On July 15, 1960, John F. Kennedy addressed the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles at a moment of high tension in the cold war, and asserted that the United States was at "a turning point in history" and called on his listeners to be "pioneers" in a "New Frontier" of "uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus." He provided his countrymen a vision which has survived through the century.

Today, 13 years after Hong Kong returned to China, its motherland, we are at another moment of high tension, the result of a series of economic crises, a string of social issues that are still unaddressed, continuous bickering on political reform, and a subconscious maladjustment of our cultural and political identities. We are in need of a government and a leadership which can form and articulate a new vision for Hong Kong and to reestablish its moral leadership among its people.

It calls for a campaign, a campaign that relies on the hopes and pride of all our citizens in a city-wide effort to restore comity, common sense, and respect for the Government House.

Hong Kong people needs to believe with all their hearts that government is not a necessary evil, but rather the best means of creating a healthier, more educated, and more prosperous Hong Kong.

The challenge is enormous, the obstacles are many. Hong Kong is emerging from 13 years of adjustment, a difficult period in which our honor and pride have been somewhat bruised and battered. But we are neither beaten nor broken. We are not helpless or afraid; because in this city of ours, people survived, adapted, and people want progress and to move on.

True, some of us have been sleeping for these 13 long years, while our core values have been traduced, and our moral authority trampled and shattered by a nightmare of social and political provocations. But now we are awakening and taking our reign back. We are coming back, back to the heights of hopefulness, back to Hong Kong's proud role as a temple of tolerance and a champion of diversity.

During these last several years, our city has been bitterly divided and deceived by fear, smear and greed. These wounds should not be reopened or widened, but healed. Hong Kong will move on.

We shall seek a renewal of unity among all Hong Kong citizens, an unprecedented unity we will need for years to come in order to face unprecedented challenges.

Although we may be called fools and dreamers, although we will find the going uphill, in the words of the poet: "Say not the struggle naught availeth." Hong Kong needs to change direction, and hand to the generation that follows a city that is safer, cleaner, less divided, and proud of our Chinese heritage and legacies - a new vision for Hong Kong we need.

The author is former secretary for home affairs of the Hong Kong SAR government.

(HK Edition 06/29/2010 page2)