The lingering effects of Hong Kong’s pandemic response, social unrest and poisonous Western narratives have stained the city’s global image. The more Westerners Hong Kong can draw, the easier it will be to overturn the negative narratives and subversion of antagonistic foreign governments.

A lackadaisical attitude and lax enforcement are partly to blame for the massive problem today. But where public safety is at stake, the government must fulfil its pledge of a crackdown and hold all parties – not just the property owner – responsible.

Say goodbye to cash handouts and expect fees and charges to be raised wherever possible. Hong Kong is still in a prudent position but things are getting tighter.

Projections suggest Hong Kong will have the world’s oldest population by 2050, but the city seems woefully unprepared. Creating enough new places in care homes, enabling those who want to age in place to do so, and ensuring enough quality service providers are just the start.

Scenes of tourists at the Kai Tak cruise terminal waiting in long queues for taxis are a public relations disaster decades in the making. Deviating from the project’s original plans and delaying needed infrastructure have hurt terminal operations, and this must be fixed quickly.

Incidents of concrete falling from buildings in Mong Kok are just the latest symptom of the neglect shown towards property maintenance. Unsafe, unauthorised building works are out of control, and the government should focus on those rather than tearing up Fanling golf course.

Even though Hong Kong is slowly returning to normal after the pandemic, its effects still weigh on our daily lives. Many students still wear masks out of health concerns or social anxiety, and local travellers are eager to get out of the city and see the world.

On balance, the Hong Kong chief executive has done a good job in the past year. Going forward, two pressing issues he will have to deal with are whether to carry on with the expanded HK$2 fare scheme and the Fanling housing plan.

The course is irreplaceable, the plan raises environmental concerns and may even have geopolitical costs. If it’s just a face-saving effort by the officials concerned, a wise government would reconsider.

The party had admirable aims, and many of its leaders were good people. Even so, it slipped into the posture of attempting to defy Beijing, and the inability to live with the reality of Chinese sovereignty meant its time was up.

The flat HK$2 fare is open to abuse and costs taxpayers billions of dollars amid a budget deficit. It’s time to raise the qualifying age and cut back the benefit – so the scheme can be truly sustainable.

Most Hongkongers accept that some people are homosexual or bisexual, and showcasing our city’s inclusivity seems harmless enough. Yet official support has been mixed and debates have become unpleasant.

Confusion among BN(O) passport holders is a direct result of the UK’s decisions about what constitutes British nationality and who is entitled to it. The undeniable truth is that the British government could solve the problem at a stroke by converting all the BN(O) cases to full British nationality.

Partial electronic road pricing in all but name, the two-part reforms aim to finally get traffic jams under control. But after the boldness of the first phase, the government should be cautious about further changes to ensure the public has time to adjust and accept.

Hongkongers love and consume American culture but this love affair is unrequited: Our leaders are sanctioned, our airlines slammed for being able to fly over Russia and even AmCham questioned for being a part of the campaign to promote the Hong Kong economy.

Rather than a hard age limit on driving or harsher penalties for dangerous or careless driving, the focus should be on tightening health checks for all drivers. That approach, plus finding a way to regular ride-hailing services such as Uber, can nudge the market towards sorting out its own issues.

The government’s strategy aims at expanding Hong Kong’s role as a finance, technology and trade hub to drive high-quality growth. For this we will need skilled workers from diverse backgrounds – will they come?

A bolder, more imaginative approach is needed, better policy coordination and the dropping of all Covid-19 restrictions. Even after that, the tourism industry will need time to ramp back up to full service and return to a ‘World City’ mindset.

Many of those jailed for protesting in 2019 are young with potentially bright futures, if as a society we can show compassion and support their rehabilitation. As for the thousands arrested who are still waiting to find out their fate, a swift decision must be made whether to bring charges against them.

It doesn’t matter how many announcements our top officials make that Hong Kong is back when the whole world can see things here are not normal. If ending the mask mandate in one fell swoop is too great a step for the public to accept, then the government could adopt a rapid phased approach.

There have been some dark times in my 50 years in Hong Kong – the 2019 protests and the Covid-19 pandemic, for example – but they are a small price to pay for having had a front-row seat to world-changing events.

From the economy, exiting Covid-19 and restoring public finances to healing the 2019 rifts, rebuilding tourism and easing rhetoric against foreign provocations, Hong Kong is counting on Lee for a better new year.

Twenty one years ago, then-president Jiang agreed to attend a business forum here, giving InvestHK a great start – and showing the world that Hong Kong had China’s full backing.

The government insists reopening as soon as possible is on the cards, but many over-the-top pandemic restrictions remain, to the detriment of our economy. We should take John Lee’s advice and not fixate on ‘0+0’ but instead dispense with the city’s restrictions altogether.

All the government plans to revive Hong Kong need money. And only a growing economy will generate the revenues needed. That means we have to open up to the world quickly and drop all Covid-related restrictions.

Among the proposals in John Lee’s first policy address is lowering the threshold for facilitating redevelopment of older buildings. The government must act with care in these reforms, to avoid giving either owners or developers an unfair advantage.

Lee’s efforts in dealing with controversial civil servant pay rises, rolling back Covid-19 curbs and boosting events has won local support. But will he be bold enough to open up the city further to attract the tourists, tech talent and investors Hong Kong badly needs?

Even without this dreaded measure, there are still endless reminders – mask-wearing, temperature checks, code scanning – that things are not OK. The effect on public morale is obvious, but among young people it is particularly alarming, with a rise in depression and social anxiety.

Calls for better law enforcement to prevent vehicle dumping have gone unanswered before; perhaps a new approach is needed. New owners could be asked to pay a deposit to the government, which would be returned once the vehicle was legally scrapped.

A phased lifting of restrictions will signal a much-needed mindset change, one that recognises that Covid-19 is here to stay and that we must shift to living with it. The rollback should start with masks, the most visible symbol of restrictions, before tackling the size of public gatherings allowed and the testing regime.