The Chief executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, said today (Friday) his first overseas trip has been 'very useful, constructive and successful' and he is confident business and political leaders in Malaysia and Singapore can see it is 'business as usual' in Hong Kong.

He believed leaders in Singapore and Malaysia could see that Hong Kong was running smoothly and that Hong Kong's lifestyle remained unchanged.

Mr Tung said that of his three-day visit: "I think they were all very happy that the return of Hong Kong and the SAR Government for the last two months have been functioning well, functioning smoothly and the one country, two systems foundation is being laid.

In Singapore, he wrapped up his visit with a series of in-depth briefings on the 'common challengers' facing Hong Kong and the Lion City.

Major areas of interest were housing, education and information technology.

Mr Tung also told a luncheon meeting of business leaders there was 'plenty of room' for both Hong Kong and Singapore in the increasingly important Asian economies.

During another full day's programme, the Chief Executive visited the Chinese high School, the Singapore Housing and Development Board (HDB), and visited the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Singapore.

Late this afternoon Mr Tung held a private meeting with Singapore's Senior Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

"He is a great statesman whom I respect a great deal," said Mr Tung.

"We had some very useful discussions. he's obviously happy to see the transition has been smooth and things going on well in Hong Kong," said Mr Tung.

"We also talked about the currency turmoil recently and about the stock market turmoil. It was a very useful and very helpful discussion."

On education, Mr Tung was particularly interested in Singapore's languages policy, which stressed teaching in English and mother tongue mediums.

"As you know the (Hong Kong) Government has announced the use of Chinese as the teaching medium and we are trying to see how we can make both our English and Chinese better and better still for our future generations," Mr Tung said.

Asked whether he would like to see English continue to be taught in Hong Kong schools, Mr Tung replied: "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."

During a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and minister for Defence Dr Tony Tan, Mr Tung discussed expanding application of information technology in schools and the wider community.

Familiarising Singapore's subsidised rental and purchase housing developments included a visit to two tenants' homes at the Toa Payoh precinct as well as discussions on upgrading projects.

Housing supply and renovation, the quality of housing, tenant facilities and housing design were among the items discussed.

Mr Tung said that when he returned to Hong Kong he would sit down with Chief Secretary Mrs Anson Chan and other policy Secretaries 'to go through some of our thoughts with a view to develop further ideas.'

Mr Tung returns to Hong Kong tomorrow (Saturday). He leaves for a five-day visit to the United States on Monday morning.