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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. It is just 2.30 and we will proceed with today's meeting which is the Annual Conventional Debate. I would like to congratulate our friend and Vice-Chairman, Mr. Henry HU, on the honour which the Queen conferred on him in the New Year's Honours. Mr. Henry Hu is now an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. (Applause).
(Dr. P. C. WONG arrived at this point.)
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 16th December, 1975 were confirmed.
PAPER
The following paper was laid on the table:-
Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of December 1975.
MOTION
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, moved the following motion (in English):-
Appendix I. "THAT this Council endorse the Statement of Aims for 1976.”.
He said: The Council can make this Annual Conventional Debate serve a useful purpose for the public good. By tradition, it offers an opportunity to discuss in this chamber any issue of public consequence even though not directly related to Council responsibilities. But, above all, it is the one occasion in the year when the Council can debate its aims at length. In doing so, it can review the progress that has been made, analyse policies, discuss plans and examine problems. It is in effect a combined effort to tell Hong Kong what the Council's aspirations are. In this exercise, the Council can gain public understanding of its policies and win support for its activities.
In any critical examination of our work, it is not enough for us to point to a deficiency; it should be followed by constructive remedial action. In fact, little is achieved by merely calling attention to a grievance without actually seeking redress for it. Indeed, effective action on the ground is the only practical way for the Council to better living conditions. Also, sustained activity makes for steady progress in our work and helps our select committees to achieve their aims each year. We will meet with some difficulties not now foreseen but they should not deter us. We must also be ready to adopt new policies and launch other programmes if the good of the community calls for a change of tack.
Clearly, it is our business to take stock of our position and relate our functions to the needs of the community, while critically evaluating all we do. We should probe into all areas of our responsibility to find out where our services could be improved and expanded within measure of our resources. Yet, when setting objectives, we are bound by existing limits and restrictions on our scope and jurisdiction. Also, we must be conscious of the strengths and weaknesses of our situation so that when projecting our ambitions into the future, we will still translate them in a pragmatic manner into development plans which are well in keeping with what the community expects and are not rashly beyond our means.
Because it is never enough for us just to identify a community need, we have taken it as our duty to search for practical ways within our powers to meet it. In consequence, in the short span of the past three years, we have tried hard and done much with drive and imagination, as the impressive reports, which you will soon be making in this debate, will demonstrate even though, of course, our scope is more limited than we would like and our writ does not run to every nook and corner of the territory.
To our regret, we are also slowed down by governmental procedures designed for a past age and we are sometimes discouraged by attitudes seemingly oblivious of Hong Kong's fast changing circumstances. Even so, only by proving our collective ability to function smoothly and efficiently within our present jurisdiction may we expect to find strong public backing for increasing this Council's responsibility. Perhaps the time has come again for us to start in earnest another dialogue with the Government for the devolution of more authority to us, if for no other reason, so that Hong Kong may not be left behind in a game now much in vogue in foreign parts.
As an aside, may I be forgiven if I wonder, in a stage whisper in this Council, whether Scotland and Wales may be regarded as foreign
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