XN000022-1987-01-17 — Page 29

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SATURDAY, JANUARY 17, 1987

BEING A POLITICAL ADVISER AND BEING THE GOVERNOR. THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE OF ALL IS CLEARLY THE SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITY, IT'S VERY MUCH LARGER. THAT'S WHY I SAID I THINK THAT I HAVE MUCH TO LEARN AND I'M GOING TO START THAT LEARNING PROCESS STRAIGHT AWAY. I HAVE TO LEARN A GREAT DEAL ABOUT HOW A TERRITORY LIKE HONG KONG OPERATES, ALL THE IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF A TERRITORY OF THAT SORT. AND THOSE ARE THINGS WHICH I DID NOT HAVE TO COVER AS POLITICAL ADVISER.

CHAIRMAN: NEXT, YES PLEASE. WAIT FOR THE MICROPHONE PLEASE... MS Y.P.YU (SING PAO DAILY) A LOT OF NEWSPAPERS IN THIS COUNTRY THINK

THAT YOU'RE RATHER JUNIOR TO BE A HONG KONG GOVERNOR. DO YOU THINK YOURSELF YOU'RE REALLY TOO YOUNG TO BE A HONG KONG GOVERNOR?

SIR DAVID, I'M RATHER FLATTERED BY THE NEWSPAPER REPORTS WHICH

TALK ABOUT ME AS BEING TOO YOUNG, IT'S RATHER CHEERING.

I THINK IT IS WORTH REMEMBERING THE AGE OF SOME OTHER GOVERNORS OF HONG KONG WHEN THEY TOOK UP THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES. WHEN

SIR

I GO OUT TO HONG KONG IN APRIL I SHALL BE 52. LORD MACLEHOSE, A GREAT GOVERNOR WHO I HAD THE HONOUR OF SERVING UNDER, WAS 54 WHEN HE TOOK UP HIS POST. IF YOU GO BACK FURTHER, ALEXANDER GRANTHAM, WHO SERVED FOR MANY YEARS AS GOVERNOR WAS 48 WHEN HE TOOK UP HIS POST. SO I DON'T CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE YOUNG IN THAT HISTORICAL LINE. ON THE OTHER PART OF THE QUESTION - 1 THINK THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT AS GOVERNOR, I HAVE TOTAL CONFIDENCE THAT I WILL HAVE THE SAME ACCESS TO MINISTERS IN LONDON AND TO OTHER SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE ROUND THE WORLD AS PREVIOUS GOVERNORS HAVE HAD, I HAVE NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT.

KEITH HONG (SING TAO); WE ALL KNOW THAT SIR EDWARD HAD BEEN

TRAVELLING QUITE FREQUENTLY BETWEEN HONG KONG, PEKING AND LONDON. SIR DAVID, WILL YOU DO THE SAME WHEN YOU ARE THE GOVERNOR, AND DURING THESE VISITS, WILL YOU BE VERY RECEPTIVE OF THE.... PRESENCE OF THE PRESS IN THE AIRPORTS AND EVERYWHERE YOU GO?

SIR DAVID SIR EDWARD CERTAINLY DID DO A GREAL DEAL OF TRAVELLING. HE DID A GREAT DEAL PARTICULARLY IN THE YEARS 1983-84, DURING THE NEGOTIATIONS ON THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG. NOW, THAT PARTICULAR SERIES OF NEGOTIATIONS AND THE NEED FOR THAT TRAVEL IS OBVIOUSLY DIFFERENT NOW, BUT HE ESTABLISHED A PATTERN OF FREQUENT VISITS TO LONDON, AND I HOPE TO KEEP UP THAT PATTERN. HE ALSO ESTABLISHED A PATTERN OF FAIRLY FREQUENT VISITS TO PEKING, AND I HOPE TO FOLLOW IN HIS FOOTSTEPS ON THAT. I'M SORRY.... YOUR OTHER QUESTION WAS WOULD BE RECEPTIVE TO PRESS COVERAGE. I SUSPECT THAT WHETHER I AM RECEPTIVE OR NOT, THERE WILL BE MANY PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE THERE.

/CHAIRMAN: