Friends and Teachers: Hong Kong and Its People 1953-87

Chapter 8: The Government and People Relationship in Town and Country (up to 1977)

Chapter f£ight TheGovernmentand PeopleRelationship inTown and Country(Up to 1977) The adminIstrative functIOns of the government are discharged by more than thirty departments, most of which are orgamzed on a functIOnal basis and have responsIbilitIes covenng all Hong Kong ThIs form of organization, rather than one based on authontlCs with responsIbIlitIes III a limited geographical area, is suitable for thIs small, compact terntory ...1 The structure of the government IS by no means statiC, and mstitutlOnal and organizational developments stilI contmue on a pragmatIc basIs to meet the needs of an exceptionally reSIlient and robust commumty 2 Practically all my first twenty years had been spent with departments, more or less in direct contact with the public. This succeSSIOn of outside 'postings' was rare for an Administrative Officer, as we could usually reckon on spending half our service in the Secretariat. My experiences during that time - not forgetting those occasions when, as narrated above, I had occasionally been on the receiving end of public displeasure - had provided insights into the nature of the'government-people' relationship, how it had been at the outset of my career and how it evolved over time. In this chapter and the next, J shall be taking a more direct look at this topic, supplementing and amplifying the accounts given in the 'departmental' chapters. THE OLD RELATIONSHIP, one of benevolent paternalism and its public acceptance, was the province of the two departments whose work and responsibilities have been described above, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs and the District Administration, New Territories. Here, I am more con- 190 Friends and Teachers Hong Kong and Its People lY53-87 cerned with explaining some ofthe 'self-perceptions' that guided theIr actions, for the two were what one might call 'people-oriented' to a degree that IS, in retrospect, still rather surprising. This was, of course. due to their political role and the fact that they saw themselves as the public's link wIth the rest of the bureaucracy. 'THE SECRETARY FOR CHINESE AFFAIRS', wrote the incumbent in 1957, 'is traditionally the officer through whom the views of the Chinese populatlOn may be made known to Government': He IS regarded by the Chinese not only as the officer to whom their views may be expressed and to whom they may look fOJ an explanatIOn of Government pollcy, but also as 'the father and mother' of their commumty to whom they may come for adVice in all matters and to whom they may bnng their disputes for arbltratlon.' commenting that, 'There are no signs that this tradition is weakenmg almost the reverse, at any rate as far as family disputes are concerned ...'. He also placed emphasis on his department's duty '10 act as advisor to Chinese in distress and as an unofficial court of arbitration in Chinese disputes , mostly of a family nature'.4 It was in the former, clearly very extensive, role that a Social Welfare Office had been set up within the SCA in September 1947, crystallizing its various responsibilities and traditional interests.5 In other fields too, the Chinese Secretariat provided advice and assIstance across a broad spectrum of public business. Reviewing these in conjunction wIth his many statutory responsibilities, the Secretary could affirm that 'In general, there is hardly a phase of Chinese life with which the department is not concerned to a greater or lesser degree'.6 CoinCIding with their reported attitudes and expectations of his department , this broad mvolvement with the people was eS5entially benevolent and patriarchal. Looking back to much earlier in the century, it had extended to the supervIsion of emigration under an ordmance whose stated objects were 'to prevent trafficking in women and children and to ensure that men are not induced to emigrate by false representations'.7 These prewar responsibilities had been carried over, exempltfied by the care and concern exercised on behalf of the'872 mechanics, bo,ltmen and labourers' who, it was reported, had gone to Ocean Island and Nauru to accept employment under the British Phosphate Commissioners in 1946-47.8 Under another and later kind of protective legIslation, the Secretary was invested with powers under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance of 1947 to shield tenants of pre-war buildings from overcharge of rent, later extended to provide compensation and assistance to them in 'Exclusion Order' casesY In carrying out these miscellaneous public welfare-type duties, the depart- The GOI'emmelll lIlId People...