bond between the official and the voluntary welfare services holds prom- ise of an increasingly effective partnership in both planning and action.
105 Within the department, many members of staff will shortly be committed to a critical analysis of the methods by which social welfare services are being provided to the people of Hong Kong by their depart- ment. Changes in procedures and in structure have already been made and more will follow, for officers of this department are determined to move with (if not ahead of) the times and to give full response to changing needs. I have no doubt that they will adapt readily to the dual requirement for inward and onward looking. My own acquaintance with the staff of the department has been brief but even in a very short time I have had ample evidence of their dedication to the very heavy and often depressing workload they carry. Perhaps the most notable impression given to someone freshly assigned to the department is one of a sizeable number-now more than 700-of alert and devoted people representing widely divergent interests, skills, training and specialization, but all striving to meld their distinctive talents in truly effective team- work. A very great deal of credit for the high level of staff morale and for the quality of social welfare services generally in Hong Kong must go to Mr D. W. B. BARON, OBE, whom I had the honour of succeed- ing as Director of Social Welfare at the close of the year under review. To many people in Hong Kong and indeed in the international social welfare community, social welfare in Hong Kong and the name of David BARON are very nearly synonymous. Mr BARON was the first head of the department when it was created in 1958, and the depart- ment as it is today is largely a product of his creative imagination and restless energy. In saying this, I do not detract in the smallest way from the contribution of present and former serving officers of the department who helped shape the direction and the form of its growth under David BARON's leadership: I know they fully support this tribute to his outstanding service to the department and to the people of Hong Kong.
June 1966
46
ALASTAIR TODD Director of Social Welfare
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