WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 1980
BOAT PEOPLE A STRAIN ON PUBLIC SERVICES
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THE ACTING GOVERNOR, SIR JACK CATER TOLD AN INTERNATIONAL MEETING OF SOCIAL WORKERS TODAY (WEDNESDAY) THAT THE STRAIN IMPOSED BY THE 'BOAT PEOPLE' FROM VIETNAM ON THE PUBLIC SERVICES IN HONG KONG WAS IMMENSE AND TOGETHER WITH THE MASSIVE INFLUX OF IMMIGRANTS FROM CHINA COULD UNDERMINE OUR SOCIAL SERVICE ACHIEVEMENTS AND AIMS,
SPEAKING AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 20TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL WELFARE AT THE CITY HALL, SIR JACK SAID THAT IN THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF 1979 SOME 70 000 BOAT REFUGEES REACHED HONG KONG.
+TO OUR EVER-LASTING CREDIT, WE OVERCROWDED HONG KONG TURNED NONE AWAY: THEY WERE LANDED AS TRANSIENTS AND HOUSED IN SPECIALLY ERECTED OR CONVERTED CAMPS, HE SAID.
ALTHOUGH THE SUCCESS OF THE GENEVA CONFERENCE CAME AS AN ENORMOUS RELIEF, AFTER IT ENDED, IT IS ALL TOO EASY FOR SOME COUNTRIES NOT FACED WITH THE REALITIES OF COPING WITH THESE VAST NUMBERS, CONVENIENTLY TO FORGET THE URGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO BE MADE TO RESETTLE THE REFUGEES.
+SOME HOST COUNTRIES HAVE RESPONDED MAGNIFICENTLY AND WE ARE GRATEFUL TO THEM. BUT THERE ARE OTHERS WHO ARE RICH, WHO HAVE RESOURCES, WHO VIRTUALLY PREFER TO TURN A BLIND EYE,+ SIR JACK SAID.
AN EVEN MORE INTRACTABLE PROBLEM FROM HONG KONG'S POINT OF VIEW SIR JACK CONTINUED, IS THE GREATLY INCREASED NUMBER OF PEOPLE COMING HERE FROM CHINA WHICH IN 1979 ALONE WAS 180 000.
+THESE ADDITIONAL NUMBERS HAVE STRETCHED OUR SOCIAL SERVICES TO THE LIMIT AND HAVE THREATENED TO ERODE THE IMPROVEMENTS WE HAVE MADE, SO HARD-WON, OVER THE PAST THREE DECADES.
+NOW WE HAVE TO LOOK AGAIN AT OUR PLANS FOR EDUCATION, HOUSING, HEALTH AND WELFARE PROVISIONS, AND REVISE THEM TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THIS MUCH-SWOLLEN AND SWELLING POPULATION, HE SAID.
HE HAD NO DOUBT THAT HONG KONG WOULD OVERCOME THE PROBLEM AS IT HAD OVERCOME SIMILAR PROBLEMS IN THE PAST.
+BUT IT WILL NOT BE EASY. MEANTIME, AND IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, WE SHALL HAVE A STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN, LET ALONE TO IMPROVE, THE "QUALITY OF LIFE' WHICH FOR US HAS BEEN SO HARD-WON, HE SAID.
EARLIER IN HIS SPEECH, SIR JACK OUTLINED SOME OF THE SIGNIFICANT ADVANCES ACHIEVED BY HONG KONG.
THESE INCLUDED NINE YEARS OF FREE, COMPULSORY, PRIMARY AND JUNIOR SECONDARY EDUCATION, THE MASSIVE PUBLIC HOUSING PROGRAMME WHICH HAS ALREADY PROVIDED HOMES FOR OVER TWO MILLION PEOPLE, AND IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL WELFARE. A NON-CONTRIBUTORY SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SUPPLEMENTED BY ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCES ON A NON-MEANS TESTED BASIS FOR THE DISABLED AND THE ELDERLY.
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