XN000022-1984-07-24 — Page 14

TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1984

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+WITH AN AGREEMENT REACHED AND CONTAINING THESE ASSURANCES OF CONTINUING FREEDOMS AND CONTINUING SYSTEMS, WE CAN GO ON TO BUILD THIS REMARKABLE PLACE INTO A GREAT CITY OF THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY,+ HE SAID.

ON THE SOCIAL SYSTEM IN HONG KONG, HE SAID IT WAS FROM THESE ELEMENTS OF THE SOCIETY WHICH DR THE HON HARRY FANG AND OTHER LEGCO MEMBERS HAD DESCRIBED IN THE IR SPEECHES TODAY THAT THIS UNIQUE COMMUNITY HAD GROWN.

+AND THERE IS A DIRECT CORRELATION BETWEEN OUR SOCIAL SYSTEM AND THE FACT THAT WE ENJOY A LEVEL OF PROSPERITY WHICH IS AMONG THE HIGHEST IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD AND WHICH IS BEGINNING TO OVERTAKE MANY OF THE HITHERTO RICHER, DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WITH VAST NATURAL RESOURCES AT THE IR DISPOSAL.

SO

+HONG KONG HAS NO RESOURCES BUT ITS FIVE MILLION PEOPE; IT IS WITHIN OUR SOCIAL SYSTEM THAT MUST LIE THE SECRET OF ITS SUCCESS; AND AT THE HEART OF THAT SYSTEM LIES THE FREEDOM WHICH HAS BEEN EMPHASISED SO ELOQUENTLY BY THE PREVIOUS SPEAKERS,+ HE SAID.

FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE, HE SAID, THERE WAS AN EDUCATION SYSTEM GUIDED BY POLICIES WHICH HAD BEEN FREELY DEBATED BY THE PEOPLE AND BY MEMBERS OF THIS COUNCIL AND WHICH WERE EXPRESSED IN WHITE PAPERS CONFIRMING THESE POLICIES.

+SCHOOLS AND OTHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS ARE LARGELY PROVIDED, GUIDED AND SUPERVISED BY ORGANISATIONS WHICH ARE FREE, WITHIN THE LAW, FROM GOVERNMENT CONTROL OR INTERVENTION, AND WE OWE A GREAT DEBT TO THE MANY ORGANISATIONS, CHURCHES AND OTHER BODIES WHICH HAVE CONTRIBUTED AND ARE CONTRIBUTING SO MUCH TO THE INSTRUCTION AND MORAL EDUCATION OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE.

+SO, THERE YOU HAVE, IN THIS SINGLE FIELD, FREEDOM TO DEBATE, FREEDOM OF CHOICE, FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND FREEDOM FROM GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE, MR AKERS-JONES SAID.

LOOKING AT OTHER FEATURES OF THE SOCIETY, MR AKERS-JONES SAID THESE SAME FREEDOMS WERE AT WORK, BINDING THE SYSTEM TOGETHER WITH INVISIBLE LINK, NOT THE LINKS OF EXCESSIVE RULES AND REGULATIONS AND AN OPPRESSIVE BUREAUCRACY.

+OUR SCHEMES OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE AND WELFARE, AND OUR MEDICAL SCHEMES HAVE BEEN DEVISED, AFTER TAKING THE ADVICE OF THE PEOPLE THEY AFFECT, AND ARE SIMILARLY ENSHRINED IN GUIDING POLICY DOCUMENTS DEBATED IN THIS CHAMBER.

+OURS IS A YOUNG SOCIETY AND ONE WHICH HAS GROWN BY ROUGHLY ONE MILLION PEOPLE EVERY TEN YEARS. IN IT THERE IS GREAT SOCIAL MOBILITY WITH FREEDOM OF OPPORTUNITY AND JUST REWARDS FOR HARD WORK.

+OUR WORKERS ARE FREE TO WORK WHERE THEY WILL AND T JOIN TOGETHER TO ORGANISE, TO BE A MEMBER OF TRADE UNIONS AND TO PROTECT THE IR RIGHTS.

/+WE ENJOY