XN000022-1976-01-14 — Page 19

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ATTITUDE OF AVERAGE BRITON

I have spoken of the critical view taken of Hong Kong by SOLU

British papers, politicians or reformers, but I like to b.live that

is not typical of the attitude of the average Briton, insofar as th ́t

mythical figure has any knowledge of, or interest in, Hong Kong.

guess that his foolings are a mixture of amused affection and admiration.

"Perhaps he has relatives or friends who have visited Hong

I

Kong, particularly es mombers of the Armed Forces. They will have told

him, in laudatory terms, of the bustle, gaiety and beauty of the loo,

în

for it is rare for soncone who has been here not to have been bewitched

by it.

"He may have been to a Chinese restaurant in England; here he

will have eaten an extraordinary amalgam of oriental and occidentel

1

food which he will have imagined to be a Chinese meal, even though dishes

like chop suey and chips would be unrecognisable to us.

"Ho will have met in this restaurant, and probably clsumere,

Hong Kong people who have settled in Britain, He will have discov.red

that they are, almost without exception, courteous, considerate and

beautifully behaved, Of all the immigrant communities in Britain, the

Chinese are acknowledged as the most hardworking, law-abiding and sulf-

sufficient.

"Our average Briton will have bought a variety of Hong Kong

products, ranging from shirts and shocs to plastic goods, toys and

transistors. He will have found them to be well designod, of good quality

and lower in price than their competitors.

He no longer thinks of Hong

ད

Kong as a place in which cheap and shoddy goods are produced.

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"From .....