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total of HK$215 million for technical education. This is on top of the HK$175 million they spend annually on universities that provide enrolment for 40,000 students, more than 8 times the present capacity of our two universities. Yet New South Wales has no more than 27-30,000 high-school leavers every year.
Manpower studies and surveys have established that we need approximately 4,000 technicians and 10,000 tradesmen every year. In the face of such urgency and the gross inadequacy of our present provisions as borne out by the comparisons, the public is not going to accept as valid reasons for slow motion on grounds of lack of funds, sites, or teaching personnel. Rather it is vital that at this crucial moment Government should, as a matter of urgency not to be choked by bureaucratic requirements, be prepared to allocate the sites, provide the funds, and more important, require that the Education as well as the Labour Department immediately expand and upgrade their personnel responsible for the planning and execution of technical education and industrial training for accelerated action. Task forces should be set up for the recruitment of overseas technical teachers and the training for local ones. Australia is getting 30% of its technical lecturers from overseas, more recently from America and Asia including Hong Kong. There is an urgency to review our recruitment policy and procedure so that, for example, we may benefit from the large number of engineering, science and business administration personnel (many of them of Chinese and Hong Kong origin) that are rendered redundant in the current U.S. recession, and with suitable arrangement, it is also highly possible and beneficial to get more experts from industry and commerce to lecture on a part-time basis. Indeed we must face the problem squarely and seek an effective solution instead of allowing the situation to deteriorate, as it has been during the past years.
(2) Capital and Aid to Small Industries
It is well known that a Japanese manufacturer can borrow up to 400% of his own capital, whereas by contrast many a H.K. manufacturer would experience difficulty in getting a loan, short or long term, equivalent to 40% of his own capital. This gives the Japanese manufacturer decided advantage in purchasing and re-equipping with modern plant and machinery, in evening out production peaks and valleys for higher efficiency, and for tieing over recessions when caught with heavy inventory. It has been said that there had been no proven case where a worthwhile industrial venture had been jeopardized due to an absence of banking facilities in Hong Kong. The truth of this statement is at best a matter of conjecture, as, knowing the traditional attitudes of local bankers, an industrialist would not waste his time and efforts in pursuing and pleading for support of a capital-intensive venture, even though he is sure of its viability. This explains the fact why 90% of our factories, contributing to 60% of our domestic exports, could be classified as small industries, with workers employing no more than HK$2,500 worth of production facilities per capita. It is these factories that are now feeling the pinch most of labour shortage, and to write them off as being inefficient is not only cruel but irresponsible, since in every developed country there is existence of small industries that provide support for the assembly lines of the giants. In fact, if anything, it is such supporting industries that provide Hong Kong that slight edge or lead time in some industries over its competitors in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore that are fast catching up.
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With the huge government surplus and unprecedented deposits in our banks, it is difficult to understand why a minute portion of this money should not be directed to help those who contributed 60% of 90% of our local manufactures that goes for export, the Colony's life-line. Surely it is not a case of giving away public funds to selected industries as Government guidance, underwriting and supervision would be part of the development scheme before the banks could provide such services in an adequate manner. It might be mentioned for comparison that in Japan, Government funded a small Industries Development Corporation with US$100 million, and besides providing loans, it sets up training centres to train industrial technicians and instructors in the application of latest developments in production methods and equipment in a large variety of industries. One has only to see the broad development and spectacular success of Japanese industries to realize that it is such investments that are paying handsome dividends.
We have been warned that Hong Kong is facing darkening clouds in our export markets. This time it is for sure unless we help ourselves so that God will help us to overcome such difficulties by a joint community effort and not by wistful thinking that all will be well.
(3) The Language Issue
Politics and sentiments aside, there are valid and practical reasons to extend the use and recognition of Chinese in official and other business. Contrary to misguided belief, the written Chinese as used today is universal and adequate. Whilst English is a highly desirable medium in the study of modern sciences, and for external communication Chinese will assume an even more important position in internal communication in an industrial society of growing sophistication between Government and people, management and labour, customer and businessmen. Unfortunately, the crammed syllabi and examination-oriented method of teaching due to severe competition have bred a generation of school-leavers whose power of expression, both in
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total of HK$215 million for technical education. This is on top of the HK$175 million they spend annually on universities that provide enrol- ment for 40,000 students, more than 8 times the present capacity of our two universities. Yet New South Wales has no more than 27- 30,000 high-school leavers every year.
Manpower studies and surveys have established that we need approximately 4,000 technicians and 10,000 tradesmen every year. In the face of such urgency and the gross inadequacy of our present pro- visions as borne out by the comparisons, the public is not going to accept as valid reasons for slow motion on grounds of lack of funds, sites, or teaching personnel. Rather it is vital that at this crucial moment Government should, as a matter of urgency not to be choked by beaucratic requirements, be prepared to allocate the sites, provide the funds, and more important, require that the Education as well as the Labour Department immediately expand and upgrade their per- sonnel responsible for the planning and execution of technical education and industrial training for accelerated action. Task forces should be set up for the recruitment of overseas technical teachers and the train- ing for local ones. Australia is getting 30% of its technical lecturers from overseas, more recently from America and Asia including Hong Kong. There is an urgency to review our recruitment policy and procedure so that, for example, we may benefit from the large number of engineering, science and business administration personnel (many of them of Chinese and Hong Kong origin) that are rendered redundant in the current U.S. recession, and with suitable arrangement, it is also highly possible and beneficial to get more experts from industry and commerce to lecture on a part-time basis. Indeed we must face the problem squarely and seek an effective solution instead of allowing the situation to deteriorate, as it has been during the past years.
(2) Capital and Aid to Small Industries
It is well known that a Japanese manufacturer can borrow up to 400% of his own capital, whereas by contrast many a H.K. manufac- turer would experience difficulty in getting a loan, short or long term, equivalent to 40% of his own capital. This gives the Japanese manufacturer decided advantage in purchasing and re-equipping with modern plant and machinery, in evening out production peaks and valleys for higher efficiency, and for tieing over recessions when caught with heavy inventory. It has been said that there had been no proven case where a worthwhile industrial venture had been jeopardized due to an absence of banking facilities in Hong Kong. The truth of this statement is at best a matter of conjecture, as, knowing the traditional attitudes of local bankers, an industrialist would not waste his time and efforts in pursuing and pleading for support of a capital-intensive venture, even though he is sure of its viability. This explains the
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
305
fact why 90% of our factories, contributing to 60% of our domestic exports, could be classified as small industries, with workers employing no more than HK$2,500 worth of production facilities per capita. It is these factories that are now feeling the pinch most of labour shortage, and to write them off as being inefficient is not only cruel but irrespon- sible, since in every developed country there is existence of small industries that provide support for the assembly lines of the giants. In fact, if anything, it is such supporting industries that provide Hong Kong that slight edge or lead time in some industries over its com- petitors in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore that are fast catching up.
With the huge government surplus and unprecedented deposits in our banks, it is difficult to understand why a minute portion of this money should not be directed to help those who contributed 60% of 90% of our local manufactures that goes for export, the Colony's life-line. Surely it is not a case of giving away public funds to selected industries as Government guidance, underwriting and supervision would be part of the development scheme before the banks could provide such services in an adequate manner. It might be mentioned for comparison that in Japan, Government funded a small Industries Development Corporation with US$100 million, and besides providing loans, it sets up training centres to train industrial technicians and instructors in the application of latest developments in production methods and equipment in a large variety of industries. One has only to see the broad development and spectacular success of Japanese industries to realize that it is such investments that are paying hand- some dividends.
We have been warned that Hong Kong is facing darkening clouds in our export markets. This time it is for sure unless we help ourselves so that God will help us to overcome such difficulties by a joint com- munity effort and not by wistful thinking that all will be well.
(3) The Language Issue
Politics and sentiments aside, there are valid and practical reasons to extend the use and recognition of Chinese in official and other business. Contrary to misguided belief, the written Chinese as used today is universal and adequate. Whilst English is a highly desirable medium in the study of modern sciences, and for external communica- tion Chinese will assume an even more important position in internal communication in an industrial society of growing sophistication between Government and people, management and labour, customer and businessmen. Unfortunately, the crammed syllabi and examination- oriented method of teaching due to severe competition have breeded a generation of school-leavers whose power of expression, both in
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