Hong Kong is like a sweet pea seedling. The seed can germinate by itself but may not be able to grow tall and strong on its own. When it detects something it can climb, such as a tree trunk, it leans on it and grows tall. But if the tree grows needles which are poisonous to the seedling, the latter will wither.
Our "tree trunk" comes in the form of mainland investment; but if this investment has negative side effects, we should reassess whether we should rely so much on it. There is a danger we are becoming dependent on this "trunk" for our GDP growth - mainland tourists account for more than 70 per cent of our total visitors. But is this deterring investors from other countries?
We must not lean against only one trunk; we need a certain level of independence from the mainland, and strive for investment from other tree trunks, too.