TNAG-1029-FCO40-1279-Visits-by-FCO-officials-to-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 104

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is not Chinese but more significantly he is not taken seriously by his Unofficial colleagues. He has a delightful sense of humour and fun but this makes people think he is a lightweight. This may not be the case but there is no escaping this view of him, and I doubt therefore whether he would be able to bring back an order and sense of purpose among the LegCo Unofficials. He certainly would not be able to restrain the more vociferous of his colleagues, i.e. T S Lo and Lydia Dunn. He would on the other hand work hard at his job and listen to advice given to him by officials. He would also not be an embarrassment. (b) Li Fook-wo Not quite as experienced as Mr Lobo in terms of ExCo, LegCo and the Urban Council. But much more exprienced on other commit- tees and a great deal wiser. He is 65 and claims he wants to retire from LegCo. But although he says little, he is very conscientious and greatly liked and respected by his colleagues. He would bring to the task a dignity it has sadly lacked under Mr Cheung. This is very important; UMELCO, with the infusion of all the new blood there has been

in the last 6 years or so, has lost in many people's eyes the status it

had. This needs to be restored and Mr Li could do so. He also has the

time (he has retired from a full-time business life) and the health to do the job for a few years whilst a successor is found and groomed this process ought incidentally to start now, if it has not already. (c) Dr Harry Fang Has slightly less experience than Mr Lobo and Mr Li. He is an undoubted hard worker though he tends to concentrate on health and welfare related topics. He is 59 and full of energy and enthusiasm. His main problem is his lack of time, particularly this year with his

involvement in the International Year for the Disabled. He is also

greatly liked and respected by his colleagues. If he can genuinely find the time to do the job he would be my choice since he could do it

for 4 years if necessary and then move on to become senior Unofficial

member of ExCo.

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5. All this leads on to two other problems: the need to plan these

appointments many years ahead and the quality of Unofficials. Although I do not have any first hand knowledge that the senior composition of

UMELCO is not mapped out in advance, it certainly seems that this is

the case. Whilst Sir Y K Kan, Sir Sidney Gordon and Sir S Y Chung were

all around, this did not perhaps appear to matter. As we move into the mid-80s with grave problems ahead and increasing responsibility for

Unofficials, such planning is essential.

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