Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2000

When the 1997 issue emerged in th e early 80s, Chinese, British, and Hong Kong officials eagerly sought the advice of scholars. Scholarly analyses of political developments were als o solicited b y the media. Hong Kong's social science research began to attract attention from outside academia, and Prof. Lau was frequently consulted by different quarters on socio-political issues, and has unwittingl y become a 'public intellectual' in the process. 'Social changes are golden opportunities fo r social scientists to contribute their expertise and prov e their worth. These opportunities are hard to come by, yet we sociologists in Hong Kong have been lucky. The first opportunity came befor e the return of sovereignty to Chin a wh en there was a lot of uncertainty over Hon g Kong's future, and the second time is now when we need to rebuild our political, economic, and social values and institutions,' Prof. Lau said. Since the 80s, Prof. Lau has collaborated with Prof. Kuan Hsin-chi, professor of government and public administration, in a series of trend studies on Hong Kong's political culture. Topics include Hong Kong's general elections, Ho n g Kong's relationship wit h China, the decline of authority, political conflicts, and difficulty in governance. Some p r o j e c ts h a ve b e en completed and some are still ongoing. They discovered quite early on that Hong Kong is a very functionalist, utilitarian society. While people believe i n the rule of the law, they lack a thorough understanding of democractic values . They have decreasing trust in the government, but they expect it to interfere more with social and economic affairs. Such a political culture persisted after 1st July 1997. Changes, if any, have been slow. At the same time, however, the substance of Hong Kong's political environment has changed radically, resulting i n a strained relationship between the legislative a nd executiv e a rms, a nd a decline in social cohesiveness . Hong Kong' s economy also suffered eno rmou s l y in the Asian financial crisis, and has become the breeding ground for ma ss politics a nd populism. Different sectors of society are n ow fighting to protect their own interests, all demanding the rebuilding of a n e w social o r d er a nd t h e establishment of new values. Prof. Kuan Hsin-chi The June 4th candlelight vigil in Victoria Park Understanding Hong Kong's Political and Social Culture 27