FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1982
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STUDENTS URGED TO LOOK TO EXAMPLES OF PREDECESSORS
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THE SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT, MR ALAN SCOTT TOLD GRADUATING STUDENTS OF THE DIOCESAN BOYS' SCHOOL TODAY (FRIDAY) THAT THEY WERE LEAVING SCHOOL AT A TIME OF A CERTAIN LACK OF CONFIDENCE BY THE COMMUNITY, BUT URGED THEM TO LOOK TO THE EXAMPLE OF THEIR PREDECESSORS.
+ IMAGINE, FOR A MOMENT, HOW THE DBS GRADUATES OF 1970 EVALUATED THE IR PROSPECTS: DURING THE 1960'S, WHILE THEY WERE AT SCHOOL, HONG KONG HAD EXPERIENCED ENORMOUS GROWTH IN ITS POPULATION BY WAVES OF
IMMIGRATION; HAD BEEN STAGGERED BY NATURAL CALAMITIES SUCH AS TYPHOONS AND WATER SHORTAGES; HAD PASSED THROUGH A BANKING CRISIS, AND MOST TESTING OF ALL, THE DISTURBANCES OF 1966 AND 1967.
+BUT WHAT, IN FACT, WAS THEIR EXPERIENCE? - THEY AND THEIR CONTEMPORAR IES WITNESSED AND CONTRIBUTED TO A DECADE OF EXTRAORDINARY GROWTH AND PROGRESS IN THE 1970'S - WHICH DID SO MUCH FOR HONG KONG AND ITS PEOPLE - IN THE SPHERES OF HOUSING, EDUCATION, SOCIAL WELFARE AND TRANSPORT; THE COMMUNITY'S DETERMINED ATTACK ON CRIME, AND ON THE ENVIRONMENT; AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CULTURAL LIFE OF HONG KONG, MR SCOTT SAID.
FURTHERMORE, HE ADDED, THE 1970'S SAW HONG KONG'S DEVELOPMENT AS A WORLD RANKING CENTRE OF BANKING AND COMMERCE, WITH SUPERB COMMUNICATIONS. IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE DECADE, A PARTICULAR FEATURE WAS THE RAPID GROWTH IN COMMUNICATION AND CO-OPERATION IN
INVESTMENT WITH CHINA.
HE TOLD THE STUDENTS AT THE IR ANNUAL SPEECH DAY THAT +PROBLEMS+, AFTER ALL, IS OFTEN, IF NOT ALWAYS, A SYNONYM FOR +CHALLENGES+, AND THE PRESENT CHALLENGE FACED BY HONG KONG IS BUT ONE IN A LONG SERIES
IN THE LAST 40 YEARS,
HE THOUGHT THE CHANGE OF MOOD OF THE COMMUNITY AND ITS ASSESSMENT OF THE FUTURE FROM ONLY A FEW MONTHS AGO WAS IN PART A REFLECTION OF THE HONG KONG CAPACITY FOR FOCUSSING VIGOROUSLY ON A PROBLEM.
HE STRESSED HOWEVER THAT WE SHOULD KEEP A PROPER PERSPECTIVE AND A TRUER PERSPECTIVE COULD BE GAINED BY LOOKING AT OUR ACHIEVEMENTS, IN PARTICULAR OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS.
+AND YET DESPITE ALL THIS ACHIEVEMENT, AND DESPITE DURING A WORLD RECESSION HAVING VIRTUALLY FULL EMPLOYMENT FOR OUR PEOPLE AND CONTINUING GROWTH IN THE ECONOMY, SOMEHOW WE FEEL WE LACK CONFIDENCE.
THIS IS A STRANGE BUT UNDERSTANDABLE PHENOMENON - BUT WITH THE FIRM ASSURANCES FROM CHINA AND GREAT BRITAIN WHICH WE HAVE RECEIVED AND WITH THE SKILLS AND RESILIENCE AND DETERMINATION OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT AS ONE NEWSPAPER RECENTLY EXPRESSED IT IT IS NECESSARY TO KEEP IN MIND WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST, IN ORDER TO REALISE THAT THIS IS YET ANOTHER PHASE IN HONG KONG'S HISTORY WHICH WE SHALL OVERCOME, MR SCOTT SAID.
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