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that facilities are given to those who do not know English well to express themselves when necessary in their native tongue, which after all is spoken by 98% of the population. Nothing like enough has been done on this matter despite repeated promptings by Councillors over the last few years.
Let us hope that positive prompt steps will be taken this year.
Perhaps no single point emerged with more shattering clarity from the recent disturbances than the realization that huge numbers of otherwise law-abiding citizens in the youth age-bracket took part in incidents purely and simply because it helped to relieve the monotony of their lives. No more telling indictment of the appalling neglect of provision of adequate recreational facilities in favour of revenue-producing enterprises, could be found than the story of many of the incidents in the low-cost housing areas.
The Chinese race is not by nature an idle or lazy people and our Chinese youth in Hong Kong are as anxious for learning as any to be found elsewhere. The high degree of utilization of what little recreational facilities we have clearly indicates that our youth are anxious for and will use such facilities. Those who wish to change our way of life here are quite calmly and deliberately trying to win over our youth. Inevitably many of our youth will not have facilities for education beyond primary standard. But these and those more fortunate ones will use Library facilities if these are provided at a reasonable cost and in reasonably convenient locations. The high degree of utilization of what library facilities must assure us that money spent on increased library facilities will be money well spent. The greatest need for these library facilities is in the low-cost housing areas, where the density of population strains recreational facilities to their limit. There exists in Hong Kong, I respectfully submit, sufficient responsible organizations, such as the Kaifongs, to do the day-to-day running of such library facilities. All that is needed is for Government to appreciate the importance of providing large numbers of well-chosen books in the Chinese language and sufficient finance for the scheme to be operated on a non-profit basis. Any money invested in such a scheme will pay rich dividends in the years to come in a law-abiding and informed citizenry. Let us not dally in providing these life-saving facilities.
May I conclude, Mr. Chairman, by making an impassioned plea for greater support from Government for our Auxiliary Services. They have been treated as the Cinderella of all the groups engaged in dealing with the recent disturbances. So little has been said about these ordinary citizens, who after their ordinary day's work have donned the uniform of whatever branch of the Auxiliary Services they belong to—Police, Fire Services, Civil Aid Services or the Auxiliary Medical Services—and gone on duty without fuss or fanfare and this day in and day out for months. These people deserve better treatment than they have hitherto received. If we take away the work of these ordinary citizens in the Auxiliary Services in the last six months, I seriously doubt if we would have been able to show to the world a Hong Kong, where law and order prevails as it does to-day despite all the troubles we have been subjected to. Government needs to drastically revise its approach to these services. These services need to be expanded and to be financed more generously. No better investment in our future security could be made; for the larger the number of our young people engaged in this type of work, the less material for delinquency and trouble-making. Even the school-children in the School Safety Patrols, whose success in producing an appreciation of road safety, courtesy and good sense among our children and adult population have carried on loyally through the difficult troubled period. They, too, deserve better treatment, and I hope therefore that we will have as soon as possible a traffic safety park, in which there will be incorporated the renting of bicycles to young children to teach them good road sense and courtesy, and also suggested by my colleague, Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN, yesterday. Such schemes cost money but they are necessary schemes and money must be found to fulfil them. We must face facts and plan, not just for to-morrow or next week, but for the Hong Kong of 1980.
Before I close may I quote from a famous Chinese poem:
悟以往之不諫,知來者之可追
實迷途其未遠,覺今是昨非
"But I will waste no grief upon the past,
I will devote my energies to the future.
I have not wandered far astray
I feel that I am on the right track once again."
With these remarks, Mr. Chairman, I support the motion. (Applause).
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo:- Mr. Chairman, since I am a member of the Resettlement Management as well as the Resettlement Policy Select Committees I feel it will be appropriate for me to start with the topic of Resettlement. Here we have recently passed a very important milestone, namely, the resettlement of one million persons. The magnitude of this achievement has been emphasized many times. I do not now propose to say any more about this.
Instead, I wish to direct our attention to the quality rather than the quantity of resettlement housing. I feel this is an appropriate time to do this. Although there are still several hundred thousand persons requiring resettlement, nevertheless, there is not the same urgent need to provide resettlement housing as there was in 1954, when the resettlement programme started.
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