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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
In principle, no one on this Council can gainsay this fundamental right of citizenship, which is unmistakably set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It would therefore seem that, as an affirmation of the fundamental rights of the permanent residents of Hong Kong, this Motion merits support in principle.
But since it is highly probable that we in the Civic Association do not share the same views with the Reform Club elected members and perhaps some other Unofficial Members as to the manner and pace of implementation of such motion, it has been agreed that the Motion should not be voted on by this Council.
We in the Civic Association cannot lose sight of the fact that citizenship in its political sense is intimately bound up with the size of the franchise and the pace of constitutional reform in Hong Kong, and the ability of Hong Kong people to defend themselves as an independent state.
We have unswervingly upheld the view that universal franchise in Hong Kong can only come about by stages, and as our education standards and living standards rise.
Primarily for this reason, I have constantly attacked the Government's education policy as being unimaginative, "penny-wise and pound-foolish" and working against the long-term political interests of the United Kingdom Government.
Broadly speaking, all persons domiciled here are "Hong Kong citizens" in that under the law they are supposed to enjoy civil liberties and individual freedom.
But they have not yet acquired political rights where there is an elected legislature and where the people have the right to vote for their representatives to such legislature.
As Council members are aware, the Governor has appointed a Working Party to go into the question of expanding the present franchise in respect of the Urban Council, and this Working Party is meeting weekly.
The setting up of the Working Party was a wise decision on the part of the Governor, and it is to be hoped that the Working Party will soon present firm recommendations for a reasonable expansion of the present very limited franchise.
Whatever the recommendations of the Working Party may be, it would seem that the question of creating a Hong Kong Citizenship status would be practical and equitable only when at least half of Hong Kong's population of voting age become enfranchised.
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To create now the status of a Hong Kong Citizen for say only 50,000 to 100,000 persons out of a population of four million would be establishing an elite or a privileged class, which would not be acceptable to the Hong Kong public, and would be a violation of fundamental human rights.
I would therefore urge the Reform Club members who have moved and seconded this Motion, as well as other members of this Council, to consider the motion in its widest implications, and not to advocate any steps which may irreparably damage our economic and social progress.
I would agree it is highly desirable that we keep constantly in mind the strongly felt desire in the minds and hearts of many people for the creation of a Hong Kong Citizenship when the time is ripe.
A right step in this direction would be to establish certain overriding qualifications for the right to vote at Urban Council elections, particularly in respect of new names which are added to the franchise.
Firstly, I suggest that the names of persons who are not permitted under the citizenship laws of their own country to vote at Urban Council elections should not be included in the Register.
Secondly, no person should in future be accepted as a voter under any of the designated categories unless he or she has been living in Hong Kong fairly consistently for a period of at least five years. If the person is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, consideration may be given to reducing the period to three years to allow some of our newly-arrived expatriate Civil Servants to vote.
Apart from expanding the franchise and the establishing of overriding qualifications, there is another question which is intimately related to the creation of a Hong Kong citizenship. It is the obvious need for the Hong Kong Government to commence paying more than lip-service to bringing in local men into the top posts in Government.
Looking through the list of Department heads, for instance, we find no more than two or three local men. The rest of the posts are filled by Overseas Officers. Why is this so? Is it because local men are not good enough, or can never be good enough because of some unwritten form of discrimination in the Hong Kong Colonial Civil Service?
One should expect that for a highly civilized community like Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Colonial Government in its enlightenment should strive to appoint more local men as heads of departments and other senior posts in the Civil Service.
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