Michael Chugani

Opinion | Coronavirus: in the absence of Singapore-style leadership, Hongkongers are rediscovering their can-do spirit

Not only does Hong Kong’s leader lack the credibility to begin a television address with ‘my fellow Hongkongers’, the government’s inadequate handling of the crisis has pushed the city’s residents to draw on their own resources

Reading Time:3 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Members of a Hindu temple and non-profit organisation distribute free face masks and hand sanitiser to citizens over 60 in Tsim Sha Tsui on March 10. As the government scrambled to secure the supply of face masks, various groups used their own means to source and distribute them. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Michael Chugani

Published: 3:00am, 19 Mar 2020Updated: 4:17am, 19 Mar 2020

What does it mean to be a Hongkonger? Do we even know who we are? I bet none of us can give an honest answer free of political spin. Both questions tugged at me after I rewatched Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s televised address to his nation last month.

When the novel coronavirus spilled out of China to sweep the world, Lee used his February 8 speech to rally his countrymen. He didn’t mince words, warning that the epidemic would be likely to worsen but urged citizens to remain calm, not to panic buy and to trust the government.

When I first watched the speech, I wondered how a leader of a country with a multiparty system in name only could have such a calming hold on the people that they listened to him and followed his advice. Lee began by saying, “my fellow Singaporeans”. Towards the end, after crediting the people for the country’s unity, he said, “This is what it means to be Singaporean. This is who we are.”

Would our own leader dare begin an address at a time of crisis by saying “my fellow Hongkongers” and end it with “This is what it means to be a Hongkonger. This is who we are”? I can’t imagine Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor doing that. Even if she did, I don’t even want to think about the derision she would draw.

Singaporeans know who they are. Lee has the leadership qualities to state what it means to be Singaporean. In his second nationally televised speech last week, to rally the people against the coronavirus epidemic, he said, “We are Singapore united.” If only Lam had the credibility to say that about Hong Kong.