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other members. If I caused any misunderstanding I am really sorry. (Laughter).
DR. P. F. Woo:-Mr. Chairman, to-day I am going to transgress beyond my medical profession and make a few comments on the way in which laws are passed and to be observed in Hong Kong. We often hear the saying "Ignorance is no excuse in law". This certainly applies to the United Kingdom where every publicity is given to a Bill before it is passed, for it has first to be debated in the House of Commons and then the House of Lords, after which it is referred back to the Parliament and finally placed before the Queen for her sanction. In Hong Kong, however, laws are passed in the Legislative Council in a matter of minutes, with a short prior notice between a 1st and 2nd reading; yet four million people are expected to observe them on the very day they are enforced. Take for instance the traffic laws. For twenty years, I have been driving by the same route to my hospital, but one day recently I found the road suddenly closed, and on the same day I saw a driver prosecuted for entering the road. A car-owner in Hong Kong nowadays must certainly budget not only for the licensing and insurance of his car but also for fines for unintentional breach of traffic laws! In this connexion, I may say it puzzles me why the traffic police should always be so prompt in prosecuting the motorists for even very minor offences and yet be so slow in responding to calls about traffic accidents even though they may involve lives. I am shocked to find it sometimes it takes over an hour before the traffic police arrives at the scene of an accident with an ambulance.
To return to the Urban Council, the "omnibus volume of Laws affecting the Urban Council" governs 59 sections, the majority of which deal with licensing. How many of the licensees do have up-to-date knowledge of the laws affecting them? To ensure that these licensees, especially those for eating establishments, know what they are doing, I suggest that they should be taught all the bye-laws just as we in the medical profession have to study for examinations on the courses of our study and observe the rules for medical etiquette. Every applicant for a licence for any eating establishment should first attend the course on hygiene and be given a copy of the regulations, and before a licence is issued to him he must be prepared to answer in detail any question on the regulations that may be put to him by the officer-in-charge. (Laughter).
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constantly receives appeals in the form of letters or opera tickets etc. for funds. No one would object to any act of charity, but the public is entitled to know what proportion of the funds raised actually goes to the poor. For the past few years, for instance, the same organizations have been using the various Urban Council pleasure grounds repeatedly for Chinese operas to raise funds, yet it is not clear for what special project this yearly campaign is held. It is about time that Government should designate the Social Welfare Department to control all the fund-raising projects and demand that statements of account must be submitted showing income and expenditure and how much of the proceeds goes to the project itself. In making this comment, I am not ignoring the good work the local charitable organizations are doing, nor am I trying to criticize any particular organization, but I do know of many members of the public including myself who have been swindled on many occasions. (Laughter). While we are on this subject, I would further like to make a suggestion to the many foreign agencies who have in the past been building free schools, libraries, and hospitals in Hong Kong, We are grateful to these agencies for their generosity, but I think they will be of greater service to the poor if they pool their resources together and each takes responsibility for one special section of aid. As it is at present, there is a good deal of duplication, and some people can live entirely on charity by going from one agency to another. If there is a central office, it can direct any family that requires assistance to the particular agency that can be of the greatest benefit to it.
I now turn to an important subject which directly affects the Council. I am sorry to say there is a general discontent among the inspectorate of the Urban Services Department because of the inequitable salary scale and the unsatisfactory conditions of service, but unfortunately you, Mr. Chairman, as Director of the Department, have not made any attempt to remedy the situation. (Laughter). You may feel that because there is no cholera epidemic this year, the inspectorate has done its duty well and the inspectors are happy in their work. The truth is, however, there is not only a general discontent but also a widespread depression of morale among the Health Inspectors from top to bottom. There have been many resignations and many have applied for transfer, but I must say we cannot blame them. Your Inspectors are treated differently from those of the Police Department, Fire Department, Immigration Department, and Revenue Department. To take a simple example, a Police Inspector under training, who requires a School Leaving Certificate for entry qualification, receives a salary of $930 a month, while a Health Inspector under training, who requires a School Leaving Certificate with a credit in English for entry, receives only $370. Another example is the rate of promotion. In the Urban Services Department, out of 300 Health Inspectors only 45 can be promoted to Senior Health Inspectors and 6 to Assistant Superintendents, whereas in the Police Force out of 850 members in the inspectorate 213 can become
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