The search for a historical souvenir rather than concern over the future led commuters to scramble for copies of the policy speech last night. A handful of people waited for copies to be distributed in Central MTR station before the Governor had finished speaking. Surveyor Cheng Tung-leung, 46, grabbed a copy as soon as government staff began distributing them at 4 pm. 'I have no real expectations of what it will contain but I just want to have a look as it's going to be the last speech under British rule,' he said. 'The Governor can't really do very much as there are only 272 days left before the handover.' Mr Cheng said Mr Patten's priority should be to find a way of working with the future rulers of Hong Kong. 'For the sake of Hong Kong people, he should co-operate with China,' he said. Housewife Ho Kwai-fong, 38, said she hoped the speech would focus on the needs of the elderly. 'More assistance should be given to the aged and a pension scheme should be finalised as soon as possible. 'Although the tax rate is relatively low here, we don't enjoy much social welfare especially for the aged who contributed to Hong Kong in the past,' she said. But one senior citizen who collected a copy of the speech said the Government never kept the promises it made. Lui Suet-ha, 68, said: 'I want to know when my living conditions will be improved. 'The Government promised to re-house me but I have been waiting for many years,' she said. Some 20,500 English copies and 33,450 Chinese copies were available to the public at district offices and publication centres while another 127,000 leaflets were also available at key MTR and KCR stations.
