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we all attack and protest against this. When we are still having an inflationary process, any increase in taxation or rates should be opposed. It is only fair and reasonable. The trend is an upward trend; price increases in all. But I am not going to say it to the face of the Hong Kong Government that it is wrong and this is equivalent to lust. But I believe that it is unwise of the Government to increase the rates. Of course revenue will be increased with an increase in rates. But when it comes to expenditure, whether it be for social welfare or education, it will have to increase proportionately. If not, they will not be able to provide constructively for the benefit of the public.
There are
How can we help the public to accept this increase. two ways:-
(1) to make it clear to the public that after an increase in rates, (it does not mean that the Government will enjoy an increase in revenue) the Government will also increase the social services. (2) If the ratio is increased too rapidly and too suddenly, it will be difficult to accept. But if we can take over a period of time, (once upon a time, an increase of 5¢ caused riots and it was difficult for the people to accept) but in this day and age, when the Star Ferry increased the fare to 30¢, nobody complained about it. This, to me, is an art of re-valuing the evaluation. In terms of art, I do not think the Director of Rating and Valuation knows art at all in this respect.
Still another thing is that the criticism launched against the Elected Councillors that they lack unity. It seems that it has nothing to do with the Appointed Councillors. It is up to us, the Elected Councillors, to tidy our household. It was brought forth by an Elected Councillor. I hesitate to comment on this. However, we should honestly ask each of us why we, Elected Councillors, cannot unite. It is said that some of us have a full sense of importance once we are elected. Is that true or not? I cannot conclude for you, but I think it may be so. Could it be that those, who were never appointed to LegCo, or have not yet been appointed to LegCo, feel that they are more senior than the ones appointed, are better known in the community and so should be the one to be appointed to LegCo? Such attitude is wrong. Unless I belong to a certain political party, I cannot support my party leader. You may be more famous and more experienced than I am and you have a bigger following than I, but I was elected in my own capacity; I did not depend on party support, so why should I follow the party. I may not agree to the part taken by the political party. Naturally when it concerns public interest and public good, then we go together.
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Otherwise, if individual interest or initiative is concerned, then it is difficult for everybody to unite.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion.
MR. KIM Y. S. CHAM (in English):- Mr. Chairman, having heard the very detailed and impressive speeches by my senior colleagues on the work and aims of this Council, I choose to speak on a subject which is vital to implementing our aims and policies, namely, administrative efficiency. This topic, I believe, is of utmost concern to this Council, the Urban Services Department and the public.
Efficiency in the context of this Council means the provision of services which meet public needs adequately at a minimum cost. Required services and reasonable costs co-exist in the term "efficiency”. Optimum efficiency cannot be attained by mere control of costs while neglecting the services required, nor can it be attained by providing over-abundant services while overlooking cost control.
Admittedly, the Council provides exclusive services which are not in competition with those provided by other organizations, nor is the Council a profit-making body. Nonetheless it should seek to achieve a level of efficiency comparable with that in the competitive world of industry and commerce.
Indeed, no effort should be spared in our drive to seek better ways and means to improve our services to the public. The environment in which the community operates is always changing and so is the pattern of services required. With the increasing sophistication of society the pattern becomes more complex. So, this drive for betterment should be well embedded into the way of life in public service.
We must not be concerned merely with stringent controls of manpower, but we must look for a self-monitoring organization structure and working procedures most conducive to this drive for betterment. Our staff should constantly seek improvements in their service, not mere completion of “a routine day's work”. We must ensure that it is self-direction and self-control which pilots our administrative mechanism and not paternalistic guidance.
In this connection, it would seem to me timely to consider applying to our organization a principle commonly used in business to generate initiative from staff, namely, management by objective (MBO). This may appear to be a rather high sounding title, but the concept is little more than a rationalization of what many businessmen do as a matter
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