1967 — Page 166

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MOTION.

CHAIRMAN: --The meeting is called to order.

The debate on the Statement of Aims for 1968, which was adjourned from the meeting held yesterday, will now resume. The first speaker on this motion today is Mrs. Elliott.

MRS. E. ELLIOTT: - Mr. Chairman, I would like first of all to apologize to those who have not got my speech. I did bring English ones, but unexpectedly the Press wanted the English copies, so I have not enough.

During the year we have plenty of opportunities of speaking and asking questions on matters such as those contained in the Motion before us. On only one day of the year do we have the chance to speak on matters of even greater concern to the people we represent. I intend therefore to take this opportunity of speaking on some of those other subjects that are outside the jurisdiction of the Urban Council.

It is discouraging to notice that Government spokesmen still do not seem to admit any shortcomings on the part of the Government; without such admissions, I fail to see how there can be any genuine reforms. Our Hong Kong problems are many and complex; they cannot be dismissed simply by sticking a political label on them. Many people are perplexed, and suffer from divided loyalties because they cannot excuse the shortcomings of the Government, some of which I shall now mention.

Education: Some of us teachers feel that we are beating the air. Hong Kong's out-dated education policies are maintained by faceless people, while we watch the young folk in distress and cannot help them, except by driving them to work, and work harder, but never really to learn anything. For them, life is only made for examinations, and Government examinations apparently are only made to save the effort and expense of having an overall education policy for all youth. A small minority of children at about the age of twelve is selected by examination for privileged education in Government and Grant Schools; later, from this minority another small minority is selected for the universities or for the civil service. The rest, who form the majority, have to be sacrificed: no matter how clever they are, there are not enough seats for them, and they must study in private schools with vastly inferior conditions.

In spite of our youth problems, all that the Education Department has so far come out with is a palliative, that is, the subjects of the school certificate examination will in future not be grouped. The real problems of our educational system are still being largely ignored.

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Any educationalist worth his salt knows that a child loses out mentally, culturally, emotionally, and morally, if he has to learn everything through the medium of a foreign language. Unless he is of exceptional ability, the child will end up by forcing himself to memorize only what is necessary, and he will forget it as soon as he has the Government's piece of paper in his hand.

For our educational problems I have several suggestions:

(1) Chinese should be accepted as an official language; the medium of teaching in schools should be Chinese, with English as a second language.

(2) Secondary school education should be increased and reorganized so that the entrance examination may be eliminated, and the pressure on Primary school children relieved.

(3) We should return completely to the six-year primary school system.

(4) We must provide more, simple vocational training and professional training for children who cannot obtain higher education.

(5) Set up youth employment bureau and advice centres.

If we fail in these things--as we have failed in the past--our youth problem can only get worse.

Now, I have already mentioned that one aim of our education system is to produce civil servants, and this is my next subject:

The Civil Service: In the absence of democratic representation of the community, everything depends upon the quality of the civil service that runs the show. If the civil service is inefficient, badly organized, or discontented, these factors will have repercussions on every aspect of community life. With a civil service structure such as we have in Hong Kong, it would be a miracle if it could be efficient.

The first problem of the civil service is language. How can instructions that are not fully understood be carried out correctly?

How can anyone use initiative after having undergone a parrot-like education that leaves no time for thinking? How can anyone think, if he is not encouraged to express his opinions, and might lose his job for doing so?

We have in our civil service some very good men and women who would like to get rid of the dead-wood and clean things up. If they speak out they will be thrown out. I can give examples, with names, of both Chinese and British civil servants who have had to go, because they pointed out inefficiencies or malpractices. In Hong Kong, maladministration can be tolerated; criticism of maladministration cannot be tolerated.

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