WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1987
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NOTING THAT SIR DAVID BEGAN HIS CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH THE NEW TERRITORIES BACK IN 1959, HE SAID THE PHENOMENAL ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE REGION WERE IN NO SMALL MEASURE DUE TO SIR DAVID'S WORK AND HIS SKILFUL AND SYMPATHETIC HANDLING OF THE MANY SOCIAL, POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS INVOLVED.
+OF NO LESS SIGNIFICANCE, SIR, IS YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT, HE ADDED.
ON SIR DAVID'S APPOINTMENT AS CHIEF SECRETARY, MR FORD SAID: +IN 18 MOMENTOUS MONTHS IN THIS ROLE YOU HAVE GIVEN EFFECTIVE AND REASSURING LEADERSHIP NOT ONLY TO THE CIVIL SERVICE BUT TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.+
HE PRAISED SIR DAVID'S STEADFASTNESS OF PURPOSE AND HIS SENSITIVITY TO THE NEEDS OF HONG KONG IN THE MONTHS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF SIR EDWARD YOUDE, WHICH HAD BROUGHT US ALL THROUGH A DIFFICULT PERIOD.
THE FACT THAT SIR DAVID HAD DECIDED TO MAKE HONG KONG HIS PERMANENT PLACE OF RESIDENCE WAS CLEAR EVIDENCE AS TO WHERE HIS ROOTS WERE, HE ADDED.
MR FORD ALSO POINTED OUT THE +TREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTION+ LADY AKERS-JONES HAD MADE DURING HER TIME HERE.
+TOGETHER YOU HAVE MADE AN UNBEATABLE TEAM AND OUR GREATEST CONSOLATION IS THAT IT IS A TEAM WHICH WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY TOGETHER ON ITS HOME GROUND, HE SAID.
MR FORD WISHED SIR DAVID, LADY AKERS-JONES AND THEIR FAMILY THE VERY BEST OF GOOD FORTUNE IN THE YEARS AHEAD.
IN REPLY, SIR DAVID THANKED COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THE IR SUPPORT AND FRIENDSHIP THROUGHOUT HIS YEARS OF SERVICES AND LEFT THEM WITH THE FOLLOWING QUOTE FROM EDMUND BURKE :
+PARLIAMENT IS NOT A CONGRESS OF AMBASSADORS FROM DIFFERENT AND HOSTILE INTERESTS. IT IS A DELIBERATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONE NATION WITH ONE INTEREST, THAT OF THE WHOLE, WHERE NOT LOCAL PURPOSES, NOT LOCAL PREJUDICES OUGHT TO GUIDE, BUT THE GENERAL GOOD RESULTING FROM THE GENERAL REASON OF THE WHOLE.+
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