The Hong Kong government has set forth on a course of action which seems destined to upset large swathes of the middle class, including senior personnel from finance, business, technology and academia. These are the very people whose presence here underpins our professed economic development strategy.
I am referring, of course, to the discussions now reaching a climax on the terms for extending the leases of private recreation clubs. The government has set the end of this year as the deadline for finalising arrangements.
The subject of setting a fair price for use of the land on which the clubs sit, and arranging a reasonable degree of public access to them, has been controversial for as long as I can remember. It last flared up in 2018 when some populist legislators complained about the privileges enjoyed by a small number of wealthy people.