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to be of enormous value both in the short- and long-run. Another
factor in the government's favor is the Hong Kong Chinese'
obsession with stability and its abhorrence of confusion. They
know very well the indispensability of the colonial authority in
maintaining social order. As noted before, some of them would
even like to see the government take draconian measures to
reassert its authority, probably considering it as a means to
guarantee stability in Hong Kong. The general endorsement of the
existing institutional structure, which owes its origin to
colonial tutelage, is of great help to the government in
maintaining its rule.
Thirdly, as the government is publicly credited with the
modernizing success of Hong Kong, it must have accumulated a
substantial amount of diffuse political support. This stock of
political goodwill from the people should have depleted quite a
bit, but the balance should enable the government to sustain
itself for some while. The general satisfaction with colonial
rule in the past and the reluctance of the people to face the
future might even produce some measure of 'nostagic' political
support for the government. When people think that the future
government is not likely to be better than the departing one,
they would be more magnanimous in dealing with the latter.
Fourthly, the emigration of people from the higher occupational
strata creates vacancies for those staying behind to fill.
Opportunities for upward occupational mobility for the young and
better educated have multiplied. At least in the short term, as
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