HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN :- In this happy atmosphere of unanimity I may perhaps put the question of Col. Clague's reappointment as chairman of the Select Committees in question.
The question was put.
The Motion was carried unanimously.
DR. E. L. GOSANO moved :
"An address to H. E. the Governor."
He said To His Excellency Alexander William George Herder Grantham, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies and Vice Admiral of the same.
May it please Your Excellency,
On the occasion of Your Excellency's departure from this Colony we the Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong wish to express to you our appreciation of your services to the community during the ten years of your governorship.
As was said in this Colony's loyal address to Her Most Gracious Majesty Our Queen on the occasion of Her coronation "Peoples of many races and many creeds dwell in peace, freedom and harmony within the narrow confines of this small Colony; by their common purpose, they have rebuilt from the chaos of war and captivity a haven of trust and hope where justice and truth again flourish".
Your Excellency has played a large part in restoring this trust and confidence and has made yourself beloved and respected by the whole of the community of Hong Kong.
We are sure you leave with the best wishes of all the people of Hong Kong and we the Members of the Urban Council hope and pray that you and Lady Grantham may be spared to enjoy many more years of health and happiness.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI seconded.
He said: And on this occasion may I deliberately break Standing Orders by adding "and Members of Council".
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
I have claimed the privilege of seconding this Motion as the Elected Member on this Council with the longest service. Yet when I first joined the Council Sir Alexander Grantham was already almost finishing what appeared to be the allotted time of his appointment as Governor of Hong Kong and I do not think that anyone anticipated at that time that over five years later he would be still here with us. I remember being one of the very large number of people who were invited to attend the ceremony of welcome to him on his arrival, at one of our big local cinemas, in July of 1947. No one could have had a worse omen for his first day as Governor. I remember that, like so many of our July days, the sky was black with storm clouds and as he stepped ashore he was greeted with the commencement of one of those periods of heavy summer rains that just continue for days on end, and did so continue on that occasion.
Well, the omens were wrong—they so often are wrong in Hong Kong. The period of his governorship was to see a recovery from the paralysing effects of the Japanese occupation that has been a matter of surprise and admiration to the whole world. During these last ten years we have seen the development of Hong Kong as a major industrial centre of the world, a factor that has at least assisted us to weather the depression in our entrepot trade that began with the Korean War. Perhaps one of the greatest problems that he has been faced with has been the enormous increase in the population of the Colony which occurred in the post-war years and we on this Council remember particularly his support for our recommendations which ultimately resulted in the creation of the Resettlement Department and the extensive development of multi-storied resettlement blocks in an effort to cope with one of the major problems of this increase in population, that of the squatters.
I am sure that His Excellency would be the last one to wish that I, or anybody else, should indulge in "idle flattery" and let me say at once that I, as the Chairman of one of the principal organizations in Hong Kong local politics, have not seen eye to eye with him in a number of matters. We feel that the Colonial System of Government as it is to be found in Hong Kong puts up a shield of Civil Servants between the common people and the Governor, and that his appointed advisers are so often drawn from sectional interests and do not consider themselves to be representative of the community as a whole. We feel that that
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN :-In this happy atmosphere of unanimity I may perhaps put the question of Col. Clague's reappointment as chair- man of the Select Committees in question.
The question was put.
The Motion was carried unanimously.
DR. E. L. GOSANO moved :
"An address to H. E. the Governor."
He said To His Excellency Alexander William George Herder Grantham, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Governor and Commander- in-Chief of the Colony of Hong Kong and its Dependencies and Vice Admiral of the same.
May it please Your Excellency,
On the occasion of Your Excellency's departure from this Colony we the Members of the Urban Council of Hong Kong wish to express to you our appreciation of your services to the community during the ten years of your governorship.
As was said in this Colony's loyal address to Her Most Gracious Majesty Our Queen on the occasion of Her coronation "Peoples of many races and many creeds dwell in peace, freedom and harmony within the narrow confines of this small Colony; by their common purpose, they have rebuilt from the chaos of war and captivity a haven of trust and hope where justice and truth again flourish".
Your Excellency has played a large part in restoring this trust and confidence and has made yourself beloved and respected by the whole of the community of Hong Kong.
We are sure you leave with the best wishes of all the people of Hong Kong and we the Members of the Urban Council hope and pray that you and Lady Grantham may be spared to enjoy many more years of health and happiness.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI seconded.
He said: And on this occasion may I deliberately break Standing Orders by adding "and Members of Council".
E
ད
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
151
I have claimed the privilege of seconding this Motion as the Elected Member on this Council with the longest service. Yet when I first joined the Council Sir Alexander Grantham was already almost finishing what appeared to be the allotted time of his appointment as Governor of Hong Kong and I do not think that anyone anticipated at that time that over five years later he would be still here with us. I remember being one of the very large number of people who were invited to attend the ceremony of welcome to him on his arrival, at one of our big local cinemas, in July of 1947. No one could have had a worse omen for his first day as Governor. I remember that, like so many of our July days, the sky was black with storm clouds and as he stepped ashore he was greeted with the commencement of one of those periods of heavy summer rains that just continue for days on end, and did so continue on that occasion.
Well, the omens were wrong—they so often are wrong in Hong Kong. The period of his governorship was to see a recovery from the paralysing effects of the Japanese occupation that has been a matter of surprise and admiration to the whole world. During these last ten years we have seen the development of Hong Kong as a major industrial centre of the world, a factor that has at least assisted us to weather the depression in our entrepot trade that began with the Korean War. Perhaps one of the greatest problems that he has been faced with has been the enormous increase in the population of the Colony which occurred in the post-war years and we on this Council remember particular- ly his support for our recommendations which ultimately resulted in the creation of the Resettlement Department and the extensive development of multi-storied resettlement blocks in an effort to cope with one of the major problems of this increase in population, that of the squatters.
I am sure that His Excellency would be the last one to wish that I, or anybody else, should indulge in "idle flattery" and let me say at once that I, as the Chairman of one of the principal organizations in Hong Kong local politics, have not seen eye to eye with him in a number of matters. We feel that the Colonial System of Government as it is to be found in Hong Kong puts up a shield of Civil Servants between the common people and the Governor, and that his appointed advisers are so often drawn from sectional interests and do not consider themselves to be representative of the community as a whole. We feel that that
Page 83 of 115
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