XN000022-1983-11-24 — Page 8

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER. 24, 1983

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SIR PERCY HERE FOR THREE-DAY VISIT

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THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO PEKING, SIR PERCY CRADOCK, ARRIVED IN HONG KONG THIS (THURSDAY) MORNING FOR A THREE-DAY VISIT.

+IT'S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO COME TO HONG KONG,✦ HE TOLD REPORTERS AT THE AIRPORT.

+YOU KNOW OF COURSE WHY I AM HERE THIS TIME. I AM SHORTLY LEAVING PEKING AND GOING BACK HOME TO TAKE UP SOME APPOINTMENTS THERE, AND NATURALLY I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THAT BEFORE I HAVE COME DOWN HERE AND HAD A WORD WITH THE GOVERNOR AND OTHER OLD FRIENDS.

YOUDE.

+SO I SHALL BE HERE UNTIL SUNDAY, HE SAID.

SIR PERCY WAS MET AT THE AIRPORT BY THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD

CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN *****

THE PRIMARY OBJECT OF SOCIAL WORK WITH CHILDREN IS TO PROMOTE THEIR WELL-BEING, WITHIN THE NATURAL FAMILY OR WITHIN THE ADOPTIVE FAMILY ENVIRONMENT.

THIS WAS STATED BY THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE, MR JOHN CHAMBERS, AT THE LUNCHEON MEETING OF THE ROTARY CLUB OF HONG KONG SOUTH TODAY (THURSDAY).

+WHERE THIS GOAL CANNOT BE ATTAINED THEN WE TRY TO ENSURE THAT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL DAMAGE TO THE CHILD WHO COMES INTO CARE IS KEPT TO A MINIMUM.

+THIS REQUIRES CONSISTENT AND WELL CO-ORDINATED CASE PLANNING AS WELL AS SENSITIVITY TO THE NEEDS OF EACH INDIVIDUAL CHILD,+ HE SAID.

SOCIAL WORKERS, HE ADDED, WERE ALWAYS AWARE THAT THE ACTION SELECTED AT THE TIME CHILDREN CAME INTO CARE WOULD HAVE A PROFOUND EFFECT ON THEIR FUTURE HAPPINESS AND WELL-BEING.

REFERRING TO A DEPARTMENT SURVEY ON STATUTORY CARE AND PROTECTION CASES CONDUCTED LAST YEAR, MR CHAMBERS SAID THAT SUCH CASES FELL INTO TWO MAIN GROUPS —— CHILDREN WHO ARE FIRST AND FOREMOST IN NEED OF CARE, AND THOSE IN NEED OF SUPERVISION BECAUSE THEY ARE BEYOND PARENTAL CONTROL OR IN MORAL DANGER.

HE SAID THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND JUVENILES ORDINANCE EMPOWERED A JUVENILE COURT MAGISTRATE TO APPOINT THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE AS THE LEGAL GUARDIAN OF A CHILD BROUGHT BEFORE THE COURT IF HE WAS SATISFIED THAT THE CHILD WAS IN NEED OF CARE AND PROTECTION.

/WHERE THE