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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
principally in the central district, Causeway Bay and at various points on the northern shores of the harbour, whilst the investiga- tion of the potentialities of new areas for development is con- stantly in hand. Reservoir capacity also has been doubled and is being further enlarged.
The spectacular growth of new factories and workshops and the Colony's need to keep pace with world-wide advances in production, management and marketing techniques have been accompanied by ever higher standards of factory inspection, new labour legislation, and constantly increasing official concern with trade promotion, and technical and vocational training.
The Government has embarked on a large-scale reconstruction of the Colony's road network. More rigorous traffic controls have been introduced in face of enlarged public transport services and the increase in number, and in size, of private cars in daily use. The railway has changed from steam to diesel-electric traction. A new airport capable of meeting the needs of modern aircraft has been very largely completed and is already operating. Airline passengers, many of them tourists from overseas, have in turn created a demand for more and better hotel accommodation, and for sightseeing and shopping facilities.
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Postal and telecommunication services have set new records in the traffic handled. Broadcasting, wired and wireless, and wired television have developed as an essential part of the Colony's entertainment industry. Parks, playgrounds and well-supervised bathing beaches are only a few of the outdoor amenities which the public at large enjoy.
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Despite this response to the challenge of over-population and the refugee influx, the Colony's ordinary life could not have run so smoothly had it not been for the constant vigilance and efficiency of the security forces. The Kowloon riots of 1956, which constituted the most serious of the few outbreaks of violence in the post-war years, were quickly ended; and the lessons learnt on that occasion put to good use in plans for the further expansion and modernization of the Police Force and the other agencies concerned with the preservation of law and order.
An increased, and ever increasing, tempo is apparent in every aspect of Hong Kong's daily life, but it is the growth of local