TNAG-1609-FCO40-22131-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1987 — Page 187

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

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free and open society such as Hong Kong? By definition,

what the Government does or does not do must affect the

people, either directly or indirectly, and to a greater or

lesser extent. Very often the Government has to act in a

way which adversely affects the interests of some

individuals or some sectors of the community. This is not

done carelessly or vindictively, but for the sake of

safeguarding the interests of the community as a whole. We

must accept that we cannot please all of the people all of

the time. It is a fact of life in any modern and

sophisticated society that there is seldom, if ever,

complete unanimity on any issue, and any decision taken by

the Government will inevitably be welcomed as desirable by

some and criticised by others. It is also a fact of

Cap political life that government can seldom expect praise from those who approve of or accept its decisions, but can

certainly count on being roundly criticised by those who do

not. The Hong Kong Government is not afraid of criticism;

we are quite willing to admit that we may not get everything

right. Indeed, we pride ourselves on being a free society

where open debate is encouraged and prople can speak up

l.c.

So

And indeed

e

aple against the government. This Chamber has seen many examples

of that principle being fully exploited in the recent past.

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