XN000022-1974-10-31 — Page 5

+SINCE THE PUBLIC IS IN A MORE RECEPTIVE MOOD THAN EVER BEFORE TO COOPERATE WITH GOVERNMENT IN FIGHTING CRIME,+ HE SAID, IT WOULD

+ BE TIMELY NOW FOR A THREE-YEAR PROGRAMME TO BE PREPARED TO SET UP MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES IN THE APPROXIMATE 5,000 LARGE MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS WHICH DO NOT YET HAVE ANY MANAGEMENT COMMITTEES,+

MR. CHEONG-LEEN SAID THIS WOULD REQUIRE THE RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING OF MORE COMMUNITY ORGANISERS AND OTHER SENIOR STAFF IN THE HOME AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

+1 WOULD REGARD THIS THREE-YEAR PROGRAMME AS ONE OF THE HIGHEST PRIORITY WHICH SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO DRAG BECAUSE OF FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS IMPOSED UPON THE PROGRAMME,+ HE ADDED.

+THE MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES CAN BE USED NOT ONLY TO FIGHT VIOLENT CRIME. THEY ARE MOST USEFUL IN THE KEEP HONG KONG CLEAN' CAMPAIGN, IN IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION, AND IN PLANNING RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE RESIDENTS, BOTH YOUNG AND OLD, OF MULTI-STOREY DUILDINGS.+

+THEY COULD BE EQUALLY USEFUL IN GOVERNMENT'S EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE CORRUPTION, NARCOTICS PEDDLING, AND OTHER NON-SOCIAL ACTIVITIES THAT ARE NOW RAMPANT IN A GREAT NUMBER OF MULTI-STOREY BUILDINGS. IN ADDITION, THEY WOULD GENERATE A FIRMER CIVIC SPIRIT AT THE GRASS-ROOTS LEVEL OF OUR COMMUNITY AND ACT AS BRIDGES OF UNDERSTANDING DETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND THE PEOPLE.+

TURNING TO EDUCATION, MR. CHEONG-LEEN SAID THE PROPOSALS IN THE WHITE PAPER WHILE NOT PERFECT WERE RELATED IN A PRAGMATIC WAY TO THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC NEEDS AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF HONG KONG.

IN EXPRESSING GENERAL SUPPORT FOR THE WHITE PAPER, HE SAID HE WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION CONSIDER CHANGING THE NAME OF THE JUNIOR CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION TO GENERAL SECONDARY CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION AND THE PRESENT FORM W EXAMINATION TO SENIOR SECONDARY CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION.

+WHEN AT A LATER DATE WE ARE IN A POSITION TO PROVIDE FIVE YEARS OF SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR ALL CHILDREN, THE JUNIOR SECONDARY CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION WOULD BE ABOLISHED AND THE EXAMINATION AT FORM V LEVEL WOULD SIMPLY BECOME KNOWN AS THE SECONDARY CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION,+ MR. CHEONG-LEEN SAID-

HE ALSO SUGGESTED THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD START DRAFTING A 10-YEAR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR TELEVISION EDUCATION NOT ONLY IN PRIMARY EDUCATION BUT ALSO IN SECONDARY AND TERTIARY EDUCATION. HE SAID PERHAPS A PAPER ON THIS SUBJECT COULD BE PREPARED FOR PUBLIC DISCUSSION WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 18 MONTHS.

ON ECONOMY, MR. CHEONG-LEEN REMINDED GOVERNMENT THAT IT HAD AN OBLIGATION TO THE PUBLIC TO KEEP INTERNAL INFLATION AT ITS LOWEST POSSIBLE LEVEL AND NOT TO ALLOW CONTINUED INCREASES IN CHARGES BY ANY OF THE ESSENTIAL SERVICES WITHOUT THE FULLEST POSSIBLE JUSTIFICATION.

HE MENTIONED THE TELEPHONE CHARGES, WHICH, HE SAID, HAD GONE UP ONCE THIS YEAR, AND IT WAS NOW RUMOURED THAT A SECOND INCREASE FOR THIS YEAR WAS BEING CONTEMPLATED.

+THIS IS A MATTER WHICH DESERVES THE WIDEST POSSIBLE HEARING BY THE PUBLIC, AS IT INVOLVES MANY QUESTIONS SUCH AS THE EXTENT TO WHICH GOVERNMENT SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE TELEPHONE COMPANY TO ENSURE THAT IT OPERATES AT A LEVEL OF PEAK EFFICIENCY CONSISTENT WITH THE PUBLIC GOOD AND THE REASONABLE INTERESTS OF ITS SHAREHOLDERS,+ MR. CHEONG-LEEN SAID.