Members of the next-term Executive Council met the public via the media for very first time on Thursday. The 32-member ExCo has six new faces and is expected to play its advisory role wisely and diligently to help the Chief Executive reach educated decisions on policymaking in a timely fashion. There is no doubt Hong Kong in general expects CE-designate Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to act upon each and every step of her administrative blueprint after taking office on July 1. That means the ExCo should be ready to work already. We look forward to hearing from the ExCo on fresh policy visions, since its members are determined to deliver in the best interests of Hong Kong society as a whole.

As a venerable institution dating back to the early days of British rule the ExCo has witnessed and contributed significantly to Hong Kong's development into a world-class entrepot and financial center from a small fishing village. The institution itself has also undergone great changes over the years. It used to be the exclusive purview of powerful British tai-pans, who focused more on seeking self-interest. But it is now a venue where leaders from various sectors of the community meet and advise the CE on important public policies.

The public have every reason to expect the ExCo to provide sound and informed advice on major public policies - with inputs from non-official members who are from outside the government and essentially experts in various areas. The fact that the next ExCo has six new members gives people a good reason to hope for more "grounded" policies to address some of the most pressing issues local communities face today.

For example, former chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority Joseph Yam Chi-kwong has more experience in monetary and financial decision-making than anyone else in the ExCo and probably the whole special administrative region government as well, not to mention his role as a policy adviser in financial affairs to the central government after his term in office as HKMA chief executive ended. He will no doubt contribute a lot to the financial policymaking process at home and on matters concerning Hong Kong's role as a leading offshore yuan business center in the world. Lam Ching-choi, who heads several social welfare bodies including the Elderly Commission, is expected to feed the related policymaking process with actual expectations from the demographic in question.

There is so much to be done that the next ExCo had better start early rather than late and the public will thank them for putting the people first.

(HK Edition 06/23/2017 page1)