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Now Mr Governor, having taken a seat on this comfortable chair, do you feel that indeed you are having a more comfortable time?
Governor: say to the Honourable Member in a spirit of self-deprecation, that because of my build, the material in which the chair is made isn't normally of the greatest importance to me. But I am grateful to the Honourable Member for making what would anyway have been reasonably comfortable, even more comfortable. This may be the hot-seat, it may even be, from time to time, the back-seat, but I can assure the Honourable Member that his taste in chairs has ensured that it is a comfortable
seat.
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Mr Andrew Wong: Mr President, let me follow up. Please do not be a taxi driver - that may have consequences when we talk about chairs we are talking about roles. But as a Governor or as a Chief Executive, well, there are two roles; for example, like the Singaporean Premier or the Queen;. Well, I think you should be compared to the Queen. And Mrs Anson Chan is the CEO. But it seems that in future, if Mrs Anson Chan takes up the post of the Chief Executive, she will be taking your seat and then those under her will be her subordinates. And then, we cannot really expect to have a responsible government.
That being so, now for these two years before the transition, I would like to make the following proposal. Not that I query your competence. Not that I have doubts about your sincerity or your integrity. Rather, I think that you should be fading out in the next two years. That should be the proper approach. In that case, you may feel more comfortable in your seat, and then you will reign but will not be ruling. That is a better role for you, in my opinion. So, Mr Governor, can you give me a response?
Governor: While it is true that I am not entirely beyond ambition, I should say to the Honourable gentleman that my ambitions don't include the establishment of a new royal line. In all our recent experience, it rains quite enough in Hong Kong without me reigning too.
As I said before, I think it is wholly appropriate for the Governor, given the tocalisation of the public service and given the development of our representative institutions like this Council, I think it is entirely appropriate for the Governor, the closer we get to 1997, to delegate more and to ensure that more decisions are taken by those Hong Kong people who will be running Hong Kong after 1997.