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Exclusive | Lessons learned have helped to improve policy initiatives, Hong Kong leader John Lee says
- Chief Executive John Lee tells Post that U-turn on controversial waste-charging scheme was a learning experience rather than a policy failure
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After two years in office as Hong Kong’s leader, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu says he has learned lessons on the job that have taught his administration to adjust or improve policy initiatives based on better understanding of public interest and acceptability.
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In the case of the U-turn his government made in shelving plans to introduce a controversial household waste-charging scheme in the face of public confusion and concern about affordability and implementation, Lee told the Post in an exclusive interview that he saw it as a learning experience to make the right decision at the end of the day rather than a policy failure.
“You learn, I learn, right? And that is the way to make improvements,” he said. “And there is a Chinese saying, when three people get together, there is already a teacher.”
Lee said his administration had tried to develop the waste-charging scheme starting from “almost zero”, such as having to provide far more food waste-collection facilities at designated housing estates.
“I think the foundation [laid by previous administrations] was a very low and unfulfilled one … [trying to catch up fast] wasn’t enough. So we have to be realistic, and be able to appreciate the real situation, and then think of the right way to deal with it,” he said.
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