XN000022-1980-03-12 — Page 4

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1980

YEAR OF TRIAL AND ACHIEVEMENT FOR HONG KONG

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TWO CONTRASTING ASPECTS OF THE HONG KONG SCENE - THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEE PROBLEM AND THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY - ARE SPOTLIGHTED IN THE GOVERNMENT'S NEW YEAR BOOK PUBLISHED TODAY (WEDNESDAY).

THE TWO TOPICS ONE ABOUT A THREAT TO HONG KONG'S CONTINUING PROGRESS AND THE OTHER ABOUT A SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT FOR THE TERRITORY - ARE FEATURED IN TWO SPECIAL REVIEW CHAPTERS IN THE HONG KONG 1980.

THE BOOK, PRICED AT $22 EACH, IS EXTENSIVELY ILLUSTRATED WITH PICTURE SECTIONS IN FULL COLOUR. IT IS AVAILABLE IN CHINESE AND ENGLISH EDITIONS AND IS BEING SOLD AT THE GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS CENTRE, GPO BUILDING, CONNAUGHT PLACE CITY DISTRICT OFFICES NEW TERRITORIES DISTRICT OFFICES AND LEADING BOOKSHOPS.

THE TWO REVIEW CHAPTERS COVERING IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN HONG KONG IN 1979 ARE INDICATIVE OF THE EVENTFUL YEAR THE TERRITORY EXPERIENCED.

+THE INFLUX OF THESE (VIETNAMESE) REFUGEES, TOGETHER WITH LARGE-SCALE IMMIGRATION FROM CHINA, RAISED REAL FEARS THAT A DECADE OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL ACHIEVEMENT MIGHT BE UNDERMINED, COMMUNAL STABILITY IMPAIRED, AND PLANS FOR FURTHER PROGRESS THROWN OUT OF GEAR,+ THE YEAR BOOK SAYS IN ITS FIRST CHAPTER ENTITLED: THE BOAT REFUGEES FROM VIETNAM+.

THE CHAPTER TRACES THE PROGRESS OF THE BURGEONING REFUGEE PROBLEM WHICH REACHED +CRISIS PROPORTIONS+ IN THE MIDDLE OF THE YEAR WHEN HUNDREDS OF VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE WERE FLOODING INTO HONG KONG EACH DAY, CROWDING INTO CAMPS ALREADY HOLDING 50 000 PEOPLE.

+THESE BOATS, ARRIVING DAILY IN HONG KONG, MOORED NOT AT SOME DISCREETLY DISTANT BEACH BUT IN THE HEART OF THE CITY,+ THE YEAR BOOK SAYS. THEY MOVED THROUGH THE HARBOUR TO THE GOVERNMENT DOCKYARD AT CANTON ROAD, WHERE THEY TIED UP BESIDE ONE OF THE MOST CROWDED DISTRICTS OF KOWLOON, OBSERVED BY THOUSANDS OF APPREHENSIVE RESIDENTS.+

EQUALLY ALARMING DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PATTERN OF IMMIGRATION, LEGAL AND ILLEGAL, FROM CHINA EXACERBATED ANXIETIES CAUSED BY THE INFLOW OF BOAT REFUGEES, THE YEAR BOOK SAYS. THE PRESSURE OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TRYING TO GET INTO HONG KONG ACROSS THE LAND BORDER OR BY SEA PERSISTED AT VARYING LEVELS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.

ON THE VIETNAMESE REFUGEE SITUATION, HONG KONG'S GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE IS QUOTED AS SAYING: +BY HARD WORK. SOCIAL ADAPTABILITY AND REALISM BASED ON ACCEPTANCE OF THE FACT THAT RESOURCES ARE LIMITED, THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG HAVE MADE FOR THEMSELVES A STRUCTURE OF LIFE ENORMOUSLY BETTER THAN 10 YEARS AGO. IT IS THE BENEFITS OF THIS STRUCTURE THAT THEY FEAR MAY BE ERODED BY THIS INFLUX OF BOAT REFUGEES OVER WHICH THEY HAVE NO CONTROL. +

/WHEN 1979