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Many who took to the streets on the
first day of July this year are professionals and some of
them are my friends. They have a good educational
background and well-paid jobs. These friends, who could
hardly be described as politically active individuals,
probably felt that their concerns were not adequately
reflected and that their voices were not clearly heard. To
march in a peaceful demonstration on a hot summer day,
seemed to be the only option left to them, if they were to
express their discontent directly. This is despite the
fact that all major political parties in Hong Kong claim
to be representative of people like them. Why then are
their aspirations still so poorly represented?
Hong Kong is a land of opportunity and
our people are hard working and well motivated. The social
mobility of the working population is high and our average
income is now comparable to the most advanced economies in
Western Europe. However, the oddity of the situation is
that a great number of people who had reached the
middle-income range, which is high by world standards, are
still dependent on subsidies from the Government for low
cost housing, education and medical care. Only very few
have to pay taxes to a significant extent. Therefore, it
is not surprising that the great majority of the people of
Hong Kong still identify themselves as ¡¥grass-roots¡¦
rather than behaving like a politically conservative
¡¥middle class¡¦. In an executive-led style Government like
Hong Kong¡¦s where political power can be exercised with
little corresponding responsibility, it is less surprising
that ¡¥welfare politics¡¦ has taken centre stage in
geographically based direct elections.
At the other end of the spectrum, major
businesses are well represented by a ¡¥business friendly¡¦
administration led by a Chief Executive from that sector.
Their political interests are further guarded by a good
number of politicians elected from those functional
constituencies dominated by corporate votes. With a high
concentration of financial resources and a network of
tightly organised trade associations that are not shy to
tackle politics head on, their political influence is
entrenched for the time being.
In the ¡¥zero-sum¡¦ game of politics, the
ones to lose are those who fall between the cracks of this
increasingly polarised community. In reality, it is that
group of less than a million salary taxpayers who are
contributing more than their fair share to the public
coffers but getting little back in return. A good number
of them might come from a good educational or professional
background. However, even if there is a will, this
relatively small group of people are hard to identify,
hard to reach and therefore, hard to represent.
Some rough guides to identify this
group of people could be by their income level,
educational attainments or by the economic stakes that
they hold e.g. privately-owned properties, stocks and the
size of their bank deposits. However, not only is it true
that such personal information is hard to come by, but
those who are identified might also come from very diverse
backgrounds, of different political beliefs and
inclinations. A typical political profile is almost
impossible to draw. Nonetheless, this ¡¥silent minority¡¦
is crucial to the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
It is the most productive group, which is disinclined to
rock the boat without serious cause. With greater
opportunity for higher education in recent years and an
increasingly affluent population, the number of this group
of people is fast growing. To ensure that they are
properly represented remains a challenge not only for the
political parties in Hong Kong but also for our
Government, which has let them down in a big way recently.
It is perhaps a reasonable assumption
that there is a high concentration of this ¡¥silent
minority¡¦ in professional groups like accountants, doctors
and engineers. But it cannot be said that they are
organised simply because they belong to a professional
body. For example, The Hong Kong Society of Accountants
has observed a long tradition of staying scrupulously
apolitical. Many other professional bodies hold the same
attitude towards political affairs. Many senior
professionals also distrust political parties, thinking
that their interests will only take second priority to
either the ¡¥grass-root interests¡¦ who help to bring in
votes or the ¡¥business interests¡¦ who have the financial
clout. There are of course a fair number of politicians
directly elected by one-man-one-vote from functional
constituencies of professional groups. However, they are
often left to their own devices with minimal support from
their related professional organisations.
As an attempt to better represent the
professionals in LegCo without binding their respective
professions to a rigid political ideology, I founded a
political alliance with other like-minded legislators in
1991, now commonly known as Legco¡¦s ¡¥Breakfast Group¡¦.
Although this alliance has substantially increased our
bargaining powers collectively, we are still a minority in
the polarised world of politics. The group has not
evolved into a political party as I believe that the
political aspirations of professionals like accountants
are fast changing over time as our number rapidly grow and
our profile becomes generally younger and the average
income becomes more modest. In any case, a political party
strictly for the professionals and the ¡¥middle-class¡¦ in
Hong Kong at this point in time is still unlikely to
become mainstream politics and might not do any better
than the well-oiled and well-tried alliance we have now.
Unless the existing Government and political parties
change their way of thinking, we will still be listened to
only if it also suits their interests or when we actually
hold the balance of power.
What seems to have changed too is the
design of the executive-led government staffed by a team
of politically neutral civil servants. Being professional
administrators with a fairly typical middle class
background, they are well placed to balance equitably the
overall society interests with no winners but also no
losers. However, the Government now is eager to set its
own agenda and has been busy picking its own team of
political winners. I would admit this is unavoidable as
political parties increasingly dominate the Legislative
Council and their cooperation has become essential.
Some believe that unfettered direct
elections may be the solution. Advocates would say that
for better or for worse, we have at least a choice. That
of course is true, but the harsh political reality might
be that the grass-root votes might end up sweeping the
elections and the views and values of the silent minority
even less well represented.
I do not think that this group of
independently minded people either needs political
favoritism or desires a strong political representation.
We are just hoping for a culture of politics and
government that places high values on self-awareness,
self-respect and self-reliance; political leaders who
would exercise powers fairly and justly; a professional
attitude towards our political responsibilities that holds
integrity in a higher place than personal dignity and
face; an authoritative Government that respects knowledge
and listens to reason, not simply guided by a count of
votes in the Legislative Council. If such an enlightened
state of affairs can be achieved, then it matters not who
wishes to represent the middle class.
Dr Eric Li is the LegCo
Accountancy Functional Constituency Representative.
For more information, refer to his website at
http://www.ericli.org
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