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WAS BOTH EFFECTIVE AND RESPONSIVE AND ABLE TO COMMAND THE SUPPORT AND THE CONFIDENCE OF THE COMMUNITY IT SERVES.
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AT THE HEART OF OUR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN THE CONSULTATIVE PROCESS. WE HAVE PRIDED OURSELVES ON BEING A GOVERNMENT WHICH LISTENS TO A COMMUNITY WHICH EXPRESSES ITSELF PUBLICLY THROUGH THE MEDIA AND THROUGH A NETWORK OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES, NO LESS THAN 250 IN ALL. THE GOVERNMENT HAS LISTENED TO AND BENEFITTED FROM THE ADVICE OF A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE FROM ALL SECTORS OF THIS COMMUNITY: THE VALUE OF THEIR CONTRIBUTION CANNOT BE OVERSTATED. IN OUR SOCIETY, THEY ARE ABLE TO SPEAK FREELY ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY BELIEVE TO BE IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE: AND WHEN THEY DO SO, IT IS WITH THE ASSURANCE THAT THEIR VIEWS ARE IMPORTANT AND THAT THEY WILL BE LISTENED TO.
OVER THE YEARS, THE COMMUNITY HAS BEEN USED TO BEING CONSULTED ON A WIDE RANGE OF ISSUES: HOUSING, TRANSPORT, EDUCATION AND MEDICAL SERVICES. EVEN WHETHER THERE SHOULD BE SUMMER TIME OR NOT.
AND, OF COURSE, OVER THE DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN HONG KONG. BUT THE 1987 REVIEW WAS AN EXERCISE IN PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON A SCALE NEVER ATTEMPTED BEFORE HERE. OVER TWO MILLION COPIES OF THE GREEN PAPER WERE DISTRIBUTED. ALTHOUGH THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN CRITICISED OVER SOME ASPECTS OF THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS HALF-HEARTED IN SEEKING THE VIEWS OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE ON THE WAY THEY WISHED TO SEE THEIR SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
DEVELOPED.
OUR EFFORTS HAVE BEEN REWARDED IN A RESPONSE OF UNPRECEDENTED MAGNITUDE. OVER 130,000 SUBMISSIONS WERE SENT BY INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS TO THE SURVEY OFFICE. THERE WERE VIGOROUS DEBATES IN THE DISTRICT BOARDS, IN THE MUNICIPAL COUNCILS AND IN THIS COUNCIL.
THOUSANDS OF COLUMNS OF NEWSPAPERS AND COUNTLESS MINUTES OF AIR TIME WERE DEVOTED TO THE SUBJECT, AND HUNDREDS OF MEETINGS OF INTERESTED PEOPLE WERE HELD ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
THE 1987 REVIEW HAS WELL AND TRULY LAID TO REST THE MYTH THAT HONG KONG PEOPLE DO NOT CARE ABOUT POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT. BY ITS RESPONSE OVER THE PERIOD OF THE LAST NINE MONTHS THE COMMUNITY HAS SHOWN THAT IT DOES RECOGNISE THE FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING OUR SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT IN A WAY WHICH WILL MEET THE ASPIRATIONS OF OUR COMMUNITY AND PROVIDE THE CONTINUITY, STABILITY AND PROSPERITY WHICH WE ALL CHERISH SO DEARLY.
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HAVE BEEN MANY AND DIVERSE.
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