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resettlement blocks were certainly distressing but it had to be remembered that for those living in them they were still an improve- ment compared to squatting on a hillside. As for medicine, many Chinese still preferred to consult herbalists and other practitioners of traditional medicine instead of going to a doctor. If, on the other hand, a man had a job he felt that he had a chance of getting on and improving his standard of living in the process.
It was
not surprising therefore, said Sir Y K Kan, that there was little pressure from workers for improved conditions. An assembly-line worker concentrated rather on becoming a supervisor and, if possible, a manager and was generally prepared to accept conditions. of work which would be regarded as unacceptable in Western countries. Nevertheless, it was right to take steps to improve conditions of work and Sir Y K Kan mentioned that among proposals which would have his support was that for paid annual leave.
6. A number of UMELCO members referred to the attitude towards
Hong Kong of the trade union movement in the UK, eg as reflected in the recent report by the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers. They did not say (as a number of senior government officials had done in conversation with me) that this report was motivated by a desire to reduce Hong Kong's competitiveness and not by a concern for the conditions of workers in Hong Kong. Instead, unofficials pointed to the contradiction in the attitude adopted by critics in the UK, namely, that they regarded Hong Kong as part of the UK when it suited them but as a separate entity when it did not. They instanced the imposition of quotas on Hong Kong's imports into the UK and difficulties over the entry of Hong Kong Chinese into the UK, a question which had been raised in the Legislative Council the day before. (The unofficials might also have mentioned our
insistence that Hong Kong should bear a very large part of the cost of the Garrison but did not do so.) Sir Y K Kan said that he and his colleagues were realistic enought to appreciate that Hong Kong's economic success put it in a special category in terms of trade with the UK but, all the same, they were dissatisfied when critics in the UK tried to have it both ways. Mr Hilton Cheong-Leen asked
/ me
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