FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1994
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TOO. AND I HOPE YOU WILL STAY AND PROSPER,
YOU MADE MANY OF YOU - YOU MADE HONG KONG. LITERALLY MADE IT. AND I THINK IT IS FAIR TO SAY THAT HONG KONG HELPED TO MAKE YOU. SO, TO BORROW A PHRASE FROM
"AD THE ROMANS, THE TOAST TO HONG KONG AND TO YOU, HAS TO BE
MULTOS ANNOS" "TO MANY YEARS" MANY YEARS OF MARKET ECONOMICS, MANY YEARS OF DECENCY AND INTEGRITY IN GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC LIFE, MANY, MANY YEARS OF THE RULE OF LAW. AND WITH ALL THAT WILL COME MANY YEARS OF HAPPINESS AND FULFILMENT FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG.
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THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
QUESTION: INTERNATIONAL
THE PEOPLE IN HONG KONG, PROBABLY INCLUDING OUR FRIENDS, ARE MOSTLY BUSINESS MINDED AND OR EMPLOYMENT MINDED. THEY HAVE
NO TIME FOR POLITICS. UNFORTUNATELY THE POLITICAL GAMBLING WHICH THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN INDULGING IN WITH CHINA USING HONG KONG PEOPLE AS THEIR MAIN STACK IS CAUSING CHAOS TO HONG KONG. THE FACTS ARE OPERATING COSTS OF THE BUSINESSMAN HAS BEEN SKY-ROCKETING AND THEY STANDARD OF LIVING OF THE COMMON PEOPLE IS DETERIORATING, THUS ERODING YOUR INITIAL POPULARITY, I AM SURE YOUR SUPPORTORS WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT YOU'LL RE-GAIN YOUR POPULARITY OR EVEN AUGMENT IT. SO I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY ENCOURAGING WORDS FROM YOU ON YOUR PART ON HOW TO RECTIFY THIS SITUATION.
GOVERNOR:
WELL, I HOPE YOU WON'T REGARD IT AS BEING UNCIVIL OF ME IF I SUGGEST THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT OF THAT QUESTION BEFORE I MADE MY SPEECH. BECAUSE, A GOOD DEAL OF MY SPEECH WAS DIRECTED TO ANSWERING SOME OF THOSE POINTS, WHICH I HAD JUST AN INKLING MIGHT COME UP DURING THIS HALF HOUR OR SO OF QUESTIONS. I MUST SAY THAT IF WHAT WE HAVE IN HONG KONG TODAY IS CHAOS, A GREAT DEAL OF THE REST OF THE WORLDS WOULD SETTLE FOR IT VERY HAPPILY, AND I DON'T KNOW
QUESTIONER:
GOVERNOR:
MAY I MENTION EVEN THE CAGEMEN ARE DEPRIVED AT THEIR
WELL, THIS ISN'T A PLATONIC DIALOGUE, I GET THE CHANCE OF ANSWERING YOUR QUESTION, AND I AM SURE THAT YOU WILL WANT TO GIVE MY ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION THE CAREFUL ATTENTION WHICH I AM SURE YOU GAVE MY SPEECH. THE STANDARD OF LIVING IN HONG KONG, FAR FROM DECLINING, HAS BEEN GOING UP, SO AGAIN I AM NOT QUITE SURE THE BASIS FOR YOUR PROPOSITION. AS FOR OPERATING COSTS IN HONG KONG, AND I REFERRED TO THOSE, WHATEVER THEY MAY HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH, THEY DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE NATURE OF FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES IN THE 1995 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ELECTIONS. TWO OTHER THOUGHTS, FIRST OF ALL, WE WERE DETERMINED THAT IN THE ARGUMENT THAT ALAS RAGED OVER HOW WE COULD FIGHT CLEAN ELECTIONS HERE IN HONG KONG, IT SHOULD BE THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, WHO TOOK THE FINAL DECISION, WHO DECIDED WHETHER WE SHOULD GO FURTHER OR LESS FAR. THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED, IT WAS NOT A DECISION IMPOSED ON AN UNGRATEFUL OR UNRECEPTIVE ELECTORATE BY THE GOVERNMENT, WE WERE RESPONDING TO PRESSURES, PRESSURES WHICH FROM MANY PEOPLE WAS TO GO A GREAT DEAL FURTHER THAN WE WERE PREPARED TO
GO BECAUSE WE WERE NOT PREPARED TO GO FURTHER THAN WAS ALLOWED JOINT DECLARATION AND THE BASIC LAW. AND FINALLY, ON POPULARITY, IS FOR OTHERS TO MAKE A JUDGEMENT ON WHAT IS A SATISFACTORY LEVEL POPULARITY, BUT WHAT I SUGGEST YOU DO, SOMETIME, IF YOU THINK THAT THE FIGURES ARE UNSATISFACTORY HERE IS TO GO AND TELL PRESIDENT CLINTON, OR THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, OR MOST OTHER PRIME MINISTERS OF OECD COUNTRIES THAT 57% APPROVAL RATING IS PRETTY BAD, THINK MOST OF THEM WOULD SETTLE STRAIGHT AWAY. BRIGADIER.
/IAN CHRISTIE
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