Considering Hong Kong's Present and Conjecturing Its Future: Editorials by Lam Hang Chi for the hong Kong Economic Journal from 1975 to 1984

1975–1984: the decade leading up to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration witnessed the rise of China from an isolated country to a serious economic player on the world stage and the decline of the British empire. Torn between the two was Hong Kong, a stable and prosperous British colony with an almost wholly Chinese population, a city world-renowned for money-making with little interest in politics.

What would be Hong Kong’s fate after 1997? At times astute and uncannily prescient, at other times wildly imaginative, Lam Hang-chi’s daily editorials in the Hong Kong Economic Journal analyzed and conjectured Hong Kong’s options at the time. His opinions sparked debates and frequently provided a focal point for the discussion on Hong Kong’s future; His views on housing, assimilating immigrants, the collusion of politics and business, issues that are foremost in Hong Kong today, still inform. For the first time, they are made available in English.

Lam Hang-chi (pen name of Lam Shan-muk) is the founder of the Hong Kong Economic Journal, a leading business daily in Hong Kong. For over forty years, his editorials and articles have been widely discussed and quoted. He continues to write weekly for the journal.

J. S. Kung, daughter of Lam, worked for Radio Television Hong Kong before becoming managing director of the Hong Kong Economic Journal between 1997 and 2003. She was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge; the University of Chicago; and the Thomson Foundation.