XN000022-1996-07-05 — Page 5

3

But, you know, the reason why we have these elections, the reason why we have had a steady step by step process of democratisation is because back in 1984 when we negotiated the Joint Declaration, everybody thought that the best way of giving real muscle to the concept of Hong Kong people running Hong Kong and the best way of affording substantial protection to people's civil liberties in Hong Kong, was by having local Hong Kong people elected to the body to which government is accountable. I think that principle was right in 1984 and I do not think it becomes any less right in 1996.

Question: Governor, can I just ask you one other question. I think it is quite important to the Civil Service and how the Civil Service sees through the hand over. I think certainly it is fair to say that perhaps a great deal of experience and expertise has been lost with people voting with their feet to take a line from a recent speech by David Chu- leaving the Civil Service, seeking homes elsewhere, so have we got a Civil Service now, able really to tackle these problematic issues 1997 and beyond will certainly raise?

-

Governor: I think we have got strength and depth both in the Civil Service and in the Police and elsewhere in public service. I think two or three things have happened. First of all we have had to speed up the process of localisation. When I arrived in 1992 a large number of my senior colleagues were expatriates, very good expatriates but I think they recognised that it was time to hand over to locals, and that has meant that we have had younger local civil servants coming through, I think people of really outstanding quality. And you see them doing very good jobs today, including, I am pleased to say, a large number of women.

Secondly, some senior civil servants and police officers had to make a calculation about what they could get in terms of gratuities and pension now, and what the situation might be like in four or five years time and they concluded, with a good deal of economic rationality, to take the cheque now rather than to wait.

future.

And thirdly, there are probably some who are a little bit cautious about the

But I think we have not, anywhere, been in a position where we have not been able to promote good people to take the job that has been left by somebody else. I think it is a tribute to the development of our public service over the years that so many very good local officers are there. It is interesting, if you look at a service which was localised very early, like the Fire Service, that has never had any difficulty in running a very competent service indeed, and I think the same should be true right across the board.