FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1982
5
COMMUNITY URGED TO KEEP RESOLVE
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THE SECRETARY FOR DISTRICT ADMINISTRATION, MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, TODAY CALLED ON THE COMMUNITY NOT TO FALTER IN ITS RESOLVE TO BUILD FULL AND HAPPY LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG,
THIS COULD BE DONE, HE SAID, BY USING THE IMAGINATION ENTERPRISE AND DETERMINATION WHICH HAD BROUGHT THE TERRITORY TO ITS POSITION OF PRE-EMINENCE IN TODAY'S WORLD.
MR AKERS-JONES' CALL CAME AT THE END OF A SPEECH IN WHICH HE SPOKE OF THE DECADES OF CONTINUAL CHANGE AND CHALLENGE SINCE THE WAR WHICH HAD TRANSFORMED HONG KONG INTO A GREAT MODERN CITY.
HE TOLD AN AUDIENCE OF TEACHERS, PARENTS AND STUDENTS AT THE ST STEPHEN'S COLLEGE SPEECH DAY THAT +WE HAVE CREATED A MODREN, COMPLEX SOCIETY WHICH, WITH ONLY FIVE MILLION PEOPLE, IS RANKED SIXTEENTH AMONG THE TRADING NATIONS OF THE WORLD AND THIRD AMONG THE FINANCIAL CENTRES, COMPETING ON EQUAL TERMS WITH GREAT NATIONS AND CAPITAL CITIES AROUND THE WORLD.+
MR AKERS-JONES EMPHASISED THAT HONG KONG PEOPLE HAD FACED MANY HARDSHIPS TOGETHER NO NATURAL RESOURCES, HOUSING SHORTAGES, DROUGHT AND FLOOD, TYPHOONS, FIRE AND SICKNESS,
+WE HAVE FOUND A WAY TO OVERCOME THESE ADVERSITIES AND TO GO ON TO ACHIEVE A STANDARD OF LIVING THAT IS ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN ASIA, HE SAID.
*AT THE SAME TIME, AS PEOPLE INFLUENCED BY EDUCATION, TRAVEL, CINEMA AND TELEVISION, BY POLITICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND THE CONSTRAINTS OF HIGH-DENSITY, HIGH-RISE LIVING, WE HAVE CREATED À HONG KONG LIFE STYLE AND, WITHIN THE ESSENTIAL FRAMEWORK OF THE LAW, OUR OWN SPECIAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT, WHICH DOES NOT RELY ON ELECTIONS TO ACHIEVE A WIDE MEASURE OF PUBLIC SUPPORT.
+WE GOVERN BY CONSENSUS AND THERE CAN BE FEW GOVERNMENTS IN THE WORLD WHICH ARE ADVISED BY OVER 300 BOARDS AND COMMITTEES,
+THERE ARE FEW COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD WHERE EACH DAY SEES THE PUBLICATION OF OVER 50 DAILY PAPERS REPRESENTING THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF THE FREEDOM WHICH WE ENJOY,+
MR AKERS-JONES REMINDED THE GRADUATING STUDENTS THAT THEY WOULD BE GOING OUT INTO SOCIETY TO JOIN THREE MILLION OTHER HONG KONG PEOPLE UNDER THE AGE OF 30.
HE SAID THAT HONG KONG WAS NOT AN EASY PLACE IN WHICH TO GROW UP AND THEY WOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE WHETHER TO JOIN THOSE FORCES WORKING TO CREATE A NEW SOCIETY AND TO STRUGGLE AGAINST THE DISRUPTIVE FORCES TO CRIME, CORRUPTION, DRUGS AND POLLUTION OR TO LEAD A MATERIALISTIC, SELF-CENTRED LIFE.
MR AKERS-JONES EXPRESSED THE BELIEF THAT THE STUDENTS HAD THE VISION TO SEE THE NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF THE SOCIETY AND TO SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITIES OPEN TO THEM ALL, TO JOIN IN THIS WIDER SPHERE OF ACTIVITY OUTSIDE THE CIRCLE OF FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
/HE SAID: