participation of the people of Hong Kong once its speed and schedule for implementation are fixed. If the people possess only superficial knowledge of representative government without realising they should fulfil their
obligations towards it, how can we develop the function
of the word "representation", and how can we promote
"democracy"? If the people of Hong Kong long for a
highly autonomous administrative system, they themselves
have to lend it support. It is therefore essential and a matter of urgency to promote and further develop civic
and political education so that all the people of Hong
Kong will have enough knowledge of the system to
participate in it.
Some think that the period of two months for comments on
the Green Paper is too short and not adequate for the collection
of the views of the public. I personally think it hard to say whether such a period is long enough. In my opinion, the shorter
the time, the quicker we have to voice our opinions. The focal
points should be how to gather and reflect public opinion and how
to gather views from different levels efficiently so as to have a
general and comprehensive picture of public opinion.
To sum up, under the special circumstances of Hong Kong
today and keeping in mind the qualities that the Hong Kong people
possess, we should implement representative government with 'the
doctrine of the mean' of the East and 'the law of equity' of the
West step by step towards democracy. We must bear in mind that
more haste, less speed. If we do not introduce changes gradually,
we may end up with disastrous consequences.
Lastly, I wish to call upon members of the community to
make good use of these two months to comment on this important
change in our administrative system which has a direct bearing on
us, our family and our community. I earnestly hope that we can dismiss our selfish interests and speak up for the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and the welfare of the people. We should