XN000022-1982-11-23 — Page 3

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1982

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TURNING TO HONG KONG'S INTERNAL SITUATION IN RELATION TO WORLD-WIDE ECONOMIC RECESSION, MR TSAO SAID: IN 1982, WE HAVE BEGUN TO EXPERIENCE A DOWNTURN IN OUR EXPORTS; AND OUR FORECAST IS THAT WE WILL PROBABLY COME UP WITH NO REAL GROWTH IN EXPORTS THIS YEAR, COMPARED WITH LAST YEAR.

+WE NEED NOT BE UNDULY PESSIMISTIC. WE SHOULD CONSIDER OURSELVES RATHER FORTUNATE, HAVING REGARD TO THE FACT THAT WE HAD UNINTERRUPTED GROWTH IN THE LAST 7 OR 8 YEARS, AND HAVING BY AND LARGE ESCAPED THE INITIAL AND EARLY EFFECTS OF RECESSION.

+WE EXPECT THAT WHEN OUR MAJOR MARKETS CLIMB OUT OF THE RECESSION, AND INDEED THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INDICATORS POINTING TO THAT DIRECTION, WE SHOULD BE WELL PLACED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE UPTURN,+ MR TŠAO CONCLUDED.

PHILOSOPHY OF YOUTH WORK EXPLAINED

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THE SOCIAL WORK APPROACH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IS ONE WHICH AIMS NOT ONLY TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF BUT TO FOSTER HIS GROWTH BOTH IN TERMS OF HIS IMMEDIATE FAMILY AND PEER GROUP AND AS A MEMBER OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE.

+THIS IS WHY IT IS SO VITAL THAT YOUNG PEOPLE, DURING THE YEARS WHEN THEY ARE COMING TO MATURITY AS ADULTS, LEARN TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKING HARMONIOUSLY WITH OTHER PEOPLE AND OF BEING TOLERANT OF THE VIEWS AND NEEDS OF OTHERS,+ HE ADDED.

THIS WAS STATED BY MR ALLEYNE WHEN HE PRESENTED SILVER AWARDS OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD SCHEME TO MORE THAN 250 YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN AT A CEREMONY HELD AT THE KING GEORGE V SCHOOL IN TIN KWONG ROAD HO MAN TIN THIS EVENING.

MR ALLEYNE SAID THE IDEALS OF THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH'S AWARD SCHEME EMBRACED MANY OF THE MAJOR PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT'S PHILOSOPHY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTH WORK.

+ INDEED, HE SAID, THE SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT IS ONE OF 21 OPERATING AUTHORITIES FOR THE SCHEME IN HONG KONG AND, AT PRESENT, SOME 500 MEMBERS OF SOCIAL WELFARE DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY CENTRES AND BOYS' HOMES ARE PARTICIPATING IN VARIOUS AWARD PROGRAMMES.

MR ALLEYNE SAID THE AWARD SCHEME MADE A MOST CREDITABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF WORTHWHILE ACTIVITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.+

+THE GREAT STRENGTH OF THE AWARD PROGRAMMES IS THAT THEY COMBINE A RANGE OF ACTIVITIES DESIGNED, ON THE ONE HAND TO ENCOURAGE YOUNG PEOPLE TO USE THEIR INITIATIVE AND TO FACE PHYSICAL AND MENTAL CHALLENGES AND, ON THE OTHER HAND, TO FOSTER IN THEM A COMMITMENT TO COMMUNITY SERVICE AND AN UNSELFISH ATTITUDE TO THE NEEDS OF OTHERS, HE ADDED.

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