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Civil฀Society฀and฀Democratic฀Development฀in฀Hong฀Kong฀ Christine฀Lo h฀ 1.฀What฀I s฀Civil฀Society ?฀ "Civil฀society "฀refer s฀t o฀that฀par t฀of฀society฀tha t฀i s฀non-governmental .฀Th e฀ concept฀of฀civil฀society฀arose฀as฀a฀response฀to฀the฀20th฀century฀experienc e฀ of฀fascism,฀authoritarianism฀an d฀totalitarianism,฀where฀the฀state฀sought฀t o฀ monopolise฀al l฀socia l฀institutions .฀I n฀othe r฀words ,฀civi l฀societ y฀i s฀a฀ counterweight฀t o฀th e฀influenc e฀o f฀th e฀stat e฀o n฀communit y฀life .฀The฀chie f฀ elements฀of฀civil฀society฀include฀a฀market฀economy,฀an฀independent฀medi a฀ and฀a ฀networ k฀o f฀voluntar y฀association s฀throug h฀whic h฀peopl e฀ca n฀wor k฀ together฀i n฀managin g฀communit y฀issues .฀Thes e฀non-governmenta l฀ organisations฀(NGOs )฀ma y฀include ,฀but฀are฀not฀limited฀to,฀the฀following:฀ •฀Cultur e฀an d฀recreatio n฀organisation s฀ •฀Educatio n฀an d฀researc h฀organisation s฀ •฀Healt h฀organisation s฀ •฀Socia l฀service s฀ •฀Environmenta l฀group s฀ •฀Developmen t฀an d฀housing฀organisation s฀ •฀Law ,฀advocacy฀an d฀public฀polic y฀group s฀ •฀Philanthropi c฀organisation s฀ •฀Internationa l฀organisation s฀ •฀Religiou s฀groups฀an d฀institution s฀ •฀Professiona l฀an d฀business฀association s฀ Thus,฀civil฀society฀i s฀about฀peopl e฀working฀together฀i n฀groups.฀ Who฀ar e฀"th e฀people" ?฀Th e฀peopl e฀ar e฀al l฀thos e฀wh o฀ar e฀subjec t฀t o฀th e฀ government฀withi n฀a ฀give n฀jurisdictio n฀irrespectiv e฀o f฀status ,฀clas s฀o r฀ Building฀Democrac y฀12 7฀ Civil฀Society฀and฀Democratic฀Development฀in฀Hong฀Kong฀ wealth.฀I n฀thi s฀context ,฀th e฀peopl e฀includ e฀national s฀a s฀wel l฀a s฀non nationals .฀I n฀th e฀cas e฀o f฀Hon g฀Kong ,฀th e฀peopl e฀includ e฀al l฀Hon g฀Kon g฀ residents.฀A ฀citize n฀i s฀usuall y฀define d฀mor e฀narrowl y฀a s฀a ฀nationa l฀o f฀a฀ country฀wh o฀ha s฀ful l฀citizenshi p฀rights .฀Hon g฀Kon g฀societ y฀i s฀mad e฀u p฀o f฀ Chinese฀citizens ,฀non-citizen s฀wh o฀hav e฀permanen t฀residenc y฀statu s฀ (which฀confer s฀al l฀the฀right s฀enjoyed฀b y฀Chinese฀citizen s฀residen t฀i n฀Hon g฀ Kong฀except฀for฀the฀ability฀to฀hold฀certain฀politica l฀positions )฀an d฀resident s฀ without฀permanen t฀residenc y฀status .฀Th e฀peopl e฀ar e฀al l฀member s฀o f฀th e฀ public,฀and฀each฀member฀ha s฀a฀stake฀in฀the฀community฀lif e฀of฀Hong฀Kong.฀ How฀can฀members฀of฀the฀public฀contribute฀to฀creating฀a฀good฀society?฀W e฀ can฀b e฀law-abiding ,฀pa y฀taxe s฀o n฀time ,฀vot e฀a t฀elections ,฀donat e฀t o฀ charities฀an d฀giv e฀ou r฀tim e฀t o฀hel p฀th e฀need y฀b y฀volunteerin g฀fo r฀worth y฀ causes.฀W e฀ca n฀respon d฀t o฀governmen t฀consultation s฀o n฀variou s฀issue s฀ and฀eve n฀serv e฀o n฀advisor y฀bodies .฀Sinc e฀w e฀ar e฀dealin g฀wit h฀publi c฀ matters,฀they฀invariably฀relate฀to฀government฀and฀politics.฀Improvements฀i n฀ the฀curren t฀situatio n฀generall y฀requir e฀changin g฀th e฀wa y฀thing s฀ar e฀don e฀ and฀ma y฀eve n฀involv e฀changin g฀th e฀statu s฀qu o฀t o฀creat e฀greate r฀equit y฀ within฀a ฀society.฀Therefore,฀participatio n฀i n฀the฀governanc e฀o f฀Hon g฀Kon g฀ helps฀member s฀o f฀the฀publi c฀t o฀gain฀greate r฀contro l฀ove r฀thei r฀ow n฀futur e฀ as฀members฀of฀the฀Hon g฀Kon g฀community .฀ Working฀for฀the฀large r฀publi c฀good฀inevitabl y฀involve s฀working฀with฀others.฀ People฀comin g฀togethe r฀t o฀hel p฀eac h฀othe r฀i s฀nothin g฀new .฀Sinc e฀th e฀ beginning฀o f฀time ,฀huma n฀being s฀hav e฀bande d฀togethe r฀fo r฀mutua l฀car e฀ and฀protection.฀Our฀power฀as฀individuals฀is฀expanded฀when฀we฀collaborat e฀ with฀others฀on฀common฀causes.฀In...

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