XN000022-1995-04-02 — Page 2

1.

Text of the Governor's broadcast on RTHK's "Letter From Hong Kong"

The Last Letter from Hong Kong:

The Last Letter from Hong Kong. It sounds a bit final doesn't it. The final curtain. The last hurrah. Well, relax. It doesn't presage the terminal collapse of literacy. Nor the closure of the Post Office. And it certainly isn't a hint that the official censor is coming to town. All that's happened is that RTHK is changing the format of this regular look at Hong Kong. So the envelope closes on one sheaf of letters. And, hey presto, more not quite the same, but similar more letters are promised in a future post.

+

-

-

These letters have been dropping through RTHK's post box for 15 years. Personal views, on every subject. No prejudice un-turned. No opinion censored. Government attacked. Government praised well, not all that often praised! Democracy applauded. Democracy rubbished. I've heard usually while I'm shaving on a Sunday morning views on sexism, views on environmentalism, views on communism. Every "ism" under the sun has had its day. Every "ism" and some "was'ms". 15 years of "I told you so", and "why are they all so crazy?", and "it's a monstrous outrage". And, from time to time, 15 years of "isn't Hong Kong a great place?".

-

-

Yes, it is. And one reason is in a sense - shown by a decade and a half of these letters: the best possible reflection of a free society in which no one is afraid to say what they think. Free speech. Not just for some, depending on your political affiliation or the size of your bank deposit. And not just free speech in the privacy of your own home, curtains drawn and lights out. But free speech for everyone. Free speech out in the open. And free shouting, too, if you want. Freedom to say what you want, when you want, and on a government owned radio station too. Free speech - the high octane of a free society.

I first visited Hong Kong as a young-ish backbench Member of Parliament just before these programmes started. I remember the buzz I got on that first trip in 1979. Like the shot of adrenalin when I made my first visit as a student to New York and America. The feeling of "oomph" -pzazz, the Americans would say. A community which throbs with vitality. Free to breathe. Free to get on with its life. Believing in progress. Believing that you can make things better yourself. Make life better for yourself, your family, your community. That you can make a difference. That you can pull yourself up through your own efforts.