Result-oriented John Lee must beware of procrastination traps

Mega projects like the Northern Metropolis eat up money and recources while taking years to be realised – hardly a recipe for delivering results
Lee should instead focus on less grand, but more practical and pressing, needs such as affordable healthcare, adequate housing and improved energy efficiency

David Dodwell

Published: 9:15am, 4 Jul 2022

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Once upon a time, we had an environment secretary called Sarah Liao Sau-tung, who asked a consultant to help her sprawling bureau find a sense of purpose so they could “get things done”. The mission was not too different from that of new Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to be “result-oriented”.

The consultant told Liao that one of the best things her staff could do was put stickers in large print at the top of each computer screen: “Our mission is to bring Quality to Life”. Not only must they bring the concept of quality to life, but deliver initiatives that brought quality to the lives of Hong Kong citizens.

The recommendation was ignored. Liao procrastinated. But I think Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, then chief executive, may have taken note. In his 2007-08 policy address, he unveiled plans to deliver 10 mega-infrastructure projects. There was much derision. There were protests about grandiose “white elephants”. There was alarm about the taxpayer cost and the impact on reserves.

Last week, I looked back on those projects. They provided glimpses into persistent bureaucratic procrastination but, on balance, Tsang earned a passing grade as a “result-oriented” leader.

Of the 10 projects, seven have today been delivered: the MTR’s southern extension; and (just a month ago) the Sha Tin-Central link; the link from Tuen Mun to the airport; the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail; the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge; (bits of) the West Kowloon Cultural District; and, the Kai Tak redevelopment.

Passengers at Hung Hom station on the first day of services for the Sha Tin-Central link, on May 16. Photo: Felix Wong

Two others are still loitering somewhere between the Development Bureau and other parts of our fragmented government: the Lok Ma Chau loop, and the New Territories Development Areas. These are now bundled into the planned “Northern Metropolis”, which is likely to be a high priority for Lee over the next five years. The final project – Hong Kong-Zhuhai Airport cooperation – has evaporated into the ether.

At the time, thinking these projects to be too much “in the pocket” of Hong Kong’s big developers, I proposed my own “Ten Projects for the People”. And, as our new “result-oriented” chief executive begins work, I thought it would be timely to revisit them:

1. Strengthen language tuition in schools to improve fluency in our three key languages: if Hong Kong is truly to aim to be “Asia’s world city”, then this is essential.

2. Big investment in skills training, in particular in the sciences, IT and digital literacy. We should not just be producing motivated and employable 18- and 22-year-olds, but providing lifetime learning so that women can return to work after raising families, and old dogs like me keep abreast of all the new things that have happened since I graduated last century.

3. A massive “gap year” programme for school and university-leavers to spend a year working on carefully vetted projects outside Hong Kong. I benefited personally from this through a year in Pakistan as a teacher. There can be no better way to “grow up”, learn self-reliance, and build international awareness.

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Door-to-door vaccine services for housebound elderly and disabled residents in Hong Kong

4. Build a network of community health clinics to take pressure off our hospitals: the need for medical services providing routine care at a local level is still being neglected. If only such a network had been in place when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

5. Introduce comprehensive healthcare insurance. Today, too many families do not have access to timely or affordable healthcare. Only with universal insurance cover will we get the economies of scale that enable those lucky enough to be healthy to subsidise the treatment costs of those who are unwell. But it must be compulsory – otherwise the sick and old will opt in, and the healthy and young will opt out, leaving the scheme underfunded.

6. Introduce an electricity tax: the government still refuses to touch this option, which would both raise significant funds and encourage electricity-saving. By making the tax more punitive the more electricity you consume, it could easily concentrate on the rich and middle classes – the largest consumers.

7. Focus on affordable (and “green”) housing: I shudder to look back over the awful consequences of two decades of perpetual consultation and procrastination.

8. Systematically replace old and dilapidated buildings. A huge proportion of Hong Kong’s housing stock is over 50 years old, much of it dangerous and difficult to live in. Replacement is critical if our administration is to restore quality of life to our communities. Nor can we deliver “zero carbon” futures without redevelopment.

9. Electronic road pricing: is there any issue over which there has been more procrastination? It seems the government is at last poised to rationalise cross-harbour tunnel charging, so why not tackle the two together?

10. Recognise the arts as a business, since the arts worldwide are an immense employer of young, creative and skilled people. No comment needed – except to glance over the harbour at the West Kowloon Cultural District.

I drew up this list more than a decade ago not because it is perfect or comprehensive, but to highlight the many practical things that can and should be done by any self-respecting “result-oriented” leader.

For too long, government officials have procrastinated, blaming delays on legislators who until our last elections shamelessly ignored such programmes in favour of a self-serving obsession with our constitutional architecture.

That alibi for delay has now gone, and it is my heartfelt hope that John Lee and his team can begin to “get things done”. He does not necessarily need to adopt my list. But as a result-oriented leader, making a list might be a good start.

David Dodwell researches and writes about global, regional and Hong Kong challenges from a Hong Kong point of view