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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
On Social Welfare, the recently established Public Assistance Scheme is indeed a great help to the poor people. The Government's White Paper on Social Welfare Policy suggested more recreational facilities for the young people, more social centres, the community more care for the aged, and the minimization of violent crime involving young people. All these are really necessary. The Government should open more hostels for the aged people. And they should be set up in Government-operated housing estates.
It is praiseworthy that the Financial Secretary who recently applied for four million dollars from the Government Lottery Fund for the 13 social welfare agencies to cover their expenses on various social welfare activities.
Hong Kong is urgently in need of an extensive social welfare policy, not only the Public Assistance Scheme, but also other facilities with detailed planning. Because of the significant difference in the fluctuation of Hong Kong's economy, social welfare schemes should be given a wider margin so as to achieve the expected results.
I think the overall social welfare problems should be discussed between the Social Welfare Department and the Council of Social Services. By doing this, the Government's social welfare policy can only be carried out with good result and Sir Murray's expectation of a better life for the Hong Kong people will not then be disappointed.
On Crime involving young people, the reasons for the increase of this sort of crime are numerous which include: failure in school, drop out from school, temptations of undesirable setups, lack of civic education in school, screen and TV violence and exaggeration of pornography. Since the Government is now paying close attention to the crime trend, tougher rules and regulations should be drafted to tighten controls on girlie bars, dancehalls, apartment houses, and martial art schools.
Hong Kong's law and order have been constantly threatened by violent crimes committed by young people such as grab-neck robbery, armed holdup, staircase snatching and murders.
The robbery victims usually would get hurt in Hong Kong that is different from other places in the world where the robbers hold up people only for monetary and valuable gains.
This degeneration of human nature is apparently closely related to the lack of adequate civic education, social and moral training in schools.
From the educational point of view, I suggest the Education Department stipulates that civic education should be compulsory in
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school curriculum. The City District Officers, Police and Information Secretary should launch in Hong Kong in conjunction with other social a full-scale anti-crime campaign to educate the public
organizations
and the young people on crime prevention and crime fighting.
This formation of Government and public agencies should also work out an overall project to upkeep law and peace in Hong Kong, to return the sense of security to the people, and to bring the soaring crime rate under control.
The law courts are urged to mete out deterrent punishments on offenders of violent crimes. On the other hand, schools mass communication media and cinemas should carry out constant educational publicity drives against crime with emphasis on the importance of law
and order.
This can be considered as one of the short-term but effective ways to fight the surging crime wave.
It is my humble wish that my suggestions be considered seriously by the Government departments concerned. Mr. Chairman, with the above remarks I am glad to support the motion. (Applause).
MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN (In English): ---Mr. Chairman, for many years our residents have to tolerate the unsatisfactory conditions created by uncontrolled hawking. Streets congested with hawkers have made vehicular traffic impassable and pedestrians find it almost impossible to walk on pavements and at times the street, without mentioning the insanitary and unhygienic conditions, the fire and health hazards created by hawkers. Many residents have to endure for long hours the smell and fumes from cooked-food stalls and the noise and rubbish discarded on pavements and roads by hawkers. The whole situation is, to say the least, highly unsatisfactory, and I regret to say that there are at least 19 hawker black spots on the Island, and 47 in Kowloon. This is our "hawker problem".
Today, I will confine my speech to this problem and how, in my view, it can be solved.
At the moment, we have not ascertained the exact number of hawkers. Available information tells me that we have 39,680 licensed hawkers and about 11,000 unlicensed ones.
Many of our citizens have gone into hawking because, firstly, hawking requires little skill and capital; secondly, hawking provides a quick return of capital by reason of the fact that the peak hours of hawking are short, usually from 9 a.m. to noon, and during the remaining part of the day hawkers are often engaged in other jobs. The third reason for so many being engaged in hawking is the general desire to be one's own boss. There is also a second category of
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