1992-01-02 12:27 INFORMATION SERVICES DEPT
- 6 ·
852 521 7725 P.06/13
MASS RALLY
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The media accorded prominent news and pictorial coverage to a mass rally at Chater Garden yesterday organised by the HK Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China, which only served as a protest, but was also carried out in honour of the recent release of HK resident Lau Shan-ching. It was noted that more than 1,000 people had joined the rally. The participants chanted a slogan "democracy had yet to be won and people still had to work hard" throughout the activity. They later marched to the NCNA local branch in Happy Valley, where they placed a petition letter demanding the release of all Chinese dissidents by the mainland authorities.
The newly released Lau Shan-ching was delighted that many people had turned up in the mass rally, saying that HK people had progressed much these years. He also called for better treatment for prisoners in China.
Some papers reported that the mass rally was headed by six leaders of the HK Alliance who were also members of the Legislative Council. They included Szeto Wah, Cheung Man-kwong, Lau Chin-shek, Yeung Sum, Fung Chi-wood and Conrad Lam.
PRICE RISES
The media reported in good coverage that a number of utility companies would increase their charges in 1992. As a matter of fact, Towngas
and HK Electric had raised their charges with the effect from January 1. It was expected that many utility companies and Government departments would increase their charges and fares in the next few months.
About 70 representatives from two joint labour groups yesterday petitioned Government House accusing the Government of insisting on building the new airport, ignoring the needs of HK people and allowing public utility companies and Government departments to raise their service charges, further stimulating our inflation, the media reported widely. The groups were mainly headed by the HK Confederation of Trade Unions and the right-wing HK and Kowloon Trade Unions Council. They warned of public resentment and social unrest if the present situation continued.
A local economist was worried that charge increases by utility companies and Government departments after the nine-month freeze period would put pressure HK's inflation problem, Sing Pao reported.
Ming Pao yesterday published in a full-page a statement by a grassroots group which had membership from almost 100 local groups and six million HK people. The statement said that according to 1991's Social Welfare review, the sort of social services enjoyed by HK people were much behind the original plans. The Government also failed to increase an annual expenditure on social services by 4.6 per cent in the 1990s. Instead, it had proposed cutting the expenditure. The statement also criticised the over-spending by the University of Science and Technology and the high cost in building the Tate's Cairn Tunnel.
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