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not been attempted since the police took steps in June, 1968, to disperse
the groups which gradually built up at the Cheungshawan playground.
recently the local communist leadership took exceptional measures to restrain
the crowds which gathered in the vicinity of the Bank of China on the first
three days of October, in an effort to avoid any clash with the security
forces.
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Morale in communist circles has, with the possible exception of the
schools, remained low. In the labour field, in particular, it has been
much affected by the reinstatement/re-employment campaign, many of the
union rank and file feeling that they have been deserted by their leaders
after having risked long terms of imprisonment for their activities last
year. This has resulted in some desertions from the communist unions many
of which are now carrying out recruitment drives in an attempt to make good
their losses. The thirtythree percent expansion of communist educational
facilities which was undertaken during the summer has, in part, been
responsible for the higher level of morale in the communist schools
however as far as can be seen the vast majority of new students at the
communist establishments are drawn from the families of cocmunist followers
and, so far, little headway has been made in the attempts to draw "neutral"
students into the communist orbit. It is of some interest that even in
this field there has been a marked reduction in the amount of time devoted
to outright political indoctrination, though, of course, many lessons such
as geography, history and literature still contain a heavy political bias.
After virtually ignoring the Hong Kong Government Chinese School Certificate
Examination for the past two years the communist schools have resumed
participation in the exam this year, partly as a result of pressure from
students and parents but also to provide suitably qualified graduates as
teachers for their new schools.
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