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the lapse of time, I reckoned that many of the citizens of Hong Kong at that time have by now been taken care of by time, and therefore I can just declaim that I am one of those that should be placed on the most endangered species list as well because in due course time will also take care of me.

Since the publication of the Green Paper in mid-July, many pressure groups, academics, political analysts, civic-minded citizens, aspiring politicians etc. have made statements on the proposed changes to be made to prepare Hong Kong for the post-1997 era.

Indeed, there have been so many comments by sectional interest groups and political ideologists, that we are in danger of seeing only the trees and not the forest.

We must also not lose sight of the fact that political changes took place with the formation of the district boards and further changes are likely to take place after the White Paper is published.

Somewhere between the middle of September when the consultations on the Green Paper are to end and the publication of the White Paper later, all those who have the genuine well-being of Hong Kong at heart must pause and reflect on the political realities of Hong Kong. As I have often said at Urban Council meetings, politics is the art of the possible.

In the present attempt to make basic changes to the political structure and process of government, we are immediately faced with constraints. Perhaps the greatest constraint of them all is TIME. There literally is not enough time for us to take the long developmental road that is available in normal times. Many of the leaders of Hong Kong who have guided us through a very stable and growth-orientated economy will be in the course of time be retired. We desperately need to groom new leaders. Many young and capable men and women are waiting in the wings for such opportunities. The future destiny of Hong Kong belongs to the young. Let us take them into our confidence. Teamwork of the experienced and the energetic and enthusiastic will point Hong Kong in the right direction.

Therefore, in the preparation of the White Paper, I am in favour of having all the envisaged political processes spelled out as clearly and as precisely as possible. However, once published, we should not then follow them dogmatically. There must be flexibility both with regard to the political content and the timing of their implementation.

The rationale behind this requirement of flexibility is very simple. China has stated that Hong Kong people can govern Hong Kong and that within China there can be one country with two systems. Since Hong Kong will be a Special Administrative Zone of China after 30 June 1997, the challenge facing all of us is how to evolve a political process of government which is acceptable and compatible with the overall structure and system of China and at the same time satisfy the expectations of the Hong Kong people as to their material, spiritual, and psychological well-being.

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For people with political acumen and ambition, this is a very exciting time in Hong Kong. Hong Kong needs leaders and leadership. We need leaders of vision and commitment. We need leaders who have the interests of the Hong Kong people at heart. We need leaders that the Hong Kong people will put their trust in and above all, we need leaders who can give us unity of purpose.

With these few words, Mr. Chairman, I support the motion to convey our views to the Government.

DR. THE HONOURABLE KIM Y. S. CHAM (in English):- Mr. Chairman, this Green Paper is a welcome start that our Government is destined to be a more participative one. Given its increasingly representative element, the Hong Kong people can expect the administration to be responsive to their needs, desires, and expectations in running this territory on its way of political transition.

The spirit of the whole Paper is undoubtedly positive and encouraging. While endorsing the notion and structure of representative government canvassed therein, I would like to take this opportunity of raising a few key points, particularly those associated with the Urban Council, on the blueprint of administrative reforms before it consolidates into a policy paper for the period ahead.

Electoral College

Indirect election which the Green Paper favours entails a filtering mechanism so as to sieve out the best-equipped and most capable persons for public offices. As such, the process presupposes a good knowledge of the voters in the electoral college on the candidates in order for them to accomplish a well-reasoned choice on behalf of their constituencies. However, this assumption is doubtful because it is more often than not that members of the electoral college have only little contact with the candidates and hence their prior knowledge of the suitability of the candidates is limited. I can envisage the haphazard situation of the electoral college, within which each voter just votes according to his or her impressions as determined largely by the candidates' public exposure.

To solicit votes principally by way of public appearance is obviously distorting and deceptive. Judgement on political candidates is easily compromised by the gap that often exists between their household popularity and their technical competence. To offer a better safeguard in this connection, I venture to suggest a two-stage voting procedure, as practised in countries elsewhere. In the first round of voting, candidates with lower than a percentage of the votes are eliminated, leaving those with a higher percentage to be eligible for the second round of voting. A second and final vote by the college follows to determine the elected members of the Legislative Council out of those eligible.