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I would support a criticism made both in Committee and here today by Mr. Henry Hu that the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs should remain in existence and not be absorbed by the Social Welfare Department as suggested in this report. This department is almost the only one of Government which has close association and contact with the man in the street and the latter has learned to trust and respect it. Apart from this serious aspect, I understand, that a senior member of the present staff of the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs is seriously considering resigning if the salary offered to the mayor is high enough and standing for election to the Greater Hong Kong Council and thence as mayor—he is convinced that the general public so much support the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs that he would top the polls in both elections! (Laughter) (Applause).
Mr. Chairman I look forward to the adoption of this report by this Council today and to the setting up of sub-committees to study the detail, to accept or reject criticisms and to quicken the whole. (Applause).
CHAIRMAN:-Mr. SALES wishes to exercise his right of reply.
MR. SALES: Sir, it is not a wish that I hold, but an expectation on the part of the Unofficial Members of this Council that I exercise my right of reply which compels me to ask for the floor once again.
It is not my intention to deal in detail with the many points that have been made this evening because these points will doubtless be referred to and studied by the four sub-committees that will be set up in consequence of the resolution adopted by the Standing Committee of the Whole Council so that, in point of fact, all the recommendations that have been made in the Report will be given the close study that they deserve. But, I would be failing in my duty towards the Ad Hoc Committee and also the Unofficial Members of this Council were I not to make certain points clear beyond any doubt.
Sir, first and foremost, I would like to say that this Report was drawn up in the genuine belief that His Excellency the Governor expected the Council to respond to his request for views on how the reform of the local administration should be carried out. Were this Council to remain silent, Sir, it would, in my view, have been an offence on the part of the Council because to ignore such a request would be tantamount to refusing to take part in what His Excellency had asked us to perform. So that we as Members of the Council might form part of a Colony-wide team we then set up this Committee. I hope that the recommendations made by the Committee will be examined sincerely and in the spirit in which they are put forward. There is no struggle for power. Many of us have no political ambitions whatsoever. Nevertheless we believe that it is in the public interest to carry out certain
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reforms of the local administration. And, because we feel that it is our duty to help do so, we have spent many hours on this task.
My second point is to disabuse the minds of so many speakers that I would like to read this Report was a rushed effort. It was not. paragraph 74. "Evidently, we have not gone into detail where it has not appeared to us to be necessary for our immediate purpose. At the appropriate time, whatever change may be agreed upon will require more study in depth before being put into effect." Sir, it is not the number of hours that were spent in committee that matters; it was the thought that was given to the subject that counts. The experience that Members generally command, and applied then to the immediate task at hand, enabled this Report to be drawn up in what appears to be such a short period of time. Both Elected and Appointed Members would not have been in this Council had they not wide local connections, belonging to many associations working for the good of Hong Kong, and so capable of drawing upon that experience in the public interest when called upon to do so. This Report is thus the result of many long days, long months, long years spent in the service of Hong Kong by the Unofficial Members of this Council. I refute any allegation whatsoever that this Report was a rushed job, and I deny that these recommendations were made in a hurry, because they represent the sum total of our experience of public affairs, not only in this Council, but in the many and varied organizations to which all of us belong.
Sir, I have listened with tremendous interest to the speeches made by my Official colleagues. I could refute most if not all the points that were put forward by way of argument. But I anticipated that situation when I said: "Evidently, the surrender of power is a difficult exercise. (Laughter). Manifestly, it will meet with strong resistance."
Sir, I would like to point out that in the minds of the Unofficial Members of this Council there are three public bodies in Hong Kong all with their separate functions to perform: the Executive Council, the Legislative Council and the proposed Administrative Council. The purpose of the Administrative Council has been clearly stated in this Report: that is, to take over direct responsibility for the performance of many governmental functions. These responsibilities are now channelled towards the Colonial Secretariat. And, for those who would like this expressed in terms of traffic, there is the bottleneck that the Director of Public Works has been looking for. (Laughter).
The exercise of power in any community must be seen to be done in the public interest. It is a negation of all the achievements of the Chinese race, with 5,000 years of recorded history, to suggest or imply that they are unable to govern themselves. It is a proposition that is not tenable anywhere. And in Hong Kong—being made up vastly of people of Chinese race—it is a false assumption that the administration
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