14
Miss Dunn: "
REVIEW
Will the Government consider abolishing all restrictions on the
employment of adult women workers at night . . .?' Commissioner for Labour: 'Not at this time, Sir."
Mr Cheung: 'On the whole, is not the lot of women employed in factories and in commercial establishments much better than that of the housewife who has to work at home without servants (laughter)?'
Commissioner for Labour: "That is a matter on which I think I would be wiser not to
pass a personal opinion (laughter)!'
(Hong Kong Hansard, 1979–80, pp. 279–80) Nor must the philosophical and creative role of members be forgotten. Twice a year,
in the major wide-ranging debates which follow the Governor's Address in October at the opening of the new session of the council, and in March following the introduction of the Budget, Unofficial Members have the occasion to voice their ideas, concerns or criticisms. The Government takes note of them, and the Official Member responsible for the subject replies. The debates are widely covered in the 15 or so major daily newspapers published in Hong Kong, so the public can observe and judge both the original speeches and the responses. Not infrequently the seeds that grow into new policies and programmes can be traced back to ideas first put forward by Unofficials in these debates.
Consulting the People
―
Every Constitution grows its own distinctive features. Much in Hong Kong's the separation of the powers of Executive, Legislature and Judiciary; the control over finance by the Legislature; the independence of the judges; the crucial role of the Rule of Law - is drawn and adapted from Britain's long experience. But the great Hong Kong innovation, the really local and distinctive feature of its system of government, is its elaborate consultative process. The deep and wide-ranging system by which Government seeks, obtains and acts on advice from the private sector of the community is a home-grown plant of which Hong Kong can justly be proud. The effectiveness of such consultation is vital to social stability in a community whose Government is not and cannot be elected.
Politics in Hong Kong truly, and necessarily, are consensus politics, as the Secretary for Home Affairs suggested in an address to the Hong Kong Management Association in 1975: 'The Hong Kong Government proceeds by consensus rather than debate . . . A Government newly-elected on the basis of a political programme can ride roughshod over even quite substantial minorities; this we would not and cannot do here. Consensus implies consultation, negotiation and compromise on a scale that would be unacceptable to a party returned to power by an election . . . (these) all require participation by the public. . . and on its side the Government has to be amenable to public opinion.'
In Hong Kong there is no less political argument in the wide meaning of the words, no fewer different opinions, no less pressure from interested groups, than elsewhere in the world. The difference is that in Hong Kong the Government seeks reconciliation of differing opinions, on whatever subject, through a process of discreet and patient consultation which aims to achieve the most rational and pragmatic advice. 'What will work best in practice?' is the question asked rather than whether the decision fits any preconceived political theory.
So, in the Hong Kong scheme, interested and expert groups at all levels in the com- munity play a vital part in the processes of government. Beneath ExCo and LegCo, but unconnected directly with them, sits a network of advisory boards and committees, some