Opinion | Needs of women must become a permanent part of policymaking for John Lee’s administration
- The chief executive pictured surrounded by women officials makes for a nice social media post for International Women’s Day after the all-male line-up at the ‘Hello Hong Kong’ launch
- But celebrating women, supporting their needs and efforts to give them a seat at the table must extend beyond an annual celebration
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s public relations team has been hard at work, I’m sure, and kudos to them for a nice touch on his social media and in his speech at the International Women’s Day reception hosted by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and Women’s Commission last week.
For those who missed it, images were posted of Lee with the six female principal officials of his administration. The six make up more than 23 per cent of his principal officials. Not bad.
For his speech, he shared – in Cantonese – that “from personal experience, I have to obey my wife’s wishes at home, cooperate with the arrangements by the female director of the Chief Executive’s Office Carol Yip Man-kuen; and I have to listen to the opinions of the convenor of the Executive Council, Mrs Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.”
Lee delivered that speech with a rare lightheartedness. And he can afford to let loose a little, coming from the high of being singled out by President Xi Jinping just days earlier, at the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress’ first plenary session in Beijing. To be among a sea of suits and have the president stop to greet you is no small matter.
Xi’s greeting of Lee, in an assembly of the most powerful people that make up the highest organ of state power, is much more than a reception handshake. And the significance has not been lost on the media and the public.
