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English and Chinese, leaves much to be desired, and whose sense of initiative and responsibility has likewise suffered inhibition during the process of development. Official recognition and encouragement will go a long way to upgrade the standard of Chinese in our schools so that we will in due course be able to wipe out the ridicule of "Hong Kong Chinese (Language)", ascribed to many official and business translations, and achieve higher productivity in industry and commerce and in the promotion of co-operation and harmony between government and people through the use of the most effective medium, the Chinese language.
Sir, with these remarks, I second the Motion before the Council. (Applause).
CHAIRMAN:-Ladies and gentlemen, the next speaker should be Mr. Woo Po-shing who, regrettably, is in hospital. I am sure that Members will join with me in wishing him a speedy recovery. With Members' permission, I will call on Mr. Henry Hu, who has kindly agreed to deliver Mr. Woo's speech for him.
Mr. HENRY H. L. Hu:-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This speech will not be as long as mine. Sir, with your permission, and with the permission of this Council, I have the pleasure of reading out my Colleague, Mr. P. S. Woo's speech, who is now unfortunately in hospital. The following is Mr. Woo's speech. To quote:
Mr. Chairman, in the past three and a half years I have at least had an insight into this Council although I cannot claim to have contributed much to it. I do not feel, however, apologetic for the latter because it is not the lack of a desire on my part to serve but rather, if I may say so, the inherent weaknesses of this Council which have made impossible an active participation in the deliberation of select committees.
We have imported the idea of representative government into this Council without creating at the same time the machinery required for an effective operation. We have in this Council a tripartite: the Government, the appointed, and the elected occupying a unique position unknown to a democratic system or a totalitarian state. If we can compare the government representatives with those of a ruling party, the elected must be considered to be those in opposition. Who then are the appointed and where does their loyalty lie? Again, although the elected are subject to the approval of the electors, the sanction is not one which can be effectively enforced. An elected councillor can criticize the ruling party without being responsible for what he says; he will not be in the shoes of the ruling party and be asked by the electors to implement what he or his party advocated while in opposition. The government, for the same reason, can choose to listen to or ignore as it pleases the criticism of those in opposition. As for the appointed, their position is not enviable either; they are made councillors at the pleasure of the Governors and are in the eyes of the public connected with the Government.
Added to this unsatisfactory organization of the Council is the lack of co-ordination among select committees, between government departments and select committees, and among government departments themselves.
There are altogether 17 select committees each headed by an Unofficial Councillor. Some of the committees have been headed by the same person for many years whilst others are chaired by persons with a relatively short length of service on the Council. Many of the decisions taken by a select committee can be more effectively carried out in conjunction with other select committees and yet there are few occasions on which ideas and information between committees are exchanged. It seems to me that the lack of co-ordination is due to the excessive caution taken by most select committees not to act outside their restricted terms of reference on the one hand and the anxiety of some select committees to avoid their achievements being shared by other committees on the other. Needless to say, this is not a healthy phenomenon and there appears to be a case for the set up of select committees to be examined to provide more consultation and a less water-tight operation.
The lack of co-ordination between government departments and select committees is another obstacle to the work of the Council. In this connection, I would submit that the fault lies with both sides. There are both Officials and Unofficials sitting on select committees, but they are often seen to be at variance in approach as if they were talking in different languages. There is a gap between the Officials and the Unofficials and I believe that the lack of understanding between both sides is largely attributable to the lack of communication and possibly a mutual distrust particularly between the Officials and some of the elected councillors. I do not believe that Unofficial Councillors must always act in opposition; on the contrary, I am of the opinion that a great deal could be achieved if both sides would work as partnership and place greater confidence in each other.
Lastly, I must pass a few remarks on the working relationship among government departments themselves. One would tend to think that what this Council suffers does not exist among government departments. Unfortunately, it is not true. The lack of co-ordination among government departments has hampered the decision of this Council and has led to the bad management in the resettlement estates, the deterioration of conditions in the newly developed townships through the absence of effective control over the use of land and other facilities