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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Although experts may not agree, yet I venture to suggest that, at least to the layman in town-planning, what may seem today to be beyond our means to have, may tomorrow be thought even niggardly of us not to have provided more.
Were this Council not seriously concerned with the planning of any district, be it a new one or an old one available for re-development, I believe that we would be falling down on our responsibility. Therefore, advantage should be fully taken of two excellent opportunities in the offing: one, the vast area now occupied by Whitfield Barracks; the other, the present railway land adjoining Salisbury and Chatham Roads.
This Council has persistently asked that adequate open space be reserved and made available in all districts, more particularly where there exists high-density development which, I think, puts an even greater responsibility on Government to make sure that residents have ample public recreational amenities to relieve the stress of over-crowded living conditions. While we realize that in the older districts land is short for such a purpose, we still think that, whenever there is the chance to do so, a generous effort should be made to atone for what another age perhaps saw no need to do. One such opportunity will come, I am told, in the Western District where this Council hopes that the many thousands of children living there will be given a public playground that is now nowhere to be found in all that area, at least at sea level.
To say, as some do, that the orderly development of Hong Kong has been upset by the heavy postwar influx of refugees is to negate the historical incidence of the movement of people virtually ever since Hong Kong was founded. In time, our problem of people may well be viewed, in its historical perspective, as one of degree, rather than as a change of pattern altogether. Be that as it may, let us go ahead and give the people all the services which a prosperous and progressive community can expect to have with reason and for which it must also expect to pay in measure. In this context, then, I wonder whether the time has not come for Hong Kong to take a more realistic look at its finances. However money might be found to meet the capital cost of our many projects, recurrent expenditure should be covered by current revenue in our normal circumstances. It is logical that such expenditure will increase unceasingly if only to defray the costs of running more schools, hospitals, markets, playgrounds, housing estates, trade promotion, etc. And, as there can be no let-up in our effort to better the lot of the people, more money must be raised unless the present sources will generate more revenue in corresponding measure. Rather than have a steep and abrupt increase after the need has arisen, let us have instead a phased programme, spread out on as broad a basis as possible. There is no point in demanding more and better services
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unless we are all willing to pay for them ourselves. So let us not throw up our hands in horror at the prospect, for having more taxation does not necessarily mean that Hong Kong's economic stability will be disturbed.
Council's Scope and Representation on other Public Bodies:
Mr. Chairman, it is this Council's aim to seek a gradual enlargement of its scope of work and responsibility and to advocate its representation on various other public bodies.
I understand and respect your reason for reserving the position of Official Members on this issue.
Manifestly, in declaring its intention, the Council has only one desire to serve the public. In fact, I am sure that all Unofficial Members are much pleased and encouraged by the recognition accorded to the work done by this Council when His Excellency the Governor opened the Budget Debate this year.
With the growth of Hong Kong and its emergence to the eminent position it holds today, there has also been the need for increased direct governmental action in providing many social services and also in stimulating and regulating many forms of human activity. There can be no escape from the need and the responsibility to protect the weak and underprivileged in a society such as ours, exposed as we are to local, regional and global pressures affecting the well-being of the community. It is suggested, in consequence of the more important role Government is called upon to play in Hong Kong, that the Council's scope be widened so as to include at least some of the other responsibilities which normally pertain to the level of public administration which this Council is intended to occupy.
Also, for the proper exercise of the functions assigned to it, the Council's views on certain matters, akin to its many responsibilities, ought to be made known effectively by the Council's own representatives on some of the boards and committees set up by Government. I have no reason to doubt that the Council's actual participation in their work will be of advantage to the progress of Hong Kong. In practice, any nomination made by the Council is still subject to appointment by His Excellency the Governor according to the prerogative of his high office.
Staff Recruitment and Training
Mr. Chairman, I end on a matter which I deem of importance to the future of the Council's work: the recruitment and training of specialist staff well in advance of actual requirements.
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