Mainland academic Tian Feilong's recent comment that Beijing does not need "loyal losers" to run Hong Kong caused a ruckus in political circles.

The associate professor at Beihang University's Law School in Beijing and director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies did not point his finger at anyone in particular, but his words seem to have hit a raw nerve with some politicians.

Interestingly, Feilong's comments came after another mainland scholar, Zheng Yongnian, expressed similar views in an interview with PhoenixNet.

The acting dean of the School of Humanities and Social Science and director of the Advanced Institute of Global and Contemporary China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen said Hong Kong lacked "capable patriots" and that there were patriots with "false loyalty."

The director of the Shenzhen-based think-tank's point was that politicians with no ability will not be able to solve the problems of people's livelihoods.

Feilong's and Yongnian's comments indicate that the central government is not just looking for loyal politicians in Hong Kong, but capable and patriotic talents.

Are there such people in Hong Kong?

As a matter of fact, yes. In his interview, Yongnian pointed that if you looked at Hong Kong's business circles, there is no dearth of capable people.

Indeed, Hong Kong's businesses have been stepping up in the battle against the pandemic over the past year.

As early as October 2019, tycoon Li Ka -shing donated HK$1 billion though his foundation to help small and medium food and beverage businesses amid political unrest and an economic slowdown.

In February last year,when Hong Kong was hit by a shortage of masks, the foundation donated 150,000 surgical masks to senior residents across ten districts, including Sham Shui Po, Kwun Tong and Yau Tsim Mong.

In the same month, the foundation donated 100 million yuan - through Beijing's Liaison Office in Hong Kong - to support frontline medical workers who were battling the outbreak in Wuhan, and then dished out supermarket cash coupons worth HK$200 to 97,000 workers with the Hospital Authority to thank them for helping keep Hongkongers safe.

Li Ka-shing did a much better job than Hong Kong's politicians with his swift action in supporting small and medium enterprises and helping Hong Kong and the mainland fight the pandemic.

In addition to Li Ka-shing, another big business conglomerate in Hong Kong - the New World Group - also showed its excellent ability in fighting the pandemic.

By the end of last July, New World had partnered with about 60 NGOs to distribute around five million New World-made masks for adults and children to support the community in combating the pandemic.

More recently, when a restaurant at K11 Musea was hit by a super-spreading cluster of Covid-19 cases, New World took the initiative of extending the mall's closure to give it enough time to finish second-round tests and clean and sterilize the center.

Also, all staff at K11 Musea - including outsourced service staff, cleaners and security guards - were given a HK$3,800 "appreciation" bonus as a token of thanks for their hard work in handling the outbreak, which led to the six-day closure. And the day the mall reopened, New World handed out electronic gift coupons worth HK$1,650 to attract shoppers.

These measures quickly solved the crisis and thousands of people queued up on reopening day, bringing business at the mall back to life quickly.

New World's quick response to the outbreak at K11 Musea is a good example in which the company saw past short-term losses and extended the mall's closure to completely resolve the crisis.

This was courageous. In addition, the bonus was paid to every employee regardless of their position, including outsourced workers, the action was very quick, and the rapid recovery united all its employees and boosted morale. This was leadership at its best.

New World's approach to the K11 Musea crisis is a shining example of how the battle against Covid needs to be fought.

Hong Kong should have looked past short-term losses and quickly shut its borders when the epidemic broke, made an effort to unite people without accusations, and distributed cash to every citizen at the earliest to increase morale.

And after containing Covid, it would have been able to promote itself to other regions that it had successfully fought the virus and was ready to reopen its borders.

But this did not happen and Hong Kong is still struggling to beat the pandemic.

Successful businessmen such as Li Ka-shing and conglomerates like New World have set good examples in fighting the pandemic, so why has the government not followed suit?

Perhaps the government should take Zheng Yongnian's advice and seek more patriotic talents from the local business community in the future.

Andrew Wong is chairman and CEO of Anli Securities

Crowds flocked to K11 Musea when it reopened. SING TAO

Businessmen prove to be most capable patriots