Hong Kong's window of opportunity

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang has called on fellow citizens to abandon their "island mentality" and adopt a new mindset to face challenges and take advantage of the opportunities presented by the mainland's rapid economic development.

Nobody can argue with that.

Our "island mentality," supplemented by our "refugee mentality", has manifested itself in our mad pursuit for quick gains and instant satisfaction in many things we do. As the center of wealth is slowly shifting toward various major mainland cities, speculative savvy alone is not going to help Hong Kong business people in gaining a meaningful share of the economic pie, despite its fast expansion.