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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The Council will now come to order and proceed with the transaction of the business on today's agenda.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 15th July, 1975 were confirmed.
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-It is not so very long since the Council started its public entertainment programme. Indeed, it was in 1968-69; nearly $100,000 was spent in that year. For eight years before then there was a very small annual budget allocation. It was $30,000 at first, then increased to $33,000 five years later, and subsequently to $36,000. Intended for public band concerts, it was hardly if ever used.
However, it came to the Council's attention when we were asked whether we would agree to its deletion. Instead, it led the Council to put it to good use in earnest. The initiative was taken at once to stage events likely to interest young people during their summer holidays. This modest beginning took the form mostly of picnics and other outdoor activities, even open-air pop dances which attracted large attendances, but not without meeting some opposition. The incipient trend soon gathered momentum in response to public enthusiasm. And so, this new programme began to expand in scope, duration and location when more funds were quickly allocated for its development.
Even so, it only came into its own as a permanent public activity when the Council achieved direct control over its own finances two years ago. This innovation in public affairs was quick to find its mark in the new circumstances. In fact, in the year 1973-74, there were 898 events which cost $665,437 and are said to have attracted over 650,000 people. In 1974-75, 1,183 events were organized at a cost of just over $1.4M with a total attendance of more than 850,000 people. In 1975-76 there is a budget of $1.7M. Planning is going on for an even more ambitious outdoor programme in the years to come.
The Council's purpose is to provide entertainment and recreation for the people to take up their leisure time in their own neighbourhoods in the urban areas. Many such programmes are of cultural and educational value. They are also an excellent opportunity, which might not have occurred so frequently otherwise, for local groups and artists to show their talent and ability in activities designed for the enjoyment of the people.
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in the urban areas. Many such programmes are of cultural and educational value. They are also an excellent opportunity, which might not have occurred so frequently otherwise, for local groups and artists to show their talent and ability in activities designed for the enjoyment of the people.
This outdoor entertainment policy may have been an innovation for Hong Kong when it was conceived and put into effect. But, it has now become a way of life here in our densely populated districts, as it should be. And, it is accepted by us as part of public policy. Of course, it is capable of considerable improvement with the experience gained even in the comparatively short span of time since it started. For this purpose, much investigation is taking place while a thorough study of costs is also being carried out. Nevertheless, there are limits to what can be done in our circumstances; indeed, the heavy concentration of people and the lack of suitable venues with tolerable standards are among limitations not easy to get around. For this reason, a mobile stage is now part of the equipment and, where conditions warrant doing so, more open-air theatres will be built. The search for sites has been going on for some years but in vain so far, what with noise from the airport in our midst and the heavy traffic everywhere.
With the passing of time, there will be a more selective programme better presented in more favourable physical conditions. It will accord with the varying preferences of the people from district to district and it will meet the different interests of all age-groups. Actual experience is teaching us what the people want in each place.
You may recall I suggested earlier this year that the Council's initiative in producing such an intensive year-round public entertainment programme might well be a success story worth telling in time. It may still be too early to do so. Yet it has already made an impact in a definite way and, though still capable of much more discriminating and penetrating development, it is deserving of whole-hearted support by community organizations even now. The Council has sought their co-operation in the presentation of these events clearly of benefit to the people. The Council will always welcome all who may wish to join us as partners in an enterprise with the sole object of making life happier for our people. And, in the process, the Council gives practical proof of its genuine concern for their well-being.
(Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI arrived during the Chairman's address.)
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