5
I make no excuses in respect of our present difficulties.
I
would merely comment that few people, if any, could have been looking with
accuracy into their crystal balls two or three years ago. 20-20 hindsight on the other hand is a gift most of us acquire with diligent practice even,
apparently, Hong Kong's taipans: the trick is to apply the lessons of the
past intelligently to the future
be wrong.
and even then, as we all know, one can
Seriously, who here foresaw two-and-a-half years ago, the immense increase in our population, not only from immigration, but from business interests drawn to Hong Kong in response to China's Four Modernisations?
Two-and-a-half years is, incidentally, a magic figure: it takes
I dare say
will
at least that time to "create" new formed and serviced land.
that the various decisions, the additional plans that are being formed now for putting into the Government machine in any number of directions not show fruit for a while, but in the provision of formed land we know that about two-and-a-half years will pass before those plans begin to show through in practical terms. But show through they will.
All Government planning, whether in terms of land-production, housing, social services, what you will, all planning has been, and will continue to be, affected by our sudden, startling; population increase in 1979. Unforeseen, unplanned for though that increase was, we are nevertheless tackling our problems in true Hong Kong style. It is not the first time we have been overwhelmed with people. And, as usual, Hong Kong will no doubt make some extra bootstraps, pick itself up by them and carry on to the very best of its ability. Planning has to be flexible: these days more flexible than ever. We have to take frequent up-dates on our balance sheets and act accordingly.
/For one