8.
CONFIDENTIAL
But the
of law and order; plans for the polytechnic and two
technical institutes can be more or less effectively
implemented on time; there can be some expansion of
secondary education and social welfare services.
really dramatic expansion of housing we had hoped for must
be rephazed, and the crash expansion of secondary education
envisaged in the White Paper will have to be postponed at
least for a year and probably two. Though disappointing,
in the circumstances this has had to be accepted.
12.
But I am more concerned about the reaction
of the population, not so much to the inability of their
government in time of recession to implement the popular
plans it had announced in time of boom, but to a drop in
standard of living and growing anxiety about employment.
Industrial employment has fallen by 70,000 or 11% over the
last year, though other employment overall has probably
remained about steady or has slightly dropped.
has been mitigated by energy and flexibility.
The effect
For instance
there has been a marked movement back into agricultural
employment and into hawking, and there is some evidence of a
slight movement back to China. Though this process has been
painful and caused anxiety and distress things are still
far removed from crisis proportions. Moreover the situation
has been much eased by a slight drop in the cost of living.
Provided economic activity does not decline further, and the
CONFIDENTIAL
/cost of living
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