Sir,
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Draft Speech by The Hon. Mrs. Pauline NG CHCW May-lin
Legislative Council - 2.8.84
Unofficial Member's Motion
I recall that in the middle of 1980 when I attended a meeting of
the Area Committee, I was given a copy of the Green Paper on 'A Pattern of
District Administration in Hong Kong' published by the government.
At
that time, The City District Officer called on the area committee members to
put forward their comments. Although I had reservations about the idea
of district administration then, yet after I was appointed the first term
District Board member in May, 1981 and having devoted myself to the work of
district administration, I personally sensed the sincerity of the government
in moving towards an open political set-up. The first election of District
Board members held in 1982 made the people of Hong Kong realize that the
era of political indifference had given way to an era of political participation.
No wonder the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Geoffrey Howe, said at the
press conference on 20 April 1984
"In the days to come, the government
of Hong Kong will continue striding forward along the road to a representative
government."
I realize that in these few years good efforts have been made by the
government to promote an open administration structure and to develop a
representative government in Hong Kong, and I welcome the development of
gradual participation by the public in policy-making as mentioned in the Green
Paper on Representative Government. And this progressive development in the
change of the political system will take its first step in the Legislative
Council in 1985 when some seats of the Council will be elected by an electoral
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