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PART VI CONCLUSIONS
As we have seen (para. 55) the general level of publicity on the subject in the press died away during this period, but there were some hostile editorials and the tide of public opinion had already set so strongly against the application that it would have taken an effort, at this juncture, to persuade the public not simply to keep an open mind but to reopen its thinking on the subject. In similar circum- stances in the future there would appear to be advantage in an early decision as to whether a matter is going before an advisory body and in making every effort thereafter to keep public opinion on the issue open until that body has reported.
450. These are deductions from the actual riots and their immediate origins, that may be worth studying for the future but, when considering disturbances like these, there is generally more to be learned from looking beyond the immediate causes that triggered off the violence to the underlying and persistent problems which tend to create the riot potential; the environment, the atmosphere and the inflammable material which is susceptible to the sudden spark. To these problems we devote a final chapter.
CHAPTER 2.
ALLEGED CAUSES OF UNDERLYING
UNREST OR DISCONTENT
451. The absence from these disturbances of any specific social or political aim makes it difficult to pinpoint with certainty the underlying reasons that led up to them. This difficulty is increased by the fact that none of the possible causes suggested to us was acknowledged by any of the participants who gave evidence as having been more than peripheral in his motivation; an attitude no less clearly reflected in the interviews with the prisoners in Chi Ma Wan and the young detainees at Begonia Road.
452. Nevertheless, we believe that it is probably more important to try and identify those causes of unrest in the community which have created and may continue to create fertile ground for anti-social or deviant behaviour, than to dwell on the particular incident or incidents which lit the match in April 1966.
453. During the course of our Inquiry we received some useful statements from sociologists, and a number of witnesses with experience in various fields of social welfare work in Hong Kong gave oral evidence to supplement written statements expressing views as to the underlying causes. In the succeeding para- graphs of this chapter, we list and comment on various factors which have been mentioned or advanced in evidence before us and/or have gained currency through press publicity.
454. In recording these views, we do not, of course, wish to imply that we necessarily agree with them, either in part or in whole. When appropriate therefore, we have interpolated comments of our own, but would emphasize that these are
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