SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1985
PARTNERSHIP ESSENTIAL FOR CHALLENGE AHEAD SIR DAVID
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A REAL PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG AND ITS GOVERNMENT IS ESSENTIAL IF WE WERE TO FACE THE CHALLENGE AHEAD, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID THIS (SATURDAY) EVENING.
+AND THIS PARTNERSHIP CANNOT EVOLVE AND DEEPEN WITHOUT TRUST, AND WITHOUT THE CONVICTION THAT, THE GOVERNMENT, IN DOING WHAT IT DOES AND DECIDES, HAS THE REAL AND LONG-TERM INTERESTS OF THE COMMUNITY AT HEART, HE SAID.
THE CHALLENGE, SIR DAVID SAID, WAS TO TURN THE OPPORTUNITY PROVIDED BY THE DETAILED BLUE-PRINT OF THE JOINT DECLARATION AND ITS ANNEXES INTO A WORKING REALITY.
+ IT IS A CHALLENGE BECAUSE THERE IS NO KNOWN PRECEDENT FOR WHAT WE HAVE TO DO.+
SIR DAVID WAS ADDRESSING THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES ASSOCIATION OF HONG KONG.
REFERRING TO ALLEGATIONS THAT THERE HAD BEEN NO PARTNERSHIP IN THE PAST BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE THAT THERE HAD BEEN LITTLE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE TWO AND THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN INDIFFERENT TO WHAT THE GOVERNMENT DID AS LONG AS THEY COULD GET ON WITH MAKING MONEY AND LIVE THEIR LIVES IN PEACE, SIR DAVID SAID ALL THESE WERE NOT TRUE.
+THERE IS NOTHING NEW IN THESE ALLEGATIONS BUT IN FACT, THE PERFORMANCE OF THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF INTENSE EXAMINATION, CRITICISM, COMMENT AND ADVICE FROM A VOCIFEROUS PUBLIC AND MEDIA FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER.
+AND THIS IS PRECISELY THE KIND OF SCRUTINY FROM A CRITICAL AND DEMANDING PUBLIC THAT HAS KEPT OUR FREE SOCIETY ON AN EVEN KEEL THAT HAS ENSURED THAT THE GOVERNMENT WAS GETTING ITS PRIORITIES RIGHT THAT IT WAS ATTENDING TO THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT IT WAS LOOKING AHEAD AND THAT PUBLIC MONEY WAS BEING SPENT IN A WAY WHICH HAD BROAD PUBLIC SUPPORT,+ HE SAID.
SIR DAVID SAID IT WAS NOT NECESSARY FOR HIM TO DISSECT THE INTRICATE NERVOUS SYSTEM THE WORK OF THE HUNDREDS OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES WHICH HAVE PROVIDED THE BASIS FOR THE CONSENSUS GOVERNMENT WE HAVE EVOLVED.
+THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS THE LONG-TERM INTERESTS OF THE COMMUNITY AT HEART IS BORNE OUT BY THE DETERMINATION TO CARRY ON WITH ALL THOSE LONG-TERM DEVELOPMENT PLANS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO OUR PROSPERITY, HEALTH AND WEALTH, EDUCATION AND HOUSING, WHICH ARE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF A STABLE HONG KONG.
+AND, DESPITE THE UPS AND DOWNS OF THE PAST THREE YEARS, THESE PROGRAMMES HAVE CONTINUED WITHOUT INTERRUPTION, AND ARE CONTINUING AND ARE EXPANDING, HE NOTED.
/+LETERE