SINGAPORE ACADEMY OF LAW ANNUAL LECTURE 10TH SEPTEMBER 1997

• Date: 01 December 1997
• Author: BY THE HONOURABLE T L YANG
• Published date: 01 December 1997

As a matter of fact, “the fifty years” is but a manner of speaking: there will be no change after fifty years. For the first fifty years, there can be no change; after that fifty years, there need be no change.

Deng Xiaoping, 3rd June 1988

It was in 1955 that my wife and I first set foot in Singapore en route from London to Hong Kong. Arriving in this friendly city on a P & O ship after a month long journey from London, we yearned to be amongst our own people again. After an absence of some six years, we re-discovered all that we had missed as overseas students. The cooked food stalls and open markets, the noisy restaurants, the men and women in their traditional garments, the hustle and bustle of the winding streets — all melted our hearts, and we felt that we had already come home. For the past twenty-five years since then, we have befriended Singapore and paid regular visits from Hong Kong, and each time we came away with gratitude and affection for the people here. By their warmth and helpfulness, by their courtesy and efficiency, the visitors are beckoned to return again and again.

It is therefore with great pride and joy that I accepted the signal honour of speaking at the prestigious Singapore Academy of Law. I have come in humility, to learn from you and to share with you some of my thoughts on the future of my beloved city: Hong Kong. With the assurance that Hong Kong’s present system will not change for 50 years from the change of sovereignty on 1st July 1997, my attitude may be summed up in a few words: “Confidence, coupled with a determination to face the challenges ahead”. But before looking ahead, it may be helpful to go back in history a little and take a cursory look at Hong Kong’s recent past.

The Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong in the Pacific War brought physical devastation on a catastrophic scale, but the social structure and the government system remained intact. Soon, we started to regroup and rebuild. In a decade we were functioning normally, though still badly in need of some of the necessities of a modern city. The Sixties saw the strengthening of our infrastructure, of the civil government, of law and order, and the improvement in people’s livelihood. From the early

Seventies onward, our economy soared and we have not looked back since.

The reasons for our quick recovery and phenomenal growth are mainly three. First, a hardworking, adaptive and frugal people. Second, the common law and a largely clean and efficient civil service. Third, a sympathetic China who provided a steady flow of staple food, vegetables and meat at reasonable prices — and the supply of the all important water through the decades.

Now, we stand proudly with Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea as the four Small Dragons of the Region.

We have a large middle class who are well-educated, exposed to the outside world, confident and proud, know what they want and are determined to succeed. We have an economy which is the envy of the world and a government which remains clean and efficient. The Judiciary is, as always, independent and strong.

Geographically, we are so strategically placed as to be able to benefit from our neighbours. If the Pacific Rim is to be THE region of the 21st Century — and conventional wisdom is unanimous in saying that it shall be — then Hong Kong’s growth is assured.

To the north we have the backing of Mainland China, in providing, amongst other things, a vast market and support in our external commercial and cultural relations — the kind of support which only a strong and confident nation can give. To the south, we look to the whole of Southeast Asia and share in their increasing prosperity. To the east, our trading partners include Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. Hong Kong is right in the centre of all these countries: we must all succeed.

The benefits Hong Kong receive are however not unrepaid. They are not all one sided. We do reciprocate. As a centre of service industry (particularly in the field of communications), as a centre of the currency market and a centre of management know-how, our contributions to the region and beyond cannot be underestimated.

Recent opinion polls indicate that a great majority of the people of Hong Kong are confident of the future. Nobody doubts that Hong Kong will continue to prosper, and foreign businessmen will continue to do business with us. The Chinese leaders are at pains...