Page 200 of 279
372
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Like a large number of residents and many members of my ward, I do not believe that any real effort is being made to improve this appalling situation, for otherwise we would most certainly have noticed an improvement rather than this deterioration. I sincerely hope that the responsible authorities will do everything in their power to bring an end to this state of affairs and in so doing, impress upon their staff that Immigration is a service and it is neither a privilege nor a favour to the traveller.
And now, what must be the greatest record of all; in Hong Kong, it costs more to die than it does to live. We hear a great deal of the cost of living rising, but what is not so well known is that the cost of dying is now prohibitive—what Oscar Wilde once said as a joke, "I am dying beyond my means", is the experience of a large number of people in Hong Kong. While there are provisions made for those who cannot meet the rising costs of living, there are very few means available to meet the unavoidable.
There are some 36 cemeteries in Hong Kong of which 5 are public and under control of the Government. Of these, 2 are on the Island, namely, The Colonial Cemetery in Happy Valley and the Prison cemetery at Stanley and the 3 remaining are situated in the New Territories, where graves have to be exhumed after 5 years. All other cemeteries are privately managed and under the general supervision of the Urban Services Department, where burial ground is of a more permanent nature.
Most of the privately run cemeteries have no fixed scale of charges. The procedure is usually by off-the-cuff estimates of how much the bereaved family can be charged—and that, much too often, is fixed at a rate far beyond what the family can afford. Ways and means must be devised for all cemetery charges to be fixed by Government.
Mr. Chairman, we are not here just to be seen and heard—on television and other media. We are here to have things done. The Statement and Aims for 1967 is not a figment of the imagination, it is, instead, a challenge to this Council. If we continue with our efforts to achieve our aims, we will be touching on the affairs of the man-in-the-street very effectively.
I would like in closing to extend to you Sir, to your Department and in particular to the Secretaries, Mr. TINSON, Mr. TIBBLES and Mr. Ross, my appreciation for the co-operation and assistance extended to me during the past year.
With these words, I beg to support the motion. (Applause).
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
373
MR. CHEUNG WING-IN—Mr. Chairman, with an ever increasing number of multi-storey buildings their proper management has become a problem so important for the well being of our community that today I propose to devote my speech wholly to it dealing with its legal, financial and human relationship aspects.
With a large number of people living together, often in conditions of gross overcrowding, it is natural that problems should arise. Such overcrowding conditions tend to encourage irresponsibility over the maintenance of the common property and of the hygienic condition of common facilities and areas for common use. But problems attending the multiple ownership of buildings are not confined to difficulties of every day management like keeping clean the common parts and passages, the maintenance, operation and repair of lifts and of the flushing system or the sharing of water bills. As years go by, more and more problems of greater magnitude will arise, such as replacement of lifts, more costly and substantial repairs to the buildings of reconstruction, the sharing of premium for Crown lease regrants and the like.
To tackle the immediate problems, the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs, has for the past two years been helping and encouraging the formation of residents associations to look after and manage their own properties. Nearly 400 of such associations have now been formed or are in the process of being formed. Such work of the S.C.A. must be particularly useful in cases where developers are no longer interested in the management of the properties they have sold, or where service companies no longer desire to carry on their work either on account of rising costs or on account of the increasing difficulty in collecting charges from the residents.
In Hong Kong where many are still not experienced or interested in the management of their own affairs there is the ready desire that Government should even undertake to manage and maintain privately owned multi-storey buildings. Such desire is attributed in part to the lack of confidence and experience in such matters. It would be extremely difficult if not impossible for Government to shoulder responsibilities which should obviously fall on the residents who live in or own these buildings. Besides, occasions often arise when the management has to deal with Government in matters concerning public health, fire precaution measures or the payment of premium for Crown lease regrants. It would be very undesirable for any Government agency to represent the interests of the residents in dealing with other Government departments.
Mr. Chairman, it is quite obvious, therefore, that owners and residents of multi-storey apartments should shoulder the burden of forming and running an effective organization to manage their own
Page 200
Page 201