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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Although we only have 24 unofficial councillors, and half of them are appointed and half of them are elected and the Chairman and the Vice Chairman are elected by members themselves. As regards constitutions, we have made a very major step. We understand also, no matter how we increase the number of unofficial members, or elected members, or our financial resources continue to increase, if the jurisdiction of Urban Council still remains limited it consistent with the needs of the society, I think the public at large will still be disappointed. Many Members of Parliament and officials from United Kingdom came to Hong Kong. They expressed views on Hong Kong matters but they are not interested in the elections in Hong Kong. They always said that there are only very few people participated in the Urban Council election, and they use it as a pretext not to assist. I think the jurisdiction of Urban Council is so limited, the public naturally will not be interested in registering themselves as voters.
At the present time, the most important and urgent matters to be settled to help members of the public is security, and how to stabilize commodity price, how to educate the young in order to channel them in the right lines, and how to improve the nature of Hong Kong, and how to stamp out corruption, how to save fuel, how to solve housing problems quickly. All these fall outside the jurisdiction of the Urban Council. Urban Councillors, no matter how hard they try and make proposals, are criticized because the result is minimal. Looking at it from another angle. The Housing problem. In the provision of public housing, many people have to wait 7 to 8 years, but still with little result. On the other hand, the Government has spent a lot of taxpayers' money to build luxury units costing over three or four hundred thousand dollars each for the expatriate staff, and they neglect the need to take care of the middle income class. This, I must say, is the prejudice of the planners and their negligence and the public as a whole don't understand the limited scope of the Urban Council's jurisdiction, and that we are incompetent to help them. However, we still carry the blame.
The Urban Council becomes a scape-goat. For example, Government recently provided a new estate at Ngok Yue Shan in Kwun Tong for the middle income civil servants, so as they will have to pay back the total cost in 20 years. This is a good proposal. However, the number of units is only 431, and there are about 7,000 applicants, and there was a tremendous shortage. I think the Hong Kong Government must review its policy and must carry the blame in the provision of housing for the lower income civil servants and the public at large, and the Government must provide a solution. The ideal is to seek the view of the people, and to provide a suitable answer, and it should not shirk its responsibilities. I, therefore, am of
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the opinion, that if the jurisdiction of Urban Council is not expanded and there is no elected representative on the Legislative Council, it is pointless to discuss democracy in Hong Kong.
Just recently, the so-called 99 new traffic regulations, I think are far too harsh and unjust, and the public generally resent these new measures, and this has led to Legislative Councillors seeking the deferment of the bill. Whose fault is this? This is evident that we have not thought carefully enough when this piece of legislation is drafted, and those who are responsible must consider the needs of the people, and they should not go about this carelessly. Surely, drawing up legislation and administrative measures must relate to revenue income of government, but the problem of society and the needs of people must be considered as well. Otherwise, the people would lose confidence in the Government. Of course, we cannot force the miniature Urban Council to expand into an effective organization. And we must go about it gradually, but not like in the past that we go about it so slowly because it will not satisfy the need of the public. During this period, we must endeavour and we must co-operate with the public, in order to achieve anything in this direction. I think the progress of society depends on it, and society will become stable. We will talk about this later. I support the motion of the Chairman. Thanks. (Applause.)
MR. F. K. HU (in English):—Mr. Chairman, with the rapid growth of leisure in the last few years there has been a tremendous expansion of recreational activities in every level of society. In earlier years, recreation was seen as largely aimed at meeting the needs of children and youth in programmes heavily geared to sports and playground activities during summer months. Today, recreation programmes must operate on a year-round basis, serving the varied needs of people of all ages and social classes. In a recent speech to the Legislative Council, H. E. the Governor emphasized the needs of facilities for recreation, leisure and sports. What is the meaning of the term "recreation" itself? Most people—including many professionals in this field—feel that they have a fairly good idea of what this is, but when they are pinned down and asked to define the word, the results are likely to be contradictory and confused. Traditionally, the term “recreation” was applied to those activities that provide relaxation after toil, thus helping the individual "recreate" himself. In most cases it was viewed as having no purposes beyond that of immediate enjoyment; indeed, the presence of other goals or purposes made the activity somewhat suspect as recreation. Recreation can be defined as activity voluntarily engaged in during leisure and primarily motivated by satisfaction or pleasure derived from it. However, recreation must also be socially acceptable, morally sound and
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