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MR. EDWARD HO :
Sir, as the last 10.40 $ Member to speak and as it it now half-past-ten-in-the- evening, I have naturally considerable pressure to rush through my speech so that Members can retire as early as possible. But since my colleague, Mr, Martin LEE, has spent over an hour on his speeches,
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I ask your indulgence, Sir, and that of my colleagues,
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that I can take my time, but not excessively.
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Nevertheless, I shall not attempt
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to speak on every aspect of the White Paper but only on those issues that I feel I should particularly offer NP 13 my views. Many opinions on the White Paper, often
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divergent and sometimes conflicting, have been expressed by Members of this Council. This was expected. Members of different professions and callings, come from different sectors of our society. They are a microcosm of our community. Their views reflect generally the sentiments
of the people of Hong Kong.
The Green Paper on Representative
Government was first debated in this Council on 15t
and 16th of July last year, before I joined this Council.
I have subsequently had the benefit of first following
the debate from outside this Chamber as a member of.
the general public, and then debating on the Survey ffu. 27 Report and now debating on the White Paper as
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28 of this Council.
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The signing of the Sino-British
31 Joint Declaration in 1984 signified an important change
in Hong Kong. On 1 July 1997, Hong Kong will become
a Special Administrative Region of China. It is
however promised that Hong Kong will enjoy a high
degree of autonomy. In order to achieve this, it
is essential that a more representative government
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is
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