The following is the transcript of the stand up interview by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, after his luncheon address in Singapore today :

Question (Cable TV Glenn Van Zutphen): Mr Tung you met with the Education Minister this morning at Chinese High School. What specifically did you realise, did you realise something today that you would like to take back to Hong Kong maybe from back there for the education system.

Mr Tung: Well, it is always nice to be talking to another country, to another ministry about issues which we are keenly interested in, to see where are the differences, what improvements we can make to make ours a better system and I thought it was a very useful discussion. I was particularly interested in the language aspect because, as you know, Singapore basically is going on with English and Chinese or English and Malay or English and Indian and in our case, as you know, the Government has announced the mother tongue education for Chinese and we are trying to see how we can make both our English and Chinese better and better still for our future generations.

Question (Cable TV): So you would like to keep English going as one of the languages that is used in teaching in schools in Hong Kong.

Mr Tung: Absolutely, because we are an international city, English is very important. But so is Chinese. We have got to make both of them very important.

Question (Unknown reporter): Are higher interest rates in Hong Kong going to impede economic growth?

Mr Tung: Our interest rates has come up a bit recently. You know our fundamentals in Hong Kong really very, very good and it's not an issue of major concern for us. We continue to be optimistic. Our forecast for the year is about five and a half per cent. We have every confidence to achieve that. No, it will not have that effect.

Question (Unknown reporter): Mr Tung, Senior Minister (inaudible) has said that Hong Kong has certain kind of buzz which Singapore lacks and it's very vibrant, it's an air of electric, how do you think the two cities compare (inaudible)?

Mr Tung: Well, I think that in Hong Kong we do have a buzz, people run around, work very hard. Singapore too, you have some kind of a buzz otherwise you wouldn't be where you are today. Your GDP is one of the highest in the world already (inaudible).

Question (Oriental Daily): Mr Tung can you further elaborate the monetary co-operation between Singapore and Hong Kong as you agreed last night with Mr Goh.

Mr Tung: Now, I was referring to an agreement which was signed by 10 central bankers some time ago, a repurchasing agreement, which helps each other when in need, when there are currency fluctuations. But I highlighted that as an example of regional co-operation.

Question (Deborah Khan, TVB): What are you going to talk about with Mr Lee Kuan Yew tonight?

Mr Tung: Well I'm looking forward to seeing him, he's a great statesman whom I respect a great deal. I'm really looking forward to talking with him.

Question (Inaudible question on housing):

Mr Tung: Well I'm going to visit the Housing Ministry and also some of the housing estates here also, I'm looking forward to it later on.

Question (Unknown reporter): Mr Tung you say the ultimate goal in Hong Kong is universal adult suffrage. When do you expect that to happen?

Mr Tung: Well I think that as you know the political evolution process for the next 10 years has been defined very clearly by the Basic Law so we will fully implement that process in accordance to the Basic Law. That there will be elections next year for the first legislature and there will be another election for the second legislature in the year 2000 and there will an election for the third legislature at 2004. And I was elected as Chief Executive to serve until 2002 and there will be an election for the next Chief Executive at 2002. Now beyond 2007-2008 the Basic Law says that it really depends on what is the environment at that time, what Hong Kong people want to decide to do so I presume a few years down the road we will look at these things very seriously. My priority now is to make sure that the things that needs to be done quickly shall be done, including the election next year.

Question (Unknown reporter): Will you visit Taiwan in the near future?

Mr Tung: No, I have no plans to visit Taiwan in the near future.

Question (Unknown reporter): Are you going to cut profits tax?

Mr Tung: Well, all these decisions will be made closer to the time of the Budget. The Financial Secretary is looking at all the options and I'm sure a very good decision will be made at that time. Thank you very much.