1967 — Page 167

of 259

Page 167 of 259

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

One cause of inefficiency in the civil service is the system of promotion. In some departments, promotion seems to depend upon one's connexions with the boss; in others it seems to depend upon whether or not one co-operates by joining in the "rackets". Honest and reliable civil servants may be relegated to trivial jobs where they can never hope for promotion. Or efficient and intelligent men may find their promotion blocked because some European always gets the job. Grading is arranged so that even if a Chinese reaches the top, he cannot get the top-grade salary offered to the Europeans. Promotion of clerks from Class 3 to Class 2, and then to Class 1 seems to be completely hap-hazard, and I am told that a request by the Chinese Civil Servants' Association to abolish Class 3 and make promotion to Class 1 automatic according to length of service, was turned down by the Colonial Secretariat.

All these discrepancies (which exist even between European civil servants themselves) lead to discontent and inefficiency. And while on the subject of civil servants, may I ask for an inquiry into the way in which casual leave is granted, or otherwise? I am told that while ex- patriates go on leave no matter what crisis may exist in a department or in the Colony, the lower-paid civil servants in some departments may be unable to take their casual leave on the grounds that the department is too busy. I am not criticizing ex-patriates, but only asking for fair-play.

Now, I would like to turn to the subject of Food and Prices:

Food and Prices: One cause of general discontent in the com- munity is the way in which food prices remain uncontrolled. During the summer months of this year certain foodstuffs failed to arrive in the Colony. Prices to consumers doubled or even trebled, causing serious hardship. A speaker of the Department of Commerce and Industry sympathized with the local community by telling them simply to tighten their belts. Even before this crisis, there had been complaints about the Government's failure to control rice prices. And now another example is being seen in the indefensible rocketing of prices at the first mention of devaluation. The Government does not seem to have given much thought to such contingencies.

Can we therefore know what plans the Government's Department of Commerce and Industry has for any future contingency such as those already mentioned? Can we be told what measures are being con- sidered to control prices, for the benefit of the poorer members of the community?

Speaking of food, there is one Department concerning which I hear disturbing reports of inefficiency-that is the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. Can we be told what this department is doing about local production? Can we know what has been published (if anything) in

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Agricultural journals on the results of six or more costly experimental farms? Is it true that a University doctor gave his opinion that the wide range of vegetable experiments carried out over the past six years or so were useless? Did the department then scrap their own costly plans and ask him to prepare new ones related largely to soil fertility problems? Is it true that the last policy review of this department was published twelve years ago? Is it true that a certain officer of this department was asked three years ago to produce an overall policy, but when this was presented in 1966, it was pronounced unsuitable by a department steering committee? Was this same officer recently promoted after all? How long will this department be allowed to go on wasting public money?

Now I should like to speak on-

The Administration of the Law and in most cases I would not call it justice! On subjects on which I am not expert, I try to get informa- tion from those who are. However, I have had some interesting, if frustrating experiences myself in the working of the law. Last year at the Riot Inquiry I was asked by Counsel if I thought the law-courts were fair. Having no tangible facts to answer this unexpected question, I replied that I thought they were. Of course I was wrong. Some of them are, but quite a few leave much to be desired. It seems to me that it all depends upon the individual magistrate or judge who pre- sides: some take great pains to see that the evidence adduced by the prosecution is tested by cross-examination and otherwise; others simply do not have the time, or do not care. This latter applies especially when In most evidence is pre-fabricated before the case comes to the courts. civilized places this happens occasionally, but in Hong Kong this pre- All this goes to fabrication of evidence appears to be the general rule. show that there should be a system of free legal aid in criminal cases when persons charged with a serious offence, whether in the Magistrates or the District Courts, has not the means to get legal representation. Only last year a man was convicted and sentenced to over 10 years' imprisonment in the Supreme Court, and he did not have legal aid, though his two co-accused who got off lightly were legally represented by counsel.

This brings me to another point: I hear that whenever certain practising members of the Bar are briefed to prosecute for the Crown, their fees paid out of Public Funds exceed by four or five times those paid from the same source to practitioners defending a man's life and liberty. Is this true? Are human life and liberty here so cheap?

The Chief Justice and others in high places must be entirely out of touch with facts, or they are shutting their eyes to the facts, when they say that legal representation is not essential in the courts, as an accused can be assured of justice without such representation. In the United