Mr. Stewart
Mr. Carter
Reference.....
With regard to the Governor's letter at (3), I suggest below some ideas which might be included in the reply which Sir Arthur Galsworthy proposes to send to the Governor:
(1) the practice of allowing the public into the Government House gardens is an excellent one. Quite apart from the considerations mentioned by the Governor in his letter, it is thought that in the particular circumstances of Hong Kong, any measure which serves to narrow the gap between Government and people and which at the same time may help to instil a feeling in the public that the Government is their Government, is to be encouraged.
(2) Budget proposals - would that we in this country were in a position to emulate them! It does not of course help a great deal in our efforts to obtain, say a loan for the development of Kai Tak, when it is known that Hong Kong has come up with yet another budget surplus and that no taxation increases are contemplated; but you cannot have it both ways.
(3) School Fees: a query was recently
addressed to us in the context of Communist schools: the query asked what the likely effect on such schools would be if all primary school fees were abolished in Government schools. We did not know the answer to this, but it may be interesting to see whether the Governor's recently announced reduction in primary school fees is followed by any similar action in communist educational circles.
(4) We were very pleased indeed to receive the Governor's telegram no. 242 in which he told us of his intentions (subject to developments) to release the four remaining detainees during the course of the next six weeks or so. The release of these men will, of course, be of considerable help to us here and we are indeed most grateful to the Governor for the manner in which he has striven
to accommodate us over this matter, particularly since we fully appreciate the possible implica- tions for Hong Kong if these bad-hats were prematurely released. The Governor will no doubt let us know as soon as he has" fixed a. date for discontinuing Emergency Regulation 31 and its associated Regulations. We realise of course that Regulation 37 will continue to be required for so long as Police Supervision Orders remain in being.
28 March, 1969
(A.
Gaminara)
Hong Kong Department
Page 15Page 16