Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), urged all the registered electors to fulfill their duty as a Hong Kong citizen and choose the candidates on the voting day of the first SAR District Councils election on November 28.

After casting his ballot, Tung told reporters that it is a very significant day for Hong Kong with the approaching of the new century.

The new District Councils, which will start operation on January 1, 2000, will play a more important role in serving as a main bridge between the government and the public, as the SAR government will take more challenges in the next century, he said.

"We will provide various districts with extra resources to improve their environment," he said.

"We will strengthen the supervision of the District Council on the civil service," he said. "We will increase communications between the District Councils and various government departments, so that they can respond to the opinion of the public more directly and offer proper service."

Noting that the 798 candidates in this election are of various political and social backgrounds, he expressed his confidence about the result of the election because of the higher turnout than in the 1994 election.

When asked to comment on the appointment of some District Council members, Tung said the appointment does not mean a backdown from democracy in Hong Kong.

Instead, it will enable more capable and experienced persons to sit in the District Councils so that the District Councils will be more representative and better reflect opinions of the general public, he said.