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progress was made. We have now firm dates for the completion of these projects: we expect to see the new twin cremators at Cape Collinson to be operational in the next few months; we expect to have the new Diamond Hill Crematorium to be completed by the end of 1979 and upon completion it would have a capacity of being able to handle some 20 cremations a day. All these are definite progress during the year but, in my opinion, valuable time was already lost. I am quite positive that the rate of cremation that we have achieved so far would be even higher had it not been for the fact that our cremation facilities have been lagging behind the demand. At one stage families had to wait for as long as seven days before their dead could be cremated. Let us hope that the Government will now mean what it says and would have these projects completed on target.
During the year we also had the satisfaction of seeing work begin at last on the provision of the funeral parlour at Winslow Street, Hung Hom. Present planning is that the project could be completed by January 1978. This together with the two other new non-profit-making funeral parlours to be provided by the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals will mean a very radical improvement on the funeral parlour situation. We are now a long way from the days in which, because of the almost monopoly situation on the part of profit-making funeral parlours, bereaved families were forced to pay a disproportionate amount so as to bury their dead with respect and dignity in accordance with all the traditional ceremonies expected of them. The new Hung Hom Funeral Parlour at Winslow Street upon completion would be a significant addition to the facilities now available for the burying of the dead in a dignified and inexpensive manner.
I should like now to turn to another stated aim of the Urban Council concerning the standard of management of our public cemeteries. It is our declared aim that we should improve the amenities and facilities in public cemeteries to a decent standard. Based on my personal experience and based on complaints received by me, I am far from convinced that we are discharging our responsibilities adequately in this respect. Of the public cemeteries under the management of the Urban Council or the Director of Urban Services, the four major ones are the Diamond Hill Cemetery, the Colonial Cemetery and the Wo Hop Shek and Sandy Ridge Cemetery in the New Territories. The Colonial Cemetery has approximately 12,000 graves and is a public cemetery intended exclusively for Europeans. The Diamond Hill Cemetery has approximately 35,000 graves and is a public cemetery intended for the Chinese population in Hong Kong. The Wo Hop Shek Cemetery in the New Territories has up to now approximately 120,000 graves and is likewise also intended to be a public cemetery for the Chinese population in Hong Kong, so is the Sandy Ridge Cemetery.
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If we compare the standard of management between these cemeteries, one is immediately struck by the tremendous disparity between the standard of management and the standard of amenity between them. I think one could say with a fair degree of confidence that the Colonial Cemetery which is the one intended for Europeans is well managed and in terms of general amenities is a very dignified public cemetery even when compared with the private cemeteries. But when one looks at the Diamond Hill Public Cemetery, the Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery and the Sandy Ridge Cemetery, all three of which are intended for the Chinese population, one could hardly say the same thing. The Chinese population normally visits the graves in these three cemeteries in Ching Ming and Chung Yeung each year and the state of these cemeteries is nothing but shocking. There was no amenity planning in these public cemeteries for a start. What is worse the place is not even maintained in a decent, let alone dignified, condition. Around Ching Ming or Chung Yeung time a common sight was uncut grasses along pathways taller than human beings, uncut plants and undergrowth, piling up of filth and rubbish, broken terraces etc. The list of shortcomings is almost unending and the state is shocking. In the case of Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery which is still open to the public and which has exumable lots, there are a lot of exumed grave lots which have not been covered up with earth. Remains of coffins could be seen and the smell has to be experienced to be believed.
I have had complaints charging that the Urban Council is pursuing a policy of racial discrimination. I could understand the anger behind the complaint if one compares the standard of management between the Colonial Cemetery and that of the Chinese public cemeteries. It is of course not the Urban Council's policy to practise any racial discrimination in any way but at the same time I must admit that I have really no satisfactory answer to such complaints. As far as I know the Colonial Cemetery, which has only about 12,000 graves, has a total staff of 10 men including one officer at the Amenities Assistant level. However, the Diamond Hill Cemetery, which has 35,000 graves, has only a staff of 7 with no officer at the Amenities Assistant rank at all. If we take the comparison further, one could see the even greater disparity in respect of Wo Hop Shek Public Cemetery. There, the cemetery, which is still open to burials, has already 120,000 graves. Yet the total staff is less than 19 with only two officers at the Amenities Assistant rank. Are we discharging our responsibilities adequately?
When soldiers died on the battle-field, the community tries to remember these fallen heroes through the provision of dignified military
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