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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 1980
+1T IS SURELY ON THE LATTER THAT WE HOPE TO BUILD HONG KONG'S FUTURE AND THE STANDARD OF LIVING OF OUR PEOPLE, AND NOT ON A RELAPSE INTO CHEAP LABOUR ENTERPRISES WHOSE PRODUCTS ARE MORE AND MORE SUBJECT TO RESTRICTION IN OVERSEAS MARKETS, HE SAID.
THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION, HE SAID, COULD ONLY BE SOLVED IN CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH OUR NEIGHBOURS IN GUANGDONG.
SIR MURRAY SAID THAT OVER THE FIRST EIGHT MONTHS OF THE YEAR, HONG KONG HAD HAD TO ABSORB AN ADDITIONAL 91 000 PEOPLE THROUGH LEGAL AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA. THIS WAS ON TOP OF THE 178 000 LAST YEAR. ALTHOUGH THE EVASION RATIO IN THE CASE OF ILLEGALS HAD BEEN CUT DOWN FROM SOMETHING LIKE 3.5:1 TO ABOUT 1:1, IT LOOKED LIKE THIS YEAR'S TOTAL FIGURE WOULD BE WORRYINGLY HIGH AND NOT MUCH SHORT OF LAST YEAR'S.
+CLEARLY THE ROOT CAUSE LIES IN THE CURRENT URGE TO
REACH HONG KONG, AND THE ONLY LONG-TERM CURE LIES IN DEFLATING THIS URGE AT ITS SOURCE, THAT IS TO SAY IN THE COMMUNES OF GUANGDONG.
+MEANWHILE, OUR UNREMITTING EFFORTS TO INTERCEPT AND RETURN THIS TRAFFIC TO CHINA ARE ESSENTIAL,+ HE STRESSED.
ON THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEES, SIR MURRAY MADE IT CLEAR THAT HONG KONG WOULD DO ALL IT COULD TO ENSURE THAT THE REFUGEES STILL HERE WERE NOT SWEPT UNDER THE INTERNATIONAL RUG AS FORGOTTEN PEOPLE.
THE EFFORTS MADE AND THE HUMANITY SHOWN IN THIS SMALL OVERCROWDED TERRITORY DESERVE RECOGNITION IN THE ONLY PRACTICAL WAY POSSIBLE -- PLEDGES FOR RESETTLEMENT, HE STRESSED.
SIR MURRAY THEN REVIEWED HONG KONG'S MAJOR SOCIAL PROGRAMMES IN HOUSING, EDUCATION, SOCIAL WELFARE AND MEDICAL SERVICES, AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF IMMIGRATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON THEM.
ON HOUSING, HE NOTED THAT THERE HAD BEEN AN OVERALL INCREASE OF 65 000 NEW FLATS IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS, AND HE EXPECTED THIS RATE OF PRODUCTION TO BE MAINTAINED FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS AT LEAST.
EVEN SO, A NEW STUDY WAS BEING UNDERTAKEN TO ASSESS WHERE THIS RATE OF COMPLETIONS WAS GETTING US AND WHEN IT WOULD BRING THE CHRONIC PROBLEM OF INADEQUATE HOUSING NEARER A SOLUTION,
IMMIGRATION HAD WORSENED THE POSITION. THE DEMAND ON OUR HOUSING STOCK THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BE MADE BY THE NUMBERS THAT ARRIVED LAST YEAR IS EQUAL TO AT LEAST A FULL YEAR'S BUILDING AT CURRENT RATES, SIR MURRAY SAID.
+THE LONGER THE INFLUX CONTINUES THE MORE DIFFICULT WILL IT BECOME EVER TO CORRECT THE SITUATION.+
ON EDUCATION, SIR MURRAY ANNOUNCED THAT A WHITE PAPER ON PRIMARY EDUCATION AND PRE-PRIMARY SERVICES WOULD BE PUBLISHED THIS SESSION, COMPLETING THE SERIES OF REVIEAS OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM BEGUN IN 1974.
HE SAID