Dangers of hands-off leadership

The Minimum Wage Bill will be put before lawmakers in the middle of next week for final reading, completing the legislative process making it a law.

It is expected to be another marathon debate lasting at least two days.

But the bill will be passed without the centerpiece - the minimum wage amount.

The omission isn't accidental. To allow the master bill to sail through the legislature first, labor minister Matthew Cheung Kin-chung has been deliberate in splitting off the most contentious part. The amount can be incorporated later by way of subsidiary legislation.

Politically, this is a wise approach. However, as the case continues to unfold, it is giving rise to another area of concern. The government has left the most touchy part to be sorted out by the provisional minimum wage commission, comprising representatives from the labor, business and academic sectors.

Is this strategy problem-free?

Let's take a look at the idling engine legislation. Environmental secretary Edward Yau Tang-wah has also left the hottest part of the bill - the scope of exemptions - in lawmakers' hands, saying this would be up to them to resolve. Although some critics have praised Yau for keeping an open mind, others accuse him of passing the buck.

The current approach is contrary to past practice, when the government would always fill in the blanks when presenting a bill.

What's happening now? Employers and workers are left on their own to trade jabs and counter punches until a recommendation can be made on the statutory minimum wage level. This will drive a nasty wedge in labor relations if the government doesn't step in.

Perhaps Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was trying to do just that when he reportedly said during a Federation of Trade Unions cocktail reception the amount may start from the low end.

Labor critics immediately criticized him for siding with employers - an accusation the CE Office vehemently denies. It's foreseeable that commission members, especially those from the business sector, will bear the brunt of public anger.

As soon as a professional has agreed to serve on a public body such as the minimum wage commission, he or she should be prepared for criticisms over rival views. But it will be quite different if individual members are exposed to undue pressure from angry protesters storming their business outlets or shouting outside their offices.

Cafe de Coral chairman Michael Chan Yue-kwong, Sung Hung Kai vice- chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong, and Diary Farm executive director Caroline Mak Sui-king have been individually targeted by radical activists.

Clearly, issues concerning livelihood matters are bouncing back to the political center stage.

While it's nice to see the government changing its policy-making procedure to include as many public views as possible in the initial stages, it can't allow this to override its lead role.

Otherwise, a completely hands-off approach will create room for a shift towards populism that wouldn't bode well for Hong Kong.

英文虎報
Central Station | By Mary Ma