PA
1.60.70
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Mr. Wilford
There is nothing new in the attached note except, perhaps,
a different emphasis here and there, but I hope it will be of
use when we come to the point of briefing Sir D. Trench's
successor.
(E. 0. Laird)
Hong Kong Department
22 September, 1970
Copies to:
Sir L.
Monson
Sir S. Tomlinson
Mr. Morgan, FED.
Mr. Gaminara
Mr. Kinne r
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5. After thinking over and piecing together the many views expressed to me I have attempted to pick out the more important things on which, in my view, the Hong Kong Government should
concentrate:
(a) there is an urgent need to widen the scope of governmental
activities. For example, I am not at all convinced that
(6)
enough is being done by way of vocational training to enable the Colony to maintain the pace of its industrial development. Again, although the demand for the adoption
of Chinese as an official language should, in my view, be
accepted, more should be done to improve the standard of English generally. Above all, much more should be done in
the field of social services;
the money is there but the machinery of government is
cumbersome.
Everything I heard during my visit confirmed
the view. I had come to earlier that the Colonial
Secretariat should be broken down and replaced by a system
of "Ministries" in charge of "Permanent Secretaries"
working closely with unofficial advisers;
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(c)
arrangements for staffing the government service as a
whole (including the balance between expatriate officers and local officers) need reviewing. There is a serious
shortage of middle level staff, brought about by the rapid
expansion in almost all departments in recent years. We
must somehow overcome the problems involved in seconding to
Hong Kong officers from the FCO or the Home Civil Service
who have specialised knowledge. The ODM should be able to
help in this respect more than they do at present;
י
urgently required
(d) finally, a gesture of confidence on the part of HMG is
the more spectacular the better. The
best thing would be a favourable response to the request of
the Government for a loan to finance the extension of
Kai Tak Airport, but it has not so far been possible to
obtain agreement to this.
Hong Kong Department
21 September, 1970
Distribution
Sir L. Moncon
Sir S. Tomlinson
Mr. Wilford
Mr. Morgan, FED.
Mr. Gaminara Mr. Kinnear
(E. 0. Laird)
}
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