HONG KONG
ANNUAL DEPARTMENTAL REPORT
BY THE
DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION SERVICES
N. J. V. WATT, O.B.E., J.P.
FOR THE
FINANCIAL YEAR 1969 - 70*
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. R. LEE, GOVERNMENT PRINTER AT THE GOVERNMENT PRESS, JAVA ROAD, HONG KONG
* 1st April 1969 - 31st March 1970
EXCHANGE RATES
When dollars are quoted in this Report, they are, unless otherwise stated, Hong Kong dollars. The official rate for conversion to pounds sterling is HK$14.54 £1 (HK$1=1s. 44d.). The official rate for conversion to U.S. dollars is HK$6.06= US$1 (based on £1=US$2.40).
77925-10K-11/70
GENERAL
D
CONTENTS
NEWS DIVISION
Press Room .
Radio News Room
+
POLICE PUBLIC INFORMATION BUREAU
PUBLICITY DIVISION
Editorial
Design and Display
Publications.
Distribution.
Photographs.
Film Unit
PUBLIC RELATIONS DIVISION
LIBRARY
་
•
Paragraphs
1
2
-
3
4 8
9
10 - 13
. 10
14 - 15
16 - 17
18 21
22 - 23
24
25 - 26
27 - 30
31
་
-
36
37 - 40
OSAKA EXPOSITION
41 - 44
TELEVISION AUTHORITY
45 - 48
•
FILM CENSORSHIP
49 - 51
LONDON OFFICE INFORMATION SECTION
52 54
-
STAFF
iii
55
THE department is organized in three Divisions-News, Publicity and Public Relations, with certain services common to all three.
2.
NEWS DIVISION
The News Division offers a service of information to local and overseas press, radio and television, with the aim of encouraging com- munication between government departments and the public through the mass information media.
3. A radio news room prepares world and local news bulletins for local broadcasting and television services.
Press Room
4. The Daily Information Bulletin gives factual information in English and Chinese on official policy and public projects as well as routine notices and statistics. The bulletin is distributed to more than 120 newspapers, agencies and broadcasting stations.
5. The bulletin is supplemented by a teleprinter service which is particularly useful for agencies and newspapers with urgent deadlines. This service is not restricted to official announcements but also alerts news editors to fires and other incidents. There are 75 subscribers to the teleprinter service.
6.
Questions from newspaper reporters, sometimes as many as 100 a day, and covering every aspect of government activity, represent another important channel of communication and enquiry desks are manned night and day.
7. Personal interviews, at which journalists discuss matters of public interest with responsible senior government officers, are arranged almost every day and press conferences to explain major projects are held frequently.
8. An experimental facsimile service of news items in Chinese was begun on 16th June, 1969. This service transmits government news in Chinese simultaneously with the transmission of news in English over the teleprinter service.
1
Radio News Room
9. Bulletins on world and local events are produced for broadcast by Radio Hong Kong, Commercial Radio and Rediffusion Television. H.K.T.V.B. operates its own news service and both T.V. stations obtain their filmed news material from their own sources. Sources for news bulletins originated by I.S.D. include two international news agencies, official releases and direct staff coverage of local events. The radio news room, located in Broadcasting House, remains under the supervision of the News Division and is in constant contact with Beaconsfield House through teleprinter, facsimile and telephone links.
POLICE PUBLIC INFORMATION BUREAU
10. Two senior information officers from 1.S.D. are seconded to the bureau, whose role is to supply information to the various news media and foster good relations with the public at all levels.
11. Extensive efforts are made to keep the public more closely informed of police activities, and the supply of news and information to the press, radio and television continues to increase.
12. An overall total of 33,110 press queries, news releases, interviews and press conferences were dealt with during the year, an increase of nearly 1,500.
13. The bureau expanded its public relations programme by arrang- ing exhibitions, stimulating interest in police 'open days', and making greater use of posters and leaflets produced by I.S.D. to promote crime prevention, road safety and recruiting. A regular series of police T.V. programmes was also arranged.
PUBLICITY DIVISION
14. The preparation for local and overseas distribution of visual publicity material-pictorial, photographic and documentary and the design and exhibition of window displays-are the main concern of the Publicity Division.
15. The extent to which Hong Kong is known and understood abroad depends to a large extent on the day to day reporting of the scores of foreign reporters and broadcasters who reside here and represent the
2
major world news organizations. The coverage, however, depends on news value in a very immediate sense. The Publicity Division aims to supplement this overseas knowledge of Hong Kong with a steady service of illustrated feature material on the life and achievements of the people of the colony and ample reference material for background information.
Editorial
16.
The editorial section produces newspaper and magazine feature articles for all parts of the world. Over the year 25 features were sent out through ten agencies.
17.
*
Production of the monthly newspaper, The World of Hong Kong, was suspended during the year, but many of its readers, most of them overseas, were kept supplied with information on life and development in the colony through a new digest, The Week in Hong Kong. And they also receive publications on various aspects of Hong Kong affairs.
Design and Display
18. The design and display section creates publicity material for government departments and other professional and voluntary agencies dealing with health, hygiene and safety campaigns, as well as advertising local public events and entertainments. Forty-one posters were designed with a print run of 316,200 and 49 leaflets with a print run of 6,247,750. The section also designed the cover and colour sections of the colony's annual report, Hong Kong 1969.
19. One hundred and fifty one window displays were erected in City District Offices, the Government Publications Centre and the depart- ment's display window. Five domestic exhibitions and displays were designed and erected.
20. The section designed the symbol for the Festival of Hong Kong, prepared 42 designs for the festival, including posters, maps, pro- grammes, window displays and advertisements, and designed and erected a photographic exhibition at Kai Tak air terminal.
21. Advertisements were designed for the local press and overseas newspaper supplements, which included the London Times and the Financial Times. The number of local advertisements and notices handl- ed by the section was 1,086, with 7,511 insertions in local newspapers.
3
Publications
22. The main item on the publications programme, the colony's annual report, Hong Kong 1969, was once again available to a wide readership, both in Hong Kong and overseas, less than three months after the end of the year which it described. The print order was for 21,500 copies, and the colour illustrations, in the form of 'photo essays', were also printed independently as publicity material.
23. Illustrated booklets produced during the year included A Hundred Years of Fire Fighting, Hong Kong-Girl in the Crowd, A Career With the Hong Kong Government and Youth Activities in Hong Kong. Following upon the Hong Kong Fact Sheet, which was revised and updated, a new series of more detailed fact sheets was launched with leaflets on Medical and Health Services and Waterworks.
Distribution
24. This section is responsible for the planned and effective distribu- tion of films and publications, produced either by the department or received from the Central Office of Information in Britain. It also operates a mobile cinema to give open-air film shows in the resettlement estates, remote villages, schools and associations. The film lending library, stocked with informative films on Hong Kong and Britain, is well patronized.
Photographs
25. The photographic section met an increasing demand for photo- graphic material from the department, other organizations and jour- nalists. An average of 95 assignments each month produced a total of 3,500 black and white prints, in addition to a large quantity of colour material.
26. The section also produced 321 murals and 212 large screen transparencies for display in the Hong Kong Pavilion at Expo '70. Colour slides for lecture sets to publicize Hong Kong overseas showed a marked increase during the year.
Film Unit
27. The monthly news magazine Hong Kong Today continued to be the film unit's main output. This three-minute colour magazine is dis- tributed to approximately 60 local theatres and to two television stations. It is also sent to London.
4
28. A one-and-a-half minute colour short, in the form of greetings for the Lunar New Year, was distributed to local theatres and T.V. stations to celebrate the Year of the Dog.
29. The Festival of Hong Kong was covered in a 13-minute colour production. This was originally intended for distribution to the Chinese community in Britain, but it was also shown locally-with commentaries in both Cantonese and English. Copies went to the Hong Kong Tourist Association and to several international airlines for showing overseas.
30. A four-minute colour film was produced on behalf of the Joint Services Public Relations Office in Hong Kong, showing the Army at work installing electricity on Peng Chau. For the Central Office of Information's production 'Roundabout the unit contributed an item on Hong Kong's new earth satellite station.
PUBLIC RELATIONS DIVISION
*.31. The aim of the Public Relations Division is to improve understanding between people and government by the use of all possible public relations methods. It also keeps the government informed of public opinion as expressed through the information media in Hong Kong and has a special responsibility to maintain contact with the Hong Kong Chinese living abroad.
32. The division produces periodic press reviews on items of current interest. These reviews are widely distributed to over 120 senior officers in the administration. The division also draws the attention of govern- ment departments to letters which appear in the correspondence columns of the press and endeavours to obtain answers to any questions raised. Government replied to 1,225 such letters during the year.
33. Close touch is maintained with departments in daily contact with the public and the division helps with day to day public relations problems. A Resettlement Newsletter has been started, and is edited by the section for distribution to 30,000 residents in Tsz Wan Shan Resettlement Estate.
34. The division edits the Hong Kong News Digest, which is dis- tributed to 22,000 overseas Chinese living in Britain, Canada, U.S.A., Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa and South America. Films and
5
sound broadcasting material are also provided so that the Hong Kong London Office can arrange entertainment programmes for Chinese living in Britain; 285 such film shows were organized during the year and were very well received.
35. A survey of reception arrangements in government departments was organized by the division during the summer, using students of the Hong Kong University as interviewers. A comprehensive report on 18 department was compiled, so that they could be provided with an independent opinion on arrangements existing in their departments for receiving members of the public.
36. A series of leaflets explaining government services and pro- cedures to the public was produced and the Summer Youth Programme Directory was compiled in the division.
LIBRARY
37. The library has a reference section and photographic collection available to local and visiting journalists and Hong Kong firms and organizations as well as departmental staff.
38. The comprehensive reference section contains more than 2,000 books and up-to-date files of 100 periodicals. A record of events in Hong Kong is maintained in press clipping files.
39. The stock of reference works and books on Hong Kong affairs is classified under the Dewey decimal system while other files are organized under subject headings.
40. About 8,000 black and white prints on 1,000 Hong Kong subjects are kept available for immediate use in the library, which also main- tains a stock of about 5,000 colour transparencies. Photographs by departmental photographers are issued for local press release and overseas features and to overseas correspondents, publishers, local firms and other government departments.
OSAKA EXPOSITION
41. The Hong Kong Government Pavilion at Expo '70, in Osaka, received some 500,000 visitors in the two weeks after its opening on 15th March double the original estimates of attendance. Every aspect
6
of the colony's life--its trade, industry, social amenities, culture and scenic beauty was reflected in the various display sections.
42. Thirteen fully-rigged and full-scale junk sails, set on masts of varying height above the flat-topped roof, were the outstanding feature of the pavilion design. Arranged so that they could be raised or lowered at the press of a switch, the sails shifted with the breeze and provided a constantly changing tableau of patterns and colours.
43. Regular cultural performances, including lion and traditional Chinese folk dances and 'pop' music concerts, were staged on a circular platform fronting the pavilion, and the restaurant, serving typical Hong Kong dishes, catered for a constant flow of diners.
44. The government exhibited for the third time at the 1969 C.M.A. Exhibition. An imaginative pavilion design, of hollow cylinders suspended by cables from four main structural columns, allowed the public free access from all sides. The theme of the display was 'What Government Does for You'.
TELEVISION AUTHORITY
45. The Television Ordinance provides for the appointment of a Television Authority and a Television Advisory Board. The Authority's function is to secure proper standards of programme content and technical efficiency in wireless television and generally to administer the provisions of the Ordinance.
46. The role of the Television Advisory Board is to advise the Authority in the exercise of its function; to submit proposals and recom- mendations to the Governor-in-Council or the Television Authority; and to publish reports on the progress of television. The board consists of three public officers and two members of the public.
47. A small secretariat within the Information Services Department enables the Director of Information Services to carry out his statutory functions as the Television Authority.
48. A local private company monitors advertising material on behalf of the Authority to ensure that the provisions of the Ordinance are maintained. Arrangements are also being made to monitor live and pre-recorded material on a full-time basis.
7
FILM CENSORSHIP
49. Films for public exhibition in Hong Kong are subject to censor- ship in accordance with Film Censorship Regulations.
50. The Panel of Censors saw 5,557 films during the year, compared with 5,371 in the preceding year. Details are given in an appendix.
51. There are at present 107 cinemas in the colony. Local studios produced 158 feature films during the year; 63 in Cantonese and 93 in Mandarin.
LONDON OFFICE INFORMATION SECTION
52. This office continues to play an important part in public relations directed towards Hong Kong Chinese residents in Britain. It is responsible for the distribution end of the information service initiated by the Public Relations Division in Hong Kong. Distribution arrange- ments for the Hong Kong News Digest, for example, are such that, with a circulation of more than 14,500 a week, it is estimated the newspaper is seen each week by every literate adult member of the Hong Kong Chinese community in Britain. The London Information Section runs a lending library of tape recorded Chinese music on loan, free of charge, to members of the community.
53. In association with a nationwide network of commercial pro- jectionists, the London Office section set up a new service to provide Cantonese film shows for Hong Kong Chinese people in Britain. Utilizing feature films made available by the Public Relations Division, supplemented by documentary films and up-to-date newsreels from the colony, this service proved immensely popular from the outset, and more than 300 shows were given during the year. Audiences at these shows, which were held in private cinemas, restaurants, club rooms, and even private homes, totalled more than 12,000. The service was provided at nominal cost to borrowers and the difference was met by departmental funds.
54. These new and important tasks have not diminished the London Information Section's normal public relations programme on behalf of Hong Kong in Britain. There is a regular exchange of views with the Hong Kong Public Relations Advisory Committee, which meets under the chairmanship of the Administrative Commissioner for the Hong Kong
8
Government in London and includes representatives of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong Students' Office/Chinese Liaison Office, the Hong Kong Association, the Hong Kong Section of the London Chamber of Commerce, the Hong Kong Tourist Association, the News Department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the British National Export Council, the Committee of Shipowners Employing Chinese Crews, and Messrs. Campbell Johnson Ltd. At the end of the year, the committee was reconstituted and its membership restricted to those organizations directly involved with public relations on behalf of Hong Kong. As well as the Government Office in London (which includes the Chinese Liaison Office), these organizations are the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the Hong Kong Tourist Association and the Hong Kong Association.
55.
STAFF
The Director of Information Services, Mr. N. J. V. WATT, was on vacation leave from 15th July, 1969 to 13th November, 1969. He visited Japan for the Fourth Conference of the Commissioners General of Expo '70 from 20th January, 1970 to 23rd January, 1970, and for the Inauguration of Expo '70 from 13th March, 1970 to 24th March, 1970. The Deputy Director, Mr. M. A. B. STEVENSON, acted as director on all three occasions.
June, 1970.
N. J. V. WATT, Director of Information Services.
9
APPENDIX I
THE PRESS
Seventy Chinese language dailies and four English language dailies, covering most shades of political opinion, were published at the end of the year. These have an estimated combined circulation well in excess of 2 million copies. The Chinese daily press includes 48 morning and 22 afternoon newspapers. There are two morning and two English language afternoon newspapers. In addition, three other Chinese news- papers are published; one every three days, one weekly, and one monthly.
Newspapers published in the colony must be registered with the Secretariat for Home Affairs. At the end of the year, 167 publications were registered. The fee is $100 a year. The applicant must also deposit $10,000 as surety or provide two acceptable guarantors in this sum. This deposit is a form of protection for the public to ensure payment of fines, damages or costs of a libel action in which a newspaper or publica- tion may become involved.
Hong Kong continues to be a base for the Far East operations of all the important news agencies and many international magazines, newspapers, and broadcasting networks.
Both Chinese and English-language newspapers are represented on the Newspaper Society of Hong Kong, which has 18 members and three associated members.
10
APPENDIX II
DECISIONS OF PANEL OF FILM CENSORS DURING THE PERIOD 1.4.69 TO 31.3.70
(PLACES OF PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT ORDINANCE-CHAPTER 172- FILM CENSORSHIP REGULATIONS)
FEATURE FILMS (35 mm):
Hong Kong (Cantonese) Hong Kong (Mandarin) China Mainland
Denmark
France
Number of Films Submitted
PANEL OF CENSORS
Certificates
Certificates
for Public
Exhibition
Issued Subject to
Certificates Refused
Cuts
Issued
00 LA
−2
66
22
India
Italy
Japan
+
63
56
1
95
87
5
5
5
2
46
35
9
27
27
110
88
14
40
23
68
64
4
...
53
41
9
•
181
145
28
*
4
3
1
20
13
5
...
17
12
3
∞7
-A120+0∞ finm
8
0.00
3
8
2
2
...
...
36
3
6
743
610
96
115
| |
37
Taiwan
•
United Kingdom
U.S.A.
U.S.S.R....
W. Germany
Others
•
FEATURE FILMS (16 mm):
France
Others
SHORTS:
Hong Kong
11
11
China Mainland
Taiwan
United Kingdom
U.S.A.
3
3
5
3
13
13
101
101
Others
4
4
| | | | |
2
...
137
135
I
2
TELEVISION FILMS
3,843
3,819
18
6
ADVERTISING FILMS
834
826
5
3
TOTAL
5,557
5,390
119
48
11
APPENDIX II-Contd.
DECISION OF BOARD OF REVIEW DURING THE PERIOD 1.4.69 TO 31.3.70
(PLACES OF PUBLIC ENTERTAINMENT ORDINANCE CHAPTER 172-
FILM CENSORSHIP REGULATIONS)
BOARD OF REVIEW
Appeals
Appeals
against Refusal of Certificates
Appeals
Upheld Appeals
Appeals
Upheld
Subject
Refused
against
Appeal
Appeal
Cuts
Upheld
Refused
to Cuts
32*
3
27
2
1
1
* Two films pending decision by Board of Review.
12
O
GPHK
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Code No.: 0344070
Price: $1,50