XN000022-1973-01-17 — Page 27

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Wednesday, January 17, 1973

"If the retirement age is to be extended," she said, "so must

procedure for promotion be correspondingly adjusted."

She suggested that promotion should be based on "quality of

performance as against length of service."

The Hon. Wilson Wang warned that as long as 55 remained the

age of compulsory retirement, many civil servants would plan ahead for

their post-retirement period, and this might affect their working efficiency.

The fact that many retired officers had gone to work for private

firms, he said, showed that they were still fully capable of "meeting

challenge and competition."

Expatriate Officers

As regards expatriate officers, Mr. Wang said they were "unfamiliar"

with the local situation when they first arrived and consequently might

not be capable of contributing fully to their work.

"By the time they have familiarised themselves with the surroundings,

many expatriates soon find themselves retiring and leaving Hong Kong,'

he asserted.

This had created doubts in the minds of the public as to whether

expatriates were truly working towards the welfare of Hong Kong, Mr. Wang,

said adding: "It is high time to remedy the situation by extending the

retiring age for civil servants."

The Hon. H.J.C. Browne