XN000022-1985-09-19 — Page 4

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1985

+ IT IS REALLY A QUESTION OF DESIGN AND WHAT YOU WANT TO PUT ON IT AND HOW COMPLICATED YOU WANT TO MAKE IT AND HOW FOOLPROOF YOU WANT TO MAKE IT, AND IN WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES YOU WANT TO USE IT.

+AND WHETHER YOU WANT IT TO BE READ BY MACHINE OR WHETHER IT IS TO BE READ BY HUMAN MEANS,+ HE SAID,

SIR DAVID POINTED OUT THAT IT WAS A COMPLICATED MATTER TO DESIGN AN IDENTITY CARD WHICH WAS DIFFICULT TO FORGE.

+SO IT DOES TAKE TIME. I MEAN WE WANT TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT INFORMATION WE'VE GOT TO PUT ON IT, AND SUCH THINGS AS TO WHETHER IT CAN BE READ BY MACHINE AND SO ON, HE SAID.

ASKED WHETHER THE NEW CARD WOULD RESEMBLE THE PRESENT ONE, SIR DAVID SAID HE DID NOT THINK IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFERENT.

+ IT MAY HAVE OTHER DATA ON IT,+ HE SAID.

ASKED WHEN A DECISION WAS LIKELY TO BE TAKEN, SIR DAVID SAID HE THOUGHT IT SHOULD BE WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.

+BUT I AM HAZARDING A GUESS WITHOUT HAVING SPOKEN TO THE OFFICERS CONCERNED, HE ADDED.

ON WHEN THE NEW CARDS WOULD BE COMING OUT, HE SAID THE ACTUAL DESIGN WOULD TAKE SEVERAL MONTHS YET, AND THAT THE CARD ITSELF WOULD PROBABLY NOT COME OUT FOR A YEAR OR TWO.

HE ADDED THAT IT TOOK A PERIOD OF YEARS FOR THE WHOLE POPULATION TO GET NEW CARDS JUST AS IT HAS DONE WITH THE PRESENT CARD.

+WE ARE ONLY PART OF THE WAY THROUGH THE PROCESS AT THE

MOMENT, HE SAID.

ASKED WHETHER IT WAS POOR PLANNING AS PEOPLE WOULD SOON HAVE TO GET NEW IDENTITY CARDS AFTER THE CURRENT RENEWAL EXERCISE, SIR DAVID POINTED OUT THAT THE CURRENT EXERCISE WAS PART OF THE GOVERNMENT'S EFFORTS TO COMBAT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND TO REPLACE THE OUTDATED OLD CARDS.

+AND WE WILL NEED, ONCE THE CARDS HAVE BEEN DESIGNED, WE WILL NEED A NEW CARD WHICH WILL BE USED BY THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG UP TO AND HOPEFULLY AFTER 1997.

+YOU COULDN'T START DOING THIS BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY ARRIVED AT THE AGREEMENT IN THE JOINT DECLARATION WITH REGARD TO THESE DETAILS,

HE SAID.

ASKED TO GIVE DETAILS ON THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE+, SIR DAVID SAID THE ORGANISATION OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT WAS BEING EXAMINED TO MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT AND TO COPE WITH CHANGING CIRCUMSTANCES.

/+I SUPPOSE