Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the other day she would proceed as quickly as possible with the legislation to “improve” Hong Kong’s electoral arrangement, even requesting some law making work to make way for it. However, she is trying her best to steer clear of important discussion topics concerning people’s livelihood, including how to resolve the unemployment problem and assist the unemployed, despite being lashed out at by the pro-establishment camp. A source from the political circle pointed out that manifestly she has no intention at all of launching any new measure in response to the issues. Some pro-establishment figures are getting more and more discontent with her nonchalance towards the problems concerned. “It seems that she (Carrie Lam) believes the problem will be automatically resolved when the border between Hong Kong and China is reopened, without considering what should be done if the problem is still to be around.”

The pro-establishment camp keeps on “nagging” Carrie Lam and her administration about the unemployment issue. As early as the time when the Two Sessions (National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee annual sessions) being held, Stanley Ng Chau-pei, President of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, had an article titled Looking out for People’s Welfare: Basic Requirement of “Patriots Ruling Hong Kong published in Wen Wei Po, lambasting one of Carrie Lam’s favorite subordinates Law Chi-kwong, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, for being incapable of resolving the unemployment problem. Before long, though the pro-establishment camp denounced the government again at a LegCo meeting, Carrie Lam refused to roll out any unemployment-related subsidies as an emergency measure.

Another source from the political circle indicated that in spite of the unemployment rate reaching a record high after 17 years, “I heard a government official looked at it differently, saying it stopped worsening substantially on January, and believing that it is going to stabilize, despite the data released next time showing the rate going up again”. In his analysis, it might be one of the reasons why Carrie Lam has been standing firm in refusing to offer the unemployed subsidies.

Notwithstanding the unemployment rate not worsening anymore, the government should leave no stone unturned in their attempt to decrease it or else the pro-establishment camp, named “loyal trash” now, just won’t let go of Carrie Lam so as to show that they are not “loyal trash”. The source from the political circle stated outright Carrie Lam’s response to Lau Ip-keung’s queries in the Q&A session at a recent LegCo meeting has shown that she has bundled the epidemic conditions with reopening of border between Hong Kong and China and the unemployment solution. “She said that if the plague is out of control, and personnel of the two places can’t come and go freely, then the tourism won’t pick up, and dealings with the rest of the world will get frozen, and under these circumstances, it’s hardly possible for the economy to get back on its feet and create job opportunities, which means she is not going to do anything, except for waiting for the COVID to disappear.” Carrie Lam said clearly that the citizens have to cooperate. “In other words, if the epidemic conditions and unemployment problem persist, it is Hong Kong people, rather than her, who will have to be held responsible in the end.”

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