Crazy idea on mental-health problem

Liberal Party lawmaker Peter Shiu Ka-fai has set an atypical example of how a patriot within the legislature could have come up with an idea to tackle the city's mental health woes.

Shiu demonstrated a rather unusual understanding when he raised the possibility of relocating some of the recovering mental patients in Hong Kong to the Greater Bay Area so that they can complete their treatment across the border.

Perhaps the Liberal Party chairman has forgotten that mental health is an internal matter for the SAR to handle under the one country, two systems policy that is fundamental to the constitutional setup of the SAR.

Unless the SAR has found it impossible to handle the situation on its own, it should not consider passing its own troubles over to the mainland where the local governments already have a myriad serious economic problems to tackle.

Maybe Shiu would wish to plead innocence since the one country, two systems arrangement is seldom mentioned these days.

As "one country" is stressed over "two systems," it could be easy for someone - including the lawmaker representing the wholesale and retail sector - to neglect their duties expected under the "two systems" of the constitutional setup.

The patriot and his peers should learn to manage the SAR's domestic affairs rather than looking to the north for a bailout every time a problem emerges.

A mainland blogger has sarcastically called Shiu's idea an example of a "big baby's mindset."

I cannot bring myself to agree to this comparison because it would be misleading to try to generalize it to apply the comparison to the majority even if someone within the establishment has behaved like a "big baby."

It is not mainstream thinking here to relocate some local mental patients to the Greater Bay Area.

More people in the SAR believe mental patients should be treated and looked after by, or near, their families in the city.

Mainstream thinking is for the SAR government to increase resources to cope with an acute demand for mental-health care.

The public has legitimately voiced concern after a spate of incidents reportedly involving people apparently suffering from various degrees of mental conditions.

The murders in Plaza Hollywood in Diamond Hill were brutal in the extreme.

Even for incidents that were not deadly, they were terrifying enough after people were spotted carrying knives and acting strangely in public.

So far, most Hongkongers are trying to be accommodative to the mentally ill.

Although they are also concerned about incidents reportedly involving people with a mental history, they are at the same time trying to be understanding.

They are willing to see more public resources diverted from less urgent capital works to deal with other more pressing needs.

Shiu has every right to blame critics for misunderstanding him over his comment. However, one can only add that, even if given the benefit of the doubt, his comment would still be ill thought out at best.

Does he really think Shenzhen residents would welcome the idea?