AS THE Governor, Chris Patten, leaves once again for consultations in London, he might keep in mind some important points which may have been obscured by Beijing's continued intransigence over plans to shore up Hong Kong's existing way of life before 1997.
At least one million Hong Kong people, on two occasions, turned out to demonstrate their support of the democracy movement in China in 1989. That these two massive demonstrations occurred in a politically and emotionally charged atmosphere without any incident is testament to the sensibility and sophistication of Hong Kong people. Unquestionably there were potential agent provocateurs in our community who might have wanted to cause trouble for their own ends.
Earlier, perhaps a million Hong Kong people signed a petition protesting the Daya Bay nuclear plant. This almost certainly was more a protest about lack of adequate consultation concerning a matter vitally affecting health and safety rather than against nuclear power, per se.
Those who claim Hong Kong people are only interested in making money and are not ''political'' or interested in ''democracy'' and ''freedom'' may have to think again about the motives and meaning of a million people taking the time to publicly commit themselves on issues of widespread community concern.
Most of the world knows Hong Kong people are intensely hardworking, success-oriented, practical and family-oriented. But over the past few decades, with increased prosperity and education, they have developed free minds able to think independently of colonial shibboleths or Marxist cant. It is these free minds that are Hong Kong's greatest asset and greatest competitive advantage.
Cynics and diplomats such as Sir Percy Cradock might claim they held the interests of Hong Kong people close to heart while they continued advocating various appeasements of China which further limited the ability of the territory to have a degree of influence over its own fate.
