XN000022-1985-12-13 — Page 2

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1935

+HK'S DYNAMIC CHANGES DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS+

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THE DYNAMIC CHANGE IN HONG KONG, WHICH WAS FREE FROM THE RESTRAINTS OF A GUIDING POLITICAL IDEOLOGY, HAD ACQUIRED AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT DIMENSION FROM MOST OTHER PLACES, THE CHIEF SECRETARY, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, SAID TODAY (FRIDAY).

AND CONSENSUS GOVERNMENT HAD ENABLED HONG KONG TO SURVIVE AND PROSPER, TO BECOME AN ECONOMIC MODEL AND A MODERN MIRACLE, HE SAID,

SPEAKING AT THE HK OBSERVERS' 10TH ANNIVERSARY COMMEMORATIVE LECTURES, SIR DAVID SAID THAT THE GROUP HAD LIVED THROUGH 10 YEARS OF THE MOST DRAMATIC CHANGE IN THE HISTORY OF HONG KONG.

+THROUGHOUT THIS TIME YOU HAVE OBSERVED AND ARTICULATED YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN A WAY WHICH HAS NEVER FAILED TO STIMULATE DISCUSSION, EVEN THOUGH THAT DISCUSSION DID NOT ALWAYS END IN TOTAL AGREEMENT WITH YOUR OBSERVATIONS.

+ BUT THAT IS YOUR RIGHT AND IT IS OUR PRIVILEGE AND OUR FREEDOM, FROM TIME TO TIME, TO DISAGREE, HE SAID.

ON HONG KONG'S CHANGES IN THE LAST 10 YEARS, SIR DAVID RECALLED THAT IN 1975, THE HOUSING PROGRAMME HAD JUST BEGUN AND WORK WAS STARTING ON THE NEW TOWNS. AND IN THE YEAR BEFORE - IN 1974 57 000 PEOPLE WERE HOUSED.

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THIS YEAR 1985 48 000 FLATS HAD BEEN BUILT, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF FLATS ALMOST EQUALL ING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE HOUSED IN A YEAR 10 YEARS AGO, SIR DAVID SAID.

+ IN 1975 THE UNDERGROUND RAILWAY, WHICH IS NOW SO MUCH PART OF OUR LIVES, HAD NOT BEEN BUILT: THE CONTAINER PORT NOW NEARLY THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD HAD JUST BEEN OPENED,

+ IT WAS ONLY IN 1975 THAT SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATION BECAME AVAILABLE TO ALL THE CHILDREN OF HONG KONG,+ HE SAID.

SIR DAVID SAID THAT ORGANISATIONAL CHANGES IN SOCIETY, WHICH LED TO THE PRESENT STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT, ALSO BEGAN AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME.

AMONG THE HOUSING BLOCKS A NEW ORGANISATION HAD JUST COME INTO BEING - THE MUTUAL AID COMMITTEES, WHICH NOW TOTAL 4 000.

BUT THERE WAS STILL NO COHESIVE, IDENTIFIABLE AND RESPONSIBLE GROUP TO REPORT AND DISCUSS LOCAL AFFAIRS AT A LOCAL LEVEL. AND SO, TO PROVIDE A CHANNEL OF COMMUNICATION OF RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND URBAN RESIDENTS, DISTRICT BOARDS WERE FORMED.

/SIR DAVID