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A Social Commitment
DESPITE world economic uncertainties, the government is determined to push ahead with ambitious plans to improve the general standard of life in Hong Kong during the next 10 years.
These plans-costing several thousand million dollars-include new housing for a third of the population, a substantial expansion of secondary education, of which three years will be subsidised for all, and new hospitals and clinics. Hong Kong's social welfare services and labour legislation, already among the most advanced in Asia, will be further developed.
Inevitably, the speed at which these plans can be carried out must be governed by the unique financial and economic factors which influence the prosperity of Hong Kong. Because Hong Kong depends almost entirely on the export of its manufactures, there are severe limits to the amount of revenue which can be raised, since the tax system must not adversely affect the competitiveness of Hong Kong's exports or discourage investment from abroad. The low rate of tax has attracted heavy invest- ment from abroad in the development of Hong Kong industry during the past 20 years. This investment has been a major factor in the dramatic industrial growth which has provided so many jobs that Hong Kong has enjoyed one of the lowest rates of unemployment in the world during this period.
These factors have obliged the government to introduce social services slowly and selectively, charging the public small fees for them wherever possible, but waiving the charges for those who cannot afford them.
Until the mid-1960s, the government had to concentrate on dealing with the immediate problems of housing, health, education and welfare presented by the continual influx of immigrants. Only recently has it been possible to devise an overall policy for social services. The scale of services proposed manifests the government's determination to assume responsibility for many needs which have, in the past, been satisfied by private agencies.
The Pressure of People
Hong Kong's population was little more than half a million at the close of World War II in 1945. Within two years it had risen to 1.8 million. Even though conditions in China settled, after the establishment of the People's Republic in 1949, the early post-war immigrants stayed and more flooded in. By 1961 Hong Kong's population exceeded three million. It is now estimated to be almost 4.3 million, crammed into an area of only 404 square miles.