Page 153 of 242
286
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
can agree with absolutely. This was especially apparent the other day when discussing the Aims and Objects of Resettlement Policy, a subject which I shall come to in just a few minutes. But second reason for my mixed feelings, and perhaps the most important one, is the disappointment I feel at the terms of the White Paper on the Urban Council. I am surprised and horrified that the Government having taken six years, from the time the Governor first mentioned reforming the Urban Council, issues this White Paper, the contents of which, apart from high-sounding but meaningless remarks at the beginning of the White Paper, the actual recommendations, one would have thought could have been arrived at in six months, not six years. The future of housing which is so dear to my heart and I think to the Urban Council's heart as a whole, is entirely left in the air, even though, I say, without the Urban Council, there would not be any public housing, neither the Housing Authority nor Resettlement. Indeed the only really basic alteration that the White Paper does propose is a partial, but too carefully supervised, own financing. This is an improvement, make no doubt about that, but it is the only one. And again why only 5% of the 17% Rates tax are given to us. Our own secretary, a Government servant of many years' enlightened service, worked out, for our own Urban Council report, that we are entitled to over 50% of the rates, i.e., nearly 9% of the total 17%. Perhaps this figure of 5% is just enough for this year, but if the Government wants to raise the rates I warn them, do not rely on the Urban Council to do the dirty work for you. We shall not propose a raise in the rates. We shall propose giving us a greater proportion of the present rates, for instance, if another salary-commission raises the level of Government salaries.
Some of my colleagues have come out with a suggestion that we keep the Official Members. But in my opinion, and in the opinion of the Reform Club, that is not an essential issue at this stage. If we are provided with the money, and we are given the power to control, for instance, cleansing or resettlement management, whether the Director of Urban Services Department or the Commissioner for Resettlement, actually sit on the Council is, with all due respects to them, of secondary importance. Presumably, we shall still have power to co-opt them, even as voting Members, of the relevant Select Committees where the real work of the Council is done. In my opinion, those colleagues who advocate this official issue are misguidedly barking up the wrong tree when there are so much more important parts to criticize in the White Paper. In fact, I think that it is a good idea to get away from officials and see what a citizen's council can do, even if it be at present and to a certain extent, an appointed one.
I do not even criticize the fact that the Government has not granted the Urban Council more extensive jurisdiction for the present. Although I do say that if the Government is not prepared to have Elected Members on the Legislative Council, then it must ensure that at the local Government level, the citizens of Hong Kong do feel that their day-to-day life is being handled by their own council.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
287
What I do criticize, at this stage, is that despite the Appointed Members' joining in the proposal that there should be an elected majority of two to one, i.e., twenty elected to ten appointed, despite the fact that in earlier Government announcements an Urban Council with an elected majority was envisaged, yet now the Government, in its misguided wisdom, has chosen to increase the appointed representatives as well as the elected, leaving the Council fifty-fifty as before. Therefore, even making the appointment of the Chairman very difficult because he would have the casting vote. With this composition, I think that the Urban Council will be very lucky if it does not have a "compromise" Chairman whereas, for the first few years, in my opinion, the Chairman has to be a strong-will man to put the new Urban Council anything like on its feet. That is my first main criticism, is the Reform Club's first main criticism, that the White Paper does not ensure an elected majority, so that candidates can go to the polls saying, if you vote such and such a way, we will be able to put our platform into force. Only in this way will the citizens have the true impression that the Urban Council is indeed their own Council.
The other big criticism of this White Paper is that it does not enlarge the franchise, not even with the proposal to appoint a fresh committee to consider it. The present franchise, by categories, is outdated, and very few of the people whose lives are directly affected qualify to vote. Although nowadays, the majority of them have been born in Hong Kong. To make Urban Council a real citizen's Council, it is essential to make the franchise extremely wide. After all, it is a subordinate council. It does not have legislative powers. It cannot possibly concern those whose interest lies in international politics, but it is essential that the citizens of Hong Kong be given a sense of belonging, which is what the preface to the White Paper says is its object, and how can they be given a sense of belonging unless they are given the vote, it is as simple as that.
I would now turn my attention to the Resettlement Problems, which the Urban Council has powers to manage, similar in a way to that of the Urban Services Department. It is said by the Commissioner for Resettlement himself that the morale amongst the rank and file of his department is low because, I gather from him, they are too frequently being criticized by Urban Councillors. I must say I have not observed this reason when dealing with officers of this department, particularly at the Chai Wan, which is in my Ward. They are very co-operative; indeed, without their assistance, I would be unable to serve the tenants of Chai Wan in the way I do at present. On the other hand, I can well imagine that they are worried and distressed by their conditions of service, which are not good, and we on our side are distressed by the fact that far too much responsibility is given to far too young a man. The majority of young men in resettlement are very
Page 154 of 242