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ment Departments should be replied to in Chinese or in English with a Chinese translation attached to it.
During the second stage, I would like to see that simultaneous interpretation in the proceedings of the public meetings of both the Urban and Legislative Councils be introduced. The purpose of this is to enable the public who are not bilingual to follow the proceedings of the meetings. It will also give an opportunity to any member who wishes to speak in his mother tongue to do so. The simultaneous interpretation should be confined to public meetings only and to no other, because the members of the Councils themselves are expected to be bilingually proficient.
Coming to the final stage, I would like to see that bilingualism be made a prerequisite to the election and appointment of all members to the two Councils. This will apply to foreign and Chinese alike. I would like to see that all officials holding high Government posts are bilingual, (Laughter) so that they can handle correspondence in either language. When this time comes, then the use of any one language will be purely a matter of choice, rather than a necessity, and we will then be truly living in what His Excellency the Governor calls a Bilingual Society.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion.
MR. BERNACCHI:-On a point of order, Mr. Chairman, I must object to the word "foreign". "European and Chinese" I have no objection to, but I think that it is an atrocious thing to hear a member of this Council use the word "foreign" when he means Britishers, this Council being a "British" Council.
MR. SOLOMON RAFEEK:-Mr. Chairman, to anyone not familiar with it either as a visitor or a resident, Hong Kong is an enigma. By any ordinary standard, the history of Hong Kong in the last decade should have been a record of epidemics, labour unrest, disturbances in factories and refugee centres, outbreaks of lawlessness and an economy faltering between bare survival and bankruptcy. But we know happily that such has not been the case. The respected English periodical The Economist, to name but the most recent reference, paid, a short while back, eloquent tribute to the miracle which is modern Hong Kong.
Rapid expansion in any economy, at any time, imposes strains and stresses. The secret of being able to cope satisfactorily with these, lies mainly in planning. Bold, forward-looking planning ensures that all other sections of an economy keep pace with the section that sparks off and maintains the boom. Even in a normal situation and with a well-
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integrated structure, an economy can be totally wrecked by necessary and profitable expansion in one sector not accompanied by, and prepared for, corresponding expansion in other sectors.
So far in Hong Kong, we have, by and large, ridden the crest of the wave. But it is my considered opinion that there are straws in the wind which should forewarn us of more troubled waters ahead. It is necessary for us, I consider, to attend to these portents now so that we can make, in good time, adequate and substantial preparations for whatever difficulties may confront us in the not too distant future.
We have steadfastly adhered, and I consider rightly so, to the principle of Free Trade here. It is largely because of this that our industries flourish and that very considerable foreign investment is made here; despite our apparently vulnerable and insecure position on the map. But I venture to suggest that our prosperity in the last decade, and more especially in the last five years, has somewhat dazzled us to the point of blinding us to some of the more important problems that confront us in vital sectors of our life.
These problems are now assuming difficult proportions largely through piecemeal and haphazard planning.
The most obvious problem is housing. Very commendable efforts have been made recently to improve and increase the rate of Resettlement. But housing for the middle-income group, who constitute such a large and important sector of our population, lags far behind. It is not that the various bodies catering for the provision of low-cost housing for this group, are not using their resources. On the contrary, considering the shortage and the high cost of land, they are doing a heroic job. But the ordinary citizen can be forgiven if he feels that Government and planners are not interested in him and his welfare, when he sees thousands of suitable apartments lying idle for months, sometimes even for years because greedy speculators and developers, charging very high rents are at no loss, since rates are not levied on these unoccupied apartments. The conflict here is between the anxiety to avoid controls and fettering free enterprise on the one hand, and the well-being of a very large group of the population, whose talents and skills contribute in no small measure to the prosperity we now enjoy. Unfortunately, our preoccupation with the development of our trade, dulls our sensibility to the problems confronting our people. In this lies a big danger to our future. Perhaps if Government were in closer contact with the ordinary people and their problems, positive legislation could be more effectively and promptly planned to avoid a situation, such as the one I have mentioned, arising.
There are many further examples that could be given to highlight even more this imbalance between facilities for developing our trade
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