XN000022-1977-01-21 — Page 17

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Then there are the related subjects of crime, corruption

Of all fields in Hong Kong other than that of

and narcotics.

income, this is the one which touches people most closely and

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which has been my major single preoccupation; and I au post

grateful for the public spirited and typical practical way in

which the Chamber has given its support. All I can say is that

with devoted and imaginative leadership and action in the services

concerned, and with the newly created organisation and support

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of the public, some real progress can now be discerned; and I say

this realising that some recent spectacular crimes have understand-

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ably disturbed the public. Provided the build-up of police strength,

the leadership, the pressure and the public support can be main-

tained and strengthened, I believe that this progress will steadily

become more evident.

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In this process I am convinced that the provision of

proper recreation facilities for young people and the help and

organisation that can be provided by voluntary agencies and cen be

coordinated by the Government Community Youth and District Recreation

Services have a mejor part to play. The latter services are now

well into their stride and should be exerting a strong and widely

spread influence within the next two or three years, let alone 1983.

I believe that these goals, and the measures necessary to

achieve them, have virtually universal support in Hong Kong. There

is genuine enthusiasm at all levels of society to make Hong Kong the

place it could so easily be. Of course we want this on its merits

for its own sake. We also want to escape from the present situation

in which there is sometines more than a grain of truth in what our

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