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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1993
THE GOVERNOR:
FIRST OF ALL, IF I CAN DEAL WITH THE PREFACE TO THE HONOURABLE MEMBER'S QUESTION. THE HONOURABLE MEMBER WILL HAVE NOTICED, AT THE BACK OF MY SPEECH, A DETAILED PUBLIC PUBLISHED RECORD OF HOW WE HAVE DONE IN RELATION ΤΟ Α HUGE AGENDA OF SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, EDUCATIONAL, ECONOMIC POLICY THAT WE PUT FORWARD LAST YEAR.
NOT ONE ISSUE BUT OVER A HUNDRED ISSUES. IF WE HADN'T PUBLISHED THAT DETAILED BLOW-BY-BLOW ACCOUNT OF THE PROGRESS WE HAVE MADE, I DARESAY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SAID THAT THE SPEECH LAST YEAR WAS JUST HOT AIR; WHAT HAPPENED TO IT? WELL, HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED TO IT. THIS YEAR, ANOTHER SPEECH, IN WHICH NINETY-FIVE PER CENT OF IT WAS ABOUT SOCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, ENVIRONMENTAL AND RELATED ISSUES. AGAIN, A LARGE NUMBER OF ISSUES, NOT JUST ONE. IT'S NOT ENTIRELY MY FAULT IF, WHEN I 00 ΤΟ A HOUSING ESTATE AND AM GREETED BY OUR FRIENDLY COLLEAGUES FROM THE FOURTH ESTATE, THEY SAY, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TALKS, MR PATTEN? IT'S NOT ENTIRELY MY FAULT IF, WHEN I GO TO A HOSPITAL FOR DENTISTRY, I COME OUT AND AREN'T ASKED ABOUT FILLINGS OR ABOUT PLAQUE, BUT ASKED ABOUT "THE TALKS, MR PATTEN?" IT'S NOT ENTIRELY MY FAULT IF, WHEN I GO TO A PRIMARY SCHOOL OR A KINDERGARTEN OR A TERTIARY EDUCATION INSTITUTION, THE SAME THING HAPPENS то ME. I'LL ANSWER PEOPLE'S QUESTIONS ON ANYTHING BUT IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT MOST OF THEM, WHATEVER I AM DOING, TEND TO BE ABOUT THE SAME RATHER WEARILY SHORT AGENDA.
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THE HONOURABLE MEMBER ASKS ABOUT HOUSING POLICY IN PARTICULAR AND I WOULD ARGUE VERY STRONGLY, IT WAS UNFAIR TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN THE HOUSING SECTOR AS REPRESENTING FAILURE, NOT LEAST WHEN WE HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN BUILDING 146 HOUSING UNITS A DAY AGAINST A TARGET OF JUST OVER 100. THAT SEEMS TO ME TO BE REASONABLY GOOD PROGRESS. WE'VE MADE GOOD PROGRESS IN RELATION ΤΟ CLEARING TEMPORARY HOUSING AREAS AND MEAN TO MAKE MUCH BETTER PROGRESS. WE'VE MADE GOOD PROGRESS IN INCREASING BY SIXTY PER CENT THE AMOUNT OF MONEY SPENT ON MAINTENANCE IN OUR HOUSING ESTATES. BUT, THE HONOURABLE MEMBER IS ENTIRELY RIGHT TO SAY THAT DESPITE THE COMMITMENT OF FORTY- THREE BILLION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS BY THE HOUSING AUTHORITY FOR PUBLIC HOUSING, THERE REMAIN SERIOUS HOUSING ISSUES, SERIOUS HOUSING PROBLEMS TO ADDRESS, AND THEY DO REQUIRE, IN MY JUDGMENT, US TO LOOK ONCE AGAIN AT OUR HOUSING POLICIES IN HONG KONG. T THINK THAT IS SOMETHING WHICH THE HOUSING AUTHORITY ARE BEGINNING TO DO NOW, AND I WILL LOOK FORWARD TO HAVING A DIALOGUE WITH THEM ON THE ISSUE, BECAUSE I BELIEVE VERY STRONGLY THAT THERE IS ALMOST NO ISSUE MORE IMPORTANT то HAPPY FAMILY LIFE THAN DECENT HOUSING, AND WE WANT TO GO ON DOING EVERYTHING WE CAN IN THIS COMMUNITY TO ENSURE THAT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE ARE PROPERLY HOUSED. THE HONOURABLE MEMBER IS ONE OF MANY IN THIS CHAMBER WHO I AM SURE SPENDS A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME DEALING WITH HOUSING PROBLEMS FROM CONSTITUENTS, DEALING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE WORRIED AND ANXIOUS ABOUT THEIR HOUSING, AND I AM NOT AT ALL SURPRISED THAT HE FEELS SO PASSIONATELY ABOUT THE SUBJECT.
1.EE
WING-TAT
CLARIFICATION.
FLATS PER DAY. THAT FIGURE?
(THROUGH INTERPRETER):
JUST
A POINT FOR MR GOVERNOR, YOU SAID THAT FOR THE HA, IT PRODUCES 146 WHAT YEAR DOES THAT REFER TO AND HOW DO YOU ARRIVE AT
THE GOVERNOR :
{ ARRIVE AT THAT FIGURE BY A PROCESS OF LONG- DIVISION, DIVIDING THE NUMBER OF UNITS WHICH HAVE BEEN COMPLETED SINCE I LAST ADDRESSED THIS COUNCIL, BY THE INORDINATE NUMBER OF DAYS, AND THE FIGURE THAT EMERGES FROM THAT ARITHMETICAL PROCESS IS 146. AT THIS POINT, I HAD BETTER CONFESS THAT I DID NOT DO THE MATHEMATICS.
/MR MICHAEL HO