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in the future. I trust that the Council will, after assuming its new role on the 1st April, 1973, not hesitate to call on the Secretary for Home Affairs just because he will no longer be a member.
Sir, I support the motion. (Applause).
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL (In English):---Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel that, as a precaution, I must preface my contribution to this debate this afternoon, in much the same way as Mr. MACKENZIE introduced his speech, by saying that I too shall speak in that brand of English spoken in the northern part of the British Isles and that it is my best English. I would like to add something, however, which Mr. MACKENZIE modestly omitted and that is that that is where the best English is spoken. (Laughter). And, at least, Mrs. ELLIOTT had the grace not to say that we were an "English" colony! (Laughter).
With regard to Mrs. ELLIOTT's other fantasies about me and democracy, and muzzling of Members in this debate, I only wish to say that they make me want to stay on a few more years in the hope, however faint, that one day we might get through our conventional debate without such a quota of total inaccuracies. (Laughter). But perhaps this would be expecting too much!
As to be expected, there is little left to say on constitutional matters. On the question of an unofficial Chairman to take my place, the important thing for me at the moment is to know definitely not who the next Chairman is to be, but that a decision has been taken that he will be an Unofficial Member. A decision on who he will be, is not so pressing.
Miss YEUNG has enquired what has happened to the recommendations that the Urban Council should run its own schools and should be represented on the Education Board, I can only refer her to the proposals of the White Paper which excludes both these recommendations.
Mr. SALES' proposals on future select committees will need to be gone into in depth.
Mr. C. K. CHAN refers to all night barber saloons and music balls. I suppose he wishes me to refer his remarks to the Commissioner of Police, and this will be done. In any case, I would like to make it clear that when next year the Council assumes the licensing responsibility for barber shops, etc., its concern will be for hygiene-not morals. (Laughter).
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I would be the first to agree with Mr. MACKENZIE on the unsatisfactory seating in this Chamber. He might like to know that some time ago we gave some thought to this problem, but, unfortunately, the height of the ceiling does not allow for the ideal horseshoe tier common to councils. Other arrangements considered were ruled out because of their classroom effect. However, with regard to who sits where I feel that this is a matter which I can safely leave in the hands of the new entirely unofficial Council.
Mr. SALES enquired about progress in the matter of the Kowloon Civic Centre and Mr. Kenneth Lo about the new building in Kowloon to house the City Museum and Art Gallery. Members of the Council will recall that an investigation item was included in Category B of the Public Works Programme in 1971, so that an order of capital cost could be established and the Director of Public Works could take into account the possibility of siting the Civic Centre on an extension to the podium deck above the Hung Hom Railway Station currently under construction.
The investigation on this project has now been completed in some detail, and a paper is being prepared with a view to putting up recommendations to the Public Works Sub-Committee for its First Review in 1973. I do not wish to anticipate the findings of this Review, but I think I can inform Members that the results of the investigations do not, for a variety of structural, architectural, acoustic and financial reasons, point towards siting a civic centre on a podium at the new Railway Station. An alternative has, however, begun to emerge more clearly as a realistic possibility worth pursuing; that is, to build a complex of buildings to include an auditorium and the new Museum and Art Gallery more or less in the area of the existing Kowloon Canton Railway Terminus at Tsim Sha Tsui after railway operations have been moved to Hung Hom. This would mean the development and expansion of the present Item 56U(G) New Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui now in Category C of the Public Works Programme. I shall ask that this new possibility be explored further.
On the questions, also raised by Mr. SALES, about district sports stadia, a sports training centre in Kowloon, multi-purpose games halls, more sophisticated sports facilities, venues for international competition, more educational and entertainment programmes at district level, etc., etc., it may be that when the Council gets its new financial arrangements, a complete review should be undertaken of its priorities so that district needs may be met more quickly and more adequately. In addition, it is to be hoped that, in the meantime, the regionalization of the department early next year will enable a more realistic assessment to be made of the need and direction that district activities should take; because we shall be in the districts and not operating alone: and we
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