In his meeting with representatives of the media Wednesday, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa pointed out that the main reason for the massive turnout in the protest on July 1 was that the middle class and the grass-roots had felt that the situation had been deteriorating over the last few years, including the problems of negative equities, pay cuts and unemployment. They could not see any hope or any way out, he said.

This analysis of the chief executive was profound and sincere. He also promised to step up communication with different sectors of society in future and do his utmost to tackle the problems of unemployment and falling property prices. In the mid and long term, he would dedicate his efforts to rejuvenate the local economy through co-operation with the Pearl River Delta (PRD) and implement the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).

In the wake of the march on July 1, Tung has already strengthened communication and exchanges with all walks of life. He has listened humbly to views and criticisms from different quarters and stressed sincerely that he will listen to people's views and change his political thinking and style.

Wednesday, he went a step further by emphasizing that he would strengthen his communications with different sectors of society, and that the communication between his leadership team and the media would also be "systematized". This showed that the chief executive is obviously hoping to govern on the basis of a better understanding of the social situation and public opinion.

At the same time, he understands that even good policy concepts and measures require a lot of patient and meticulous work to secure the understanding and support of the people and the media. We believe that, while the chief executive and his leadership team is improving the style of their rule, they need the trust and co-operation from the people and the media.

Devoid of people's trust, a government cannot function, no matter how good it may be. Hence, Hong Kong people and the local media should objectively assess the merits and demerits of Tung's performance over the past six years and trust that he will improve by advancing with the times.

In the past six years, the SAR has suffered one setback after another and the Tung administration has faced incessant challenges. Albeit their performance has left much to be desired, it is already a great accomplishment for them to have remained on the right course and kept society generally stable.

As a public instrument, the media, while supervising the government, ought to pass out government messages and accurately reflect public opinions, facilitating the exchanges between the government and the people.

Tung is determined to revive the economy by riding on public opinion and mapping out clearly the short-, mid- and long-term action plans.

Short-term plans are to address the problems of unemployment and plummeting property prices, which the people consider as most urgent and which are the main sources of grievance.

It is true that the government has done its best to provide new job opportunities and come up frequently with measures to stabilize the property market. The problem is that these efforts are not strong enough to alleviate the negative impact of high unemployment on social confidence and that of the continuation of asset depreciation on deflation and investment.

The chief executive's mid- and long-term plans are to foster Hong Kong's economic recovery through the collaboration with the PRD and through CEPA, which is a right direction.

Hong Kong and the PRD complement each other in their advantages. The latter is developing into the world's foremost manufacturing base and market for service industries. Only through full co-operation with this burgeoning area could Hong Kong create more jobs and wealth for its people.

And CEPA is a rare opportunity and drive for the SAR to relaunch and restructure its economy. If it is able to act quickly to seize the opportunity and utilize with flexibility the favourable policy presented by the central government, the territory will not only be able to survive another crisis, but also perform another economic wonder.

There are certainly reasons for Hong Kong people to believe that the action plans the chief executive has prescribed for the SAR are realistic and practicable.

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