CONFIDENTIAL
be sufficient to achieve the improvement in recruitment we
wanted. He thought that some way would have to be found
for offering expatriates a considerably greater direct
financial inducement, in addition to the fringe benefits
he had recommended. He also doubted whether local Chinese
of the necessary calibre for the administrative class were
to be found.
22. All I can say at this stage is that this problem is of
fundamental importance, and of great urgency. Even to
decide quickly what should be done will not be easy as
detailed negotiation with the staff associations will be
necessary. But even assuming that the conditions of
service can be made much more attractive even than those
recommended in the Salaries Commission Report, it will
still be necessary to adopt quite different methods of
recruitment to those now employed. In particular the
Hong Kong Government will have to imitate the methods of
the Diplomatic Service in securing the interest of dons in
selected universities in the United Kingdom and will have
to send young officers of the right calibre to lecture on
The same what a career in the Colony has to offer.
aggressive tactics, mutatis mutandis, will have to be
followed in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Government Office in London
23. This appears to be a most useful and well-run
institution.
Various proposals have been made in the FCO
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