental health, housing and elderly care, transportation and ports, education and labor, green and low-carbon environment, sports and culture. This is no doubt one of the longest, if not the longest, Policy Addresses ever delivered. I am glad that he focused on public governance and expediting development in the Northern Metropolis. After all, accountability among the key decision-makers in the government is crucial in ensuring tangible results that address the most urgent needs of the special administrative region.

The Northern Metropolis project is certainly the most transformative project for Hong Kong in its history. Lee has created the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis with three working groups. To show the high priority of ensuring the project’s success, he personally chairs the committee and has assigned top ministers to chair the three working groups. Paul Chan Mo-po, the financial secretary, will chair the Working Group on Devising Development and Operation Models; the Working Group on Planning and Construction of the University Town will be chaired by Eric Chan Kwok-ki, the chief secretary for administration; and the Working Group on Planning and Development will be chaired by Michael Wong Wai-lun, the deputy financial secretary. The Northern Metropolis is close to Shenzhen’s metropolitan core and the base of the innovation and technology (I&T) industry, which has the greatest development momentum. With seven land-based boundary control points, it creates an essential platform for our cooperation with other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Covering an area of some 300 square kilometers, the Northern Metropolis is huge compared to the science park in Pak Shek Kok, which is about 22 hectares. Its proximity to Shenzhen and its positioning as an I&T hub, promise to attract top companies to take advantage of the talent and infrastructure, as well as access to supply chains on the Chinese mainland and potential partners in Shenzhen. This is a project that dwarfs all previous industrial development projects. Lee said he will spare no effort in removing barriers and easing restrictions to make life easier for investors. The entire Northern Metropolis is expected to develop to accommodate about 2.5 million residents and provide around 650,000 jobs, while for the first time allowing Hong Kong to truly diversify its economy, with high value-added manufacturing in the north and financial and professional services in the south.    

This is no doubt one of the longest, if not the longest, Policy Addresses ever delivered. I am glad that he focused on public governance and expediting development in the Northern Metropolis. After all, accountability among the key decision-makers in the government is crucial in ensuring tangible results that address the most urgent needs of the special administrative region

While supercharging Hong Kong’s new industries, the Policy Address continues to lend support to small and medium-sized enterprises. The SAR government has devised 11 measures to this end. These will reduce financing pressures, offer fee concessions and additional public works to create more businesses for construction companies, streamline the restaurant licensing regime, provide easier approval for outside restaurant seating, and offer a two-year pilot program to support local small and medium-sized I&T enterprises with patent evaluation, among other things.

The government’s multipronged effort to shorten the waiting time for public rental housing is commendable. I am most pleased with the recent hike in rents for well-off households, which has encouraged some well-off tenants to buy or to rent a better flat for themselves in the private sector, contributing to recovery of the housing market. The decline in the waiting period from 6.1 years to 5.1 years is impressive, and the government is now aiming to further shorten this to 4.5 years by 2026-27. I am positive that this is achievable.  

I am less sure about the benefit of increasing the Green Form to White Form quota ratio from 40:60 to 50:50 for public housing flats listed for sale in the secondary market without the need for land premium repayment by the sellers. Green Form applicants are usually less deserving than White Form applicants because their incomes generally have breached the Waiting List Income Limits. They are therefore better positioned to move to private housing compared to White Form applicants who are stuck in private housing. Even though Green Form applicants, on purchasing a flat in the secondary market, release a flat that will become available for those on the waiting list, they are also likely to buy a private flat if they are not given the option to buy in the secondary market. As public housing tenants, Green Form applicants generally have amassed handsome savings that can be used as a down payment for a private flat.  

I am happy to learn that a “basic mental health program has already been made a compulsory subject for first-year students in some tertiary institutions”. I believe there is a need to make mental health programs or life education mandatory even for primary and secondary schools. The 4 Rs, namely rest, relaxation, relationships, and resilience, are indeed important. However, for those stressed out because they cannot handle challenges such as keeping up with schoolwork, or have poor relations with schoolmates and family, the 4Rs are unreachable luxuries. Our young people need help so they can enjoy the 4Rs.

The government is right to promote “aging in place as the core, with institutional care as back-up”. Most elderly people indeed prefer to continue to live in their familiar settings. However, we are still desperately short of well-run elderly homes. Too many privately operated elderly homes are of poor quality, so that their residents suffer an ordeal no better than those living in sub-standard divided units.

The author is an honorary research fellow at the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute, Lingnan University, and an adjunct professor at the Academy for Applied Policy Studies and Education Futures, the Education University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.