}
Su (6)9 (8) 279
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I agree that, in connection with the proposed residential
qualification for members of the Chinese community,
some special provision should be made, on the lines proposed in paragraph 25' of Sir Mark Young's despatch No.145, in order: that those persons who left Hong Kong
during the period of the Japanese occupation should
not be penalised. In conformity with my comment in sub-paragraph (b) above, however, I consider that this
concession should equally be extended to members of the
non-Chinese communities.
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(a) Minimum qualifying age for Councillors and Voters
(paragraphs 17 and 24). In paragraph 17(a) of his
despatch No. 145 Sir Mark Young recommended that the
minimum qualifying age limit for election as a Councillor should be 30, and, in paragraph 24(1) of his despatch,
that the minimum qualifying age limit for voters should
be 25. Subsequently he felt able to recomend that the
minimum qualifying age for Councillors should be reduced
to 25, and advised that the weight of local opinion
would not at present favour any further reduction in the
minimum qualifying age limit for both Councillors and
voters. In the light of this advice I am prepared to
accept the age of 25 as the minimum qualifying age for
both, but I trust that a reduction in both cases to 21
will not be long delayed.
(*)
Other electoral qualifications (paragraph 24).
I agree to the proposed literacy and residential
qualifications. As regards the proposal that voters
should, in addition, possess a property or the Jury
Service qualification, I accept the view that these
additional qualifications are desirable at this stage,
that I feel that persons who can satisfy the
Registration Officer that they are excluded from the
Jury List solely on the grounds that they are over 60,
or are ignorant of the English language, or on account
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