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Cheng Uk, Kwun Tong, Kennedy Town and Morrison Hill, the Indoor Stadium and the Aberdeen Sports Ground.
MR. HU:- Mr. Chairman, I must congratulate the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department on the good work they have done for the young people. But for the poor of Hong Kong the work is far from being sufficient. Mr. Chairman, I have read the second paragraph of Mr. SALES' answer. There are, in fact, several Government Departments which are actively concerned with the recreation of young people in Hong Kong, mainly the Education Department, the Social Welfare Department, the New Territories Administration, the Secretariat for Home Affairs and the Urban Services Department. In view of the future development of this Council, Mr. Chairman, would you think that we should set up a Youth Liaison Select Committee to liaise with the various Departments for the benefit of our young people?
CHAIRMAN:- Co-ordination in this matter, Mr. Hu, is done through the Social Services Branch in the Secretariat.
MR. HU:- I would ask you, Mr. Chairman, to consider my suggestion for the benefit of young people, because I think the Colonial Secretariat is not the proper organ to co-ordinate the various matters concerning youth. In my view the Church people, the educationalists and other private persons should also be joined to that body to co-ordinate youth recreation. An entirely official organ as the Colonial Secretariat is probably not the proper organ to deal with this matter.
MR. BERNACCHI:- And in addition, Mr. Chairman, and as a supplementary, why can it not be done by this Council?
CHAIRMAN:- That one is out of order, Mr. BERNACCHI, but I will look at Mr. Hu's suggestion.
MR. HU:- I still want to ask one more supplementary with your permission, Mr. Chairman. Of course, the setting up of a youth department at the moment was rejected by the Government, but the door, I consider, is still open. Could the Chairman of the Recreation & Amenities Select Committee of our Council take the job of considering whether it is advisable to make certain recommendations to the Government with regard to this particular question?
MR. SALES:- Mr. Chairman, do you wish me to answer that question? Mr. Chairman, my Select Committee is always pleased to consider any suggestions at all, and certainly if this matter is to be raised at the Select Committee, we will take it up from there.
MR. HU:- Could Mr. SALES give the assurance that with his initiative this matter be brought to the Select Committee to discuss?
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MR. SALES:- Mr. Chairman, it will be on the agenda of an appropriate Select Committee meeting.
MOTION.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI moved the following motion:
"The Council appreciates the need for hawkers of fresh fish in Hong Kong and remits this matter to the Hawker Policy Select Committee for it to work out the practical details."
He said: Mr. Chairman, I rise to move the following Motion:
"The Council appreciates the need for hawkers of fresh fish in Hong Kong and remits this matter to the Hawker Policy Select Committee for it to work out the practical details".
This Motion provides me with almost a feeling of sentimentality, because it was the first Motion that I ever moved in this Council in about June 1952. In those days I did not even have a seconder for the Motion. Whether the Motion is or is not passed today at least I think I have overcome that initial difficulty and the Motion is therefore likely to be hotly debated.
I know that the Health Staff are justly concerned about the health of our big city, if hawkers are allowed to sell stale fish in Hong Kong. On the other hand, the reality of the situation must be appreciated. Hawkers do in fact sell fresh fish by their thousands and at present we have no control over them because they are selling without a licence, full stop, and that is exemplified by one of my questions this afternoon on the selling of unlicensed cooked food. In Singapore, where a very similar problem arises, hawkers I believe are in fact licensed to sell fresh fish and in my submission with adequate safeguards, particularly against the cutting up of fresh fish and selling it in slices, or even selling it a second day, fish can be hawked without danger to health. Special buckets can be obtained and are now used by the illegal hawkers to contain ice, and fish bought from these illegal hawkers is considerably fresher than can sometimes be obtained from licensed fresh provision shops!
Admittedly, if we have the power to erect 100 markets in the next 6 months then there would be no need for this Motion. But we have not the finance and even if we have the finance, there are other difficulties in the way of erecting so large a number of markets. Hong Kong needs a lot of mini markets and until we obtain them the answer is to license hawkers to sell fresh fish in hawker bazaars properly controlled by our Health Staff. It is no use burying your head in the
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