If you walked past One Pacific Place in Admiralty last year, you might have seen a large wooden sign for the "Office of Former Chief Executive." Inside, Carrie Lam was probably at her desk. She’s still there, mostly. But the silence surrounding her these days is a far cry from the sirens and shouting that defined her five years in power.
Honestly, it’s weird to think about how quickly the dust settled. Or maybe it didn't settle; maybe it just buried everything.
Carrie Lam stepped down in July 2022, but her shadow over Hong Kong isn't going anywhere. You’ve got people who see her as the "tough fighter" who kept the city from total collapse, and then you’ve got a massive chunk of the population who blame her for, well, everything. The 2019 protests, the National Security Law, the "piles of cash" she had to keep at home because of US sanctions—it’s a lot for one person’s resume.
The Office Controversy No One Expected
You’d think a retired leader would just disappear into a quiet life of gardening or teaching. Not quite. In 2024 and 2025, Lam’s post-office life became a massive talking point for a reason nobody saw coming: the rent.
Because there wasn't a "suitable" government space available when she finished her term, the taxpayer started footing the bill for a plush office in Admiralty. We’re talking about HK$9 million a year. That’s roughly US$1.2 million for rent, staff, and security.
- The lease for that office at One Pacific Place is up in mid-2025.
- Lawmakers have been grumbling about the cost, especially with the city’s deficit hitting record highs.
- Unlike her predecessors, she hasn't been given a fancy title in Beijing like Vice-Chairman of the CPPCC.
It’s an awkward spot to be in. She’s essentially a "patriot" in waiting, doing "promotional and protocol-related work," yet the very government she served is now being asked if they can find her a cheaper room in a public building.
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What Most People Get Wrong About 2019
People love to say the extradition bill was just a "mistake." It wasn't just a mistake; it was a fundamental misreading of the room. When Carrie Lam pushed that bill, she thought she was closing a legal loophole for a murder case in Taiwan.
She didn't realize she was handing a match to a city made of dry tinder.
I remember that leaked audio from 2019. You might recall it too. She told a group of business people that she had caused "unforgivable havoc" and would quit if she had a choice. Publicly? She stayed firm. She never blinked. That "tough fighter" persona her old boss Rafael Hui gave her years ago during the Queen’s Pier demolition? It became her armor, but it also became her cage.
She couldn't back down because, in her eyes, backing down was a betrayal of the "One Country, Two Systems" principle she still tours the mainland to defend. Just last October, she was at Nankai University in Tianjin giving a speech about how essential that system is. She’s still selling the vision, even if the buyers in Hong Kong are few and far between.
Life Under Sanctions (The Cash Problem)
Let’s talk about the bank accounts. Or the lack of them.
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Because of the US sanctions under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, Carrie Lam famously couldn't use a credit card or a bank account. She told the media she had "piles of cash" at home. Imagine being the leader of one of the world's most sophisticated financial hubs and having to pay for your groceries with literal stacks of HK$500 notes.
That hasn't changed. Even in 2026, those sanctions are a sticky reality. It’s a physical reminder of the bridge she burned with the West to build a stronger one with Beijing.
The Legacy of the "777"
She won her election with 777 votes from a committee of 1,194 people. In Chinese culture, 7 is often lucky, but for Lam, it became a bit of a meme. Her tenure was bookended by two impossible tasks:
- Healing a divided society (which she promised in her 2017 "We Connect" campaign).
- Managing a global pandemic with a "Zero-Covid" policy that eventually buckled.
By the time John Lee took over, the "connection" she promised was severed. The civil service was reshuffled. The opposition was mostly in jail or abroad.
Some experts, like those at the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, noted her popularity ratings were the lowest of any leader since the 1997 handover. Yet, if you ask her, she isn't "ashamed of her report card." She points to the Northern Metropolis plan—a massive integration project with Shenzhen—as her true vision for the future. She’s looking at 2047, while everyone else is still looking back at 2019.
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Why This Still Matters Right Now
You might wonder why we’re still talking about Carrie Lam in 2026.
It’s because Hong Kong is currently living in the house she renovated. Every trial happening in the West Kowloon Court right now, every new security law, and even the way the city interacts with the mainland is tied to decisions she made between 2019 and 2022.
She was the bridge between the "old" Hong Kong and the "new" one.
What you can do to stay informed:
- Follow the Audit: Keep an eye on the Legislative Council's budget reports this summer. They’ll decide if she moves out of that Admiralty office, which will be a huge signal of how much "respect" the current administration still feels she’s owed.
- Watch the Lectures: She’s been appearing more frequently at mainland universities. These speeches are the best way to see the "official" version of her legacy she’s trying to cement.
- Track the Sanctions: As US-China relations shift, any movement on the sanctions list will tell you if the international community is ready to move on from the Lam era.
The story of Carrie Lam isn't a biography of a retired politician; it’s a manual for how Hong Kong changed forever. Whether you think she saved the city or broke it, you can't ignore the fact that she’s still there, working away in an office that costs millions, waiting for history to make up its mind.
Practical Next Steps
If you're following the political evolution of the region, start by looking at the Northern Metropolis progress reports. This was Lam's "grand finale" policy. Its success or failure will ultimately determine if her shift toward mainland integration was the economic lifeline she claimed it would be. You should also monitor the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute (HKPORI) for retrospective sentiment analysis, which provides a data-driven look at how her governance is viewed with the benefit of hindsight.