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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-The Council will come to order.
## MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 13th September, 1977 were confirmed.
## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Some concerned citizens in Hong Kong have long sought a change of attitude towards matters of real value and consequence to the place and its people. Much has been achieved quietly, more by deeds than by words, in the last two decades. Much more could still be done earnestly for the social advancement of the community in Hong Kong's now more affluent circumstances. Within its own constraints, the Council has also tried hard to create better living conditions here. Indeed, there is the wish to do better all the time. And, as tangible proof, there are many practical programmes and building projects, all for community betterment. Some are already in use; many others have still to come.
The pace has been stepped up in most activities since the Council came into its own. Likewise, more down-to-earth targets have been set up systematically in most directions. All in all, performance is examined far more critically, as it should be. In response, there has been a gratifying accountability on the part of the Urban Services Department, with commendable determination to do well all the many functions required to carry out routine but vital responsibilities, while the planning of more imaginative activities and complex structures is undertaken by the staff with obvious pride in eventual accomplishment. All to the good.
The Council is prompting a sure process of change in the supporting department which executes its policies and implements its committee decisions. This has happened in the organization now emergent in its territorial character. In outlook there is change too. But, the evolution is far from complete. It is still going on; it is never likely to end. And, the next step may well be the toughest of all. Why? Because it might mean cutting loose its present dual ties.
The departmental link with the Government has decided advantages for the Council. However, it is only so if all understand that the connection is intended to serve the public good in the most practical and economical way. Also, the arrangement must be managed fairly and in a businesslike manner. Otherwise, if the Council's work were to suffer to the detriment of the community, the offending ties should be cut without more ado. For, civil-service loyalty sometimes to archaic regulations and worn-out practices should not stand in the way of the community's right to benefit from a sound and progressive development of public services for a better life. Still, this drastic severance need not come to pass if there is some sensible re-ordering of the department's position. It should certainly be considered urgently if the separate interests of the changing city and the former countryside, now also in rapid transition, are to be advanced in an orderly fashion.
The Council is intimately aware that there are also disadvantages in the department's inherited split personality. The present arrangement surely falls short of what the city needs. At the same time, it does not cope with the pressing demand for much better basic municipal services in the burgeoning towns in the New Territories. Why perpetuate such a divided departmental arrangement, contrived to keep up a political fiction of another age, when it has clearly outlived its practical usefulness here? Must the department serve two masters? It does not seem to make sense in the new context.
Anyway, in this Council, to put decisions into practice and to give effect to policies, there are now nearly fifteen thousand men and women working in the Urban Services Department, in specialist posts or in general grades. More are being engaged and professionally trained with ever growing opportunities for advancement. They are all valued partners with the common object of serving the people.
The Council should always field a strong team to work for the public good. It must also play the game in close combination with its properly trained staff. But, then, who really picks the team? And, whose colours does the Urban Services Department now wear? Perhaps, before long, the Government might be inclined to find the answer.
(Dr. the Hon. Henry H. L. HU arrived at this point.)
## 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 September, 1977.
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