Chief Executive of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Carrie Lam said on Thursday at the first "Community Dialogue" session that she hopes to "seek change for the betterment of Hong Kong society" through continued dialogues with the public.
In her opening speech at the session, Lam stressed that the dialogue is "not just for the sake of dialogue, nor is it a public relations tactic."
"It is to seek change for the betterment of Hong Kong society," she said, adding that she hopes more dialogues in different forms will be continuously held in the future in different parts of Hong Kong and more members of the public can participate.
The first "Community Dialogue" session, held Thursday evening at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai, was attended by four secretaries of the HKSAR government and about 150 members of the public selected by computer lot drawing from the over 20,000 people who had registered for attending the session.
Lam said Hong Kong residents, irrespective of their status and position, felt pain, anxiety and anger in the past three months, and the HKSAR government should shoulder the major responsibility for finding a way out of the current impasse.
Acknowledging the shrinking public confidence in the HKSAR government and in herself, the chief executive said "direct dialogue should be initiated no matter how difficult it is."
"I hope we can take the difficult first step with the understanding and support of the public," she said.
