16.
Thirdly I would like to pay a tribute to the changes which the civil service has carried through in the last few years. I think we have become a more open and accountable government. I think that we have now, as a result, got an even better civil service. We've got the performance pledges, the customer liaison groups, we've got a strengthened Commissioner of Administration and so on. I think all those changes have meant that Hong Kong has an excellent public service which is serving the community as well as the community deserves.
It is important to remember that you pay for government, you pay for the civil service, so we have got the responsibility of making sure that we deliver a decent quality of service for your money.
It is a great privilege for anybody to be able to work in the civil service for their community. We have got marvellous people working in public service which is now, as you know - while it has quite a few expatriates in it - it is now, as you know, at the top levels almost entirely local. I only have one colleague who is not a local Hong Konger, so it is a Chinese administration running a Chinese city and doing it, I think, extremely well.
And lastly, it is of course possible under the Basic Law to move to a position where there is, for example, election of all 60 seats directly in the Legislative Council. That is a matter which is going to be determined by the people of Hong Kong in 2007 and the years after that. I very much hope that I see the day when that happens and I will count it greatly to the credit of China and to the credit of people in Hong Kong who have fought bravely for Hong Kong and argued bravely for Hong Kong when it does happen.
I was thinking when I came into the hall tonight that this was probably the last public meeting that I would hold in Hong Kong and conceivably the last public meeting that I would have anywhere. But in view of your comments, I will have to think about the subject again because if I ever hold any public meetings in the UK I'd of course very much like you on the team.
Question (in Chinese): You said in you policy address that all the THAS would be cleared by 1997, but you have gone back on your pledge. So are you deceiving the public of Hong Kong? You say you have to retain the THAS so that there would be housing for new immigrants but I would say new immigrants actually are not eligible for THAS. They actually live in squatter-huts but then squatter-huts would be cleared as well. So you said you want to keep the THAS for new immigrants. I think you are just trying to use that as an excuse because there is delay in the clearance programme of THAs. So, I would like to take this opportunity to ask you, Mr Governor, about this problem.