SERVICES FOR THE COMMUNITY
'One of your most important tasks is to arouse the interest of residents in the affairs of their district, to focus their attention on community problems and to encourage them to contribute construc- tively to their solution'.
Directive to City District Officers.
56. There are two basic reasons why C.D.O.s engage in community services at all.
(1) Involvement improves contacts which help the C.D.O. to perform
his basic political function.
(2) The development of community organizations strengthens the
fabric of society.
57. I have discussed the question of contacts in the previous section and consider here the second objective—the stimulation of civic pride and of a concern of people for their fellows.
58. Hong Kong society is often described as materialistic. The con- trast is drawn between the lack of emotional content in government pronouncements and policies here and the patriotic overtones which pervade government activities in independent territories, especially in this region. The defeatist attitude to our political status as a Colony is to say that since we cannot develop a Hong Kong nationalism or patriotism we can only fall back on promotion of materialistic progress and hope that this will act as a substitute. This attitude overlooks the great potential of emotional and altruistic energy that such a young population is bound to have. I believe the C.D.O. scheme can help to find channels through which this energy can be directed to the good of Hong Kong. I am not concerned so much with finding a label like civic pride to be a substitute for patriotism as to find ways in which people, particularly young people, can find an outlet for energy directed at improving the lot of those who live here.
59. It will be clear that our second aim is similar to the aims of the Community Development Division of the Social Welfare Department. We did not quite spot this at first as we thought that we were simply extending the sort of work this department has always done with the kaifong etc. There was already some overlapping here and I am sure the arrangement we have now come to by which the professional abilities of the S.W.D. officers can be linked at the district level with the C.D.O.s
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