2
"It is exceptionally important that the Commissioner operates independently as a check on government and that we are absolutely determined he will continue to do so," he said.
"Any suggestion to the contrary is totally, a 100 per cent, without foundation."
End/Thursday, March 23, 1995
Transcript of the Governor's media session
The following is the transcript of the media session by the Governor, the Rt Hon Christopher Patten, after visiting Tung Tau Estate in Kowloon this (Thursday) afternoon.
Governor: I am very pleased to have been able to see with Rosana Wong, the Chairman of the Housing Authority, this afternoon some more examples of the work of the Housing Authority, the work in particular that they are doing to refurbish some of their older property. And I am also very pleased to see the excellent work being done by the Hong Kong Society for the Mentally handicapped and the Hong Kong Down Syndrome Society, both of which do superb job in Hong Kong. And I am pleased that the community, I think, has a better understanding and appreciation now of the very important role which they play. So it's been a great pleasure to see the work of those two non-governmental organisations once more. And I'd like to thank all those who work for them for their dedicated and professional work for Hong Kong.
Question: Did you aware that when you crossed that way somebody dropped an egg?
Governor: Yes, I think that somebody from one of the flats up above did so. As I understand it, when the Hong Kong Society for the Mentally Handicapped opened their hostel, there was a certain amount of hostility from some of the neighbours. I think that has largely disappeared over the months and years that the hostel has been operating. I think people recognise that it brings an important community facility to the neighbourhood. But there are obviously one or two people who still resent it being here.
Question: So you don't take that action a personal one?
Governor: The view of the people who run the hostel is that it wasn't personal.