TNAG-2329-FCO40-3373-Hong-Kong-contacts-with-academics-and-writers-1991 — Page 39

(e)

extent to which administrators are bound up by unnecessary central rules and controls; and (d) The methods of fostering management initiative in a civil service environment. This topic could be very relevant to East Europeans and developing countries. Administrators from the U.K. and Hong Kong could contribute usefully.

Future Thinking on Social Policy in the light of the Implications of Current Economic Policy: Safety Nets and the Provision of Social Guarantees. Some may need to identify more clearly the direct social consequences of economic policies, the economic and social methods of guaranteeing social stability, and the implications for administration. There is a need to find ways of identifying the prejudice, if any, to the efficiency and freedom of the business sector too. I think that Hong Kong would benefit from this discussion. In the draft White Paper on Social Welfare into the 1990's and Beyond, the following was said:-

"It is acknowledged that there are significant shortfalls in

the current provision of social welfare services. These are especially evident in the provision of residential facilities. for the elderly and in day care for children. It is important that these inadequacies are corrected as a matter of urgency while ensuring that our services are adjusted and refined, as appropriate, to meet the evolving aspirations and needs of the community Innovation, flexibility and integration in the design and delivery of programmes and services must be accorded greater emphasis to ensure that limited resources are utilised to the optimum and that access by clients to a comprehensive range of services is improved."

"It is anticipated that the immediate future will present

difficult challenges. Despite operational constraints in the form of limited manpower and financial resources, Hong Kong, with its sound foundations of social welfare and the joint commitment of Government, the non-governmental organisations and the community, can endeavour to further develop its welfare services into the 1990's and beyond and build up a caring community.

The Hong Kong Standard has put it another way: -

"Once more, we see tangible evidence of the selfishness of the

society in which we live. While homeless folk sleep under dusty flyovers and old men are locked in cages, the people of Hong Kong look the other way There can be no question of

caving in to those local residents who put their own anti-social requirements above the needs of those who are less fortunate than they are. Unless this is done, the authorities are simply feeding and helping and being a part