HK lawmakers have duty to find common ground, serve public

Daniel de Blocq van Scheltinga says that the well-being of Hong Kong residents should be the paramount consideration of all politicians, who shouldn’t engage in self-serving grandstanding

The United States presidential election is over, with former vice-president Joe Biden winning the popular vote and the Electoral College votes, thus defeating incumbent President Donald Trump. This would normally result in Biden being universally referred to as president-elect.

Also — under normal circumstances — this would have resulted in the beginning of a calm and structured transition process, not unlike the handover period when top management changes hands in a company, albeit a thousand times more complex. The start of this transition exercise would usually have been signaled by the losing candidate congratulating the victorious candidate and pledging cooperation and helping to ensure a smooth handover.

Unfortunately, these are not normal times. Trump did not even concede defeat, much less congratulate Biden on winning the election. Instead, Trump and his helpers have used the power of social media to spread rumors, and fabricated or manipulated video clips, half-truths and outright lies to further muddy the already turbulent political waters. These dangerous messages quickly spread and multiply even faster than the COVID-19 virus. The result is that unwitting individuals, who only interact with other like-minded individuals on social media and never follow the traditional press, come to believe the fabrications and the resulting myth that this US election was somehow “stolen”. The power of the echo chambers of social media is still vastly underestimated by most, except by a few master manipulators.

The result is a divisiveness that is at times hateful, even violent; “the other side” is viewed as the bitter enemy, rather than someone with a different opinion and probably aiming for the same objective. It is forgotten that both sides are fellow citizens of the same country and should ultimately share the same hopes for a better future.

President-elect Biden has realized this and has therefore strongly emphasized his intent to be president for all Americans, not just those who voted for him. His efforts to reach out to “the other side” are to be applauded as a statesmanlike way to unify the country. Building bridges are a better long-term investment than building walls. Slowly, but surely, a number of other politicians are bound to follow his lead, and the seeds of dialogue and cooperation will have been planted.

In Hong Kong, we sadly face many of the same issues resulting from distortions on social media, aggravated by self-serving politicians and radical activists. The many months of extremely violent and disruptive protests have left deep divisions and scars within our society. We have also had more than our share of false rumors, manipulated media and lies making the rounds, adding fuel to the fire. Families have been torn asunder, friendships broken up, and commercial establishments only frequented by one camp or the other and vandalized like an enemy camp. Unfortunately, the common and truly apolitical threat of COVID-19 did not succeed in bringing everyone together.

Just as in the US, the perception of the law-abiding individuals of the other “camp” as the enemy is not conducive to working together and finding common ground. There are enough serious local issues that need urgent attention, especially as the local economy continues to suffer with business closures and unemployment rising to unprecedented levels.

It would be more productive and befitting of lawmakers to recognize differences, agreeing to disagree, while finding common ground on which they can join forces to serve the public. Presently, there is a shocking lack of focus on the real day-to-day issues that need to be tackled with urgency.

For example, there seems to be very little discussion on how to help the companies still being hit by the total disappearance of tourism and the closed borders. It does not take a crystal ball to predict that the number of company bankruptcies will continue to rise quickly, with all the predictable dire consequences for both the economy and the broader society.

Another example is the lack of serious debate on how to deal with the pandemic as things change: Is Hong Kong positioned to acquire the vaccines that seem to be nearing the end of their testing phases? The issue must be dealt with now in light of the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech that has been found to be 90 percent effective in preventing people from getting the virus. Foremost among the issues to be decided is how the vaccine should be distributed, and which citizens will be prioritized.

While it is tempting, and sometimes self-serving, to focus on “grand” noblesounding issues, people in power and with influence must not forget that the more real down-to-earth issues are what people need solutions for. Health, housing and employment are the real issues that constituents care and worry about.

Whatever their political persuasion, politicians have a duty to serve their constituents in their best interests. This cannot be done by shouting and fingerpointing, or grandstanding and threats to resign, but rather by recognizing commonality, and building upon that. There will certainly always be differences of opinion, and that is not always a bad thing as it can lead to healthy discussions, and sometimes to the opening of new perspectives. The old expression is still valid today: “To change one’s mind is a sign of intelligence.”

The art of politics is finding common ground and making compromises. It should be guided by what is in the longterm interest of the community, and the city’s future. The success, prosperity, health and safety of all Hong Kong residents should be the paramount consideration of each and every politician, not only around election time, but every day of their political career.