THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1980
SIR JACK: I THINK THAT WE ARE VERY MUCH CONCENTRATED ON THE ECONOMY, VERY MUCH CONCENTRATED ON PRIVATE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY AND IN IMPROVING OUR OWN PROSPERITY. BUT I THINK IN THAT LIES A DANGER, THE DANGER THAT WHEN WE ARE TRAVELLING AT SUCH A PACE WE MIGHT JUST OCCASIONALLY OVERLOOK THE FACT THAT SOME AREN'T KEEPING UP WITH US, THE OLD AND THE LAME, THAT SOME ARE AS IT WERE FALLING THROUGH THE NET.
AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE, I THINK, THAT INCREASINGLY WE MUST LOOK FOR, WE MUST SEEK OUT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DON'T SUFFER BECAUSE THEY CAN'T COPE WITH THE PACE OF LIFE IN HONG KONG.
INTERVIEWER: PRESUMABLY THIS WOULD GO FOR MEDICAL SERVICE FOR
EVERYONE ELSE TOO, I MEAN, YOU'D HOPE TO SEE DEVELOPMENT IN THAT AREA.
SIR JACK: WITHOUT ANY DOUBT WHATSOEVER. THE PLANS WE HAVE ARE THERE
FOR ALL TO SEE BUT THERE CAN BE NO DOUBTING, NOT ONLY THAT THEY ARE NECESSARY, BUT NOT JUST IN THE MEDICAL FIELD IN THE SOCIAL FIELD GENERALLY. BUT SO OFTEN WHEN YOU PLAN, WHEN YOU HAVE IDEAS ON A BROAD SCALE IT IS THE INDIVIDUAL WHO SO OFTEN YOU CAN FIND HIM SUFFERING, AND IT IS THIS PERSON I AM BEGINNING TO WORRY ABOUT. I THINK WE HAVE GOT TO FIND THEM OUT, WE HAVE GOT TO SEEK THEM OUT, WE HAVE GOT TO HELP THEM.
INTERVIEWER: WHAT ABOUT EMPLOYMENT? CAN HONG KONG SUSTAIN THE VAST
NUMBERS OF PEOPLE WITH ITS INDUSTRIES AND WITH ITS TRADE?
SIR JACK: I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT WITH THESE ENORMOUS NUMBERS OF PEOPLE COMING HERE THAT WE WOULD HAVE HAD PROBLEMS BUILDING UP BY NOW UPON UNEMPLOYMENT. BUT HONG KONG IS AN EXTRAORDINARY PLACE AND, AS YOU KNOW, THIS PAST YEAR OUR EXPORTS ARE UP 42 PER CENT AND Î AM TOLD BY INDUSTRIALISTS THAT THERE IS A SHORTAGE OF LABOUR ESPECIALLY AMONG THE SKILLED AND SEMI-SKILLED, AND SO IT SEEMS AS THOUGH WE ARE IN FACT ABSORBING THESE PEOPLE.
BUT AS WE LOOK AT THE EIGHTIES WE LOOK ALSO INTO A TIME WHEN THE WEST, WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD, THE BETTER-OFF NATIONS ARE BECOMING, IT SEEMS TO ME, INCREASINGLY PROTECTIONIST. AND THIS, I THINK, MUST BE A GREAT WORRY THAT WE WORRY FOR US AND WE MUST DO ALL WE CAN TO COMBAT THIS PARTICULAR PROBLEM, BECAUSE UNLESS WE ARE SUCCESSFUL IN DOING THAT THEN YOU MIGHT WELL BE RIGHT, WE MIGHT WELL HAVE A SERIOUS PROBLEM TO DO WITH EMPLOYMENT. BUT IT
IS NOT YET ON THE CARDS THAT THAT IN FACT SHOULD BE.
INTERVIEWER: SO THE CHALLENGES REALLY THEN FOR THE COMING DECADE
YOU'D SEE AS BEING PEOPLE PROBLEMS AND THINGS SUCH AS EMPLOYMENT AND TRADE, THE ECONOMY. ON THE SUBJECT OF THE ECONOMY WE HAVE ALREADY HAD THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, SIR PHILIP HADDON-CAVE COMMENTING. BUT WHAT WOULD YOU SEE AS AN OVER-VIEW TO HIS REMARKS?
SIR JACK: I WOULDN'T LIKE TO ADD ANYTHING TO WHAT SIR PHILIP HAS
SAID. BUT I THINK HE VERY SENSIBLY HAS REFUSED TO COMMENT ON THE ECONOMY DURING THE EIGHTIES. SO MUCH COULD HAPPEN IN THE REST OF THE WORLD TO AFFECT US HERE IN HONG KONG, BUT ONE THING IS QUITE CERTAIN THAT WE ARE IN GOOD SHAPE AS WE GO INTO THE EIGHTIES. ARE FORTUNATE IN HAVING A HARD WORK ING, SENSIBLE COMMUNITY. OUR ENTREPRENEURS, OUR INDUSTRIALISTS ARE FLEXIBLE. THE HONG KONG DOLLAR IS STANDING UP, HAVING HAD A LOT OF PRESSURE ON IT OVER THE PAST YEAR OR SO. AND SO WE GO INTO THE EIGHTIES IN GOOD SHAPE.
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