Dear Vicky
 
It has been exactly a year since I attended your graduation at University College in London.  I trust you are finding your first job as a clinical researcher rewarding and challenging, especially during a pandemic which has already killed nearly 800,000 people.
 
Hong Kong is vastly different from a year ago.  We are still trying to contain the local spread of COVID-19.  Economic activities have dipped with unemployment rate hovering between 6 to 6.2%.  The economy is predicted to shrink between 4 to 7% this year.  The economic outlook is exacerbated by the escalating tension between China and US, and Hong Kong unfortunately is caught in the cross-fire of the two giants.  Investors’ confidence is further dented with the enactment of the National Security Law for Hong Kong.  Press freedom and the free flow of information which are vital to fair business deals and corporate governance could be hampered by the uncertain scope and application of the new law.
 
The Legislative Council election 2020 has been deferred for a year, and interim arrangements have been put in place through a resolution of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for the term of the existing legislature to be extended for a least a year.
 
Legislators from the pan-democratic camp are caught in a dilemma. To be or not to be: that is the question.  Is it nobler to quit or to stay and fight a good fight?
Some commentators cited the legitimacy of the extended term to support a total withdrawal.  Illegitimate acts had been taking place everywhere inside the legislature, from the election arrangements for the chairman of the Bills Committee of the now defunct Extradition Bill to the arbitrary disqualification of 12 candidates in the 2020 election;  from the appointment of Chan Kin Por to handle the House Committee chairman election to the ejection of many pan-democratic legislators from the chamber.  Yet we still did our best to fight for what is right within the illegitimate framework.  If the extended term were illegitimate, so would be the 2021 election, the 2025 election and beyond - were it not for the extension of the current term, no Legislative Council elections will be taking place in those years.  Along this reasoning, all succeeding elections will be tainted with illegitimacy.  Are we going to boycott all future elections, or should we all plunge in and continue to fight for a good fight?
 
Questions also arose regarding whether there is mandate from the constituency for legislators to stay on.  I agree that obtaining a mandate from our constituents is important, and various methods could be deployed  (such as through polls or holding a referendum) to gather the views of the voters.  However, given the constraints on time and resources, as well as sampling errors, none of the polls could be solely relied on to give a proper mandate for a legislator to continue.  To be or not be is still a political decision.
 
A politician should be responsible for making such a decision and to bear the consequences.  Acting in accordance with a polling result will not mitigate a bad decision.  A bad decision will cost the goodwill, support and the seat of a politician, a price which every politician should be ready to pay.
 
I conducted a fairly representative poll of the members in my constituency last week with slightly over 52% of the respondents in support of me staying on and 42% of them are against the idea.  The remaining 6% are neutral on the issue.  This is a close result.  I will take this poll as an important reference, as I need some good analyses, strategic thinking and foresight to come to a final decision.
 
Looking back at the past 8 years as a legislator, I have consistently and passionately pursued issues concerning taxation, public finance, environmental policies, corporate governance and human rights.  I do not envisage that as a professional I could have achieved more than I did had I been advocating these issues outside the legislature – albeit there being serious limitations and prejudicial practices which hamper the proper functioning of the law-making body of this city.
 
I am looking forward to a tour of the campus of your alma mater when I visit  London next time.  One of the main attractions on the University College campus is the preserved body of Jeremy Bentham.  Bentham is a philosopher and political theorist whose ideas resonate with me.  His beliefs often help shape my policy decisions and strategies.
 
Bentham said “Any action is right insofar as it increases happiness and wrong insofar as it increases pain…”.
 
To me, “happiness” could mean the well-being of the greatest portion of the population.  You may disagree.  Let me know how Bentham’s theories should be deciphered in modern political practices from the perspective of a young intellectual.
 
Until next time.
 
Uncle Kenneth