Hong Kong’s Covid-19 rules are symbolic of wider obstacles to progress

Hong Kong losing its thunder to Singapore is one matter; the perception that it is stuck in the past and not foreigner-friendly is more disconcerting

Our city is world class at building infrastructure, but seemingly incapable of resolutely improving lives. This must change under the new administration

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A view of Kowloon from sky100 observation deck on June 29. There is an increasing perception that Hong Kong is stuck in the past and unable to effectively tackle problems such as housing. Photo: Sam Tsang

Peter Kammerer

Australian-born Peter Kammerer has lived and worked in Hong Kong for more than 30 years, joining the Post in 1988.

Published: 6:15am, 23 Aug 2022

The word “progress” is defined as “development towards an improved or more advanced condition”. I’ve lived in Hong Kong since the late 1980s and while technology has made life easier, I can’t say things have got better for the majority.

The problems of then still seem to be largely with us now, with the economy at the top of the heap, followed by housing, care for the elderly and disadvantaged, and the search for talent, and extending through matters like racial discrimination, rubbish disposal and recycling. I have a sense that the place once billed as “Asia’s world city” is stagnating, even regressing – rather than moving forward.

Obviously, a comparison of pictures of then and now shows there are more and taller buildings. The MTR has expanded from three lines to nine and from a few tens of stations to 98. Victoria Harbour, once heavily polluted and largely inaccessible from land, is clean enough for an annual swimming competition and has waterside paths and parks.

There’s the airport at Chek Lap Kok, the West Kowloon Cultural District and tourist attractions ranging from the Geopark, Disneyland and the Big Buddha to the Ngong Ping 360 cable car and the Observation Wheel on the Central waterfront.