The recent Tai Po fire aroused great sorrow to everyone in Hong Kong. It exposed not only latent building safety hazards but also, on a deeper level, underscored the critical importance of community resilience and professional governance. We have to confront the issues in our society head-on. They require even more urgent attention through professional, forward-looking institutional safeguards. The Legislative Council General Election on December 7th presents a pivotal opportunity for us to converge professional wisdom and reignite the path to prosperity.
Vote for Professional Expertise to Build a Better future
Expertise is the most invaluable asset in a modern society. It manifests not only as the courage displayed by firefighters rushing into a blaze but also as the astute minds in the council chamber capable of analyzing economic cycles, designing equitable tax systems, and planning for a sustainable urban future. Hong Kong's prosperity has always been built upon world-class professional standards in finance, law, trade, and other fields. Faced with complex internal and external challenges, we now need Legislative Council members with solid professional foundations more than ever—be it the economic literacy to decipher financial statements, the public administration acumen to perfect social welfare policies, or the industrial insight to foster technological innovation. Only then can the laws and policies they enact precisely address societal needs and lay the most solid groundwork for renewed prosperity.
However, expertise devoid of deep compassion for the community is like a tree without roots. Genuine prosperity must allow every citizen to feel fairness and warmth within the system. This demands that future council members not only possess the macro-level vision to navigate institutional design but also the nuanced empathy to understand the people's needs—from the study space for children in subdivided units to the healthcare security for the elderly and the operational pressures on small businesses. Translating professional knowledge into “people-centric” policies, ensuring that growth in financial data translates into a tangible sense of gain for citizens, is key to building a better Hong Kong.
Therefore, the vote on December 7th represents far more than a routine personnel change. It is our collective choice regarding Hong Kong's developmental trajectory. Every ballot is a solemn mandate. Let us choose candidates who truly combine professional insight with community commitment, empowering them to repair our institutions with their skills, foster consensus through a pragmatic spirit, and collectively strengthen the foundation of prosperity with their profound love for Hong Kong.
Please value and exercise this right. Your vote will directly determine whether we remain mired in complaints about problems or take the first step toward a safer, fairer, and more prosperous future. On December 7th, let us use rationality and foresight to jointly write the opening chapter of a new era for Hong Kong.
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — A day after Honduran electoral authorities stopped reporting updates to the presidential vote count because of “technical problems,” candidate Salvador Nasralla of the conservative Liberal party had a slight edge Tuesday over Nasry Asfura, the National Party candidate endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
With votes from about 62% of polling places counted, Nasralla had 39.94% to Asfura's 39.83%. Only about 2,000 votes separate the two conservative candidates. Rixi Moncada of the governing democratic socialist LIBRE or Liberty and Refoundation Party, trailed with 19.17% of the vote.
The website Honduran electoral authorities set up to share vote tallies experienced “technical problems” that caused it to crash and leave the public in the dark about the extremely close presidential and other contests, the National Electoral Council said earlier Tuesday.
The website had been updating vote counts since shortly after the close of polling in Sunday's election, but it went down around midday Monday and there had been no official updates of the vote count’s progress until Tuesday afternoon.
When the site went down, only 515 votes separated leader Asfura from Nasralla. Neither of the two top candidates are from the Libre party of incumbent President Xiomara Castro, though Nasralla has been both rival and ally, serving for a couple years as her vice president.
The council said it has asked the contractor running the website to come up with a solution as soon as possible. In the meantime, the council creating a space for media outlets to observe the vote count where it was happening so the public could see what’s happening.
Trump wrote on Truth Social social media platform Monday while the vote count site was down: “Looks like Honduras is trying to change the results of their Presidential Election. If they do, there will be hell to pay!”
The U.S. president had earlier endorsed Asfura, saying he was the only candidate he could work with.
Asfura and Nasralla had filled the official information void with their campaigns’ own numbers, each saying they were favored to win.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. officials confirmed that ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving a 45-year prison sentence for drug trafficking, had been released following his pardon from Trump.
Soldiers unload ballot boxes from rural polling stations, at the airport in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Supporters of presidential candidate Nasry Asfura, of the National Party, celebrate preliminary results during general election in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Emmanuel Andres)
Presidential candidate Salvador Nasralla, of the Liberal Party, celebrates after the first official preliminary results were announced during general elections in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Presidential candidate Nasry Asfura, of the National Party, gives a press conference in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Soldiers transport ballots to an electoral facility in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Monday, Dec. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
