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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

Drafting work should not be rushed nor should it be left too late. I propose

the following time-table:

(1) Consultation prior to drafting-1985

(2) Drafting 1986

(3) Consultation and revision-1987

(4) Further consultation and revision-1988

(5) Consultation prior to approval of draft—-1989

(6) Assessment of public opinions—1990

(7) Formal approval by the National People's Congress----1991

After 1997, if any imperfections are found in the Basic Law, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region should be able to refer it to the National People's Congress for amendment.

concern

Another question with which the Hong Kong people specially themselves is the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group which is charged with the very important task of seeing that the administrative powers are transferred smoothly during the transitional period and that the Sino-British Agreement is effectively implemented. It is hoped that both the Chinese and British governments will agree to participation by Hong Kong government officials or Hong Kong experts in the meetings and work of the Group so that close contact will be maintained with the people of Hong Kong and their views taken into consideration. Though the deliberations of the Group be kept confidential, during the course of discussions, if it is deemed necessary to consult Hong Kong people on their views, it should be done so. After a period of time, a progress report should be made to the Hong Kong people, informing them of the results of the Group's deliberations. When the Sino-British Agreement officially takes effect, the common goals of both the Chinese and the British governments are certainly to continue their friendly co-operation and help the people of Hong Kong take over the administration of the territory smoothly, ensuring that it continues to be a prosperous and stable community with an efficient government. Hong Kong is our home and each of us has the duty to contribute to its construction. At the same time, we too have the right to know what is going on internally.

It is provided in the Sino-British Agreement that the British government will be fully responsible for the administration of Hong Kong until 30 June 1997. During the transitional period, China will not interfere with the internal affairs of Hong Kong. With regard to reforms in the system of government in Hong Kong, should the British government introduces such reforms unilaterally without any reference to and understanding from China, come 1997, if China has other views and formulates another system of government in Hong Kong, it will affect the prosperity and stability of the territory. To avoid any harm to Hong Kong, it is necessary for the Chinese and British governments to frankly exchange ideas through the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group to eliminate any factors that may lead to suspicions and preconceived notions.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

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Also, in the course of discussions on the Sino-British Agreement by Hong Kong people, some consider that certain provisions in the Agreement are not detailed enough or need clarification. These should be examined by the Joint Liaison Group and if necessary, the points should be submitted to the Chinese and the British governments for further negotiation to arrive at a solution.

Following are my proposals regarding the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group: (1) Hong Kong people (with Chinese among them) be appointed to serve on

the Liaison Group or on its Panel of Experts.

(2) Meetings of the Liaison Group be kept confidential.

(3) Results of deliberations be reported to the people of Hong Kong. (4) Contact be maintained with the people of Hong Kong and, if necessary,

they be consulted on their views.

(2) On education in Hong Kong

Mr. Chairman, may I now turn to the topic of education in Hong Kong.

Pre-primary education

Perhaps the education authorities think that pre-primary education is not so important. That is why they have not devoted much efforts to it so far, leaving the work all to the religious and social organizations, or private groups. The authorities have merely laid down regulations governing pre-primary education and compelling the organizations engaged in such education to raise the quality, without sufficiently providing the necessary services or resources to help them do so. It is hoped that the authorities concerned will improve pre-primary education in the following ways:

(1) To promptly organize training courses at the three colleges of education,

and establish a training college for pre-primary teachers.

(2) To offer full financial assistance to non-profit-making kindergartens to

improve their teaching facilities and learning environments.

(3) To offer salary subsidy to qualified teachers of non-profit-making

kindergartens and to formulate a reasonable pay scale.

(4) To set up a pre-primary curriculum committee to review and approve the

curricula, text books and teaching materials.

(5) To set up a pre-primary education information centre to provide

teachers with audio-visual aids and other teaching materials.

(6) To combine the child-care centres and kindergartens and put them under

the care of the Education Department.

(7) To set up clear objectives for pre-primary education, and to see that pre- primary children have proper physical, psychological and intellectual development, as well as trainings of good habits and group life, so as to prepare them fully for primary education.

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