The unfolding chief executive election drama has turned many people into sceptics of the system. Negative news is hogging headlines, and most disappointing is the lack of focus on, and interest in, the real issues - the many problems faced by Hong Kong right now and the policies needed to tackle them, together with the looming crisis of confidence in the government.
There is a growing feeling that Hong Kong is regressing. A recent article by Hugo Restall in The Wall Street Journal claimed that 'Hong Kong was better under the British', alluding to the remarks of Derek Davis, former editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, many years ago.
My generation grew up in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s amid colonial alienation, discrimination and corruption. During our university days, we fought for Chinese to be recognised as an official language and against rampant corruption.
The colonial government only began policy reforms and modernising public administration in the 1970s, partly to seek a way out of the governance crisis following the 1967 pro-communist riots, but largely due to mounting social pressure for change and the demands of a locally born new generation.
Over the decades, the local community - including civil servants and professionals - has played a crucial role in remaking Hong Kong. We are proud of its modern core values and resilient institutions, such as clean and efficient government, fairness and public accountability. To attribute the city's past success only to the British officers and their 'accountability' to a democratically elected government in London is to whitewash colonial history.
Of course, Hong Kong has encountered multiple problems of governance following reunification with China in 1997, and new constraints and challenges in the process of integration. However, its freedom, openness of government and political accountability are better than in the British colonial days.
