TNAG-1724-FCO40-2437-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 62

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to maintain continuity of policies to enable us to deal

with the tremendous social problems which have followed from the vast increase in our population over the best pest

40 forty years: an increase which is unparalleled in any

place of this size over such

such a

a period. The economic

success which has rewarded the hard work, energy and

enterprise of the people of Hong Kong, has enabled us to

meet the

the challenges we have had to face in providing

housing, education, medical services and welfare for our

ever increasing population. But continuity alone would

not have been enough. The

The success could not have been

achieved without a system of government which was both

effective and responsive and able to command the support

and the confidence of the community it serves.

Sir, at

A

the heart of our system of government has

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been the consultative process. We have prided ourselves

on being a government which listens to a community which

expresses itself publicly, through the media and through a

network of boards and committees, no less than 250 in

all.

The government has listened to and benefitted from the advice of a wide range of people from all sectors of

this community; the value of their contribution cannot be

overstated. In our society, they are able to speak freely

according to what they believe to be in the best interests

of the community as a whole; and when they do so, it is

with the assurance that their views are important and that

they will be listened to.