TNAG-1009-FCO40-1259-Appointments-of-senior-officials-in-Hong-Kong-and-Hong-Kong--1981 — Page 5

(1) Introduction

I have just moved sideways and slightly upwards

at any rate in the sense that I now live in the mists of

the Peak rather than the sunny lowlands of Shouson Hill - into the Chief Secretary's post. So I thought it would be appropriate to speak to you this evening, at this Annual Fellowship Dinner of the Hong Kong Management Association, on the government of Hong Kong, using the word government

with a small "g" because I shall not deal with esoteric

constitutional matters relating, for instance, to the

authority the Governor derives from the Letters Patent

and the obligations placed upon him by the Royal Instructions. In fact, the Government of Hong Kong with a capital "g" is quite difficult to define: in one sense, the Governor is

the Government; in another, the Governor-in-Executive-

Council is the Government; in another, the Governor-in-the- Executive-and-Legislative-Councils is the Government; in another, the Governor, taken together with the civil service, is the Government; in yet another, the Governor and the

civil service, together with the associated network of

advisory bodies, could be regarded as the Government.

(2) Theme of Speech

2. It is only in these two latter senses that I shall

be concerned with Government with a capital "g".. I shall

begin by describing the organisation of the internal

administration of the Government with particular reference

to certain changes recently announced and treated none too

kindly by some commentators. I shall then go on to explain how the community at large has been traditionally associated with the decision-making process and thereby

the Government, concluding with a reference to an

important recent innovation.

/(3).....