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Hong Kong is sometimes criticised as being undemocratic.
It
has no elected legislature unlike the other remaining
dependent territories which support populations of any size.
But then Hong Kong occupies a unique geopolitical position
and it is not surprising that it has developed its own
unique and highly effective method of monitoring and
responding to public opinion. The Government spends vast
amounts of its resources on assessing public opinion and
in involving the man in the street in practical administation.
A very recent example of this can be seen in the proposals
to set up District Boards, with a significant elected
element, throughout the territory.
window-dressing. It is a practical measure to improve the
quality of local government in one of the world's most
densely populated areas. In any event Window-dressing is
not a skill which the Hong Kong Government has chosen to
learn or use, nor indeed would its people allow it do so.
This is not mere
All this adds up to a striking success story. The ever
changing face of Hong Kong symbolises a spirit of adventure,
of self-help and enterprise, based on political and economic
confidence. Nowhere is this better seen than in the
growth of the New Towns in the New Territories, where
communities of up to half a million people each are
springing up to provide homes for a new generation of
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