XN000022-1980-03-24 — Page 6

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MONDAY, MARCH 24, 1980

+THIS REVOLUTION HAS TAKEN PLACE PRINCIPALLY IN THE PAST 10 YEARS. HOW DIFFERENT HONG KONG IS AT THE END OF THE SEVENTIES THAN IT WAS AT THE END OF THE SIXTIES:+

BUT NOW THIS CHANGING SOCIETY WAS ON THE MOVE, MOVING OUT TO THE NEW TOWNS OF THE NEW TERRITORIES.

THIS WAS AN ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT SITUATION THAN THE GRADUAL ADDITION OF PEOPLE TO THE POPULATION OF THE EXISTING URBAN AREA, WHICH HAD TAKEN PLACE OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS.

+WE WILL HAVE TO THINK VERY CAREFULLY ABOUT THE PART OUR EXISTING INSTITUTIONS WILL PLAY IN THE LIFE OF THESE TOWNS AND ABOUT THE NEED FOR ANY CHANGE, FOR WE CANNOT, FOR EXAMPLE, JUST PLONK DOWN 500 000 PEOPLE AT TUEN MUN, 20 MILES FROM KOWLOON, WITHOUT A THOUGHT BEING GIVEN TO THE WAY THAT COMMUNITY WILL KNIT TOGETHER IN THE YEARS TO COME.

+TODAY ! HAVE NOT COME TO PROVIDE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS BUT TO EXPRESS THE HOPE THAT IN ORGANISATIONS SUCH AS YOURS, IN WHICH THERE IS AN ENORMOUS REPOSITORY OF EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE OF HONG KONG, THESE QUESTIONS WILL BE PONDERED OF HOW WE DEVELOP OUR SOCIETY IN THE YEARS TO COME AS THE POPULATION CLIMBS EVER UPWARD AND AS THE URBAN AREAS SPREAD FURTHER INTO WHAT WERE UNTIL RECENTLY THE MORE DISTANT PARTS OF THE TERRITORY.+

MR AKERS-JONES SAID IN HONG KONG OUR LIVES WERE INTERWOVEN AND INTERCONNECTED IN A WAY WHICH WOULD SEEM UNBELIEVABLE IN A LARGE CITY. IT WAS ALMOST AS THOUGH WE LIVED IN A VILLAGE OR A COUNTRY TOWN.

+I HAVE LIVED IN HONG KONG FOR 23 YEARS, YOU HAVE LIVED HERE ALL YOUR LIVES GRADUALLY THE WEB OF OUR LIVES BECOMES MORE EXTENDED, MORE INTRICATE, AND WE BECOME MORE INVOLVED AS EACH DAY PASSES THIS IS HAPPENING TO EACH ONE OF US AND TO THE ORGANISATIONS TO WHICH WE BELONG EVERYWHERE THROUGHOUT HONG KONG.

+OUR ORGANISATIONS, OUR COMMITTEES AND ADVISORY BOARDS, OUR GOVERNMENT TOO, ARE LIVING THINGS, CONTINUALLY ADJUSTING THEMSELVES TO NEW SITUATIONS AND NEW CHALLENGES.+

BUT JUST AS WE COULD GO INTO RETREAT IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES, HE SAID, CLOSE THE DOOR ON FRIENDS AND RELATIONS, SO, TOO, WE COULD PUBLICLY BURY OUR HEADS IN THE SAND AND REFUSE TO SEE AND TO REACT TO THE CHANGES THAT WERE TAKING PLACE IN THE WORLD AROUND US AND IN LOCAL SOCIETY.

+THIS IS NOT WHAT SEE HAPPENING IN HONG KONG, WE ARE ADJUSTING OUR SOCIETY ALL THE TIME TO CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES BOTH WITHIN AND WITHOUT HONG KONG. AND IN THIS CONNECTION I AM VERY GLAD TO SEE THAT TUNG WAH SAM YUEN HAS ITSELF STREAMLINED ITS MANAGEMENT TO A MORE MODERN PROFILE IN RECENT YEARS.

THIS IS THE GREAT STRENGTH OF HONG KONG AND I DO NOT BELIEVE THE MECHANISM OF CHANGE HAS RUN DOWN OR FUNCTIONS LESS WELL TODAY THAN IT HAS IN THE PAST.

BUT I WONDER WHETHER WE HAVE THE MEASURE OF THE CHANGES THAT ARE NOW TAKING PLACE IN SOCIETY AND WHETHER WE ARE CHANGING OUR INSTITUTIONS SUFFICIENTLY TO ACCOMMODATE THEM, MR AKERS-JONES SAID.

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