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theat With obs
34 With observations Sir, I support the motion.
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Mr Stephen CHEONG.
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Mr.
CHEONG: Sir, I would like to offer my thanks to the Financial
Adverse Secretary for his budgetary proposals for the year 1988-89. reactions have really been insignificant and seem to have concentrated
on just a couple of areas. In this Debate I will offer three brief
for futu
observations covering taxation, economic outlook and social welfare.
own Also, I will discuss in more detail the issue of land for future
industrial developments.
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First, in the policy Debate last year, I strongly urged the Government to offer better deals to our middle-income group in the year 1988-89 when Government should be able to afford it. I am pleased to see that the Financial Secretary has been able to make some meaningful concessions. 19 for the benefit of that vital group this year. I support it whole-
heartedly and I will continue to urge Government to give priority to this area in formulating budgetary proposals for the year 1989-90 when the time comes. There will no doubt be heated debates this year over the issue of separate taxation. I support separate taxation in principle. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the practical benefits to our taxpayers through the introduction of the Working Wives Allowance ?< can not be lightly dismissed. It is also true to say that there are
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many practical problems to be resolved before separate taxation can effectively take place. Hence, it behoves all of us to be patient and Government should now make a firm commitment to the community, not just in principle alone, but also a reasonably acceptable date of implementation to which the community can look forward to.
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Secondly, the performance of our economy over the past year has pleasantly surprised everyone. It fully demonstrated the ability of our business community to take full advantage of continued growth in the economy of developed nations. It also reflects significant contributions to our