TNAG-0095-FCO40-131-Heung-Yee-Kuk-delegation-visit-to-the-United-Kingdom-1968 — Page 49

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to an end the political situation in Hong Kong is still too delicate to be ignored. Therefore social and political reform should be in- troduced as early as possible so as to minimise the area of social grievances which the Communists can exploit. In this connection we request that the Government should do the following things with utmost urgency:-

a) To pay more attention to the New Territories people and their needs and to consider giving one or two seats to the representatives of the New Territories on the Executive and Legislative Councils. The importance of the New Territories in the future of Hong Kong can be illustrated by the fact that the New Territories con- stitute more than 90% of the total area of the Colony. Also by tradition and because of family and clansman ties the people of the New Territories are better organ- ised and more closely knit than the people of the urban areas. The wishes of these people should not be ignored and efforts should be made to provide effective machinery through which the opinion of the people could be channelled through to the highest authority. We consider this to be important because apart from anything else, the people of the New Territories can be a potential asset, or a potential threat to the peace in Hong Kong. If they turn communist the effect upon Hong Kong would be tremendous. On the other hand, if they support the Government as they did during last year's disturbances they could assist greatly in the maintainence of peace and order in the Colony.

b) The Government should appoint only those who are truly able and public spirited and well-informed of public opinion to the Executive and Legislative Councils as unofficial members. At present neither council is truly representative of public opinion because there are no elected members and what is more undesirable, the unofficial members are too remote from the man in the street. This criticism is felt by many people in Hong Kong and we are here merely repeating the common feeling that the Government should not confine itself in the appointment of unofficial members to the Executive and Legislative councils to a small number of "yes" men who have become well known because of the accumulation of wealth.

c) More local officers of the right calibre should be given greater responsibility in the Government service because this facilitates communications between the Government and the people. We understand that the Government has declared its intention to employ more local officers to replace ex- patriates wherever possible, but there are still too few local officers holding posts in the civil service senior enough to influence the policy of the Government.

a)

A local Government system should be established as soon as possible to provide the necessary machinery through which the people can play a more important part in the administration of the Colony.

(7) Land