2
public sector has been matched by private development,
noticeable in East Tsim Sha Tsui and the Central and
Wanchai Districts.
2
The quality of life for the general population
improved greatly over the period, not only in respect of
housing, but in regard to greatly expanded recreational
opportunities, especially at the district level. At the
same time, young people benefitted from the nine years of
compulsory free education introduced in 1974 and the
programme of labour welfare legislation pursued steadily
in the last decade.
These changes had taken effect by the time
Mrs Thatcher visited Beijing in 1982, setting in train the
two-year negotiations wihch led to the Sino-British Draft
Agreement and its ratification six months later. The
terms of the Sino-British Agreement were generally
welcomed, the progress in implementing them is helping to
build up confidence in the future; but it is a slow growth
because of a general distrust of China, fear of
intervention in the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region's affairs after 1997, or even of China's return to
earlier, less pragmatic policies. Nonetheless, Hong Kong
continues to prosper, and the fact that its people travel
to China and S. E. Asia in large numbers makes them more
than ever aware of Hong Kong's attraction. This is a
positive factor for the future.
♡
1