XN000022-1994-07-07 — Page 12

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THURSDAY, JULY 7, 1994

MR CHIM PUI-CHUNG(THROUGH INTERPRETER):

WELL, MR GOVERNOR, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW YOU WILL HAVE BEEN IN HONG KONG FOR EXACTLY TWO YEARS. PEOPLE ARE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS. MY QUESTION THEN IS: CONCERNING HONG KONG'S ECONOMY, HONG KONG'S LIVELIHOOD, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HONG KONG AND CHINA, THE RELATIONSITEP. BETWEEN CHINA AND BRITAIN, HOW DO YOU RATE YOURSELF IN A SCORE OUT WHAT CAN YOU DO TO INCREASE YOUR STORE OUT OF THAT? PEOPLE ARE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT, I'D LIKE TO GIVE YOU AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO GIVE A GOOD PERFORMANCE FOR YOURSELF. 1 DON'T THINK YOU WOHLFLD ENCOUNTER ANY DIFFICULTY IN ANSWERING MY QUESTION.

THE GOVERNOR:

קונ

107

I'M SURE THAT I RATE MYSELF AS HIGHLY AS THE HONOURABLE MEMBER RATES HIMSELF, AND CONCEIVABLY THAT IS A HIGHER MARK

THE HONOURABLE MEMBER WOULD GIVE ME HIMSELF.

THAN

GOOD THE

—

IN

CLEARLY, I LOOK BACK ON THE LAST TWO YEARS WHICH OF COURSE ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS HAS BEEN OUR GROWING CLOSE RELATIONSHIP, I LOOK BACK ON THE LAST TWO YEARS WITH INTEREST AND A DEAL OF PLEASURE AT THE SUCCESSES OF THE HONG KONG ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL PROGRAMMES. I DON'T THINK THAT EVEN IF I WERE RUNNING FOR ELECTION, WHICH I AM NOT, I COULD MAKE GREAT CLAIM TO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SUCCESS OF HONG KONG'S ECONOMY. THAT OWES MUCH TO THE HARD WORK AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILL OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG, WORKING WITHIN THE RULE OF LAW, AND TO THE SENSIBLE MACRO ECONOMIC POLICIES WHICH HAVE BEEN PURSUED BY THIS FINANCIAL SECRETARY AND PREVIOUS FINANCIAL SECRETARIES FOR MANY, MANY YEARS. IT IS OBVIOUSLY A MATTER FOR SATISFACTION THAT WE HAVE NOW BEEN ABLE TO HAVE TWO BUDGETS IN WHICH WE HAVE SEEN TAXES FALL, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE RISE AND MORE MONEY PUT INTO OUR RESERVES. THESE WERE NOT THE SORT OF BUDGETS THAT I WAS FAMILIAR WITH WHEN I WAS IN EUROPEAN POLITICS BUT IT IS A GREAT PLEASURE TO BECOME INCREASINGLY FAMILIAR WITH THEM HERE.

I THINK THAT IT'S ALSO BEEN A PLEASURE TO WATCH THE AGENDA WHICH I FIRST SET OUT IN MY FIRST SPEECH TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL IN 1992 OF SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL CHANGE STEADILY IMPLEMENTED. I WON'T GO INTO ALL THE DETAILS AND ALL THE FIGURES. BUT I THINK WE'RE AT THIS POSITION IN HONG KONG: WE по WANT TO SEE THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH QUALITY SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES WITHOUT LOSING OUR POSITION AS A LOW-TAX HIGH-GROWTH ECONOMY. THAT INVOLVES DIFFICULT CHOICES BUT I THINK EVERYBODY RECOGNISES THAT IT WOULD BE THE

GREATEST FOLLY IN THE PURSUIT OF SOCIAL OBJECTIVES TO DAMAGE OUR ECONOMY IN ANY WAY. DELIVERING QUALITY RATHER THAN JUST QUANTITY IN SOCIAL PROVISION RAISES RATHER MORE DIFFICULT PROBLEMS.

I THINK THAT FOR EXAMPLE IN EDUCATION, THE WHOLE COMMUNITY NOW RECOGNISES THAT WE'VE GOT TO CONCENTRATE ON RAISING THE QUALITY OF TEACHING, OF GIVING OUR TEACHERS MORE SUPPORT, SO THAT WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS IN THE CLASSROOM IS OF EVEN HIGHER QUALITY. THAT IS PERHAPS MORE DIFFICULT THAN JUST BUILDING NEW CLASSROOMS, EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE TO IMPROVE THE CLASSROOMS WE'VE ALREADY BUILT AND BUILD SOME NEW ONES. SO THESE ARE THE SORT OF QUESTIONS OF QUALITY WHICH I THINK WE ARE GOING TO BE TACKLING AND 1 WILL BE SAYING MORE ABOUT IN MY LEGCO SPEECH THIS AUTUMN.

/THERE IS