Carrie Lam is Like a Broken Record

Carrie Lam (with an new hairdo) hoping for a better 2020 for Hong Kong

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has observed 2019 was a tough year and hopes to restore order and harmony in the new year in a three-minute video the government released on New Year's Eve.

Protesters battled tear gas, pepper spray and violence in 2019

"In 2019, we experienced challenges not seen before. The unrest triggered by the introduction of the extradition bill has lasted more than six months," she said. "We all want to see an end to this predicament. This situation has caused sadness, anxiety, disappointment and even rage.

"As chief executive, I will not shy away from my responsibilities. I will listen humbly to find a way out," she said, adding the government will handle the problems at hand and acknowledge the shortcomings in the system as well as deep-rooted conflicts in society.

"I will listen humbly to find a way out," says Chief Exec. Carrie Lam in a New Year's message alongside top officials. "We can begin again together."#HongKong has been rocked by over six months of protest, with a fresh rally set for January 1. https://t.co/kmLJLFCnSX #2020 #NYE pic.twitter.com/siFsYwj8Pq

— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) December 31, 2019

 

The video includes footage of protest marches, some damaged street signs and walls with graffiti, but not violent confrontations between protesters and the police.

She ends by saying: "I believe we can once again overcome our current challenges and rebuild Hong Kong. Let's start 2020 with a new resolution to restore order and harmony in society," Lam said.

Did she seriously procrastinate until the last day of 2019 to again pledge to find a solution to the political crisis that has plagued the city for seven months?

Millions of people came out to protest the extradition bill

It just demonstrates how Lam still has no brilliant ideas to break the impasse in this political crisis that has seriously impacted the city's economy.

Also featured in the video are financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po, Law Chi-kwong, secretary for labour and welfare, and Frank Chan Fan, secretary for transport and housing.

Law pledges the government will "substantially improve" the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and Working Family Allowance Schemes without many details, while Frank Chan says his department is working hard to find land to boost land supply and reduce the time it takes to build houses.

The latter promise is a broken record we have heard over and over... there have been so many suggestions to use brownfield sites to redevelop, and forcing developers to help build social housing. What are they waiting for? And ways to build homes faster? Architects and designers have already created various pre-fabricated homes... why aren't these tried out yet? Or at least engage these experts and pick their brains on creative housing solutions?

Will the government really help the poor this time?

And what is Law's pledge of an improved CSSA? They are typically pathetic handouts that are difficult to qualify for and the financial amounts aren't very much to live on considering Hong Kong is such a wealthy city (and expensive to live in).

When the government finally acknowledges that most people in Hong Kong want political reforms and establish an independent inquiry then we can really begin to mend the massive rift. Otherwise protests will continue for sure in 2020...

At Least 300 Hectares of Brownfield Sites in Hong Kong

A brownfield site that could be developed into land more utilized

A good number of the public are calling for the government to redevelop brownfield sites, but this suggestion seems to fall on deaf ears.

So a local NGO has compiled plots of underutilized land around Hong Kong and calculated there could be as much as 300 hectares available, which are spread out into 532 land parcels that could have a combined size of 14 Taikoo Shing Estates, or 1.7 times the Fanling Golf Course.

They are located in Kwai Tsing, Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and other areas of the New Territories.

Liber Research Community says 60 per cent of this land was used as car parks, while the rest were vacant. Their findings were based on a 2012 government study of unallocated land, and supplemented with information from mapping tools, satellite images, site visits and official papers.

Researchers said such areas were left out of a current public consultation on land supply because the government had failed to disclose such information.

NGO Liber Research Community has a new report out

"Instead of arguing about destructive land supply options such as reclamation and developing country parks, why doesn't the government first fully utilize their own resources and review their potential?" asked Yeung Ha-chi, a Liber researcher.

Yeung said these land parcels could be put to temporary use such as building interim homes for those waiting for public housing and other community facilities.

For example, about 300 hectares could provide 90,000 prefabricated modular housing units, 43 sports complexes and benefit 120,000 people who require elderly residential care services.

Of the 532 land parcels, 306 could be used for short-term leases or temporarily allocated for government use. Other spaces could be temporary car parks, open storage sites, bus depots and temporary offices.

Liber also called on the government to be more transparent in disclosing its data on its use of public land. 

Why have just parking spots on the ground? Hong Kong is such a vertical city and with land at a premium, it makes more sense in terms of time, efficiency and money to redevelop brownfield sites first.

And yet the government doesn't seem to care about these sites, nor that they are already located near transport links, making it easier in terms of people living there to get around for work and such.

Why the stubbornness in refusing to recognize these potential land sites for housing and other uses?

It's time to be prudent about our land use and this is proof we do have vacant and underutilized land.