Crime, including trade in narcotics and corruption, were two problems that dwarfed most others in 1971, and seemed to bar our path to either domestic contentment or international respectability. As I now realise, bad officering, unimaginative command, complacency over the Force's fine performance in 1967, and lack of liaison with the public, had seriously reduced the effectiveness of the Police Force. Moreover organised corruption as an accepted way of life was at the heart of all crime both in the private and public sectors but particularly in the Police. A combination of draconian action, professional expertise, mobilisation of public support and extensive education, have steadily cut these problems down to manageable proportions, though not without trauma.
10.
Of course all these fields of action were what people wanted, and was sound government in itself. But the timetable involved in this quest by the early to mid 80s for contentment at home, satisfaction to China and acceptance abroad, drove us to push forward both public works and social and political reform faster than might otherwise have been justified. It has been a period in which all branches of the public service have worked to their limit, and the size of the service has had to be increased by 77% and public expenditure by 223% in real terms. Inevitably there have been administrative and financial hiccups, but time was pressing and speed was essential, and generally speaking the broad political objective is being and to some extent has been achieved.
11.
An essential part of the programme was to make Hong Kong as economically valuable and politically acceptable to China as possible. H.M.G.'s improved relations with China helped this, and perhaps even more so the evolution of pragmatic policies in China which
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