XN000022-1985-11-05 — Page 2

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1985

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HONG KONG EXPERIENCE A SUCCESS, SAYS SIR DAVID

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THE SHAPE AND CONTENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, WHICH MANAGED HONG KONG, HAD EVOLVED IN RESPONSE TO HUMAN, ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PRESSURES AND NOT AS THE RESULT OF THE PURSUIT OF ANY PARTICULAR MODEL, THE CHIEF SECRETARY,

THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID TODAY (TUESDAY).

HONG KONG, HE SAID, HAD DEVELOPED ITS OWN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT BY CONSENSUS. THIS SYSTEM HAD NOT DEVELOPED BY ITSELF NOR HAD IT FOLLOWED A CONSISTENT AND WELL-TRODDEN PATH, NOR WAS

IT BASED ON ANY SOCIAL OR POLITICAL THEORY.

AN IMPORTANT AND DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF THE HONG KONG SYSTEM, HE ADDED, WAS THAT PRAGMATIC ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES DISCOURAGED UNNECESSARY INTRUSION AND INTERFERENCE BY GOVERNMENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

SIR DAVID DESCRIBED THE HONG KONG EXPERIENCE AS LETTING +GOVERNMENTS GOVERN AND MANAGERS MANAGE+.

ADDRESSING MORE THAN 800 SENIOR MANAGERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD ATTENDING THE 20TH WORLD MANAGEMENT CONGRESS IN KUALA LUMPUR, HE SAID THAT IT IS A TENET OF THE SYSTEM THAT PRIVATE CITIZENS, OUTSIDE GOVERNMENT, WILL MAKE MORE SENSITIVE AND MANAGER IÁLLY EFFICIENT DECISIONS THAN CIVIL SERVANTS, WHO HAVE NO DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE IR CONSEQUENCES, AND WHO CAN SHELTER BEHIND THE ANONYMITY OF A GOVERNMENT MACHINE.+

SIR DAVID TOLD HIS AUDIENCE THAT THE SIMPLE COLONIAL STYLE OF GOVERNMENT HAD DEVELOPED INTO A COMPLEX WEB OF INTERLOCK ING RELATIONSHIPS, UPON WHICH A GOVERNMENT OF CONSENSUS HAD BEEN BUILT.

THE CHIEF SECRETARY THEN OUTLINED BRIEFLY THE GRADUAL TRANSITION FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD ORGANISATIONS OF THE EARLY POST-WAR PERIOD, WHICH SERVED AS A BRIDGE BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT, TO +SETTING UP SHOP IN EACH AREA OF THE CITY+.

HE DESCRIBED THIS AS +A SHOP-WINDOW ON THE STREET OPENING UP A NEW CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE+.

UNDER THE NEW SYSTEM, PUBLIC SERVANTS WERE MADE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PEOPLE THEY SERVED AND CITIZENS WERE BEING INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF POLICY FORMULATION.

+NO ELECTIONS WERE TAKING PLACE, NO POLITICAL PARTIES WERE FORMED. HONG KONG SEEMED, IF SUCH A SITUATION IS POSSIBLE, TO BE A PLACE WITHOUT POLITICS, HE SAID.

/+THUS, IN