1964 — Page 229

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

It was evident there was something particularly galling in working alongside a colleague, and filling a post of equal standing for lower remuneration. It was represented to us that this 'discrimination' has led to resignations of local officers, and has been a definite discouragement to local recruitment.

The responsibility here lies squarely on the shoulders of our Government, and until the inequality is removed, the discouragement will continue to prevail.

Another matter which Government must resolve with some urgency is as to whether there should be an establishment of a Youth Employment Council, side by side with the enlargement of facilities for the training of youth for the industry.

In the years ahead, there will be over 150,000 young men and women coming out from schools and colleges each year looking for employment. Most of them are inexperienced and unequipped; and worst of all, they do not know what opportunities are open to them and what to choose for a career. Left to themselves, they will be fumbling in the dark, wasting their precious time and youth. But their loss will be our loss.

I do not know how many of our schools offer employment council service to their students. It seems to me that most of them are suffering from the myopia of confining themselves to training students for examinations rather than for life and livelihood. In any case, I feel our schools and colleges should play a more and more important role in providing guidance to our youth in their choice of careers. But before they can do so, there must be a central organization where they can go for information concerning the avenues of employment, and it is here where Government can help by the establishment of a Youth Employment Council. This Council, when established, will be able to collect all the data concerning the needs of different industries for artisans, technicians, and technologists, and then have them disseminated to all the schools, so that students will know in advance the types of jobs available to them when leaving school. This will help them to make up their minds, even before they leave school, what career they intend to follow.

It has been said that one of the weaknesses of our "educated" young men and women is the traditional prejudice against any kind of employment which will soil their hands. As a result, the first thing that comes to their mind after they leave school is to look for a white-collar job. But if we could condition their minds by pointing out to them that the openings offered by industry are more, the prospect for promotions better, and the scale of pay higher, then there will be a better chance of wiping out this age-old prejudice.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

Once a Youth Employment Council is established and the information forthcoming, then there will be other public bodies, such as the Kaifong Associations, who can be called upon to disseminate the information to prospective employment seekers, besides the schools.

Now a few words about the training of youth for industry. The Report of the Working Committee on Productivity has pointed out that local industry will have to absorb a rapidly expanding labour force in the years ahead if serious unemployment is to be avoided. But at the same time, it also points out that the combined facilities offered by the existing institutions will not be sufficient to cope with the training requirements.

One way out of this difficulty will be for Government to sponsor short intensive training courses to train workers for specific industries. This should be done in close co-operation with each individual industry concerned, who will be called upon to contribute a larger share of the training cost. A good example of this working arrangement is the training courses recently jointly sponsored by the Building Society and the Chinese Y.M.C.A. Here boys between the ages of 14 and 18 are given practical training in carpentry, brick-laying, and painting, specifically to fit them for the building trade. The cost is borne by the Building Society, and the instructors are provided by the Chinese Y.M.C.A.

There has been some public clamour lately for Government to adopt the use of Chinese as an alternate official language. In my opinion, this should be taken as a healthy sign of the awakening of the public to civic affairs and local Government, which they have not shown in the past. Although there are many aspects to a national language, I would today like to look at it purely from the utility angle as a means of communication. It then follows that if it is the wish of our Government to have its future policies better understood by the majority of the local citizens, and if it would like to have them take more active interest in the affairs of the Colony, or if it wishes to have public opinion more truly reflected, then it must choose an effective means of communication between itself and the people it governs. Obviously, English alone is not an effective means to communicate with 90% of the population who can neither speak nor write English. So, there is a need for Chinese as an alternate language.

But I am not sure whether I agree with some of my colleagues as to how it should be introduced. I would prefer to see it being introduced progressively by three stages. During the first stage, I would like to see that all notices from Government Departments should have their Chinese translation. That all Government reports which are of public interest should be translated into Chinese. That the filing of returns and various licensing application forms should be done either in Chinese or English. That all letters written in Chinese to Government Departments should be accepted.

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