Government business
Motion
WHITE PAPER : THE DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT : THE WAY FORWARD (Resumption of debate on motion (16 March 1988)
Question Proposed.
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se 6 DR. CHIU:
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"THE Council W iii HOW
resume and continue with the debate
on the Chief Secretaryal motion which is That tiris Council
takes note of the plans and intentions contained in the
White Paper: The Development of Representative Govezament :
The Way Forward". Dr. CHIU.
— (In Cantonese)—–—
Sir, the decision of the Government: to enlarge the existing
medical functional constituency to embrace the health care
teams is warmly welcomed by my medical and health colleagues.
For all these years medical and health services has been
one of the most important and essential public services.
People providing such services are known to be very dedicated
and hard working. Their duties give them the opportunity
of direct contact with people from all walks of life.
I am
sure that they will continue to contribute to the community
and to reflect the need of the public.
blic.
and
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Sir, to include these 20,000 people into the present
functional constituency illustrates that the important
role and functions of these well defined groups are given the recognition they well deserve. I have been urging for a
reasonable number of seats of Legislative Council to be
returned by direct election in 1988, for no other reason than because I did believe that Hong Kong's stability and prosperity
depends a lot on a more open and democratic government.
In this aspect I consider that direct election in 1988 is
the most effective way, if not the only way, to maintain
and ensure a better future for Hong Kong people. Most good
things take time to make. Developing a good democracy,
like building a good house, cannot be hurried. Democracy
takes time. In a dictatorship, changes may be imposed
suddenly on the people, but this is not what we would like
to have. We need an adequate timetable to appreciate the
process of formulating the policy, public consent and copperation between the Government and the public.
Experience shows that it takes more than a decade to put a
new political system into effect. Seeing that time is