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of two peoples of different socio-cultural backgrounds, and Dr. HUANG did not seem to approve of the use of a peculiar language which he described as "Hong Kong style Chinese."
Dr. BELL likened the Urban Council Ward system as a major plank in the bridge to be built across the "canyon". Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN advocated the expansion of the S.C.A. liaison officer system and Mr. BLAKER suggested a system of Urban District Officer, in order to keep in closer touch with the wants and desires of Hong Kong residents. Mrs. Li suggested a P.R.O. for the Urban Council, in addition to making greater use of radio and television as media of communications. Mr. Wilson WANG suggested that Government might gain by directing the S.C.A. to organize conducted tours over a more glamorous bridge than to guide their friends through the "hidden tunnels". He also suggested certain reforms for the S.C.A. Mr. P. S. Woo felt the reform of the attitude and behaviour of the civil servants would go a long way to bridge the "gap". Mr. Wilfred WONG however praised the efforts of G.I.S. for having produced the many pamphlets on licensing procedure, and urged members of the public to make fuller use of them. Mr. Li Yiu Bor said he was not over-worried about the gap that has been much talked about.
For all these directions and suggestions, I feel greatly indebted and truly grateful. I shall treasure them myself, and make sure that my staff will treasure them also. I shall further do my very best to make my colleagues in other Government departments feel the same way as I do and do their very best to apply them where appropriate.
Nevertheless members, and indeed the Hong Kong community, might be interested to hear that since May this year, the Information Services Department has produced 87 different pamphlets and leaflets in Chinese, with a total print order of 3,916,000 for distribution locally. The total included 817,000 leaflets explaining, in simple language, Government procedures as well as 1,068,000 leaflets in connection with special publicity campaigns.
The Film Unit produced seven monthly newsreels in Cantonese with total screening time of 58 minutes in all. A total of 234 copies of these newsreels were circulated to 234 theatres and were seen by an estimated cinema audience of 550,000 people.
The Information Services Department also organized broadcast talks by 40 senior Chinese officers to give the people of Hong Kong an opportunity of learning something about the inside working of government. Arrangements have so far been made for heads of eight government departments to appear on wireless television. 114 senior government officers have also been interviewed by press or radio. In the seven-month period, more than 5,600 press enquiries, many from Chinese newspapers, were answered and 14 press conferences and visits were organized. This is not all, Government Printing Department churned out 2,560 pages of departmental annual reports last year, in addition to a large number of sessional papers and other publications.
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The Director of Broadcasting has asked me to refer to Mrs. Li's comments on Government's use of Radio Hong Kong, particularly in connection with broadcasts about devaluation and revaluation. He feels that Council Members might like to know that, in fact, very considerable coverage was given to many aspects of the effects of the change in the value of the Hong Kong dollar during the week in question. During the five-day period between Monday, 20th November and Friday, 24th November, no less than 23 items were broadcast in Chinese and 21 in English, solely in connection with this subject. Apart from the Financial Secretary's major statement of policy, broadcast items covered the effects of devaluation and revaluation, and included considered comments on the possible results as far as trade, the banks, shopkeepers, airlines, hotels, public transport, etc. were concerned. The Director of Broadcasting would like to emphasize that Radio Hong Kong is Government's most important means of dissemination of news and comment, and that he and his staff are continuously striving to bring to the listening public up-to-date, accurate, and informed news and comment as quickly as possible.
There remains, however, the unanswered question of how much of these have been listened to, or how many of those reproduced in print were actually read with care or remembered, or otherwise kept on record and referred to when opinions are expressed. Pressure of living in our highly complex modern society simply does not provide people with the time necessary to take in all that they want to take or otherwise pushed down their throats. While we should continue our efforts to doing what we can, it must be accepted that there are limitations. I wonder whether it would not suit our purpose better if more personal attention could be paid to the increasing number of queries or complaints to men at their desks, in addition to the variety of views and opinions put forward by individual citizens, whether through the existing channels provided by UMELCO, the Urban Council Ward System, or the S.C.A., than to emphasize the increased usage of the various mass media.
I was interested to read in EITEL's book entitled: "Europe in China" (Kelly and Walsh 1895) where he commented on the appointment on 24th October, 1864 of Mr. (later Sir) C. S. SMITH as the first ever cadet to act as Registrar-General—by which title the S.C.A. was then known. According to EITEL, dating back to the early 1860s Sir Hercules ROBINSON, the then Governor, took special pains to make sure of two things; first that the Chinese should be fully and accurately informed of
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