<![CDATA[Hong Kong can solve socio-economic problems, like Singapore did: ex-diplomat Kishore Mahbubani]>

Hong Kong's growing socio-economic inequality, even as China progresses, is the core reason for the anti-government protests in the city, believes former Singapore diplomat Kishore Mahbubani.

"As a student of history, I believe that socio-economic causes are the most important causes of social troubles," said the city state's former permanent representative to the United Nations and also former president of the UN Security Council.

The diplomat's analysis came as anti-government protests in Hong Kong enter their 13th week. While embattled Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor was on Wednesday expected to formally withdraw the extradition bill which had initially prompted the protests, demonstrators say this will meet only one of the five demands they have made.

Mahbubani said the socio-economic situation in Hong Kong over the past three decades " in sharp contrast to the situation in mainland China " was the underlying cause of anger in the city.

"The last 30 years have been the best years for the bottom 50 per cent of the Chinese population ... China's population have seen significant improvements in their living conditions " in food, housing, health, education, work and everything," said Mahbubani. The Chinese government often highlights these economic achievements to justify its legitimacy.

"By contrast, in the past 30 years the bottom 50 per cent of Hong Kong has seen no significant improvement in their living conditions, especially if you look at housing. How can you live in a society where a university graduate who has struggled hard cannot find enough salary to buy a small apartment for oneself? So something has gone fundamentally wrong in that dimension. And that explains why people are unhappy," said Mahbubani, who is now a distinguished fellow of the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Demonstrators gather during a protest at Tamar Park in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg alt=Demonstrators gather during a protest at Tamar Park in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Hong Kong's income disparity has also soared, adding to the social instability. In 2017, the Census and Statistics Department announced Hong Kong's latest Gini coefficient " a measure of statistical dispersion to represent the income distribution of a nation's residents " stood at 0.539, the highest in 45 years.

"So it all comes from the socio-economic causes, and the good news is that these socio-economic problems can be solved. And frankly, this has been one of Singapore's biggest achievements. To create the most successful public housing programme in the history of humanity. And this is something that Hong Kong can do easily also," Mahbubani said.

The former diplomat, who visited Hong Kong this week to give a talk on his book, Has the West Lost It?, said he believed Singaporeans felt "very sad" about the current protests.

"Singaporeans want Hong Kong to do well and succeed and thrive. A successful, thriving Hong Kong " which is a good competitor for Singapore " will keep Singapore on his toes," he said, emphasising that the political crisis unfolding in Hong Kong could also happen in any other part of the world, and was therefore not solely due to Beijing's efforts to accelerate the city's integration with the mainland.

Asked if he was too generous in his assessment of Beijing, given that its tightening grip on the city's autonomy has fuelled unhappiness among Hongkongers, Mahbubani said: "When people say I've been too gentle on China. The question is, what do you use as the standards of objectivity ... Clearly, my views are not the same as the Anglo-Saxon media. I think the Anglo-Saxon media has been jaundiced and prejudiced against China.

"The remarkable thing about China is that it is trying to emerge as a great power without disrupting the world order. That is very unusual. And therefore, when I describe this as unusual behaviour and not being an apologist for China, I am measuring China's behaviour against a record of human history," he added.

Kishore Mahbubani alt=Kishore Mahbubani

Mahbubani, who was the dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy until last year, was also asked about the Singapore government's expulsion of Chinese-American academic Huang Jing in 2017.

Huang was also permanently banned from Singapore after the government accused him of trying to influence the decisions of senior Singapore officials by passing them "privileged information" on behalf of another government, which it did not name. But many assumed it to be China, where Huang was born.

"He did this in collaboration with foreign intelligence agents," said the Singapore government in a statement.

"This amounts to subversion and foreign interference in Singapore's domestic politics."

Mahbubani said it was "clearly a traumatic incident for any institution" but he fully respected the decision.

"But I'm used to handling traumas. I have decided to move forward I guess," Mahbubani said, adding that he did not keep in touch with Huang.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2019. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.