2.
(a) Law and order
(The Governor paid tribute to the Royal Hong Kong Police Force while reminding LegCo that the crime level was still far too high.) Comment, again from one paper only, called for the maintenance of law and order through the imposition of stiffer penalties, including the death penalty.
(e) Anglo-Chinese relations
(The Governor pointed to the continuing excellent relations with China.) The statement was welcomed.
(f) The ICAC
One
(The Governor paid tribute to the work of ICAC.) newspaper predicted that the Commission's operations would now gradually become less intense.
(g) The appointments to LegCo
(The Governor welcomed the eight new Unofficial and five Official members of LegCo.) One newspaper commented that while the Unofficials had come from a wide cross-section of society, they might not be truly representative of the various sectors.
(h) Health
THE
(The Governor announced plans for further development of the Medical and Health Services.) One newspaper commented that there was still an insufficient number of doctors in Hong Kong and that this was partly because there was a "brain drain" of doctors from the Colony.
(i) The Companies' Law
(The Governor announced that during the present session further bills were to be introduced to give effect to more proposals of the Companies' Law Revision Committee.) This was welcomed by one newspaper, which also commented that the Government was to blame for not implementing the Committee's proposals more quickly.
In their broader statements, almost all the editorials welcomed the bright prospects for the present and the future portrayed for Hong Kong in the Governor's speech.
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