ENG-1976-11-11 — Page 1

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 183 OFFICIAL REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS

Thursday, 11th November 1976

The Council met at half past two o'clock

PRESENT

HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR (PRESIDENT)

SIR CRAWFORD MURRAY MACLEHOSE, GBE, KCMG, KCVO

THE HONOURABLE THE CHIEF SECRETARY,

SIR DENYS TUDOR EMIL ROBERTS, KBE, QC, JP

THE HONOURABLE THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY

MR CHARLES PHILIP HADDON-CAVE, CMG, JP

THE HONOURABLE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

MR JOHN WILLIAM DIXON HOBLEY, CMG, QC, JP

THE HONOURABLE THE SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS

MR DENIS CAMPBELL BRAY, CVO, JP

DR THE HONOURABLE GERALD HUGH CHOA, CBE, JP

DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES

THE HONOURABLE IAN MACDONALD LIGHTBODY, CMG, JP

SECRETARY FOR HOUSING

THE HONOURABLE DAVID HAROLD JORDAN, CMG, MBE, JP

DIRECTOR OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

THE HONOURABLE LI FOOK-KOW, CMG, JP

SECRETARY FOR SOCIAL SERVICES

THE HONOURABLE DAVID AKERS-JONES, JP

SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES

THE HONOURABLE LEWIS MERVYN DAVIES, CMG, OBE, JP

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY

THE HONOURABLE DAVID WYLIE MCDONALD, JP

DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS

THE HONOURABLE KENNETH WALLIS JOSEPH TOPLEY, CMG, JP

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

THE HONOURABLE IAN ROBERT PRICE, CBE, TD, JP

COMMISSIONER FOR LABOUR

THE HONOURABLE DAVID GREGORY JEAFFRESON, JP

SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES

THE HONOURABLE ALAN JAMES SCOTT, JP

SECRETARY FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE

THE HONOURABLE GARTH CECIL THORNTON, QC

SOLICITOR GENERAL

THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HEWITT NICHOLS, OBE, JP

DIRECTOR OF AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES

THE HONOURABLE THOMAS LEE CHUN-YON, JP

DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL WELFARE

THE HONOURABLE DEREK JOHN CLAREMONT JONES, JP

SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

DR THE HONOURABLE CHUNG SZE-YUEN, CBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE LEE QUO-WEI, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE OSWALD VICTOR CHEUNG, CBE, QC, JP

THE HONOURABLE ROGERIO HYNDMAN LOBO, OBE, JP

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THE HONOURABLE PETER GORDON WILLIAMS, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE JAMES WU MAN-HON, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE HILTON CHEONG-LEEN, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE LI FOOK-WO, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE JOHN HENRY BREMRIDGE, OBE, JP

DR THE HONOURABLE HARRY FANG SIN-YANG, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE MRS KWAN KO SIU-WAH, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE LO TAK-SHING, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE FRANCIS YUAN-HAO TIEN, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE ALEX WU SHU-CHIH, OBE, JP

THE REV THE HONOURABLE JOYCE MARY BENNETT, JP

THE HONOURABLE CHEN SHOU-LUM, JP

THE HONOURABLE MISS LYDIA DUNN, JP

DR THE HONOURABLE HENRY HU HUNG-LICK, OBE, JP

THE HONOURABLE LEUNG TAT-SHING, JP

THE REV THE HONOURABLE PATRICK TERENCE MCGOVERN, SJ, JP THE HONOURABLE PETER C. WONG, JP

THE HONOURABLE WONG LAM, JP

IN ATTENDANCE

THE CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

MRS LOLLY TSE CHIU YUEN-CHU

Motion

Address of thanks to His Excellency the Governor

Resumption of debate on motion (10th November 1976)

SECRETARY FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE:—Sir, although the Civil Service has relatively speaking escaped notice in this debate, with the exception of the Department of my honourable Colleague the Director of Commerce and Industry, I rise to take up points arising from the speeches of two of my honourable Friends.

First, my honourable Friend Mr LEUNG Tat-shing expressed anxiety about the level of allocation of public housing to lower-income civil servants. In order to reply, I fear I must traverse, briefly I hope, the history of the matter.

In 1961, it was decided, in order to assist lower paid civil servants, that 15 per cent of accommodation in Government low-cost housing

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estates should be set aside annually for allocation to them. By 1973, 7,323 civil servants had secured allocations, under this arrangement.

In 1973, all public housing activities were amalgamated under the Housing Authority. With the greatly expanded housing programme, continuation of the 15 per cent policy would have resulted in the allocation of as many as 5,000 units per annum to civil servants which would have exceeded the estimated requirements in the light of the criteria established by the Housing Authority for the general public. Civil service allocations are also based on these criteria. It was therefore decided, in consultation with my honourable Colleague, the Secretary for Housing, that a more realistic and reasonable figure for civil servants would be 1,500 units per annum out of all public housing.

There were no civil service allocations in 1974 because of the over-riding public commitments of the Housing Authority, but in 1975 there were 1,449 eligible applicants who received allocations. The allocations for this year have not yet been finalized but it is likely that the allocation of 1,500 units will be almost fully subscribed, and that few, if any, qualified applicants will not succeed in getting an allocation. I do not therefore think it necessary at the moment to consider an increase in the allocation for civil servants, on the assumption that the criteria applied to the general public continue to be applied to civil servants.

Second, Sir, my honourable Friend Mr Hilton CHEONG-LEEN referred to the 100,000 civil servants of Hong Kong when he was speaking about service to the community and the need for the growing sense of identity with and loyalty to Hong Kong. This is a clear message to civil servants to continue to play their part, both as members of the community as well as in their daily work, in forwarding Government's development programmes; and I am sure that it will be heeded.

My honourable Friend further said that, by and large, the standard of performance and productivity is already high; and it is reassuring to hear public tribute paid to our civil servants who often feel that their hard work is not always so kindly recognized. He said, however, that there was still some "grey areas" where standards could be improved. It is true, Sir, that some of us are a little more grey than others; but fortunately, no management expert has yet established a valid correlation between the degree of efficiency and the quantity or shade of grey hair.

We endeavour continually to improve standards, through training programmes, by improving management techniques, and I say with

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hesitation perhaps, welcoming criticism and advice and sometimes even acting on it. Perhaps we may thus refute and I am much indebted to my honourable and Rev Friend Patrick McGOVERN for the correct use of this word—I hope we may thus refute the paradoxical allegation that we are hide-bound, and yet at the same time thin-skinned.

There is, however, Sir, a vital area to which increasing attention must be and is being given—the further improvement of staff relations. Hardly a week goes by without a press report about some difference of opinion between management and a staff association seeking some improvement in the conditions of service. Some of these reports convey an impression of large scale dissatisfaction and inequity; but they are unlikely to present more than one side of the picture.

We must accept that staff associations, as a matter of tactics, will resort to public statements, from time to time: to enlist sympathy and to test whether their views command public support. For my part, I consider it inappropriate to conduct confidential and often delicate discussions with staff in public, through the medium of the press and I do not therefore reply publicly unless it is necessary to correct inaccuracies or misunderstandings, or to inform the public of wider issues. And so, Sir, when in the small hours I lie awake wondering why staff associations seem to talk to the press and prefer to talk to them rather than talk to management, I am much consoled by the view of DISRAELI in one of whose novels a character says "I believe that nothing in the newspapers is ever true"; and another character adds "And that is why they are so popular, (laughter) the taste of the age being decidedly for fiction". I expect I shall get stick for that tomorrow.

May I, Sir, reassure honourable Members that Government is fully aware of the need for adequate channels of communication with staff of all levels. And now, Sir, I am afraid I shall be tedious with some details, but they are necessary. In the service there are broadly speaking, two levels of top managerial responsibility—in the departments and at the centre. At departmental level, Heads of Departments can operate most effectively by taking decisions about those matters for which they are responsible. There is, obviously, no point in having managers unless they are left free to manage. In order to involve staff in departmental activities, we have for many years encouraged the establishment of consultative councils in which elected staff representatives—including union officials— meet management to discuss matters of mutual concern and to make decisions or

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recommendations to higher authorities upon them. There are now over 30 such councils in 24 departments. These councils are sometimes criticized as places where only minor matters and grievances can be aired but, used effectively by staff and management, much can be achieved from the two-way flow of views and ideas—and I emphasize that this flow must be two-way. These departmental councils are, for example, the correct place for the discussion of the structure of departmental grades and their internal relationships, and where applicable, relationships to comparable occupational groups in other departments.

It is further said that staff grievances are blocked by departmental management, a serious criticism, causing discontent and frustration. This need not happen, granted commonsense and goodwill on both sides, and management must accept its share of responsibility to avoid this if at all possible. Officers of the Civil Service Branch keep in regular touch with senior departmental officers, to follow progress and to advise upon discussions in departmental councils if necessary.

At the central level, Sir, there is the Senior Civil Service Council, established under an Agreement in 1968 with the three main general staff associations. This Council discusses matters which affect the Service as a whole—matters over which departmental managers do not generally have direct control and which often involve the expenditure of significant amounts of public funds.

There is criticism of this central machinery on two counts—that it is not representative enough of the Civil Service as a whole; and that it provides for consultation, not negotiation. On the first count, Sir, I think honourable Members would agree with me that it would be unworkable to consult centrally with all 86 of our staff associations or unions. However, as I indicated two years ago to a conference of staff associations, in my view the number of Staff Side representatives on the central Council could be increased without making it unwieldy. Any such changes would, of course, have to be agreed with the signatories of the 1968 Agreement; and any proposals for the selection of staff representatives would require the joint backing of a reasonable proportion of associations. I believe that it is not the place for management to urge the staff associations in a particular direction in a matter such as this; rather, our function is to offer encouragement and advice.

At present, therefore, Sir, the initiative lies with the Associations. I would particularly welcome from them proposals which may lead to the central representation of unestablished (or Model Scale I) staff who

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are not represented centrally at present—and who themselves form a very large proportion of the total civil service. Such proposals could, for instance, include developing the existing Council or perhaps establishing a separate Council for these Model Scale I staff.

On the second count, it is said that consultation is not enough, because it does not bind the Government to take action and that there must be machinery including arbitration in the event that negotiations fail.

This, Sir, is a well-established and well-tried line of thought in industrial relations theory—although I should like to observe that arbitration has not proved an unmitigated success elsewhere, largely because its very existence encourages both sides to by-pass normal procedures, and it tends to result in a statment of extreme positions by each side and automatic compromise on all issues, whatever the merits and reality of the case. I hope that the time will never come, in the Hong Kong service, as it unfortunately has in some other places, that an adversary process automatically commences whenever staff and management meet.

Employees in a Civil Service, Sir, are in an unusual position, because its management and its staff are all themselves employees— employees of the Government and the people of the country they serve. Their terms of service are paid for from the public purse; and their salaries do not directly depend, as do those of their private sector counterparts, upon the degree of success in financial terms, of the enterprise which they serve. They have security of employment and a good superannuation system.

Against this background, Sir, we attempt to conduct staff relations on the basis of reason and goodwill to reach agreement and I might say to withstand the temptation of what John Randolph of Virginia nearly two hundred years ago called "that most delicious of all privileges—spending other people's money". I remain sure, after three years in my present appointment, that our policy of encouraging the growth of trade unions is correct and that staff associations generally exercise their functions with a due sense of their public responsibility. Nevertheless, situations occur when management cannot go all the way to meet staff requests; indeed, we would be superhuman if conflict or disagreement never occurred. These, Sir, are the occasions when allegations of insincerity or of unreasonable delay tend to arise against management; but in my view, Sir, management is not

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doing its duty if for the sake of peace, it yields to such tactics. The mere repetition of statements or claims, without adequate supporting facts and argument, does not establish the merits of a case, nor does it improve communications and staff relations.

At the central level, Sir, to go back to arbitration for a moment, there is in fact provision under the 1968 Agreement to which I earlier referred, for the Governor to appoint a Committee of Inquiry if there is a disagreement over a matter of substance in the Senior Civil Service Council (unless it involves a matter of settled public policy; this provision reflects the facts that, whatever system of industrial relations one uses, ultimate responsibility lies with the Government of the country, and that this ultimate responsibility may include making unpalatable and unpopular decisions, such as Her Majesty's Government of United Kingdom faced in establishing a pay freeze which over-rode negotiated agreements). In Hong Kong it is a matter of record that a Committee of Inquiry under the 1968 agreement has only once been asked for and appointed, and that Government accepted its finding.

To sum up, Sir, I believe we have a system of staff relations which works reasonably well, and which can be made—with the help of all concerned—to work more effectively; and we stand ready to develop it further. I regret that it seems unlikely that a system can ever be developed which will please everybody all the time.

In short we recognize and accept our responsibility as the largest employer in Hong Kong, and shall continue to maintain and improve standards and to ensure that civil servants are fairly treated compared with our community in general.

Sir, I beg to support the motion.

SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC SERVICES:—Sir, I would like to comment briefly on the points my honourable Friend Dr S. Y. CHUNG made on the Consumer Council.

I agree with my honourable Friend that, by its achievements, the Council has convinced most people there is a permanent need for a Consumer Council in Hong Kong. The council's present objectives can be summarized as being

—to collect information on prices and supplies;

—to receive and consider suggestions and complaints from consumers;

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—to publish the facts where appropriate and to take such action as may be necessary to protect consumers' interests including advising the Government should the council discover scope for effective official action.

Towards achieving these objectives, the council has conducted general price surveys at regular predetermined intervals. It has also, over the two years of its existence, carried out 33 detailed surveys of individual products. It has received something like 13,000 complaints. If found about a quarter of these complaints justified and subsequently succeeded in effecting improvements. For only about half a per cent of the cases did the council establish a grievance and yet fail to get the co-operation necessary to remove the cause.

The council has also made considerable progress in developing its educational and information services. This aspect is vital to the council's work. The more consumers know about prices and qualities, the better market system will operate.

If the need for a permanent Council is accepted, then, as my honourable Friend pointed out, it must be given legal status. Clearly it is not satisfactory that the council cannot sign contracts, open bank accounts, enter into lease agreements, sue or be sued on the one hand; while on the other, the individual councillors and members of the council's staff are liable. The significance of this lack of legal status is underlined by the fact that, as I have already said, one of the council's most important tasks is to publish information that will improve the working of the retail market system, and this information must include the facts on flaws in the system. And in passing, I should add that for this reason the Government has given a formal undertaking to the council to stand behind members and staff who find themselves involved in libel or slander actions arising out of the performance of their duties.

The easiest and quickest way for the council to become a legal entity would be for it to register as a society under the Societies Ordinance. The alternative, for it to be incorporated under its own statute, would inevitably take longer and result in a certain inflexibility which could be disadvantageous for example if the council wanted at a later date to seek to modify its objectives.

And in practice registration under the Societies Ordinance would meet all the difficulties my honourable Friend listed except one. For

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only if the council were to assume investigatory powers would it need to be incorporated under its own statute. I must confess that on this point the Government does have doubts. One cause of these doubts is that to make those serving consumers in Hong Kong liable to investigation by a non-Government organization would leave them open to a major breach of their privacy. I stand to be corrected when I say that there are no non-Government statutory bodies that do have such powers.

I suggest, Sir, that before taking this serious step, we would need to be fully satisfied that lack of investigatory powers was significantly hampering the council in its work, that such powers would not have the effect of actually hampering the effective working of the market system, that the community as a whole felt strongly that the council should have such powers, and that the necessary law could be drafted in such a way that the powers could be adequately defined both as to their extent and to their use.

Meanwhile, we shall continue our discussions with the council on the most appropriate means of giving it legal identity.

Sir, I beg to support the motion.

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY:—Sir, the expressions of concern and the views of five of my honourable Friends on various aspects of the deployment and organization of the Police Force give me an opportunity, which I welcome, to speak in this debate.

The point raised by my honourable Friend, Mr Peter C. WONG, allows me to put the crime picture in perspective at the outset. Crime statistics can, and do, relate only to reported crime. I said in the corresponding debate last year that we can never be absolutely certain how much of total crime is reported, but we do get independent indications which show whether unreported crime as a proportion of total crime is on the increase or not. These indications lead us to the firm belief that a higher proportion of actual crime is being reported to the Police now than before. The trend in overall crime figures to which you referred, Sir, began in a small way 18 months ago, following a disturbing period when there was an alarming and very sharp increase in total crime, both reported and unreported. But as a result of various efforts and initiatives a higher percentage of total crime is now being reported. So, the crime statistics do reflect more exactly what the level of crime is, and there is no doubt that the picture which they give is becoming steadily more accurate, thanks to the very welcome increased public willingness to report crime.

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My honourable Friend Mr Hilton CHEONG-LEEN spoke about the crime reporting procedure. Unhappily there are occasions when individuals get frustrated by the response from the "999" system. But in the vast majority of cases the response is quick and efficient and it is only when a "999" call does not require an immediate response that there is what is called "a referral" elsewhere. During 1975 the Police responded to 83,000 or 82,769 to be precise, "999" calls and the time required for an officer to reach the scene of the complaint averaged five minutes, twelve seconds. When one considers that this includes "999" calls in the New Territories where distances are relatively greater than in the urban areas, the speed and effectiveness of the system is clearly high. With the impending implementation of the Beat Radio Scheme, the response times to calls should be even better. And now a word about referrals. To reduce the number of referral requests "999" calls are monitored. The Commissioner and his officers will, in the coming months, pay particular attention to all such cases to ensure this has only been done when an immediate response by a "999" call is not required.

The suggestion by my honourable Friend Miss Joyce BENNETT that all statements made to the Police should be taped does, at first sight, seem to be attractive. Such a proposal is not new. It was examined both here and by the Home Office in the UK a little time ago— and no doubt elsewhere as well. But it was concluded that such a procedure for all statements was simply not practicable.

Apart from the very considerable logistical problems, any system of recording some interviews, but not others, would be unsatisfactory because a substantial proportion of important oral admissions which are, at present, given in evidence would remain unrecorded: to this extent the whole object of the system would be frustrated. In addition there would have to be some system for excluding from recordings played over in court all inadmissable, and, if possible, any clearly irrelevant material. This would mean editing the tapes and as a result cast suspicion on their veracity. This apart, there would be no means of ensuring the whole of every recording was accepted by the court as authentic. Unfortunately no way round these various difficulties presents itself. For this reason we see no means of implementing such a scheme.

My honourable Friend also spoke on the importance of high educational standards for Police entrants. The minimum academic recruiting standard for appointment at constable level is literacy in

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Chinese at Primary 6 level. This minimum level is in practice appreciably lower than the actual level of the average entrant. But I am told that it was fixed to allow flexibility in selecting mature candidates whose experience and other qualities may more than compensate for their level of education. 90% of the applicants joining the Force now have some secondary education, compared with only 44% in 1970. This is welcome and I am sure that the standard will continue to rise. I should add that I am doubtful whether the capacity of officers recruited some years ago, when education standards were lower and the majority did not have secondary education, accounts on any wide scale for any delays in report rooms. There may be some, but generally officers posted to staff these rooms are specially selected for the quality of their written work and for their ability to take down statements quickly and efficiently.

My honourable Friend Miss Ko Siu-wah asked for more police officers to be on duty in public housing estates. There are 15 Neighbourhood Policing Units in housing estates, all but one in Government estates. In addition we are pressing ahead with the establishment of more Police Reporting Centres. 68 such centres were in existence at the beginning of the financial year, and at least a further 20 should be in operation by the end of March next year. Areas not covered by Neighbourhood Policing Units receive the services of patrols, emergency unit vehicles, divisional police vehicles and members of the CID. For the future, one of the objects of the review of police establishments which is going on is to see the extent to which greater resources of manpower need to be deployed.

Whilst these arrangements may not remove the fear from the minds of every child and young person in estates, I do believe that complemented by MAC patrols and the efforts of the District Fight Violent Crime Committees, they are making housing estates and the areas surrounding them safer places in which the occupants can go about their daily business and enjoy their leisure with more confidence. Overall we have indeed got a long way to go, but there is no complacency over the level of crime, rather an increased determination to contain it, reduce it and bring criminal elements in our community to justice.

Sir, I support the motion.

SECRETARY FOR THE NEW TERRITORIES:—Sir, in your address you said that the policies and programmes of which you spoke apply no less to the New Territories than the rest of Hong Kong. I will, if

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I may, because I think it needs to be said in this Council, describe in more detail what is happening in the New Territories outside the new towns.

Two years ago, in 1974, I mentioned the engineering studies which were necessary before we could proceed with precision, deliberately to improve and expand the other towns in the New Territories—Tai Po, Yuen Long, Sai Kung and elsewhere. The investigations took place in 1975 and, without faltering, funds were voted earlier this year, 1976, for the implementation of development programmes which will bring about even more dramatic changes in the market towns of the New Territories than we have witnessed in the last few years, for it is worth mentioning that the populations of Yuen Long and Tai Po, in particular, have already doubled in the last five years.

Yuen Long with its town hall, super-markets and Italian restaurant, is a far cry from the rustic community I knew so well ten years ago. Now, expenditure of $34 million at Yuen Long has already been approved to complete the development of the central areas, to form land on which to build a housing estate and to provide 4 hectares— about 10 acres—of land for private development.

In Tai Po work will start soon on the reclamation of 37 hectares of land, at a cost of $56 million, for a public housing estate for about 30,000 people; to provide land for private development; land for schools, a new market and shopping centre and other needed facilities.

Funds have also been approved for housing estates, and a smaller scale of development at Silver Mine Bay, Cheung Chau and elsewhere. Who would have imagined that we would see the day that $22 million was to be spent on housing and town improvement at Tai O, on Lantau; or that the badly housed on Cheung Chau would have an especially designed estate built for them? Some $18 million has been earmarked to provide land for this estate and related facilities. These are not dreams: funds have been voted and work is about to start.

In the northern New Territories the cluster of small market centres of Luen Wo Hui, Fanling, Shek Wu Hui and Sheung Shui has grown sufficiently large to need a comprehensive approach to its future development and to the provision of the infrastructure to serve it. At long last the tanneries have gone, and this land can now also be brought into the development plan, so that out of the sordid mess of yesterday, tomorrow will see new homes and a planned environment.

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This, too, is not just wishful thinking, $67 million has already been voted for the first phase of this work.

This conscious and deliberate effort on the part of Government to turn its attention to areas other than the new towns, which are designed principally to absorb huge numbers of people from the existing urban area, will I am sure be warmly welcomed by the people throughout the New Territories.

Other aspects of the development programmes are equally arresting, for without stealing Mr TOPLEY's thunder, it is worth saying that the implementation of the secondary school building programme will result, for example, in the building of 26 secondary schools in Tsuen Wan in the next five years. Thus not only correcting an imbalance that has existed for some years but also providing for the growing population and the schools needed to implement the secondary education policy. It is of especial interest to the New Territories that a secondary school in the Sai Kung district and the "Heung Yee Kuk" school on Lantau are part of the approved programme, so that children who now have to travel long distances to town from these places will, in future, have a school near their homes.

Industrial development has been taking place almost as though there had been no recession! Not so very long ago we were scratching our heads and looking for inspiration at coloured brochures from abroad to see how we could coax industrialists out to Tuen Mun. We need not have bothered; as experience has demonstrated so often, if the land is available and the economic climate favourable, no other exotic ingredients are necessary. Eleven factories have been completed at Tuen Mun on 950,000 square feet of land, and another twelve are under construction on 600,000 square feet. Many of these factories are developed to the full extent of the plot ratio of 9.5 times the site area, thus producing many millions square feet of actual floor space. So much so has the balance altered, that there is a local shortage of workers rather than work, at Tuen Mun! Fortunately, next year the first stage of the Tai Hing Estate will add another 25,000 people to the population of Tuen Mun and the balance will be somewhat restored.

At Sha Tin the first stage of the Fo Tan industrial area has been sold and work on building has begun. These factories will provide 1.3 million square feet of industrial floor space. Work is under way to extend this industrial area as rapidly as possible.

At Tai Po, the industrial estate is making dramatic progress and sites within the first stage will become available for disposal in 1977, eighteen months after work began to move the mountains into the sea.

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I could add several paragraphs more to what I have said already, to describe a great many private residential developments that are under way either in conjunction with the new towns or outside them, some of these will provide homes for many thousands of people. But it would, I believe, be possible to give the private sector much more scope in the areas outside the new towns were it not that there is often a lack of a mains water supply which puts a stopper on development. I am sure, that if we were able to extend our water supply system, the private developer would be able to make a greater contribution to housing than is present possible, when almost all the land in the new towns is needed to meet the public housing commitment in its various forms.

Sir, I have said before in this Chamber, but I believe it is worth repetition, that these great schemes cannot roll forward like juggernauts without regard to individual and private interests. Each year we have to acquire for public purposes about 5 million square feet of land. This is no small amount. The issues involved are, I think, sometimes misunderstood or underestimated by the townsman removed from the scene. Be that as it may, I would like to place on record here my deep appreciation of the patience, forberance and co-operation shown by all the people affected by these public works, and for the public servants in the Housing, Public Works and my own department, who this year have made possible the clearances at Sha Tin, Sheung Shui and Castle Peak Bay, so that the development works, which are for the benefit of all our people, could proceed.

Sir, I support the motion.

SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS:—Sir, towards the end of Your Excellency's speech there was a passage on Community Building—that is the task that the community itself faces in improving the quality of life. Social services provided by the Government make a major contribution to increased social well being but by themselves they would be incomplete. Much depends on how the community itself conducts its daily life. I wish to speak to-day about one aspect of community building — namely the formation of community from individual families in tall buildings.

The very high residential densities in urban Hong Kong pose a challenge to everyone's capacity for tolerance and mutual co-operation. Consideration and personal restraint are not courtesies to be practised by a minority but an essential part of everyone's daily life if urban life is to be agreeable.

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The Government itself cannot regulate personal relationships in the community. That Hong Kong is a place where social strife is uncommon is because its people exercise restraint and consideration in their daily lives of their own accord. But the Government can do something to help the community by identifying aspects of personal behaviour which are communally unacceptable and generating a resolve to eliminate these; by looking for centres of indifference and making them centres of interest.

Nothing brought home the dangers of community indifference more starkly than the advent of tall buildings where flats were sold off one by one. Crime, dirt and dilapidation became common.

Families living in the buildings did not know each other nor in many cases did they feel any individual responsibility for the communal parts of the building. It took us a long time to find the right way to stimulate mutual co-operation in these buildings but I think we hit on it in 1973 when Mutual Aid Committees were started. Up till then we had been too concerned with the legal aspects of building management and did not have enough people working in the buildings. But people do not live by law alone: they live also by mutual co operation. I have talked to many people in these buildings that have good Mutual Aid Committees. There is no doubt that the people feel safer and they certainly are safer, that the buildings are cleaner and the lifts more reliable. In many cases, they made friends or families they had hitherto passed on the stairs.

Mutual Aid Committees depend as their name implies on mutual co-operation. There is no coercion. There is no system of statutory powers, obligations and sanctions. Yet they work. They work because most people want to live better and realise that a little personal restraint and consideration is required. This is a remarkable development in urban living but it is not without its difficulties. My honourable Friend, Mr Wong Lam, dealt with some of these in his speech and these I should like to discuss.

I entirely agree with his assertion that MAC's must be supported by more than a handful of residents to be effective. Most MAC's have over 50% participation and we shall continue to aim at this level of support. It is not possible to lay down hard and fast rules. We did accept 20% participation in the early days and many MAC's formed on this basis have gatherd much greater support as they started to show what could be done in the buildings. Nowadays we look for much more than 20% participation.

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 198 [SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS] Motion

Vice establishments, of course, do cause problems when you are trying to put gates to a bar access to common parts of the building. Most of these places are illegal in some way and even if their activities cannot be proved to be illegal they are probably in breach of lease conditions. A general solution to these problems cannot be devised, but practical arrangements for dealing with individual cases should be possible. I would suggest that any MAC chairman finding this problem should discuss it with his CDO. Any obviously criminal activities should be reported to the Police. I expect in most cases elimination of this nuisance will depend on a joint effort by the Police and residents themselves and CDO's stand ready to assist.

Where roof-top squatters are found I would suggest two methods to be considered. First, they could be encouraged to join the MAC. That roof top squatters were able to establish themselves in the beginning because of a general indifference on the part of owners and tenants. Yet by now many have been there for years. I would hope that in many cases they could now be regarded less with suspicion and more as fellow residents.

But if these illegal structures are centres of illegal activity then they are unacceptable and steps should be taken to remove them. These steps are really for the property owners themselves. While CDO's will be happy to advise and help there is no pretending that legal processes are either easy or quick. They can only work if there is sufficient determination.

Difficulties with the collection of MAC subscriptions I think have been much less common than one might expect. There is, after all, no legal obligation to pay anything to an MAC, or even join it. MAC's, as the name suggest, depend on mutual co-operation and this is demonstrated nowhere more clearly than in the matter of subscriptions. CDO's have often been able to persuade residents to acknowledge an obligation to support MAC's but if moral pressure alone is insufficient then recourse must be had to the law. It may have been over preoccupation with the law and the legal aspects of building management stopped us from trying out mutual co-operation earlier, but we did in the process produce the Multi Storey Buildings (Owners Incorporation) Ordinance. This legislation provides the simplest possible machinery for creating legal obligations. Once they are created they can be enforced through the courts and, in particular, the Small Claims Tribunal. Simple though the machinery is in legal terms it still does require patience. CDO staff are able to help in the formation of these

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owners corporations and it is not necessary to engage lawyers. They really should be tried if some residents will not acknowledge obligations to each other.

My honourable Friend also mentions indifference by civil servants approached by MAC's. This is unacceptable. We obviously cannot always give help of the sort necessary but we are concerned. I hope MAC Chairman will not hesitate to raise criticisms of this sort direct with CDO's or, if they wish, with the Director of Home Affairs or myself.

My honourable Friend complains that training courses for MAC office bearers are too short or too long. With 2,000 MAC's and many thousands of office bearers I suppose we should offer many thousands of types of courses! Although we cannot do this but can look again at the courses offered. For those who just want to read a manual one is being prepared.

Apathy is indeed a threat to a successful MAC. Once the initial impact on the cleanliness and security of a building has been achieved an MAC may become less energetic. Cleanliness and security do however require continuing effort even if not on the scale necessary at first and then one can go further. One MAC I know of has extended its activities to discouraging breaches of lease conditions and of the Buildings Ordinance and, in fact, does it pretty effectively.

Once the group has banded together successfully and, eliminated dirt, crime or vice or it is quite likely that group strength will decline. This is not altogether surprising or even be a bad thing. But when MAC's do develop an interest in wider affairs an opportunity to raise these exists in the Area Committees.

Security patrols formed by MAC's have been found to be successful in public housing estates but are not thought to be of much value in private housing. My honourable Friend asks for recognition of their status as legal. They are legal: they are not tolerated illegal bands.

When the idea of security patrols was first aired there was some fear that they might degenerate into bands of hooligans doing more harm than the criminals they aimed at deterring. This fear has proved unfounded and I think it is so because of certain features of the patrols.

First, they are patrols of residents themselves—not hired men. Everyone takes their turn. They are not monopolized by a few. Residents know enough not to be bullied by their neighbours.

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 200 [SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS] Motion

Secondly, they work very closely with the Police Community Relations Officers who are able to explain how far a patrol may legally go, and how to follow the most effective procedures in preventing crime and reporting it.

The Police Community Relations Officers and the Neighbourhood Police Units follow up this training by maintaining close contact with the Security Patrols by way of regular visits to their estates and offices where further advice and guidance is given.

There are now 159 such patrols which patrol within multi-storey buildings, internal corridors, staircases and surrounding areas. They have proved to be a deterrent to criminals, particularly during their main hours of operation at night, and they have helped to make arrests and apprehend suspects, who are then handed over to the Police. In doing all this they exercise powers given to every citizen by law to arrest criminals and hand them over to the Police.

Whilst the policy is to encourage MACs to develop these perfectly legal patrols and to provide supervision, guidance and training, it is essential in the interests of law and order, that the Police should maintain close contact with them in case any over zealous individual abuses his position as a guardian of the law. Abuse however has not been a problem: these patrols are a success.

Sir, although my honourable Friend has quite rightly spoken about points of difficulty that have arisen in the operation of MAC's I am sure he would be the first to agree that these problems do not even in sum detract significantly from the great benefits that have been shown to result from mutual co-operation in tall buildings. We have in MAC's a social experiment on a gigantic scale and it is succeeding. Urban living at the densities we have in Hong Kong requires much mutual toleration, consideration and co-operation. This is latent in the people and has been brought out through the catalyst of MAC formation. I am convinced that MAC's can do much to remove much unpleasantness and inconvenience from the lives of people living in tall buildings and I only wish we had about twice as many as we do. Until we do we shall have to work hard at extending the benefits from the scheme to those who still do not know yet what it is all about.

Sir, I support the motion.

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 201

ATTORNEY GENERAL:—In your address, Sir, you spoke about the priorities of the Independent Commission Against Corruption, reminded the Council that the Commission's role in the criminal field is an investigatory one and noted that control of prosecutions rests with the Attorney General. That is indeed so, and you invited me to speak about the prosecution of bribery offences. You had particularly in mind, I think offences against section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance—that is, private sector bribery—about which there has been some stir during the past year or so. Before speaking about bribery offences in particular, I need to set the scene with some general remarks about the exercise of discretion in relation to the institution of criminal prosecutions.

That there is a discretion is generally understood. It is not though the rule that every suspected crime must automatically be the subject of prosecution. The discretion is one that must be exercised in a quasijudical way, which means that it must be exercised in accordance with established principles. In particular, the enforcement or non-enforcement of the criminal law must never be a matter of expediency.

What is not always so easily understood, and sometimes not generally understood at all, is the way in which that discretion is exercised in a particular case. I can say without fear of contradiction that the decision whether or not to prosecute is sometimes one of great difficulty, finally taken only after anxious consideration.

The rule, Sir, can be stated simply. It is this. Is the offence, or are the circumstances of its commission, such that a prosecution is required in the public interest? On the one hand, that rule seems so obvious as scarcely to be a rule. On the other hand, its application in practice can involve one or more of an extensive range of considerations.

In the vast majority of cases, however, the only question is whether there is available sufficient evidence to justify putting someone on trial. That means evidence which goes beyond mere suspicion and is sufficient to justify conviction or to call for an explanation. Wider considerations fall to be considered only in a limited number of cases.

The ultimate control of all prosecutions is vested by law in the Attorney General, but, in relation to some offences, the legislature has provided that a prosecution shall not be instituted without his specific consent. Among the offences for which a prosecution may not be instituted without his consent are offences against the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance.

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 202 [ATTORNEY GENERAL] Motion

That Ordinance affects practices in the private sector of long standing, though I would repeat the Chief Secretary's reminder during the debate in this Council in April that the substance of section 9 of the Ordinance has been on the statute book for a long time. Nonetheless, there was a time when, for want of complaints identifying particular breaches, that provision (and its predecessor) was not being enforced. Since the beginning of 1974, we have had an active agency devoting its full time to the attack on corruption in its many forms. The community is now fully aware of the rights and wrongs of the matter. It is not therefore surprising that cases are now being brought to light.

There is not the slightest doubt that the prosecutions for offences against section 9 which have been instituted and brought to a successful conclusion in the past year or so have had a great impact. They have induced, and they continue to induce, marked changes in attitudes and practices. That is precisely what law enforcement is about and why the public interest required that prosecutions be brought.

The effect of section 9 is now widely known and well understood. It prohibits the giving or receiving of secret payments—that is, payments to a servant or agent which are not authorized by his employer or principal. The correctness of that provision cannot be questioned, as the Chief Secretary said in April. Arguments based on what has been customary, or "necessary" in some way for trading purposes, are unacceptable. Underhand dealings with an employee of a private sector business are not, as sometimes seems to be implied, are not less reprehensible than underhand dealings with a civil servant.

I acknowledge however that special considerations affect some offences against section 9.

One is that earlier this year a magistrate warned that a serious view would be taken of offences against that section committed in the light of the wide knowledge and understanding of which now prevails. The courts have on the other hand looked more kindly on such offences committed at an earlier time. I respectfully agree with that approach and it is one of the factors which I have taken into account for some months in deciding whether the public interest will be served by a prosecution in a particular case.

Another, Sir, is that I have been aware for a while of some concern among sections of the community about the continued institution of prosecutions in respect of transactions which took place during that earlier time.

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You have emphasized, Sir, that the Independent Commission Against Corruption has a duty to investigate complaints alleging offences under section 9 whenever they occurred as it must investigate other offences under that Ordinance. For our part, each case submitted to me or my officers will then be considered in the normal way, taking account of and giving proper weight to any special considerations applying in the particular case.

Now, Sir, may I say just a word or two about the so-called "tea money" cases. That expression, as I comprehend it, implies a tip given solely out of kindness, without any ulterior motive—like the tip one gives a restaurant waiter or a hotel porter. If my understanding is right, then a description of two recent cases as "tea money" cases is a very misleading misdescription, as the magistrate pointed out in the second of the two cases.

Both involved the offering of money to employees of a public body specified in the Schedule to the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance. That means that the employees are regarded by the law in the same way as civil servants. Section 4 of the Ordinance applies and, like civil servants, they may not be given, nor may they accept, anything extra for doing their job. Tipping of public servants is unlawful in itself, but, let us be clear, money is rarely given in such cases solely out of kindness.

In referring, Sir, in your address to the Commission's priorities, you said, among other aspects, that it is concerned with major rather than minor cases. I agree that that is so. We must, however, be careful about our classification of "minor". A case is certainly not minor merely because the amount of money involved is small, and a magistrate has warned quite recently in very clear terms that in his court imprisonment will follow in all but the most exceptional cases where money is offered to public servants, among whom there is included the employees of scheduled public bodies.

And now, Sir, may I turn to the subject of legal aid.

The honourable Mr WONG spoke about an extension of legal aid in criminal cases so that it would be available to persons standing trial for serious offences in the magistrates' courts. I think that for a number of reasons it will be a long time before legal aid at public expense will be available in those courts. The next step in the development of social services in the legal field should in my opinion be an extension of legal aid in civil cases by raising the financial limits of eligibility. That question has been under review for some months now and proposals are likely to be put forward in the near future.

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 204 [ATTORNEY GENERAL] Motion

I share fully Mr WONG's view that people are increasingly in need of legal advice, as opposed to legal aid for the conduct of cases in court. In October 1975, when moving the second reading of the Small Claims Tribunal Bill, I said in this Council that it must be acknowledged that the services of lawyers are not yet available evenly throughout the community to the extent which is desirable if the demands of social justice are to be met. Yet I fear that I cannot be hopeful about the introduction in the short term of a scheme for the provision of legal advice at public expense.

Sir, I support the motion.

CHIEF SECRETARY:—Sir, in so far as the speeches of Unofficial Members reflect the preoccupations of the majority of Hong Kong people, as I firmly believe that they do, it is reassuring to note the shift in emphasis of their speeches this year, as compared with the last two annual debates on the Address.

In 1974 Members' attention was dominated by the world recession and by the effects it had had upon our prosperity and upon our objectives. Last year, although Members continued to voice a measure of anxiety about our economic future, their principal concern was the prevalence of crime in general and violent crime in particular.

This year, the remarkable way in which our economy has recovered has enabled Members to look forward, with renewed optimism, to the expansion of the Government's schemes for the improvement of our social welfare facilities, which all of us are determined to develop until we are satisfied that they provide an effective network of protection for the less fortunate members of our community.

Paying for More Social Welfare

The programmes which you announced in Your Address, Sir, is far reaching. When it is complete, within the next five years or so, it will has raised our educational standards, working conditions and social insurance to levels which will be significantly higher than those of most of the countries of Asia.

These objectives will not be achieved without heavy expenditure in money, manpower and other resources and Members have rightly commented that it would be unwise to commit ourselves to plans which the economy could not bear without undue strain.

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I can assure Members that this is a vital factor which the Government will never forget. The Government recognizes, just as much as businessmen and industrialists do, that Hong Kong's prosperity depends upon our ability to sell our products in the world markets and that it must not press for measures which will seriously weaken our competitiveness. For upon our continued success as a trader depends the revenue which pays for our Social Welfare.

Within the limits which in this over-riding consideration imposes, the Government believes that social advancement is essential. Not only because, in moral terms, a community bears a responsibility to improve the lot of the young, the old, the disabled, the sick and the unfortunate, but also because the industrious and efficient workforce which is the foundation of our economy should itself share in the improved standards which its efforts are making possible for the whole community.

The cautious predictions of the Financial Secretary suggest that there should not be undue difficulty, given freedom from unexpected economic squalls, in financing the bulk of our social programmes from the increased prosperity which will accrue from the expansion of our trade. However, we must not discount the possibility that, if necessary, additional taxation, whether direct or indirect, may have to be imposed in order to achieve the wholly admirable aims which we have now set ourselves, though the Government will not forget that low rates of taxation are a vital element in our development and in the continued effectiveness of our industries.

Need for Improved Social Programmes

Several Members have commented that it is important that social reform should be guided by the best interests of Hong Kong and that we must not succumb to pressure from abroad for social programmes which might be so expensive that they would have adverse effects upon the economy.

Let me assure Members that the Government's measures are based on what it assesses the needs of Hong Kong and its people to be. Nevertheless, we cannot, and should not, close our ears to suggestions and criticisms from elsewhere. In particular, we are, by reason of our constitutional status, obliged to pay heed to the views of those who are responsible for our affairs in the United Kingdom.

To refuse to listen, in the belief that our methods, principles and aims are invariably right, would be unwise. It could too easily induce in us the kind of intellectual arrogance and inflexibility which are so

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 206 [CHIEF SECRETARY] Motion

dangerous to a community which must depend for its success upon an open and receptive mind, a willingness to adapt and the ability to accept new ideas and responsibilities.

Therefore, we must not refuse to hear our critics whether they be well or ill intentioned. But I can emphasize again that the programmes which, after due deliberation by the Government, are put before Members for their approval, are based upon the Government's assessment of what Hong Kong and its people need, and ought to have if it is reasonably possible to provide them.

Some Members have warned us to take care lest we impose upon working men and women benefits of a kind which they would not particularly welcome, for example by improving working conditions when they might prefer more money.

Certainly we must take care not to confer on work people benefits of a kind not welcome to them or in an order of priority with which they would strongly disagree. Obviously, the wishes of individual workers vary, but the Government believes that the majority will, as the speeches of several Members indicate, warmly welcome the substantial improvements which are to be introduced in the next few years. An increase in the number of paid statutory holidays to ten, the introduction of a week's paid leave a year, an improvement in sickness benefits, workmen's compensation and redundancy payments and the introduction of legislation to improve working conditions and protect those in hazardous occupations are surely all measures which will receive widespread support from those who may benefit from them.

Means Test

The honourable Mr T. S. Lo has revived his interesting scheme for the establishment of a central system of means tests, on this occasion he has developed it further by suggesting that the task should be undertaken by a computer.

The proposal has, on the face of it, considerable intellectual merit. (laughter) But, as I indicated in April, I am doubtful as to whether it is practical and whether the complicated and expensive administrative apparatus which would be necessary, is justified. Nor am I sure that the ordinary citizen would welcome his family income and personal circumstances being regularly checked by Government officials and enshrined in detail in a central register available to many Government Departments and officers.

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Our present methods of means testing are well established. So far we have, I believe, been able to apply them with humanity and comparative speed. We should not lightly discard these assets to achieve administrative tidiness or intellectual consistency. Attractive though the idea may be, as a means of ensuring that benefit is matched to genuine need (a general principle which the Government certainly accepts), we must beware of creating a bureaucratic monster.

After the April debate I asked the Secretary for Administration to institute a study of the scheme. He has made some progress. I will ask him to consult with the honourable Member as to the best way in which this study can be carried forward with the assistance of others, as suggested by the Member. In due course, when our enquiries are complete, I will make a fuller statement.

Commerce and Industry Department

Several Members referred to the Commerce and Industry Department, stressing its importance in the development of Hong Kong's trade and paying tribute to its fine record of success in fostering business, in trade relations, in certification, in preventive work and in industrial promotion. I fully share their admiration for a fine Department, which has vigorous leadership and many devoted and able officers.

Some Members criticized the accommodation in which the Department operates. It has been apparent to the Government for some time that its offices are ill suited to its needs and fail to provide adequate facilities or reasonable comfort for the staff of the Department or for the many members of the public who have dealings with it. Various alternative locations have been considered by the Civil Service Branch, which is responsible for the provision of Government office accommodation, and I hope that it will not be long before the Department can be moved to better premises.

Both the honourable Mr Q. W. LEE and the honourable Mr Francis TIEN repeated the suggestion, put forward by the honourable Mr TIEN during this debate last year, that there should be a Secretary for Trade and Industry. This proposal has been examined by the Secretary for Administration, whose report is now being studied, in consultation with the Director of Commerce and Industry and the Secretaries concerned.

However, I think that I should make it clear that as the Government is now organized, a Secretary discharges different functions from those carried out by a Head of Department. A Secretary is in charge

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 208 [CHIEF SECRETARY] Motion

of a Secretariat branch, with the task of assessing the needs, problems and resources of the Government in particular fields of activity and of co-ordinating and monitoring the implementation of programmes and policies. The task of a Head of Department is to carry out the particular responsibilities which are placed upon that Department as a result of Government policies. A Secretary is in charge of a Branch in the Secretariat, not of a Department and it would therefore be inaccurate to describe a Head of Department as a Secretary.

Nobody doubts that the work of the Commerce and Industry Department, particularly in the promotion of our trade and the protection of our commercial interests, is of paramount importance. Officers of the Department, particularly those involved in trade negotiations, work long hours, often under great pressure and in trying conditions. The coming year will be an unusually demanding one for them, with all our international trade agreements due for re-negotiation. It is therefore vital that the Department should be strengthened sufficiently to enable it to carry out these essential tasks effectively and we will, within the limits of the resources available, take steps to ensure that this is done.

Role of Unofficial Members

An intelligent student of Hong Kong affairs, with some appreciation of the realities of our political life, will have no difficulty in recognizing the vital role played by Unofficial Members of Executive and Legislative Councils.

In the absence of elections and of democracy by the ballot box, it is of great importance that Unofficial Members should be able to carry out effectively some of the tasks performed in other countries by elected Members of Parliament. The Administration relies heavily upon the ability of Unofficial Members to assess the beliefs, needs and feelings of the residents of Hong Kong and on their advice as to how best to translate these into practicable Government policies.

The Government is very conscious of the danger that an unchanging administration like ours might become unfeeling and insensitive. One of the main tasks of Unofficial Members is to ensure that this does not happen. Similarly, it is vital that the ordinary citizen with a grievance [and inevitably there will be some who are aggrieved by what they see as unfair or inhuman treatment by an impersonal

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 209

machine] should be able to obtain redress and to secure an independent assessment of the circumstances surrounding his case.

I therefore warmly welcome the honourable Dr CHUNG's observations on the UMELCO Office and his faith in its effectiveness, a view fully shared by the administration.

I know that the work of the UMELCO complaints system involves Unofficial Members in considerable research and that they devote hours of time and much anxious care to a thorough investigation of every complaint which reaches them, from whatever source. As a result of their efforts, mistakes have been put right, injustices corrected and wrongs have been righted. I have no doubt that this system performs a vital function which is greatly and widely appreciated.

The honourable Mr Alex WU commented shrewdly on the proper style and functions of this Council, as compared with that of a Westminster style Parliament. Certainly it is important to remember that Unofficial Members do not constitute a formal opposition which may, in due course, replace the Government in the conduct of our affairs. (laughter) But, in many ways they already form part of the administration. In particular, because no expenditure of public funds can take place without their approval, they exercise substantial and real control over all important measures and policies.

I would like to welcome the new Members who have joined the Council in this session. It has been apparent for some time that the burdens placed on Unofficial Members were becoming unreasonably heavy and that a substantial reinforcement of their numbers was necessary if they were to continue to perform their roles effectively. In addition, the changing circumstances of the territory made it desirable to appoint persons of a more diverse background than had previously been customary, and with a more varied experience than a smaller number had been able to provide.

As is the Hong Kong tradition, all of them are men and women who have already served the community with distinction in many ways and for long periods. We in the administration look forward to working with them and benefiting from their experience and their reasoned advice.

Conclusion

A year ago I expressed some sympathy for Heads of Departments, who had seen plans for expansion trimmed and their ambitions for

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 11th November 1976 210 [CHIEF SECRETARY] Motion

improvements to services postponed. They will, I know, warmly welcome the recovery of the economy, and the degree to which this can be reflected in an expansion of the public service and in the further development of its programmes.

The public service will now bear in mind the need to pursue vigorously and urgently the policies and programmes for which funds have been voted. We must ensure that approved plans and works keep to the time tables which are set for them. This will impose many extra burdens and responsibilities upon civil servants. I have the fullest confidence that they will discharge them with the same devotion and skill as they have so often shown in the past.

Sir, I move that this Council thanks the Governor for his Address.

Question put and agreed to.

Adjournment and next sitting

HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT:—I thank Members for the courtesy of their motion. In accordance with Standing Orders I now adjourn the Council until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 24th November.

Adjourned accordingly at ten minutes to four o'clock.

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