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SHAPING UP FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

settled society that governments had never taken much notice of. They ran the place themselves. I had a staff of 18 in a District that covered the eastern New Territories from the Kowloon hills to the border. The people had to look after themselves and they did. Disputes were settled by the elders, they ran schools and clinics, they undertook public works, and provided relief after local disasters. Cheung Chau provided its own streets, drains and street lighting. The well-to-do were expected to contribute but there were rudimentary systems of tax. Silvermine Bay had a toll on a pontoon bridge. Tai Po had a purchase tax, called the public weighing scale, on everything sold in the market - the job of tax collector was put out to tender which saved collection costs. They had a highly democratic form of administration in which the heads of households elected Village Representatives who constituted the Rural Committee. I do not want to idealise the society for there were bad men as well as good, but their leaders were responsible people, used to taking tough decisions, knowing that what they did was in the public view. There were very few leaders who let their people down.

If this was the experience with a simple agricultural community how can we think that idiots will command support in any form of election in the now much better educated, more sophisticated urban community that Hong Kong has become?

This leaves the Chief Executive and the Executive Council. These are key appointments. The Chief Executive must be no less than 40 years old and have resided in Hong Kong for a continuous period of 20 years. He is to be appointed by the Central People's Government after being recommended by a Selection Committee. The first such committee will consist of 400 members appointed by a Preparatory Committee in turn established by the National People's Congress. This Preparatory Committee is to be. ... composed entirely of permanent residents of Hong Kong and must be broadly representative.' Although the Selection Committee is to recommend the candidate after either consultations or elections or both, I should be surprised if 400 good men and women of Hong Kong could reach an agreement without a vote. In turn the Chief Executive appoints members of the Executive Council and all the other advisory bodies and commissions.

In some respects, however, the Chief Executive will be faced with problems of management similar to those the Governor faces now. There have been times in the past when the government in London has not really liked the free-wheeling private enterprise of Hong Kong. There will no doubt be times in the future when people in Beijing do not really like everything going on in Hong Kong. But then, as now, the individual responsible for the administration of Hong Kong will have to strike a balance between upholding Hong Kong's autonomy and the need to live harmoniously with the metropolitan power. The systems set up will provide a safeguard against the arbitrary use of powers. In the future, as in the past, the Chief Executive will occasionally have a tough time reconciling all these pressures. That is what he is paid for.

Hong Kong Will Be What We Make Of It - Neither More Nor Less

None of the agreements or constitutional documents will reassure the convinced sceptic. No confirmed optimist can produce impeccable arguments for his cheerfulness. What one can say is that past performance does give reasonable assurance that the systems of Hong Kong are sufficiently robust to take a battering or make the most of plain sailing. We may feel that we shall be more on our own than ever before, but in reality Hong Kong has been made by Hong Kong people and will stand or fall by our own doing.

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