15
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1994
GOVERNOR:
NO,
THAT ISN'T A FACTOR ON THE RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, WE HAVEN'T YET DISCUSSED THE RDS WITH PRC OFFICIALS, BUT WE WILL WISH TO DO SO AND THE SOONER WE CAN HOLD THOSE DISCUSSIONS THE BETTER. I WOULD SAY THAT I'M EXTREMELY GRATEFUL TO THE HONOURABLE MEMBER, AND I HOPE HE IS IN THE MAJORITY FOR HAVING READ ALL 184 PAGES OF OUR POLICY COMMITMENTS. I'D DRAW HIS ATTENTION IN PARTICULAR TO THE SECTION UNDER THE HEADING SECRETARY FOR WORKS, PUBLIC WORKS ON PAGE 155 WHICH SETS OUT FAIRLY EXTENSIVELY WHAT WE ARE DOING ON INFRASTRUCTURE. HE MIGHT ALSO WANT TO LOOK AT THE SECTION OF THE MANAGEMENT OF PUBLIC FINANCES ON WHICH THE SECRETARY FOR THE TREASURY WILL BE HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE IN WHICH HE TOO POINTS OUT SOME OF THE MAIN AREAS OF INFRASTRUCTURE SPENDING. DOUBTLESS, THERE ARE OTHER REFERENCES WHICH I COULD POINT TO, AND I'M SURE THAT ON A SECOND AND THIRD READING OF THE POLICY COMMITMENTS, HE WILL SEE WHAT A SPECTACULAR PROGRAMME WE'RE STILL COMMITTED TO.
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GOVERNOR MEETS TERTIARY STUDENTS
* * * * *
FOLLOWING IS THE TRANSCRIPT OF THE GOVERNOR THE RT HON CHRISTOPHER PATTEN'S PUBLIC MEETING WITH TERTIARY STUDENTS AT THE CITY POLYTECHNIC TONIGHT (THURSDAY):
GOVERNOR:
WELCOME TO THIS FORUM WHICH IS REALLY MORE AN OCCASION FOR YOU THAN IT IS FOR ME. AFTER MY LAST TWO POLICY ADDRESSES WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AT WHICH WE'VE INVITED PEOPLE TO COME ALONG AND ASK QUESTIONS. THE PROBLEM WE'VE HAD IS THAT, AS YOU KNOW, I DON'T UNFORTUNATELY SPEAK CANTONESE SO WE'VE HAD TO TRANSLATE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS AND IT'S MEANT THAT FEWER PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS AS WE ARE WAITING FOR THE TRANSLATIONS. WHAT WE THEREFORE THOUGHT WE'D TRY TO DO THIS YEAR, IN A SMALLER HALL NECESSARILY, WAS TO HAVE SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION SO THAT WE COULD HAVE A BIT MORE GIVE AND TAKE AND GET THROUGH MORE QUESTIONS.
AND WAS
AWAY THERE
FOUR GET
I'VE GOT UNTIL ABOUT 7:15 AND I GUESS YOU WILL WANT TO GO HAVE SOME SUPPER ABOUT THEN. AS THE LADY SOMEWHERE BEHIND SAYING A FEW MOMENTS AGO THE IDEA IS THAT I CHOOSE THREE OR QUESTIONERS AT RANDOM AND IF YOU THEN LINE UP AT THE MIKES WE'LL THROUGH AS MANY QUESTIONS AS WE CAN. THAT MEANS THAT, IF YOU'RE GOING TO ASK A QUESTION, COULD YOU MAKE IT A QUESTION RATHER THAN A LONG SPEECH AND, IN ORDER TO REACH A BARGAIN WITH YOU, IF YOU KEEP THE QUESTIONS SHORT, I WILL TRY TO KEEP THE ANSWERS SHORT AS WELL. AND IF I KEEP THE ANSWERS SHORT IT DOESN'T ONLY MEAN THAT I AM TRYING ΤΟ EVADE THE ANSWER AND IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THAT I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT IT'S SO THAT YOU CAN GET IN MORE QUESTIONERS. So, WE'VE GOT, AS I SAY UNTIL 7:15. AT PRESENT MY HEAD PIECE ISN'T WORKING. MAY BE THAT'S BECAUSE I AM SPEAKING ENGLISH AND THEY THINK I UNDERSTAND MYSELF. NOW, HANDS AND I WILL PICK ONE OR TWO.
QUESTION:
TODAY.
MR GOVERNOR, THIS IS MY QUESTION. YOU ARE HERE ARE YOU TRYING TO WORK FOR THE INTERESTS OF CHILDREN OF SINGLE PARENTS. IF YOU ARE A SINGLE MALE AND YOU DON'T KNOW ENGLISH AND YOU DON'T KNOW CHINESE EITHER, AND YOUR INCOME IS EXTREMELY LOW, SO HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT TAKING CARE OF YOUR CHILD? WOULD YOU BE ASKING THIS QUESTION
IF I WERE THE GOVERNOR? MY CHILD ACTUALLY IS PART OF THE SOCIETY. HOW CAN HE GO ABOUT GETTING EDUCATED? I HAVE A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS, COULD YOU ANSWER THIS ONE FIRST?
/GOVERNOR: