Page 121 of 206
220
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(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. (1) 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.'
CHAIRMAN:-Does any Member wish to speak?
MR. HENRY HU:-I think before the law is changed, i.e. to allow those persons who do not understand English to stand for Urban Council elections, the situation about the use of language in the Urban Council can never be satisfactory. The other point, Mr. Chairman, I would like to make is that although I wholly support that the local language here is Cantonese, we should emphasize the use of Cantonese in public meetings and also in the Select Committee meetings. Yet, "Kuo Yu" so called the common language which has been commonly used amongst Chinese should also not be neglected. The third point I would like to make is that local language, either local language or "Kuo Yu" should not only be permitted to be used in public meetings, it should also be permitted to be used in the Select Committee meetings.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
221
Otherwise, the success we have so far obtained may be of little practical value. Mr. Chairman, I repeat what I said in the Select Committee. I now repeat my views in public, Mr. Chairman. With these remarks I wholeheartedly support the motion.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to endorse what Mr. Hu has said. I think this motion doesn't go far enough and I will not be happy until we have Chinese or English spoken at all our meetings, because I would like to emphasize that there are many people on the Council now, and possibly coming on in the future, who are prohibited from taking full part in discussion in meetings because of language. Therefore, while I support the motion, I would emphasize that it doesn't go far enough.
MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I rise to support this motion which has been moved by the Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Select Committee on behalf of the whole Urban Council.
Today is indeed an important day in the history of the Urban Council.
For the first time, Councillors will be able to speak either in Chinese or in English at the regular monthly meetings or at the annual conventional debate.
To what extent this new procedure will stimulate more interest in Urban Council affairs remains to be seen. The Urban Council's scope is still very limited, so we should not expect too much.
For the time being, simultaneous interpretation will not be available during Select Committee meetings. This is in line with the recommendation of the Chinese Language Committee set up by Government.
However, in the not too distant future the Urban Council Ordinance could be amended to permit voters who do not know English to seek election as Councillors.
At that time, simultaneous interpretation should be provided, and all Committee minutes and papers made available to Councillors in both English and Chinese.
MR. A. de O. SALES: Mr. Chairman, I am sorry that the member who moved this motion is not here to listen to the remarks I have to make. The motion was listed as that of the Finance and General Purposes Select Committee and it was moved as such by the Chairman of that Select Committee. Yet, I see from the speech that was made on that occasion that the motion signified the completion
Page 121 of 206
220
...
221