REVIEW OF THE YEAR
At the beginning of the year, the Colony made a free gift to Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of $8 million in addition to the annual defence contribution of $16 million. This gesture was in recognition of the generous part played by the United Kingdom Government in provision for the defence of the Colony. Hong Kong itself spent $12 million on local security and $32 million on its Police Force. Assist- ance to the Colony from United Kingdom funds set aside for Colonial development and welfare continued, and the projects which were in hand or completed during the year are detailed in Appendix I. The fisheries research vessel "Alister Hardy" was launched and commissioned towards the end of the year. This was entirely paid for from Colonial Development and Welfare funds. It will be operated by the Hong Kong University, and will be manned by Marine Department crews. It will be an invaluable asset in modernizing Chinese traditional fishing methods.
Informal consultations between Government Staff-Associa- tions and Government representatives continued and a series of meetings were held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Colonial Secretary. The atmosphere at these meetings was very cordial and Government derived much benefit from the advice given by the Associations on a variety of subjects. Staff welfare received increasing attention during the year and some departments have made substantial progress in the provisions of amenities and in the sphere of welfare generally. It is the intention to coordinate these activities under the respon- sibility of a single officer as soon as the staffing position permits.
For some considerable time Government had been under pressure from various quarters to carry out piece-meal revisions of salaries. This pressure, combined with (and possibly to some extent aggravated by) the disarray into which salary scales had been thrown by the consolidation in 1951, of a part of the cost of living allowance into basic salary, and a subse-
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