XN000022-1979-05-10 — Page 3

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THURSDAY, MAY 10, 1979

+PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL WE WILL FIND AN INCREASING NUMBER OF PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE WHO WANT TO HAVE MORE INFLUENCE OVER THE WAY THEY ARE GOVERNED AND WHO WILL BE MORE PREPARED TO ACTIVELY CAMPAIGN ON ISSUES WHICH CONCERN THEM, MR. FORD SAID.

THESE WERE HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS WHICH SHOULD NOT BE RESISTED OR FRUSTRATED BUT MET WITH RESPONSIVENESS BY THE GOVERNMENT FROM THE ONSET, HE ADDED.

HE BELIEVED THAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD NOT WAIT FOR THESE DEVELOPMENTS, BUT RATHER SHOULD ALREADY BEGIN TO CONSIDER HOW TO RESPOND TO THEM OR FORESTALL THEM.

MR. FORD POINTED OUT THAT THE DISTRICT ADVISORY BOARDS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES WERE ALREADY WORKING WELL AND BEGINNING TO EXERT CONSIDERABLE INFLUENCE AND WONDERED WHETHER THERE WAS SCOPE FOR EXTENDING THEM INTO OTHER AREAS.

+THE COMPOSITION OF OUR COUNCILS AND COMMITTEES IS MUCH BROADER BASED THAN IN THE PAST, BUT HOW ARE OUR YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WISH TO PARTICIPATE TO BE IDENTIFIED AND GIVEN EXPERIENCE IN THE EXERCISE OF COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY, HE INQUIRED.

MR. FORD ALSO RAISED SOME SEARCHING QUESTIONS ON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT.

+ IN TERMS OF COMMUNICATION, HOW OPEN A GOVERNMENT COULD WE HAVE BECOME BY 19847... ARE THERE MORE COMMITTEES WHICH COULD HOLD THEIR MEETINGS IN PUBLIC? SHOULD WE HAVE A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT TO REPLACE THE OFFICIALS SECRETS ACT?+

HE SAID: +AT LEAST WE HAVE MADE A START BY REVIEWING THE REGULATIONS WHICH AT PRESENT SO TIGHTLY CONSTRAIN THE CIVIL SERVANT FROM COMMUNICATING WITH THE MEDIA UNLESS AUTHORISED TO DO SO'

ON THE SUBJECT OF THE PRESS, MR. FORD SAID HE DID BELIEVE THAT THE TIME MUST SOON BE RIPE FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A PRESS COUNCIL IN HONG KONG,

WE HAVE TRIED BEFORE IN MORE DIFFICULT POLITICAL SITUATIONS THAN WE HAVE AT PRESENT, BUT PERHAPS IN THE PRESENT ATMOSPHERE SUCH DIFFICULTIES ARE NOW MORE APPARENT THAN REAL, HE POINTED OUT.

+ CAN THINK OF NO OTHER SINGLE MOVE WHICH WOULD ENHANCE THE STANDING OF THE PRESS MORE IN HONG KONG THAN FOR IT TO BE SEEN TO BE ESTABLISHING AND ENFORCING ITS OWN HIGH STANDARD OF ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL ISM.

MR. FORD ALSO WELCOMED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JOURNALISM TRAINING BOARD UNDER THE DISTINGUISHED CHAIRMAN OF MR. SHUM CHOI- SANG AND HOPED THAT BY 1984 THE TRAINING SCHEMES THE BOARD HAD RECOMMENDED WOULD HAVE BEEN IN FULL SWING.

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