July, 2005

From a Lonely Salesman to the Chief Executive of Hong Kong

Rose Wu

In less than two months, the "one-horse race" to be Hong Kong's chief executive is over. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has secured 674 nominations and a further 40 pledges of support, meaning his opponents cannot achieve the 100 nominations needed to stand against him. There was no real competition and no secret ballot. It was only a new bottle with old wine as in 2002 when former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa was given a second term in the same manner without any opposition.

As many people have pointed out, the election was only a "show" because from the beginning a victory for Tsang was never in doubt. First of all, the system in which a small committee of 800 elite members chooses the chief executive is to ensure that the Chinese government is in total control of the results of the election. Secondly, the election system leaves almost no room for a genuine contest with public participation; Hong Kong's people are left to watch it through the media.

Under the Basic Law's provisions for the chief executive election, the nomination of the candidates and the election represent different stages of the electoral process. During the nomination period, there was a strong probability that neither of Tsang's competitors—Lee Wing-tat, chairperson of the Democratic Party, and legislator Chim Pui-chung—would be able to get the necessary 100 nominations from the committee to become formal candidates. If Tsang is the only candidate, then there will not be an election.

According to commentator Frank Ching, it is quite shocking to know that our system that has just produced Donald Tsang as the next chief executive is even less democratic than the one that produced the first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, in 1996. While in 1996 the nominations were by secret ballot, this time, as well as in 2002, all members of the Election Committee were required to reveal who they were nominating. The 800 members of the Election Committee, of course, are not obliged to vote for the same person that they nominate. The secret ballot system was designed to allow them to cast their vote free from pressure.

Tsang defended the current procedure by saying that this method is to make sure that the Election Committee members are accountable to the sector they represent. However, Ching pointed out that there is no requirement in the Basic Law for the nominations of candidates to be done openly. In addition, the Basic Law does state that the chief executive is to be elected "by secret ballot" and that "members of the Election Committee shall vote in their individual capacities," not as representatives of their sector.

Legislator Margaret Ng raised a good question about the present electoral system in the South China Morning Post: "What will the appointment of Mr. Tsang mean for democracy in Hong Kong?" She explained that the problem of Hong Kong's governance is not about whether Tung or Tsang is the chief executive. Rather, it is the problem of the system which allows the interests of large businesses to supersede the needs and equal participation of the wider public. Thus, if the system itself does not change, the future of Hong Kong will remain the same as before.

This view appears more and more prophetic as Tsang said when he was sworn in on June 24 in Beijing: "I'll do everything that I can do to do what the country asks me to do for the well-being of the Hong Kong people." What happens, however, when what the country asks him to do is perceived by Hong Kong's people as not promoting their well-being?

As a typical "Hong Kong boy," Tsang not only has gained the blessing of the Chinese government, but he also has won the hearts and minds of the Hong Kong people with the support of 78 percent of the people in a recent opinion poll. This result is at least partly due to the story of his life, for he has demonstrated how the son of an ordinary policeman has realised the "Hong Kong Dream" through his ethic of hard work and devotion to the Hong Kong spirit of self-reliance that has transformed him from an average student who started life as a drug salesman to a junior officer in the civil service to finally the head of the government 40 years later.

To a certain extent, Tsang's 40-year path to success is not an isolated case; it reflects the change of Hong Kong from a manufacturing centre known for its sweatshops to an international financial centre. In those days, many parents worked hard to provide a better education for their children, like Donald. While the colonial government did not see the provision of welfare as desirable, the administration did provide heavily subsidised education, housing and medical services from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Many people in Donald Tsang's generation were nurtured with a strong belief in self-reliance and hard work.

With this background and beliefs, when Tsang became the first Chinese financial secretary of the British colonial government in 1996, he was convinced of the success of the formula of putting the economy first and welfare second.

In his budget for 1996–1997, he clearly defined "a distinct Hong Kong model of economic and social development" that is based on "a commitment of markets and enterprise." Rejecting calls for improved welfare to bridge the wealth gap, Tsang said in the budget debate: "As a capitalistic society, we will always have a disparity of wealth between the richest and the poorest sections of our community. The fact is that we must first create the wealth before we can distribute."

Recently, when Tsang addressed the Election Committee on June 3, he continued to emphasise that "Hong Kong will prosper if we follow the Hong Kong spirit of self-reliance and resilience."

After being officially declared the winner of the race to become chief executive, he said that his priorities would be improving governance, restoring social harmony and enhancing Hong Kong's economic vitality. Such statements show that Tsang will stick to the philosophy of putting the economy first and welfare second.

Above all, in the end, it is unrealistic to expect the value of democracy and social justice to receive preferential treatment by the new chief executive. The only hope of transformation still lies with the determination and vitality of the people's movement in Hong Kong.