ENG-1981 — Page 332

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

249

With the implementation of the new District Administration Scheme, the role of the Home Affairs Department as monitor and co-ordinator of government services at district level has assumed increasing importance and new dimensions. City district commissioners chair the district management committees and, where already established, the district board of his district. Supporting services to these committees and boards are also provided by the City District Office in each district.

Use of the Chinese Language

The year saw further expansion in the use of Chinese by government departments in communicating with members of the public, and in other official business. The appointment of non-English-speaking people to serve on advisory boards, committees and the newly established district boards, the greater number of publications in Chinese, and the increasing amount of correspondence in Chinese, have increased the demand for high quality interpretation and translation. To meet this demand, the Home Affairs Department has intensified its training programme for Chinese Language Officers.

The government's policy is to accord Chinese equal status with English in government communications with the public, and to promote the wider use of Chinese in government departments in this context. To ensure conformity with the policy, regular visits to government departments were made during the year by staff of the Chinese Language Division of the Home Affairs Department to monitor performance and evaluate the quality of the services provided. Where appropriate, recommendations for the improvement of services were made to the departments.

Throughout the year, the Chinese Language Division of the Home Affairs Department continued to undertake the translation of documents of major significance. Assignments included the Governor's policy address at the opening of the Legislative Council; the Financial Secretary's Budget speeches; the 1981-2 Budget: Economic Background; the White Paper on District Administration in Hong Kong; the Hong Kong Annual Report (Hong Kong 1982); the Royal Hong Kong Police Force 1980 Annual Review; the Annual Summary by the Director of Education 1979-80; the Report of the Public Services Commission, Hong Kong, for 1980; Reports 4 and 5 of the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service; the Report of the UMELCO Police Group 1980; Reports of the Director of Audit and the Public Accounts Committee; Report of the Committee of Review, Landlord & Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance; circulars and documents for the Commissioner of Securities, Commissioner of Census and Statistics, speeches of Unofficial Members of Legislative Council; Hong Kong Narcotics Report 1979; Report of the Working Party set up to review the Secondary School Places Allocation System; and career pamphlets.

To provide the public with a standardised translation of proper terms and terms commonly used in government business, the division was actively engaged in the compila- tion of glossaries. It produced during the year an English-Chinese glossary of common terms in Education as the first in a series of glossaries on various subjects to be produced by the department.

The division sponsored a youth cultural and arts competition which included contests in Chinese translation, writing, speech-making, inter-school debate, calligraphy and painting, and radio quizzes on knowledge of Chinese philosophy, culture and literature. The objective of these contests was to promote a greater interest in the study of the Chinese language and culture, and to raise the standard of Chinese among the younger members of the community.