9 quotes found
"Some people have told me that the last of the eight [beatitudes] fits me very much: It says, 'Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice's sake,' because there is a place reserved for me in heaven. In fact, nowadays, as you work in the government, you are often criticised for doing what is just."
"If mainstream opinion makes me no longer able to continue the job as chief executive, I’ll resign."
"I would have this to say – that our primary responsibility is to find the right opportunity and create the necessary conditions for us to put into effect the local legislation, before we need a committee to ensure the legislation is being effectively enforced."
"I don’t want to spend your time, or waste your time, for you to ask me what went wrong, and why it went wrong. But for a Chief Executive to have caused this huge havoc to Hong Kong is unforgivable. It’s just unforgivable. If I have a choice, the first thing is to quit, having made a deep apology, is to step down. So I make a plea to you for your forgiveness."
"A small minority of people do not mind destroying Hong Kong's economy. They have no stake in the society which so many people have helped to build and that's why they resort to all this violence and obstruction, causing huge damage to the economy and to the daily life of the people."
"Nothing is more important than the rule of law in Hong Kong."
"There are still lingering doubts about the government's sincerity or worries whether the government will restart the process in the Legislative Council, so I reiterate here, there is no such plan. The bill is dead."
"We believe the (Hong Kong) government should take the lead (by not wearing surgical mask unless those feeling unwell, working in frontline services or attending crowded places), so we have issued internal guidelines asking all departments to follow this in wearing masks. The goal is to save stocks for medical staff (to deal with patients infected with COVID-19)."
"We can imagine what is possible when we come together in this way by examining the response of Hong Kong’s protest movement to COVID-19. In 2019, a massive anti-government mobilization swept Hong Kong, with people opposing police and seeking greater control over their lives. By the time the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, Hong Kong’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, had an 80 percent disapproval rating. Hong Kong’s protest movement had escalated significantly, with protesters coordinating sophisticated mass mobilizations, including the use of bold tactics like fighting police with poles, projectiles, laser pointers, and petrol bombs. Lam was remarkably non-responsive to the pandemic, despite the vulnerable position of Hong Kong, a densely packed city with a history of epidemics and a high-speed railway connection to Wuhan, where the COVID-19 pandemic started. Hong Kong residents criticized Lam for her delay in closing the city’s borders and her order barring city workers from wearing masks. But, despite the government’s failures, the people of Hong Kong, mobilized by the protest movement, launched a response that suppressed the original wave of COVID-19 and mitigated its resurgence...As a result of these efforts by a mobilized and coordinated movement, and no thanks to the government, Hong Kong had an immensely successful response to the first wave of COVID-19. Through the combination of mutual aid and direct action to force concessions, the protesters did what the government would not do on its own, saving untold numbers of lives."