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man-wealth. In a capitalist society, businessmen, industrialists and professionals normally occupy a relatively advantageous position and, as capitalism purports to safeguard and stimulate capital investments, they have an edge over the others. On the other hand, the nature of election makes ample supporting power and money prerequisites for a candidate to win. Again, businessmen, industrialists and professionals enjoy an advantage over the others in this respect. Nevertheless, under a consummate system of democracy and universal suffrage, the people in power simply cannot ignore the wishes of the electors in implementing policies that favour the industrial and commercial sectors only. Hence, in such a situation of co-existing conflicts, a focal point of the equilibrium has been identified: while the capitalist system favours the industrialists and businessmen, the democratic framework serves to check the unlimited expansion of their interests so as to ensure the continual stable development of the community.

Democracy has never existed in the history of Hong Kong. The job of maintaining the equilibrium has all along been undertaken by a group of civil servants who have no direct interests in the industrial and commercial sectors. Certainly, a number of incidents in the 80's revealed that the Government was still partial to these sectors. At certain official advisory boards whose membership was restricted to the upper-middle class, public policies were formulated without the participation of the masses or their representatives. As a result, conflicts erupted from time to time. The masses were faced with the housing problem throughout the 80's. As their problems were not reflected at the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the residents affected could only resort to public actions, i.e., holding press conferences and general meetings of residents, petitions, protest marches, street-sleep, etc., to make known their problems and fight for improvement. The housing problem reached its climax in the incident of protests against high rent as well as the debate on the policy of 'well-off' tenants in public housing estates in 1984 and 1985, respectively. Not until the pressure groups which represented the interests of the residents were appointed as members of the Hong Kong Housing Authority were the interests, as well as opinions, of the residents reflected and discussed in the decision-making bodies, and a lot of views concerning the well-being of the residents were either accepted or accepted with some modification. The housing policy was greatly improved in the late 1980's, and public actions in protest against the housing problem also decreased accordingly.

Meanwhile, the public utility enterprises have consistently raised the fees and fares, and the operators have enjoyed guaranteed profits as ensured by the Government. Under such an unreasonable policy, the masses could only voice their opinions concerning their own interests and problems through occasional mass actions. However, the decision-makers are all businessmen, and the Legislative Council is not vested with any decision-making power; consequently, fare increase has become a justifiable course of action. This has continually intensified the discontent among the masses. Furthermore, on the labour issue, there is the absence of a social security system in Hong Kong, and the masses—the lower-middle class—generally live from hand to mouth. In case any problems arise, there is basically no mechanism enabling the workers to discuss the problems with the employers on a legal status and an equal footing because the local unions have no recognized authority of negotiation. Hence, when the situation comes to a deadlock, usually, the workers have to resort to collective actions, e.g., work-to-rule, strike, etc., to voice their views and strive for improvement. A very good example can be seen in the incident of the China Motor Bus in 1989.

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In short, the interests of the majority—the lower-middle class—in Hong Kong have long been defended by their reflecting their own opinions and striving for improvement with joined and organized forces. On certain issues, the Government has played the role of preventing the situation from getting out of hand.

However, stepping into the 90's, the traditional role played by the Government will fade out. With the liberalization of the political system, the focus of attention will gradually shift to the unofficial and non-appointed politicians. The civil service will be neutralized progressively and carry out the public policies proposed and decided by the politicians. The Government has all along paid no heed to the representativeness of the overwhelming lower-middle class at the official decision-making boards. Actually, democratization of the political system could bring about an equilibrium out of the long-standing unreasonable situation, yet the Government has not planned for enough time to do so. As an equilibrium of sectoral interests and conflicts can be established through the mechanism of democracy, it is most disappointing that the Chinese government does not allow the full and speedy democratization of the political system in the territory.

The Basic Law Drafting Committee Political Sub-group recently resolved that the future legislature in Hong Kong should be elected by a variety of electoral systems. However, a detailed study would reveal that the business and industrial sectors, as well as the professionals, are predominant in the entire electoral system and the chance of the lower-middle class getting elected is meagre. In addition, the industrial and business sectors normally have personal acquaintance with the policy-makers, and their chances of success are further secured through the election by functional constituencies. Furthermore, in the society of Hong Kong, where capitalism is practised, the interests of the man in the street would be completely unprotected when the government's role as a moderator fades out. Under such circumstances, there are only two alternatives for the lower-middle classes:

(1) Maintain the unity and strike at undesirable social policies and systems with concerted efforts.

(2) Join forces with others and pool together their manpower and resources to form political parties and strive for seats in the government organs of authority to ensure that the opinions of the lower-middle class are heard within the framework of authority and their influence spread.

I do not believe that some political groups which have claimed to protect the overall interests of Hong Kong could reflect all the views and interests of the

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