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SIR DAVID SAID THAT FAMILY TIES WERE CHANGING, THAT THE EXTENDED FAMILY WAS SHRINK ING AND HOUSEHOLDS GROWING SMALLER,
+DRUGS, CRIME AND CORRUPTION WERE BECOMING A SCOURGE, BUT SOCIETY STRUCK BACK IN A CONCERTED WAY TO FIGHT THESE EVILS AND THEY HAVE NOW BEEN CONTAINED AND REDUCED ALTHOUGH NOT ELIMINATED, + HE SAID.
DISCUSSING THE ECONOMY, SIR DAVID SAID THAT THE FLEXIBLE AND RESPONSIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEM RECOVERED QUICKLY FROM THE WORLD OIL CRISIS AND, SINCE 1974, 17 HAD CONTINUED TO GROW AT AN AVERAGE OF NINE PER CENT A YEAR.
SIR DAVID SAID THAT THROUGHOUT THIS PERIOD OF 10 YEARS, HONG KONG HAD INVESTED ITS GROWING PUBLIC REVENUES IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE, IN HOUSING, MEDICAL, EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES AND HAD STRUCK A BALANCE, WHICH HAD COMMANDED SUPPORT AND BROUGHT ACCEPTANCE BY CONSENSUS.
+COUNCILS, BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND A WIDE VARIETY OF COMMUNITY ORGANISATIONS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS CONSENSUS, HE SAID.
THE SHAPE OF THE GOVERNMENT TODAY WAS THE RESULT OF CONSENSUS, AND IT HAD GROWN STEP BY STEP, PHASE BY PHASE, OUT OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR SOCIETY OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS.
NOW, HONG KONG WAS ENTERING A NEW PHASE, HE SAID.
+ON THE ONE HAND THERE IS CONSULTATION IN HONG KONG ABOUT THE DRAFTING OF THE BASIC LAW, AND, ON THE OTHER, A PERIOD OF ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW OF HOW THE PRESENT STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT IS WORKING.
+BUT, WHILE THIS IS GOING ON THE WORK OF GOVERNMENT DOES NOT AND CANNOT STOP,+ HE SAID.
EXAMPLES OF THIS IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS WERE, HE SAID,
THE OPENING OF THE ACADEMY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, A NEW ROAD REACHING UP INTO THE NEW TERRITORIES AND EVENTUALLY ACROSS THE BORDER INTO SHENZHEN, THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF AN INVESTMENT IN THE LONG TERM DEVELOPMENT OF OUR CONTAINER PORT, THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE BUILDING OF A THIRD UNIVERSITY AND THE AWARD OF
A CONTRACT FOR ANOTHER HARBOUR TUNNEL.
+WE MUST BUILD CAREFULLY ON THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAST AND WE MUST CONTINUE TO BUILD BY CONSENSUS,+ SIR DAVID SAID.
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