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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. PETER P. F. CHAN:-I am glad that this is one of the times Dr. HUANG is not moving a motion about toilets.
The question was put.
The motion was carried with 22 votes for and 1 abstention,
(2) MR. B. A. BERNACCHI, CHAIRMAN OF THE FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES SELECT COMMITTEE, moved: -
"RESOLVED that standing orders 1 and 9(1) be amended to read: ----
*1. Language.
(1) The proceedings of the Council shall be conducted in accordance with this standing order.
(2) At a meeting of the Council to which the public are admitted-
(a) a member may address the Council in English or Cantonese; and
(b) any speech or remark made by a member taking part in the meeting shall-
(i) if in English, be interpreted into Cantonese; and
(ii) if in Cantonese, be interpreted into English.
(3) No meeting of the Council shall be invalidated because of any failure to interpret the whole or any part of the proceedings in accordance with paragraph (2)(b) of this standing order.
(4) At any meeting of the Council to which the public are not admitted, proceedings shall be conducted in English:
Provided that this paragraph shall not preclude the use of Cantonese where necessary at such a meeting.'
'9. Minutes.
The Secretary shall keep minutes and/or a record of proceedings of the Council, of the Standing Committee of the Whole Council and select committees in English, and shall, as soon as possible after each meeting, send to each member a copy of the draft minutes and/or record of proceedings, and where the public are admitted to such meetings, a translation of the proceedings in Chinese.'
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
211
He said:-
Mr. Chairman, it gives me great pleasure to move this resolution as it signifies the completion of one part of the Reform Club's work. In particular that both Mr. Henry Hu and myself have been pressing the Government for many years to make the use of English and Chinese possible in proceedings both of the Urban Council and of the Legislative Council.
That is not to say that I am content with the resolution that I am now moving. This resolution deals mainly with making English and Chinese speeches and questions possible at public meetings. It does not, at present, do away with the requirement in the Urban Council Ordinance that members must be able to speak English, which in fact means that many persons capable of contributing greatly to the work of the Council, are still excluded from membership. Also the meetings of the Council to which the public are not admitted are as before usually to be held in English, although there is a provision which has the effect of making permissible the use of Cantonese, where necessary at such meetings. But the Reform Club will not be satisfied until the English and Chinese languages have completely the same status and the men or women speaking only Chinese can "pull their weight" in the administration of Hong Kong's Government, as effectively as a man speaking English.
But nevertheless this is a very great headway from the previous position, and as I say, completes part of the work of the Reform Club that has been on our platform as an aim for many years. It has also been the subject of at least two Reform Club motions, and much experiment in the past with simultaneous translation system, in which we have led the Legislative Council for about ten years or more.
Therefore I now have pleasure in moving the resolution standing in my name that has the effect of introducing simultaneous translation from English to Chinese and from Chinese to English at all public meetings, and indeed, even at other meetings of the Council, not debarring the use of Cantonese.
I know that whilst the majority of persons in Hong Kong speak Cantonese as their mother tongue, Mandarin is the official language of China and I would like to throw out the suggestion that as members get used to the simultaneous translation system we might well consider the use of Mandarin as well.
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE: Mr. Chairman, I beg to second.
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