Message from the newly elected chairman
Since its establishment in 1989, the Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF) has been an independent, multi-racial and multi-cultural political group made up of people who see Hong Kong as their home.
I joined the HKDF in April 1990 and am the third elected Chairman.
I was one of those who was impressed by the personal reputation of our founder member Jimmy McGregor, an honourable "Gwailo" who spent nearly all of his adult life serving Hong Kong. Jimmy, now Sir James McGregor, helped more junior members such as myself to form independent opinions and conduct themselves honourably in public service.
Foundation members are not the type who would charge a police line in a street demonstration. But our record shows that we are firmly on the side of promoting democratic values. For example, we are sympathetic to Han Dongfang whose views are expounded in the article Independent Trade Unions in China. We found him a genuine and rational person committed to promoting the welfare of workers in China and we wish him well. But this would not stop us from co-operating with the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong as we have in the past in the promotion of the Old Age Pension Scheme. Though most of our members have business or professional backgrounds, we do not support the labour importation scheme proposed by some elements in the business sector. The interests of business must be balanced against the boscides interests of society.
So what does the HKDF have to contribute? We've been active at formulating well-constructed policies on nearly all areas of public administration, and we shall continue to do so after the handover. We also seek to work with the politically active to promote our policies. We sincerely hope our public policy researches will have a positive effects on Hong Kong and on the whole of China.