PRESS REVIEW
TIN TIN YAT PO (July 18) said: "Suggestions that Police morale is low are true only of the corrupt few. Honest and loyal policemen have nothing to fear from the ICAC's operations."
The paper added that corrupt policemen made up only a very small percentage of the Force.
HONG KONG DAILY NEWS (July 19) and KUNG SHEUNG EVENING NEWS (July 17) said ICAC should devote more attention to catching officials still on the take instead of concentrating on past cases.
DAILY NEWS said: "We support heavy penalties for the corrupt, but we also hope those who have ceased to be corrupt should be given a second chance.
"It is more important to catch live fish than dead ones; and if we delve too far back into old corruption cases, we may run the risk of upsetting social stability. without achieving the goal of rooting out corruption from the Government."
KUNG SHEUNG said there had been some improvement in local administration since ICAC was set up.
But the paper said the deterrent effect had not been felt in certain areas because ICAC was devoting too much attention to past cases at the expense of current ones.
It also wondered whether investigations were being hampered by a number of officials trying to cover up for one another.
The left-wing WEN WEI PO (July 14) said it was public knowledge that syndicated corruption existed within Government departments, and that all efforts should be directed at corrupt administrators.
Corrupt officials were the ones
"protecting" gambling and sex dens and this led to the deteriorating crime situation.
"By comparison, we can disregard rebates," the paper said.
WEN WEI also claimed that ICAC staff had purchased a large amount of electronic "bugging" devices and pointed out that its investigators had the right to conduct house searches.
"The ICAC is behaving like special agents in the name of opposing rebates, and one wonders whether there are any ulterior motives behind this?" the paper asked.
14-20 JULI
JULY 1976.
VIETNAMESE REFUGEES
During the past week, three papers discussed the future of the 99 Vietnamese refugees, picked up by the Burmese ship Ava on July4 from a sinking fishing boat in the South China Sea.
HONG KONG TIMES (July 16) urged the Government to allow the refugees to stay in Hong Kong temporarily while seeking international help to resettle them.
The paper said that the four million people in Hong Kong, who were mostly former refugees themselves, should have strong feelings of sympathy for the Vietnamese.
SING TAO WAN PAO (July 15) sympathised with the refugees for having to share crowded accommodation on board the Ava in the present hot weather. It described the Government's decision not to take care of them as "inhumane."
"The Government should offer them temporary accommodation if either the United Nations or the U.S.A. promises to help," it
said.
Noting that the Government had received favourable comments over its handling of Vietnamese refugees last year, the paper urged the Government to reconsider its decision.
NAM WAH MAN PAO (July 14) commended the Government for admitting the two sick refugees and a baby girl to hospital for treatment.
But the paper was angry over an incident outside the hospital in which Pressmen were not allowed to photograph the refugees.
By covering the event, the Press was only trying to show that the Govenment was not inhumane in its treatment of the refugees, it said.
HIRECARS TO BECOME TAXIS
During the week, three papers commented on uncomfirmed reports that the Transport Department plans to issue hire cars with taxi licences.
SING PAO (July 17) said it would be "reasonable" for the Department to issue taxi licences to hire cars and added that the step would be welcomed by the public.
"The lack of meters in hire cars has caused frequent disputes between hire-car drivers and passengers over fares," it said. "This would be eliminated if the plan was put into force."