TNAG-0330-FCO40-366-Visit-of-Parliamentary-Under-Secretary-of-State--Anthony-Roy-1972 — Page 37

CONFIDENTIAL

Notes by the District Commissioner, N.T. on the letter dated 14th November, 1972 to Mr. Royle from the Heung Yee Kuk

Translation of Heung Yee Kuk's letter

A

Para. 2 last sentence Something very odd was done about land in the New Territories at the

beginning of the century. By the New Territories Ordinance (Cap. 97) we declaredfall... land in the New Territories to be Crown land and immediately leased back all land owned privately at that time. The Block Crown

Dear Mr. Royle,

We, members of the Heung Yee Kuk and resi- dents of the New Territories, wish to extend our welcome to you on your present visit to Hong Kong on an important mission. We recall that at the beginning of 1968 when a Kuk delegation visited the United Kingdom, they enjoyed your hospitality and had a friendly discussion with you and that later when you visited Hong Kong, representatives of the Kuk werd,invited to meet you and to present to you a memorandum on the matters of the New Territories

which represented the wishes of the residents of the New Territories: Because of our past official contacts, we feel that we are not strangers to each

other and we therefore make this submission

frankly and without holding back.

2.

The New Territories Heung Yee Kuk is a body representing the opinion of the entire people of the New Territories and is also the only statutory advisory body of the Government. It has under its jurisdiction over 91% of the total area of Hong Kong and more than 1/5 of the total population of Hong

Kong.

Its function is to work for the benefit of

/the

/leases