CODE 18-77
2.
Reference..
was reiterated so frequently that I came away with the impression that, all in all, and at the risk of sweeping generalisation, Government in Hong Kong is exceedingly self-conscious.
6. Most of the officials accompanying me on the daily round of visits were Chinese. The reception they gave me was warm and our informal discussions during the course of the day were, I hope, mutually informative. All seemed highly motivated, bright and committed to public service. The younger members of Government Service especially tackle their responsibilities with what I took to be energy and imagination, keen interest and knowledge. Coupled to this attitude is a strong identification with and commitment to Hong Kong. Certainly there are aspects of life in Hong Kong which give them cause for concern (housing was a problem mentioned by every single Chinese I spoke to), but such anxieties seemed only to strengthen their commitment to Hong Kong and to Hong Kong's working out its own solutions to the problems. They naturally displayed a keen and informed interest in developments in China and few entertained many illusions about the current "liberal" phase of the Chinese revolution.
One young (Chinese) City District Officer did mention his plan to build a retirement home in Guangdong for himself and his family, since he could never afford such a luxury at Hong Kong's prices, but it was said largely tongue-in-cheek, I think. Even so, I detected some considerable general interest in the prospect of Southern China's being opened up to tourism. This seemed a natural enough hope since, even for those born and raised there, life in Hong Kong must become claustrophobic at times.
7. I hesitate to expound such a theoretical notion, but I would suggest that these young Chinese are representative of a relatively new but expanding group in Hong Kong. The group would occupy the broad middle ground "sandwiched" between the poor (increasingly well looked after by Government, and with champions in Mrs Elliott et al) and the rich (who can well look after themselves). Membership might be defined by such indicators as higher education and employment in middle-income management and executive jobs. The group as a whole would be articulate, would have money to spend, would probably be locally educated and would generally have a close identity with Hong Kong. Their problem will be one of realising rising expectations within the relatively confined scope of Hong Kong. I would further suggest that this group will soon have (if it does not have them already) really quite well defined economic and social "rallying points" or common interests and concerns. The problem of housing for middle-income groups is an obvious "rallying point", as is the problem of transport generally and private motor car transport in particular (even at 20% of family ownership, Hong Kong's roads are very congested, there simply will not be road-space to accommodate the rising aspirations of private car ownership/usage). One might expect that the groups most affected by these problems develop an awareness of the political implications of their mutual interests. This would in turn generate political association and pressure for organised channels of political expression. Of course, none of this has yet resulted in concerted or organised pressure. However, such is the pace of events in Hong Kong that trends can rapidly become real and actual developments. I recognise my own ethnocentricity; what I have described/