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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
This Report is a revised edition of the Ad Hoc Committee's Report on the Future Scope and Operation of the Urban Council which was adopted by the Urban Council in October 1966.
Since October 1966, there has been a procession of British officials and Members of Parliament who came to Hong Kong, listened to the demands for local government reform, and went back home and were unable to do anything about it.
Locally, there does not seem to be any visible indication on the part of the Central Government to step up the pace for local government reform. Among our colonial rulers, the view is often expressed that Hong Kong people should be content with a benevolent colonial dictatorship until such time as the New Territories Lease expires.
This is quite understandably not the view of the 4 million people of Hong Kong, half of whose population are under 21, and even under 19 and who have no wish to become passive, second-class colonial subjects without political rights for another 26 years.
Our university students are becoming more politically conscious, and unless our colonial rulers have a change of heart and give up their passive resistance movement on local government reform, we will find that our university students will be putting more dramatic attention on current China affairs and much less on Hong Kong affairs.
The elected members of the Urban Council are most seriously con- cerned at this snail-like attitude on the part of Government towards local government reform. As elected members, we have to keep in touch with all sectors of public opinion. We know that with the exception of a very few who live in ivory towers of their own choosing, the people of Hong Kong are highly critical of the Government for its apparent lack of sincerity in pressing ahead with local government reform.
They put full responsibility upon the Government for the "com- munications gap" that exists on many major issues between the ivory- towered Colonial Secretariat and the general public, despite the efforts of the CDO's at closing the gap.
Glaring examples of the "communications gap” are . . .
CHAIRMAN:-Mr. CHEONG-LEEN, please speak to the motion.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:
"communications gap" are the recent Government's decision to force increased water rates down the throats of the public; the refusal to take a stronger financial commitment on education by planning for 3 years universal secondary education by 1976 for only half of the requisite age group; the lack of an overall
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youth policy; the indecisiveness and inability to understand the local psychology on the Chinese language issue; and the deliberate "go slow" pace of local government reform.
In the March 1969 Urban Council Report on the Reform of Local Government, a three-phased programme was put forward for enlarging the scope of the Urban Council. It was proposed that Phase I should be implemented during the years 1969-71; today nothing has so far been implemented with only one minor exception, and that is Para- graph 13, which is the most minor recommendation concerning assist- ance to Unofficial Urban Councillors to cover secretarial, stationery and transport expenses, which has been accepted by Government and is in operation.
This motion proposes that the Urban Council through its Standing Committee of the Whole and other Select Committees should examine in practical detail in what manner the various functions stipulated in Phase I of the Report can be implemented.
For example, the March 1969 Report recommended that all forms of public housing should be combined under one Public Housing Depart- ment controlled by the Urban Council. This recommendation can be implemented I believe within the next 3 to 5 years, but it is necessary that a phased programme of implementation be considered at this time.
Regarding the recommendations in the March 1969 Report that the Urban Council have two representatives on the Board of Education, the Transport Advisory Committee, the Medical Development Plan Stand- ing Committee and the Medical Advisory Board, and the Town Plan- ning Board, I see no reason why the Government should wait until the arrival of the new Governor. These are no earth-shattering reform proposals in fact, they are so mild that it seems incomprehensible why Government has still done nothing about it.
Concerning the proposal to increase the number of elected members by another 10, to make a total of 20 Elected Members, this may or may not have to wait until the arrival of the new Governor.
Insofar as the Urban Council being given a portion of the rates for its own finance, and having the Urban Council Ordinance amended to permit the use of either English or Chinese in Council meetings, I hope that it will be possible for Government to announce where it stands in the matter before the term of office of the present Governor expires.
On the subject of automatic registration, I would like to see Government take the necessary steps to automatically include in the 1973 Urban Council Electoral Roll as many as possible of those resi- dents in the 23 categories who are qualified to vote.
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