【明報專訊】CHIEF EXECUTIVE Carrie Lam has published her first policy address, in which she does away with ideological creeds such as "small government" and "non-intervention" and seeks to expand the functions of the government as well as increase public expenditures. There are not only welfare policies, the so-called "sweeteners", but also measures aimed at promoting long-term social developments. Hong Kong society is laden with deep-seated problems, and measures to enhance people's livelihood are no panacea — It is simply impossible to rely on them to solve political divisions. However, given the fact that Hong Kong's fiscal reserves now exceed $1 trillion and the government is flush with money, there is no reason why it should cease to be proactive and purposeful. It is a step in the right direction for the government to try to bring itself and the civil society together to rebuild the property ladder, increase housing supply, promote innovation and technology and improve the business environment. This, however, will inevitably entail the allocation of enormous interests, and as such will be prone to become something it is not supposed to be. The government must do a good job of enforcing the regulations and ensure the transparency of the implementation of the policies to prevent those profit-seekers to take advantage of the opportunity to rake in gains and create new social tensions.