“Why do we need to fear a ghost at 9pm in the middle of the day? We can just catch the ghost if there is one at night,” he told the Post.

“We should think about how to develop Hong Kong’s economy so everyone is well-behaved and disciplined, everyone has a job and finds contentment in their lives.”

Officials have warned against what they dubbed “soft resistance” and said national security threats remained.

Hong Kong police ‘should show compassion’ while protecting national security

Razack said procedural justice was as important as efficiency in governance.

He questioned a move by some of his former Legco colleagues to push ahead with a private member’s bill to revamp Chinese University’s governing council without the institution’s endorsement.

“You have to consult stakeholders and the school on what is to be changed,” he said. “We should prioritise harmony to achieve the goal of increasing efficiency and representation.”

Hong Kong’s arts funding examiners ‘will be required to safeguard national security’

He added that other parties had a right and a duty to voice their opinions.

Lawmakers Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, Edward Lau Kwok-fan and Bill Tang Ka-piu, all university council members, sparked a political storm when they pushed ahead with a bill to slash the number of members of the governing body and have external appointees make up the majority.

They went ahead even though the council had earlier endorsed a milder proposal. The lawmakers’ action triggered a petition signed by several respected figures.

Razack, a member of the governing council of the University of Hong Kong, said: “They should table the bill with the university’s endorsement. Why do they have to be that authoritarian?”

The Post has contacted Cheung for comment. The three lawmakers earlier pointed out the proposal largely reflected the university’s own reform plans.

Razack added the government had violated the principle of procedural justice with its “light public housing” initiative, despite its good intentions to improve the living standards of the poor and tackle the housing crisis.

The government aims to build 30,000 temporary homes in eight locations by 2027 at a cost of HK$26.4 billion (US$3.4 billion) for people on the waiting list for permanent public rental flats.

The temporary locations include a prime commercial site at Kai Tak, earmarked as the city’s second central business district.

There were concerns about the hefty price tag and short-term use, but officials brushed aside criticism on the grounds that low-income Hongkongers faced a pressing need for housing.

Chinese University head out of sight, but at the centre of storm over council reforms

The Housing Bureau said the Kai Tak project would not have to go through the Town Planning Board and did not say whether it would consult the body for similar projects in other districts.

The legislature approved the first half of the housing plan, but a quarter of the lawmakers were absent during the vote.

Razack said such short-term projects ought to go through statutory town planning procedures for impact assessments.

He said the light public housing scheme was not fair to the private sector, which faced uncertainty after it invested billions of dollars in Kai Tak developments.

“Procedural justice is the custodian of good governance, but the principles of efficiency are tools for better governance … You cannot [improve] something when you don’t have good governance,” he said.

Hong Kong national security police arrest 10 linked to legal fund for protesters

Razack, the city’s longest-serving lawmaker before his retirement, was viewed as a liberal voice in the Beijing loyalist bloc.

But he raised eyebrows in 2019 when he took the side of protesters and asked for an independent inquiry into allegations of abuse by police and also accused the government of a failure to tackle young people’s concerns.

Razack said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s performance in office was for everyone to judge, but expressed concern at the number of Hongkongers who had emigrated in recent years.

He added authorities could lure more talent to the city, but warned that alone would not get to the root of the problem.

He appealed to the government to minimise social conflict and find alternatives that were “less contentious and less harmful”.