In the 2022 Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee echoes the point made by President Xi Jinping that “Hong Kong will prosper only when its young people thrive” (青年興則香港興). The government aims to assist young people in overcoming hurdles in education, employment, entrepreneurship, and home ownership. It will also encourage youth participation. Yet, according to a survey conducted by the Youth I.D.E.A.S think tank of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (report, July 2022), only 37.9% of the youth respondents are optimistic about their own prospects and 46.9% are pessimistic about the future development of Hong Kong. Does the government have a good grasp of what our young people care and are worried about? How can we give hope to them so that they have something to strive for?
No-one would dispute the need to protect our ecological environment and achieve sustainable development. At the same time, there are growing social and economic demands for expanding development in housing, transport, and other public infrastructures. Balancing development and environment often involves a tradeoff. Reclamation, and using lands within green belt zones and at the fringe of country parks, or even part of the Fanling golf club, for housing development are highly controversial. Are we caught in an irreconcilable dilemma?