Navy Kong Dress Review 28.8.74-3.9.74
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Fai Po was of the opinion that due to the rising cost of clectric cables, the Telephone Company should only increase the installation fee for now subscribers, but not impose an overall increase.
"The Government shou strictly control the profits of public utilities. It should prohibit them from rating the charges whenever they like," it said.
Wah Kiu Yat Po (31.8.74) suggested:
(1)
(2)
the Advisory Committee on Telephone Services should study the economic situation of Hong Kong and the services rendered by the Telephone Company before deciding whether it agrees to the charge increase or not;
the Consumer Council should gather relevent information on the issue and make recommandations to the Government for reference; and,
(3) the Government should review its present policy on granting franchises to public utilities so as to prevent the monopolising businesses from attaining unreasonably high profits, thus aggravating the burden on the public.'
Visit By British MPs
People in Hong Kong must pay more taxes if it is to solve its vast social problems. This was what two visiting Labour Members of Parliament, Mr. Lovis Carter-Jones and Mr. James Lammond, said at a press conference on August 28 after a 12-day fact-finding tour of Hong Kong. They stated that they would convey to London the feelings of the people of Hong Kong, "the overwhelming number of people in Hong Kong are opposed to the abolition of hanging. In the interest of the workers of Hong Kong, they assured that they would make representation on behalf of the Hong Kong textile industry to ensure that it is treated no worse than any other nation in the East.
Two papers commented on their statement editorially.
Sing Tao Jih Pao (1.9.74) said that the two visiting MPs were not welcomed by the people of Hong Kong as what they had suggested was all against the interests of Hong Kong.
The paper described the intention behind their suggestions as "horrible".
"British MPs have, under the pretext of humanitarianism, ignored our repeated appeal for the re-instatement of the death penalty because they were afraid that a return of hanging would improve the social order and thus enable Hong Kong's industry to develop further to the detriment of British exports in the international market," the paper analysed.
"So far, the question whether the death penalty should be re-instated in Hong Kong has not been raised for formal discussion or debate in the House of Commons," the paper added.
"Their other suggestions that the tax rate should be raised was also not beneficial to Hong Kong. Commerce and industry in Hong Kong have already been faced with a recession, and a further increase in taxation would aggravate the competitive power of Hong Kong's cxports in the international market," the paper contended.
As for the suggestion that workers' wages should be raised in Hong Kong, the paper suspected that it was made with the intention of raising production costs of Hong Kong's exports, thus making it difficult for Hong Kong to rival Britain in the international market.