Lam's Policy Address was a Doozy

Lam makes her policy address and note the Chinese lapel pin

The long-awaited policy address by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was finally given, and clocked in at a very long two hours and 15 minutes, tying with her predecessor Leung Chun-ying. Lam read out some 30,000 words and claimed she had written the entire thing herself. 

She read out her speech to a Legislature Council that only made up of the pro-establishment lawmakers and two independents after four pan-democrat lawmakers were ousted and their 15 colleagues resigned in protest a few weeks ago.

Cheung gets hair crabs, Ip sees Tsang sleeping

Lam claimed to be pleased she could read out her speech in a peaceful chambers, as last year she received so much heckling that she retreated from Legco and gave a pre-recorded video address instead.

Maybe that's because some people in the room were busy doing other things -- like Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang Kwok-wai was caught dozing off as well as Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee. 

Meanwhile the portly Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Christopher Cheung Wah-fung received a message on his phone that his order of hairy crabs worth HK$9,600 was ready to be picked up and would he be paying by cheque or cash?

Then there was the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong's Vincent Cheng Wing-shun spending the time trying to twirl a pen on his hand, while New People's Party's Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee looked at pictures of Tsang sleeping on her Whatsapp.

Did Lam reprimand them for not paying attention to her piece de resistance?

What lawmakers did listening to Lam's speech

In any event, at least the media were glued to their screens watching the proceedings. 

Lam started the speech by saying the objective of the policy address was to "find a way out of the impasse" and restore people's confidence following the anti-government protests last year, and the current battle against the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the economy to shrink by 6.1 percent.

The national security law enacted on June 30, Lam said, helped Hong Kong become peaceful again and restored stability in the city. But she said more needs to be done in educating people, particularly the youth about the law, and this will be a 10-year project launched by the Department of Justice. Lawmakers, judges and civil servants will have to pledge allegiance to the city and the Basic Law.

Reporters made note of Lam wearing a pin of the Chinese flag on her lapel, signalling things are becoming more mainlandized. Hong Kong will be dragged closer to the mainland with the Greater Bay Area as the priority, and the city together with Macau and Guangdong will become an economic powerhouse -- at least in theory.

Some 2,000 university graduates from Hong Kong who are willing to go work in the mainland will have their monthly salary of HK$18,000 (US$2,322) paid for by taxpayers. Will that actually tempt them to go to the dark side? Or will they worry they will be branded as traitors?

Is it realistic to invest in Zhuhai Airport?

Lam also said the Airport Authority Hong Kong will invest in more shares in Zhuhai Airport for domestic travel, but when looked at realistically, it is 90km away and there is currently no logistical connection between it and Hong Kong. 

To boost the economy in the short term, stamp duties on commercial real estate transactions will be suspended, but that perhaps will make the rich richer and the rest of us left further behind. Lam said with the GBA project, Hong Kong could act as a middleman between China and the rest of the world... hasn't it been doing that since the 1800s? And has Hong Kong been reduced to the role of facilitator and not a leading city in Asia? 

When it comes to fighting the pandemic, Lam says Hong Kong has ordered vaccines, but if there aren't enough, the mainland has earmarked some for us. However she had no further details on the manufacturer or how effective they were. How reassuring.

During her visit to Beijing she pitched the idea of opening the border with the mainland, but she was rebuffed because Hong Kong's case numbers are still high (this was before the current fourth wave). 

Hong Kong needs to reach zero infections

As a result, Lam says a community-wide testing program may need to happen again, and reiterated people need to be more careful about going out unnecessarily as she is pushing for zero infections. Lam later admitted in the press conference it may be impossible to get completely down to zero, but that it was something to aim for. Don't we all, Carrie?

Finally the chief executive talked about more housing, and that the government had identified 330 hectares of land to build 316,000 public housing units in the next 10 years. And she is still pushing her ambitious Lantau Tomorrow Vision of reclaiming 1,000 hectares of land to build more housing at the price tag of HK$624 billion. 

Critics not only say this drains at least half of the government coffers, but also the environmental damage will be irreparable. When asked again about it by the media, Lam shot back that only HK$550 million would be spent on a study, but in reality with no viable opposition, the project will go ahead eventually. 

So that in a nutshell is the policy address today.

But we really wonder if Christopher Cheung enjoyed his hairy crabs today.