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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Mr. Chairman, I support this motion.
DR. A. M. S. BELL: ---Over a decade ago, I remember Dr. LEE first mentioning a ward system for Hong Kong and Kowloon and, of course, the idea, which is common practice elsewhere in the world, was much too modern and novel for anyone to pay any attention to, especially when a system of government so opposed to any advancement and change and so determined to remain in the nineteenth century, was and is in existence. The status quo has to be maintained! But the increase in population, buildings and factories and the density of traffic and the size of the city area and the suburban area has not and never will remain static. Dr. LEE has repeatedly banged his very sound and solid head against the traditional brick wall (Laughter) until to-day when an aperture seems to appear and everyone is, or should be, hopeful that at last there will be success and that Hong Kong and Kowloon will be sub-divided into districts which can be represented by an Urban Councillor. This Urban Councillor can visit his or her district regularly and interview those citizens in his or her area who have complaints or suggestions or difficulties relating to the citizens' life in that area. Licensed premises, markets, hawkers, street cleansing can be checked upon and so on. Irregularities can be reported and the Urban Councillor can become the champion of his or her district and of the Urban Services in that district. Each one of us would require to give up even more of his or her time to these duties, but then if in the first place one has accepted office in this Council either by appointment or by election, surely we have all been prepared to carry out fully our duty (however time consuming) to the community to whom we are responsible, no matter what the personal sacrifice, until perhaps such time as there may eventually be advancement to paid Urban Councillors.
If the ward system is adopted, may I quote as just two examples to the easing of work which is done at present. First, the delegated member's work for the Food and Food Premises Select Committee where a delegated member may require at present to career all over Kowloon or Hong Kong, as the case may be, to visit various premises which are to be licensed or which have been accused of infringement of decision. licence conditions or regulations, before being able to make May I point out how much easier this work would be if the delegated member were able to contact the ward or area Councillor, ask him or her to report on the place in question and make a decision according to the report. Secondly, at present many citizens with problems contact at one time several Urban Councillors and it is not uncommon to take up a problem only to find that it is already in the process of being dealt with by a fellow Councillor. Much valuable departmental time and paper is wasted in duplicating replies on the same problem. There are countless other advantages which could be listed.
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Mr. Chairman, I support this motion of Dr. LEE's which will, when adopted, undoubtedly result in the improvement of our city for our citizens. I support the motion with all my head and my heart. (Laughter) (Applause).
MR. SOLOMON RAFEEK:-Mr. Chairman, in rising to give my full support with great pleasure to the motion proposed by my colleague Dr. LEE, I would like to say a few words thereon.
One of the phenomena that most impresses visitors from overseas to modern Hong Kong is how facilities of different types have been expanded from, very often, quite small entities to very large ones. Co-operative Marketing Organization is a case in point; the Urban Services, the Fire Services, the Police, are some others. An anomaly among all this expansion is our Urban Council.
But in the days when Austin Road was the limit of densely inhabited Kowloon and the total population of the Colony did not exceed three-quarters of a million, there was no reason to complain of the adequacy of the Council to cater for the needs of the citizens. But now it is nothing short of ridiculous to expect any Councillor (be he an appointed Councillor, Government official or an elected Councillor) to keep himself abreast of all or many of the problems confronting a particular area in the Colony. No matter how zealous he may be, it is a physical impossibility for him to do so.
Yet the people have a right to expect that the Councillors, one and all, but particularly the elected ones, will keep themselves informed and plead the people's cause in the Council Chamber. Major issues that affect the Colony as a whole will always have a place on the agenda of this Council's meetings, but the particular function of this Council is to attend to issues which may affect but an area in particular, and the solution of these problems will be speedily achieved by drawing on the combined experience of my respected fellow Councillors.
Since this is a British Colony, the precedent for many activities within both business and Government is found in the mother country. For some, to me, inexplicable reason, as our Colony's population has expanded and with it our commitments, we have not chosen to stream-line our local administration. Nowhere is this more evident than in this Council Chamber. It is only recently that the burden has been spread more evenly by increasing the numbers. From almost time immemorial, there is a precedent in local administrative organization in Britain, namely, the ward system, which I suggest we might, with considerable benefit to both Government and the citizens, adopt here. Even village councils use the ward system in their organization in Britain. How much more so is there need in a city state of upwards of 4 million inhabitants. Our present postal and Kaifong districts provide
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