Lau Ming-wai said he has good working relationships with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

In April 2015, the Chief Executive (CE) appointed him as chairman of the Commission on Youth. He is also a member of the Commission on Poverty, chaired by Lam.

The interview with China Daily was conducted in the offices of policy think tank Bauhinia Foundation Research Centre, of which Lau is vice-chairman.

In the 2012 CE election, Lau was a member of Henry Tang Ying-yen's campaign team. Surprisingly, after Leung's election victory Lau took up a few posts in advisory bodies.

With the 2017 race approaching, at the age of 36 Lau is too young to be CE. But some predict he is a future CE or secretary candidate. On April 9, Carrie Lam said CE candidates shall have a cabinet team ready at the time of the election - so will Lau be joining one this time?

Asked why he joined the advisory bodies after having campaigned for Tang, Lau said he looked to US and UK elections as examples.

"During the primaries, Democratic and Republican candidates in the US have fought very hard against their fellow party members, and the same happened among Labour and Conservative candidates in the UK. Once official candidates are returned, members of the parties become united again.

"From 2012 to now, Hong Kong is still learning about unity. Whoever is Chief Executive, I am willing to work with him as long as he cares for Hong Kong - even though I worked with somebody else before," he explained.

Lau gave no reply when asked if he supported Leung to run for a second term, saying only that it is not his duty as Commission on Youth chairman to support him.

"I am definitively not in anyone's cabinet," he said categorically, only to add "never say never" moments later.

But he insisted, "I am unwilling to and will not be part of anyone's cabinet because I do not expect people will want me.

"I am quite happy with my job as chairman of the Commission on Youth because it gives me a sense of satisfaction and I see hope in the future of Hong Kong from the young people. If you join the government, it means a lot of baggage and there are many things that you can't do anymore."

joseph@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 04/15/2016 page6)