FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW
APRIL 24 1967
HONGKONG AFFAIRS
Nobody Loves Us
cent
S Hongkong feeling just the teeniest, weeniest, little bit guilty about the contumely with which it treated its re- Westminster? It visitors from should be. Granted that both visitors made comments on the local scene which would have profited some more thought or more tactful expression, they were undoubtedly made to appear more thoughtless and clumsy by local news circular The
ad- papers.
argument vanced by one of our local tabloids that most of the criticism came not in cditorial comment but in letters to the press-ignored the fact that the public obtained most of their impression of the MPs from the press. Other editors contradiction between their simultaneous complaints that the MPs had been too critical on the one hand and on the other that their schedule had been organised by the Governinent to show itself off in the best possible light. By the end of their stay, some local
Saw no
citizens were becoming positively sorry for the visitors and embarrassed by the gracelessness of the welcome given them.
The MP's were unlucky to have their arrival preceded by the British Textile Council's proposal that a 15% tariff should be imposed on textile imports I long- (except those from Portugal). kong has suffered a series of setbacks at London's hand quotas, devaluation, and every import surcharges, etc. new threat is regarded as a fresh be trayal of Commonwealth links which and occasion- are still very concrete ally restrictive for a Colony. But within the last week Australian textile interests have also called for quotas on knitted goods from Asia, while Presi- dent Nixon, an apostle of free trade, is despatching two emissaries who will at- tempt to persuade Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hongkong to accept volun- tary restrictions on their fast-rising sales to the US. Britain is not alone in want- ing protection.
Both the MPs opposed the Textile Council's report
and said so. Mr
Brian Walden, in a couple of new paper articles, admirably put the record straight (and at the same time made excellent and constructive comments on Hongkong's ultra-cautious financial poli- cies). The Colony can ill afford to waste the money it spends on such visits by allowing petulant sensitivities to run the risk of forfeiting the advocacy in London of a man who has so obviously grasped what makes Hongkong tick. Better than any other community, Hong- kong should be able to accept the harsh realities of international commerce and finance, and realise that a Colony which goes with empty hands to every negotiat- ing table and which boasts little or no political leverage in Whitehall or Weste minster must make as many friends as it can. Cries of "My mother (country) doesn't understand me, and nobody loves me" may be true, but are not calculaed to win new friends or influence people.
Mr
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: The City District Officers have now become a part of the local scene. Graham Riches, a Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Hongkong, evaluates their contribution to the community.
A Nettle to Grasp
By Graham Riches
it •OMMUNITY development" is a growing theme in
recently gave Com
munity Development Officers to the appointed District Community Officers of the SWD (Social Welfare Department); the "interim assessment" on the City District Officers Scheme
refers in paragraph 59 to the Community Development Division of the SWD when it is in fact the Group and Com- munity Work Division; the City District Commissioners state quite clearly that they are engaged in community development and the SWD sees its District Community Officers as working
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RECEIVED IN
REGISTRY No.51 - 9 MAY 1969
4/16/16/548/3
Page 60Page 61