should be a uniform system of duty- free concessions for both visitors and residents entering Hong Kong; Customs and Excise Department should be on the alert as smuggling of dutiable commodities will be more lucrative after tax increase; existing allowance on duty-free commodities should remain available for all those who enter Hong Kong by air; initial allowances and annual allowances for depreciation do provide opportunities for tax deferral schemes via leasing arrangements; the rate of inflation should be taken into account when considering the increase of a family's salaries tax allowance; additional allowance for dependent parents should also be granted to tax payers who are not able to reside with their parents, but are giving them financial support.
Civil Service
The size of the civil service should be kept in check but members of the civil service should be properly and adequately remunerated and have their pension assured; annual statement of accumulated pension liability should be published; stabilise the civil service by applying strict value-for-money criteria; Government is correct in controlling the growth of the civil service since irrespective of deficit or surplus, frugality should be encouraged; while acknowledging the importance of maintaining law and order, the preferential allowance of staff increases to the Police was unfair to other departments and may affect morale; Hong Kong's economic activities, particularly the import and export trade, must not be unduly hindered by insufficient manpower as a result of restrictions on the growth of the civil service; opportunities for natural staff wastage should be seized to gradually curtail the size of the civil service; the package of fringe benefits for civil servants should be re-examined; staff morale will not be seriously affected if any of the expatriate orientated terms of service or fringe benefits are gradually removed with plenty of notice; it would be cheaper for Government to pay civil servants cash rather than maintain some fringe benefits; in presenting annual estimates to the Finance Committee, Controlling Officers should outline their efforts made during the preceding year to reduce costs and to increase productivity; the present policy of allowing civil
servants to retire and then be re-employed with payment of pensions should be reviewed; a balance between retaining irreplaceable talents and grooming up-coming officers for heavier responsibilities should be struck; there should be an in-depth review on the need and value obtained from the overseas training provided to civil servants; consider the possibility of transferring posts for Chinese Language Officers and Data Processing Staff to the Chinese Language Division and Government Data Processing Agency respectively; Government should second civil servants at middle management level with portfolios in finance and economic matters to the private sector to gain experience.
Education
Grants to the Vocational Training Centre should be kept at an adequate level; efforts to provide education at all levels raised; education is expensive, but for the maintenance of growth and for meeting challenges ahead, expenditure on education was money well spent; a Bachelor of Education Degree should be introduced for upgrading the standard of primary education; the Student Travel Scheme should be reviewed to
see whether its existence is still justified; the Overseas Education Allowance Scheme for local officers should be reviewed; the fact that in 1984 more students went overseas to Britain to study, yet the number receiving subsidies from the Joint Funding Scheme actually declined, should be investigated; appropriate training should be provided to heads of schools, to better prepare them to cope with the minority of students who displayed unruly and delinquent behaviour.
The Budget
The aim that the growth of public sector expenditure should not exceed that of GDP has not yet been achieved; excessive growth of the public sector tends to absorb too high a proportion of resources; arguable whether any growth in public sector expenditure is wise for the time being; Members of LegCo and the public are entitled to a full statement of Government's assets and liabilities; budget publications should be made easier to understand; budget statements and related documents are
at present neither self-explanatory nor self-contained; the budget should be revenue-based, not expenditure- based; reserves should be for meeting unforeseen expenditure; new revenue measures are not "clearly inevitable"; budget well-balanced and sensible; the Financial Secretary congratulated for his efforts in striving for a balanced budget; consider separate assessment of salaries tax for married women; fees and charges should be regularly updated; the Financial Secretary should in future spend his efforts on cutting expenditure instead of further tapping new sources of revenue; time has come to review and update the budgetary guidelines; forecast growth rate of 11 per cent in real terms for domestic exports questioned; growth rate in real terms for domestic exports expected to be much lower than 10 per cent.
The Future of Hong Kong From time to time, the progress of the Joint Liaison Group, the Land Commission and the Basic Law Drafting Committee should be made known to the Hong Kong people, to assure them that the spirit of the Joint Declaration is being upheld; if Hong Kong people are to be consulted on and can participate in the drafting of the Basic Law, they will welcome it as a clear indication of China's understanding of their concern; for specialist sub-groups, Unofficial Members with relevant expertise should be allowed to participate in the drafting of the Basic Law; in general, preference should be given to Hong Kong citizens of Chinese origin for appointment to the Drafting Committee; local land experts should serve on the Land Commission which should be receptive to requests for funds or for more land for the proper development of Hong Kong.
Trade & Industry
Government must keep in mind the dangers imposed on our exports by foreign protectionism; particularly worrying were the U.S. proposals regarding the country of origin rules for knitwear and on quota restrictions on textile items; Labour Department may need a larger inspectorate for the prevention of industrial accidents; imperative that factory inspectors are given adequate and proper training; priority must be given to strengthening our competitiveness in the export of goods; to establish a
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