of disorder, placed very special demands upon residential staff. Despite all this, the reliability of staff of the Department never gave any cause for anxiety at any time; they faced the difficulties and the new problems with cheerfulness, resource and steadfastness, and they did their duty in an exemplary manner. To all these qualities, as to their common sense, loyalty and compassion I gladly pay tribute, and for their unfailing support and response I express my gratitude and admiration.
141. To all this and to an increased work load had to be added the problems introduced by the impact of the departmental reorganiza- tion, in which the new relationships and the need for a new capacity for flexibility had to be tested by experience. Some of the problems in communication that the new organization seemed to create had been foreseen, but others emerged only in the process of turning over to the new structure. That most of these problems had been faced and resolved by the end of the year was largely due to the patience and understanding of officers at all levels in the Department, and their willingness to make personal and professional adjustments often of some difficulty, a fact which augurs well for the completion of the process during the coming months.
142. What was perhaps most difficult of all in 1967-68 was the maintenance of a determined effort to carry on planning for the medium term, at a time when many voices were heard calling for ambitious new developments of major complexity, while even the maintenance of approved services on a scale adequate to meet rising current needs was attended by much difficulty. It would have been easy to shelve the planning 'for the duration' but, difficult as it was at times to find the time to carry on this work, I think that its suspension would have caused dismay and would have looked like a betrayal of those qualities of optimism, realism and idealism that social workers in Hong Kong, official and voluntary, have applied over the past fifteen years or so to reach the present, admittedly imperfect, stage of development.
143. The course of future development of social work in Hong Kong is hard to predict, but I remain optimistic, and my optimism is based chiefly on the energy and resolution of the people of Hong Kong and especially of the many colleagues, official and unofficial, professional and voluntary, with whom it has been a pleasure and privilege for me
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