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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
member of the United Nations, should commemorate the International Year for Social Justice by carrying out those reforms which are required to give the poorer people of Hong Kong a fairer share of Hong Kong's economic abundance.
Compared to other cities in Asia, Hong Kong is no longer a poor city. As an industrial centre, we are second only to Japan. As an international free port, Hong Kong is the best in Asia. As a tourist and shopping centre, Hong Kong is second to none in the world.
Yet when it comes to wages and minimum working hours, universal primary and secondary education, a pension scheme for the worker in his old age, more vocational and technical education for young people to equip them to enter industry, so much more has still to be done.
On the surface, it seems that most Hong Kong people are getting a share of Hong Kong's prosperity arising from its industrial growth. But are they getting their fair share? This is not so, and it is therefore the task of the Hong Kong Government and community leaders to work together for greater social justice for the under-privileged and under-paid in Hong Kong.
Equal opportunity for all
It has been said that all men are created equal and are entitled to equal opportunity in life. This is a fundamental tenet in all democratic and advanced nations in the world. It is subscribed to by the United Kingdom Government which is a member of the United Nations Organization and a signatory to the International Covenants on Human Rights.
We are coming to the end of 1968, the International Year for Human Rights. Next year, the 50th Anniversary of the creation of the International Labour Organization, will be celebrated as the International Year for Social Justice. The I.L.O. will officially launch its world employment program with the aim of giving all human beings an opportunity to contribute to the development of society and to share in the fruits of that development. In Hong Kong, we must also do our part to provide more jobs for all, for unless we do so, "Human Rights" and "Social Justice" will be merely empty-sounding phrases.
What is social justice? It is the right to just and favourable conditions of work, to protection of wages, to minimum wage fixing, minimum hours of work, rest periods, holidays and health and safety measures. It is the right to social security, to medical services, to a pension in old age. It is the right of motherhood and childhood to special protection, and the right of young people to an education that will fit them to gainful employment and to become responsible and active citizens in the community in which they live.
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special protection, and the right of young people to an education that will fit them to gainful employment and to become responsible and active citizens in the community in which they live.
It is only when the Government and the people of Hong Kong are willing and able to work closer together to bring about more social justice in Hong Kong can it be said that we are putting into practice our belief that all men are created equal and are entitled to equal opportunity in life.
Progressive changes
The question is how to go about it? We know that Hong Kong is a benevolent and colonial form of administration. The Government has undoubtedly transformed Hong Kong into a prosperous trading and industrial community, and an international tourist centre. Regrettably, however, despite the many achievements of the colonial administration, it has not been able to make any progress in one important aspect of the life of the community, and that is to develop a sense of loyalty and of belonging to Hong Kong, especially among those who are under 30 years of age, who represent 60% or more of our population.
From personal observation, it is apparent that a great many young people in the 20-30 age group have a sense of frustration, of unfulfilment, and would like to leave Hong Kong for better opportunities elsewhere if they can. They do not feel that the Hong Kong Government is their government, nor is the government sufficiently determined in its efforts to inculcate among young people a sense of loyalty, or of belonging to Hong Kong. These young people accept the Hong Kong Government as nothing more than a reasonably efficient colonial administration that provides them for the time being with the services and amenities to live in Hong Kong. Meantime, they are seeking further afield outside Hong Kong for better opportunities by which they can fulfil their own personal aspirations.
So long as the present colonial-type political machinery remains unchanged the interests of Hong Kong's 4 million people will always remain secondary to those of the metropolitan power, which is the United Kingdom Government. In its present form, it is inherently incapable to take cognizance of the feelings and aspirations of the 98% of the population who are ethnically and culturally Chinese. Whether we like it or not, the great majority of local Chinese residents, irrespective of whether they were born here or not, cannot conceive of themselves as British Subjects in the true sense of the word. Most of them have never visited the United Kingdom, and they know little or nothing about the British way of life. Because of their cultural and
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