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THE COMMUNITY
During the year, the government announced that two further wireless television stations would be licensed. Together with the existing stations, they will eventually enable viewers to choose from five programme channels broadcast in colour.
Sound broadcasting also has done much to disseminate information on major policy issues, with news coverage and topical events programmes of considerable scope and variety, despite the rival attractions of television.
In the Chinese services of Radio Hong Kong, interest in local affairs has been stimulated by 'phone-in' programmes, which give opportunities for direct exchange of views between government officers and the people.
In order to compete more effectively with television and radio, newspapers have gone beyond straight reportage and now comment on local affairs in greater depth, stimulating response from their readers in the form of letters which appear in their growing correspondence columns.
The Government's Response
Letters to the press provide a useful insight into public opinion. In a typical month some 360 letters about government matters appear in the Chinese and English press. Many government departments have their own facilities for taking note of these, but an additional check is provided by the public relations division of the Information Services Department which scrutinises the readers' columns each day to sift all comment or criticism on government departments. These are either passed to the relevant departments for information or drawn to the attention of officers concerned should a reply be indicated.
The number of letters to the Chinese press has risen significantly in recent years, indicating that resort to pen and paper, as a means of achieving results, is no longer regarded as an idiosyncrasy of the expatriate minority.
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Under the reorganisation of administrative machinery which followed upon the recommendations of management consultants, a Home Affairs and Information Branch was set up in 1973 within the Colonial Secretariat. This branch is responsible for the government's total public relations effort and co-ordinates the activities of the major departments concerned with information (these include the former Secre- tariat for Home Affairs, now the Home Affairs Department, the Information Services Department, Radio Hong Kong and the Government Printer).
In addition, a study was carried out of how the government could strengthen and co-ordinate its existing methods of collecting, collating and assessing public opinion. It is envisaged that in future public opinion research will be conducted on a more scientific basis by professional survey methods, and new ways of testing public reaction, particularly at the grass roots level, will be established.
A new procedure has been introduced to enable more members of the public to influence the government's policy-making process. Under this procedure, some important government policy programmes are published as Green Papers for full public discussion before a decision is made.