see another Singapore created on its borders. He considered that there would be great difficulty in selecting a trade unionist and that consequently it would be better to find a person whose sympathies were with the working classes. He had proposed two names to the Governor; Father McGovern, a European Jesuit and the Rev Joyce Bennett, a European school teacher.
3. In response to a question from Lord Goronwy-Roberts,
Sir Y K said that he had also one or two Chinese in mind both
of whom were ministers of religion.
4.
Sir Y K said that he had indicated to the Governor that he
would not wish to serve on the Executive Council much longer for he was now 64 years old but the Governor had asked him to stay on. He granted that his colleagues in LegCo were mainly industrialists, bankers or commercial people but they were responsible people who took their work seriously and sensibly. He thought that if people such as Mrs Elliott were appointed to LegCo then there would be a
series of confrontations in the Council for Mrs Elliott tended to
make wild charges which she would not substantiate. It was for
this reason that she was frequently in the news. In an elected system where issues are put to the vote there might be a place for Mrs Elliott but in the Hong Kong system there is not a loyal opposition and Mrs Elliott would only cause difficulties. Further- more, whilst at present members of LegCo speak freely in front of
each other, certain people would feel inhibited about speaking freely in front of Mrs Elliott. Sir Y K Kan reiterated that
there was a need to find people who could represent a wider spectrum of Hong Kong society; that the choice would be very difficult and that, above all, in making any changes it would be important to en- sure that these could not be taken to be the first steps towards representative government.
5.
Lord Goronwy-Roberts, whilst recognising the amount of progress which had been made in improving social conditions in Hong Kong, thought that there was a need for accelerated progress. There
/had been