Eddie Chu attacks town planning, says Hong Kong should stand with the weak
The youngest lawmaker elected to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council has not yet been sworn in, but he has already said that he will stand with the poor, not with the lobbies for the rich. The bone of contention is the Wang Chau housing project, which would come at the expense of three villages. He warns Hong Kongers not to be distracted by the chief executive’s “tears”.
Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Lawmaker-elect Eddie Chu Hoi-dick said that Hong Kong politicians should give voice to the voiceless and stop lobbying with the powerful. He also said that the people of Hong Kong should not be distracted by the government’s tears and theatrics, including those of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, which are meant to “divert everybody’s attention from the key issues”.
Chu, who was elected with a whopping 80,000 votes, made the accusations during a press conference dedicated to the Wang Chau housing project.
Eddie Chu is considered the leading figure of the new generation of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy politicians. As recent elections to the Legislative Council show, the action of the territory’s youth has convinced the electorate.
He is the youngest lawmaker in recent history to sit in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, after winning the largest number of votes ever by a single candidate.
Speaking on a radio programme on Thursday, Chu said the government should reform Hong Kong’s poorly designed town planning.
“Town planning should be democratic, open and free from [influence] . . . But the key problem is the government doesn’t want to change their method of ‘soft lobbying’ those with power – this type of internal planning.”
The issues concern the construction of 17,000 public housing flats homes at a green-belt site in Hong Kong. For critics, the project is profit-driven and based on collusion with corrupt local village strongmen.
Many villagers, Chu said, were not aware of Town Planning Board notices and would not know what to make of planning documents.
“Many only find out their land is to be resumed when Lands Department officials storm into their village to register their details,” he said.
The problem is that “The weak don’t have the power to say anything,” Chu noted. “I think it should be the other way around. You should start with lobbying the powerless, not with the powerful.”
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