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13.
Being so diverse, the various New Left groups have no agreed aims: what they share is an interest in organizing protest as a means of bringing about change. In this they are like their counterparts elsewhere. But whereas students' ideas in Europe and the United States have all been expressed in revolutionary fantasies, here the New Left movement has concentrated on specific and usually practical issues. Its approach has been pragmatic.
14.
plan or to take action.
Different groups have on occasion combined to
They nevertheless remain suspicious of one another. All the indications are that they will not become amenable to central direction. Further details of them all are given in a note prepared by Special Branch and attached as Annex A to this paper.
Influences
15.
The efforts made to bridge the gap between Government and the public both during and after confrontation were generally interpreted by young people as an encouragement to think about politics and to express their views. The establishment of a social science faculty at Hong Kong University and the extension of political science studies may also have encouraged these trends. same time, the spectacular growth of the Colony's economy brought full employment and reasonable prospects of a secure livelihood. also brought rising standards of services. But as in many other countries, expectations rose more quickly.
16.
At the
It
Against this background, and with fading memories of past hardships, young people gradually became readier to take a critical interest in social and political problems. Those whose interest was awakened soon found plenty to criticize; and a number of them found the New Left attractive. The factors which made them susceptible to it are inevitably complex, particularly where motives are so very mixed and objectives so often obscure.
17.
One which seems to have been influential is the widespread acceptance of a communist theme, that budget surpluses are not spent for the benefit of local people because we are obliged to send large sums of money annually to bolster the British economy. Uncaring colonial rule is at the same time blamed for laisser -faire economic policies which are thought to be socially unjust, perpetuating the gap between the rich and the poor; for a lack of long-term objectives; and for the absence of a social security system. As the Hong Kong Government is basically a disciplined bureaucracy and has no high pressure propaganda machine, it does not give the answers which are likely to satisfy young aspirations in competition with
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