!UESDAY, MARCH 5, 1985
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ENGLISH LANGUAGE ESSENTIAL TO HK'S FUTURE AKERS-JONES
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ENGLISH IS THE LANGUAGE OF HONG KONG'S INTERNATIONAL LINKS BY WHICH THIS COSMOPOLITAN CITY DRAWS ITS STRENGTH, ITS TRADE AND ITS ECONOMIC PROSPERITY, MR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID TODAY.
+IT TRANSCENDS NATIONAL BARRIERS AND IS MORE ESSENTIAL TO OUR FUTURE PROSPERITY THAN ANY OTHER SINGLE FACTOR, HE TOLD THE ROTARY CLUB OF PENINSULA LUNCHEON MEETING.
IT HAD ASSUMED, HE SAID, AN IMPORTANCE AS A LANGUAGE GREATER THAN ENGLAND AS A NATION.
MR AKERS-JONES SAID HE DREW PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THIS BECAUSE HE BELIEVED HONG KONG MIGHT BE + IN SOME DANGER OF LOSING SIGHT OF ITS IMPORTANCE IN OUR VERY PROPER DESIRE TO USE THE MOST EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AS WE REFORM OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM+.
HONG KONG, HE SAID, HAD TO CONTINUE WITH THE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDED TO SUSTAIN ECONOMIC GROWTH AND, IF NECESSARY, SACRIFICES HAD TO BE MADE TO ACHIEVE THIS.
OTHER +ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS OF ENDURING VALUE TO THE HONG KONG COMMUNITY+, HE SAID WERE TOLERATION OF RACE AND RELIGION, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, MIXING OF CULTURES AND LANGUAGE, PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR PROGRAMMES OF DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT AND REFORM, EXPANDING EDUCATION, A WILLINGNESS TO INNOVATE, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND HARD WORK.
+THESE ARE SOME BUT NOT ALL THE QUALITIES THAT HAVE CREATED THIS REMARKABLE CITY, HE SAID.
MR AKERS-JONES ALSO SPOKE OF THE CHANGES THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE SINCE HE WENT TO LIVE AT ISLAND HOUSE, TAI PO, 11 YEARS AGO.
+ IF YOU LOOK BACKWARD OVER YOUR SHOULDERS INTO THE PAST TWENTY, OR EVEN TEN, YEARS, YOU SEE AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE FULL OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE, DIFFERENTLY EMPLOYED.
+WE LOOK BACK AT THE YEARS OF TYPHOON AND DROUGHT, AT GREAT SURGES OF IMMIGRATION, TEXTILE QUOTA PROBLEMS: CHALLENGE UPON CHALLENGE TAKEN UP AND THROWN BACK IN THE FACE OF FORTUNE, + HE SAID.
HONG KONG, HE SAID, FACED ITS BIGGEST CHALLENGE TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS AGO WHEN IT BEGAN THE JOURNEY TO FIND A SATISFACTORY SOLUTION TO THE GREAT UNCERTAINTY OF THE FUTURE+.
+NOW THOSE YEARS ARE BEHIND US AND WE PREPARE FOR THE CHANGES THAT THE YEARS AHEAD WILL BRING, HE SAID.
/WHAT HAD