Diving into the deep end – a tryst with Hong Kong’s complexity
The first seven days of the trip went past in a flurry of activities. It is arguably one of the most intense weeks I have ever spent in my life. Now that I sit down to write about my experiences it feels as if I have been here for months! So much has happened. We have seen so much and done so much that even landing in Hong Kong last week seems like ages ago.
Monday began with introductory lectures followed by a welcome lunch organized by the City University. We met all our Hong Kong classmates along with faculty members. Since then, everything is a blur. Every day, we had classes and field trips from morning to evening. We had the opportunity to learn from some of the frontline citizens of Hong Kong, from different backgrounds and expertise. They provided us with valuable insights into issues related to housing, land use, biodiversity conservation, transportation and food security. Our experiences came full circle as we visited multiple sites in Hong Kong including government authorities and NGOs, who showcased all the efforts being made to transform Hong Kong into an even better place.
As in any other complex society, I observed that Hong Kong faced challenges arising from conflicting needs that are in constant flux. Housing is a big issue in this city. So should the government convert all the available land into apartments and real estate, or should it care about its biodiversity? Hong Kong’s airport is currently a hub for goods trade and passenger travel. To maintain this status and expand its capacity, Hong Kong must build a third runway for its airport in Lantau Island. But this would involve backfilling of ocean, which might result in destruction of the famed White Dolphins’ habitat. How should the government work its way around such a dilemma? These were the questions that faced us during our outings and lectures.
Public policy is a challenging arena where compromises have to be worked out between several demands and parties. What amazed me was that the Hong Kong government makes all its policies on the basis of one cardinal rule: work for public welfare. It is true that there are numerous voices of dissent who oppose the government in many of its undertakings, but in my experience Hong Kong does way better than most other cities I have been to. Having said that, I must concede that the city still has a long way to go. The topic I had chosen to focus on is food security. Right now food security is low on Hong Kong’s sustainability radar. More than 90 percent of its food is imported, especially from the mainland. Till now there hasn’t been any major disruption in the supply line, hence the public in general doesn’t care about food security or self-sufficiency in food.
Added to this is the fact I stated earlier, that Hong Kong faces a serious crunch of land. Policymakers have to balance carefully between tradeoffs. Already, land reclaimed from sea plays a major role in development. Given these facts, self-sufficiency in food in terms of agricultural products is next to impossible for Hong Kong. What it can do something about is seafood. Currently Hong Kong produces 32 percent of what it consumes, making it the low hanging fruit for my research. The idea is to expand this capacity and make it more sustainable through public policies. It seems that the next few days will be filled with hectic reading and brainstorming among our groups to master the art of policymaking in two weeks!
My weekend was marked by a visit to Macau. Though I had it on my radar since I had started planning for this course, I was forced to make this trip for entirely different reasons. It turned out that my passport wouldn’t allow me to stay in Hong Kong for more than 15 days at a stretch, which was one day short of the course duration. Tell me about luck! So the easiest way around this was to visit Macau and come back on the same day, which would renew the 15 day period. I killed two birds with a single stone as I ticked off another place on my to-do list. A friend and I went to see a medieval fort built by the Portuguese. It has now been turned into a museum and the city has grown around it. This has diminished the majestic atmosphere of the historical monument but it is still a major tourist attraction.
The real work has now begun as we are on the last leg of our course. Soon we all will be done with our posters and presentations, and will head back home. As I walked down the corridor in the dorms to fill up my water bottle, I found many people engrossed in their work, getting ready for Judgement Day. I am already feeling queasy about presenting amateurish policy recommendations to seasoned officials from the city!