TNAG-1286-FCO40-16372-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong.-Part-2-of-2-1984 — Page 47

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whether the target date for universal suffrage is before or after 1991. A conscious, sustained effort must be made right now to educate the masses on the meaning of democracy and the electoral system, to heighten their civic consciousness and to increase opportunities for involvement in public affairs. Thus, the Government must take positive steps in nurturing potential political leaders and educating the electorate to fulfil the imminent goals of self administration of Hong Kong by the end of

this century.

The concept of functional constituencies has also evoked considerable controversy. In a recent television interview, a government official indentified six functional groups for the 1985 election, and they are commerce, industry, labour, education, finance and legal profession. These six occupational groups are designated, apparently because they are well represented and readily identifiable. However, the criteria adopted to define such constituencies can sometimes be regarded as arbitrary. People may query why certain functional groups are endowed with special political privileges over other groups which may be more deserving of representation, though less amenable to identification. Some groups lend themselves to easy identification, but are nonetheless arbitrarily excluded, for example, welfare workers, employees in the media and engineers. Representation on functional criteria inadvertently polarizes professions into two categories, thereby generating a feeling of rivalry and division, a situation which Hong Kong can least

afford at this time of our history.

I agree that the rationale behind representation from functional constituencies is to harness the much-needed specialist knowledge and valuable expertise in the interest of the community. But the appointment system, which co-exists with indirect election, can serve precisely the same purpose, allowing the Governor to select a number of members from the economic and professional sectors to complement the elected members in the