This was The Day
Hongkong
grew up
MR
CHARTER COMMENTARY
by DAVID MARCHBANKS
R. Robert Hetherington's ideas on how labour and management should operate in this unique in- dustrial community is going to cost Hongkong a lot of money. And we should all be glad-and that
goes for the businessmen, particu- larly, even though this is a place where hard times suddenly come overnight and profits, by necessity,- have to be guarded with care. For, in the long run, it would make
Hongkong a richer place.
Richer in terms of commerce. Richer in terms of human understand- ing.
And with fewer labour problems, less chance of trouble with Com- munist-troublemakers.
Mr. Hetherington's new deal, an- nounced yesterday, marks the day when Hongkong grew up.
For too long Hongkong has been a
suspect of the world.
IT'S A STIGMA
"Cheaper labour," has been the cry.
And while this is not strictly true in terms of the way of life of our people and their actual cost of living, it is a stigma which Hong- kong has largely deserved. For too long we
have employed young people and women at terms advantageous to management. For too long have we excused our consciences by saying the worker
Man behind the Charter
Mr. Robart Hetherington
prefers the extra money to a day off.
We must realise that, in world terms, management and government have a moral responsibility to the people to see that they are not only paid adequately for their labours, but rested adequately too.
PRICE MUST RISE
If the money is not in the till, then the prices of the products must go up.
The modern world understands this. Commercial competition depends on efficiency and this is what Hongkong in future must depend
on.
And even on Mr. Hetherington's square-deal policy Hongkong has still a tremendous advantage on prices over her present competi tors.
It is a lesson that Japan learned from the Americans. Cheap labour, unfair employment, copycat de- signs do not pay. Today Japan has a sophisticated in- dustry growing up with a satisfied and eager work force.
That is what we need in Hongkong. And the blue-print of legislation which the Labour Department has laid on the table, with great fore- sight, is the only way Hongkong .can achieve its place among the sophisticated industrial nations of the world.
There is no question but that Hong-
WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?
What will I be when I grow up? This is the question on (every schoolboy's tips and the Charter been, this buy cân look for- Weward to a fair deal.
kong is a suspect among the shoppers of the West. It is also continually under the eagle eye of the United Nations Committee on Colonialism.
WHY BE ASHAMED ?
Hongkong should be proud of its
products and proud of the people`. who produce them-for if we are not proud of our own people, what chance have we of overcom- ing the image that still exists in the minds of the women who shop at Macy's on New York's Fifth
Avenue or Fenwick's on London's Oxford Street?
It may be that the United Nations Committee does not understand our special problems-but what chance have we of instructing the members, unless we are justly proud of our own people and their working conditions? Sixteen years ago I saw a film from
Japan extolling the virtues of Japanese employers and the bene- ficial conditions of life in a factory there-and everybody laughed.
But it came true. And nobody's
laughing now.
PROFILE
Mr. Robert Hetherington
MR.
ROBERT HETHER- INGTON is a lean man with a Distinguished Flying Cross and a degree from Oxford.
His Hongkong Charter if what he wants done is approved will bring to Hongkong a new era în indus- try and business.
Fifty one year-old Mr. Hetherington took over as Commissioner of Labour in September 1966. He has been criticised for not doing enough quickly enough.
Too quickly?
He is now almost certainly going to be criticised for try- ing to do too much too quick- ly.
The question about Mr. Hetherington is whether or not he will now be able to put Changch successfully his pre-
sent statement of intention?
When you meet him, he at first gives the impression of thinking much more slowly than he actually does. In fact,
ficult question brings a quick and detailed answer with surprising speed and firmness.
Chose to stay
He has been in the Hong- kong Government since June 1946.
He first came.to Hong- kong as an officer of the Civil Affairs Unit of the Military Administration that operated in Hongkong after the defeat of the Japanese.
He chose to stay in Hong- kong and joined the Hongkong Government from the Civil Affairs Unit in 1946.
He has held varied posts in the Hongkong Government
-including a term as Deputy Commissioner of Labour from 1959 to 1963. For a short period he was Acting Labour Commissioner.
He has also held posts in the Secretariat, and most of the jobs he has held have been concerned with commerce, finance and economics.
He understands the "code" of the Civil Service, and even now seems a little reluctant to appear in an outspoken public role. However, he is aware that his statement yesterday has put him in the "hottest seat" in Hongkong.
His strength
People who know him well say that his greatest strength is that when he makes up his mind to do something, he is very capable of acting incisive- ly and with determination,
He has prepared his state- ment of intent on the Hong- kong Charter carefully, and he is confident of strong Govern- ment backing.
From his long experience in Hongkong, he is aware of the problems of enforcing la- bour laws that might not be acceptable to either employers or people who work for the employers.
His big test
He is the sort of man, though, who might be said to reduce consciously the odds against him until what he plans is more likely to suc- ceed than fail.
This is what he has almost certainly done with his plans for labour in Hongkong. Now his big test comes.
Geoffrey Thursby
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