Needs of women must become a permanent part of policymaking for John Lee’s administration
- The chief executive pictured surrounded by women officials makes for a nice social media post for International Women’s Day after the all-male line-up at the ‘Hello Hong Kong’ launch
- But celebrating women, supporting their needs and efforts to give them a seat at the table must extend beyond an annual celebration
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s public relations team has been hard at work, I’m sure, and kudos to them for a nice touch on his social media and in his speech at the International Women’s Day reception hosted by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and Women’s Commission last week.
For those who missed it, images were posted of Lee with the six female principal officials of his administration. The six make up more than 23 per cent of his principal officials. Not bad.
For his speech, he shared – in Cantonese – that “from personal experience, I have to obey my wife’s wishes at home, cooperate with the arrangements by the female director of the Chief Executive’s Office Carol Yip Man-kuen; and I have to listen to the opinions of the convenor of the Executive Council, Mrs Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee.”
Lee delivered that speech with a rare lightheartedness. And he can afford to let loose a little, coming from the high of being singled out by President Xi Jinping just days earlier, at the opening ceremony of the National People’s Congress’ first plenary session in Beijing. To be among a sea of suits and have the president stop to greet you is no small matter.
Xi’s greeting of Lee, in an assembly of the most powerful people that make up the highest organ of state power, is much more than a reception handshake. And the significance has not been lost on the media and the public.
And, closer to home, more than half – actually more than 60 per cent – of the Hong Kong government’s permanent secretaries are women. All of a sudden, having six female principal officials doesn’t look too handsome a number. There’s a gap that needs filling.
Yes, women hold up half the sky. But what should worry us is how far we are from truly recognising women by giving them a seat at the table. It’s all well and good to set up a Women Empowerment Fund and pump HK$100 million (US$12.7 million) into promoting women’s development, but empowering women cannot fall only to the Women’s Commission.
Supporting and giving women the recognition they deserve shouldn’t just be a “nice touch”. Considering the needs of women must be a permanent part of policymaking. Measuring the impact of policies on families would address a lot of the problems women face.
An interesting survey released by the Hong Kong Women’s Union found that women feel more content when they have higher educational attainment, a bigger home and as they grow older. Surely, happiness and a sense of fulfilment should not be withheld from women, or treated as delayed gratification.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA