I know that locking up the troublemakers and throwing away the key cannot be the final answer. Justice needs to be served. But we also need to change our system to tackle the fundamental issues. It is wrong to solve a political problem with the force of law and order, and it will be tragic if we just leave the aftermath to our prisons.
The present crisis requires a political solution. Beijing and the Hong Kong government have talked about deep-rooted social and economic issues as the source of this unrest. That’s correct, but it is not the whole problem. Political reform must be part of the remedy. Facing our young people is an “ownership crisis”. They feel they have little ownership in almost every aspect of their lives. From owning a piece of physical space, to opportunities to move up the social ladder, to having a say in how their city is run and governed, they just feel hopeless.
The present crisis requires a political solution. Beijing and the Hong Kong government have talked about deep-rooted social and economic issues as the source of this unrest. That’s correct, but it is not the whole problem. Political reform must be part of the remedy. Facing our young people is an “ownership crisis”. They feel they have little ownership in almost every aspect of their lives. From owning a piece of physical space, to opportunities to move up the social ladder, to having a say in how their city is run and governed, they just feel hopeless.
