ENG-1972 — Page 219

PRESS, BROADCASTING AND CINEMA

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During 1972, the design and display section again increased its production of artwork, posters, leaflets, display advertisements, window displays, and exhibitions- the latter involving the design and building of a display for the 16th International Conference on Social Welfare at the Hague, and the Action Committee Against Narcotics pavilion for the Chinese Manufacturers' Association Exhibition on Hong Kong Island waterfront. On average about 60 jobs are completed each month by this creative section, embracing all facets of graphic design and three-dimensional design and occasionally touching on industrial, interior, and other allied design fields. Animated film shorts are also produced from time to time.

Although much of its work is for publicity campaigns, this creative section is responsible for handling all government advertising in both local and overseas press. It also handles all government recruiting advertisements and the placing of statutory notices. Significantly, for the Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign the section produced almost 200 different designs. These included posters, leaflets, booklets, displays, window displays, street decorations, display advertising, animated films and cinema slides; along with the whole corporate image of the campaign with such symbols as Miss Super Clean and the infamous Lap Sap Chung himself.

Short newsreels, entitled 'Hong Kong Today', are produced as a monthly maga- zine series by the film section of the technical services division. These are screened regularly in some 60 local cinemas and on local television channels. A minimum of two to three documentary films are also produced each year under subcontract. Films produced this year have included 'The Three Steps Down' for the Action Committee Against Narcotics and 'Put it in the Bin' for the Keep Hong Kong Clean Campaign. This section has also produced a film showing the highly original and successful way in which English is taught as a second language in Hong Kong schools, which is expected to receive worldwide coverage where this aspect of teaching is a problem.

The public relations division is more locally-orientated, monitoring the entire spectrum of local press, with emphasis on the 60 or so Chinese newspapers that are read by more than 90 per cent of the population. A major role of this division is to improve understanding between the government and the people, but another respon- sibility is to reach Hong Kong Chinese living abroad. A weekly Hong Kong News Digest and Seamen's Newsletter, distributed free to Chinese abroad, helps keep restaurant workers in Europe, or seamen in other parts of the world, in touch with local events.

Based partly on the success of the public relations division, it is now the depart- ment's policy to attach public relations units to all major government departments. By the end of the year nine of these units had been set up. Of these, four were set up prior to 1972 in the Royal Hong Kong Police, Labour, Social Welfare and Resettle- ment Departments; while a further five were established only recently. The informa- tion officers in these units are mostly bi-lingual and have considerable journalistic experience, equipping them well for their task of improving the flow of information between the government and the people of Hong Kong.

During the year a significant advance was made towards improving this two-way flow of information. Government Information Services, along with Radio Hong Kong,