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tions had to be engaged or old staff trained for the new purposes. This essential process of re-shaping the establishment to suit the Council's new work-style has been going on all these recent years and is not likely to end for a long time to come.
There is also the transformation of the whole department from being just another section of the Government to an administration geared to the needs of a vibrant and modern city. This metamorphosis is being achieved smoothly although not without some difficulties emerging from time to time. It could be a case of incompatibility with the new order. It could also be the failure to grasp the changes in attitudes the setting up of the Council must entail. In any case, there must be no disruption of service. The Council's purpose is essentially to create a better environment altogether and to give more and better service to the community all the time. Members, who talk out of turn, outside, generally in inverse ratio to the work they do here and the knowledge they have, might graciously pay a compliment to their colleagues for the enormous task that they are quietly undertaking to make the Council a going concern.
In the urban areas the department can have no separate existence from the Council. The Council makes its policy; the department must act on it without demur. It is obviously in the interest of all concerned, if only to eliminate doubt and uncertainty, and avoid friction as well, for the Urban Services Department to be cut loose from the Government for the exercise of all its functions in the urban areas.
It seems a simple decision to take, without even the need to find a name as there should be no separate identification. And yet, five years are going by
The Government
The Council's relations with the Government are based on the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements. It is a contract under seal. It has been honoured on the Council's side not only to the letter but in the spirit in which it was drawn up and signed. Hitherto, the Government's approach to its contractual obligations was exemplary. Now, there seem to be second thoughts on its provisions. If the terms and conditions found in the Memorandum are onerous in practice and some modification is thought necessary, the alteration should be made openly and by fair negotiation, and not by surreptitious chipping away at a subordinate level. The more successful the Council becomes, the more "clawing back" it experiences unfortunately.
Policy
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There is the curious charge that the Council does too much work. Perhaps, it does. But, surely, no work can be too much to serve the people. What is the argument, then?
Surprisingly, there is the inability of a few minds, here and outside, to comprehend the changed situation in Hong Kong. Not only has the Council been given direct control over its own funds and entrusted with many responsibilities, both statutory and permissive, but Hong Kong has evolved beyond all recognition as well. Its transformation from a colonial outpost and seaport to a major financial and industrial city in this part of the world has been rapid and remarkable. As must be expected and even encouraged, there is a concomitant change in outlook and attitude. Better educated and informed, and earning more as well, the people naturally want more out of life too. No more are they likely to accept a narrow view of social responsibility and public accountability by the authorities. Society is still changing fast, let there be no doubt. And, in anticipation, the Council must do more all the time, with imagination and in new directions as well.
In these welcome circumstances, yesterday's pace of work lags well behind emergent expectations. The critics in our midst are unable to keep up with the new hectic pace and must fall back in consequence. All ought to come together nevertheless to organize more activities and conceive new services for the working man to enjoy a full life in happier and healthier surroundings.
There was also the suggestion that there were too many committees and sub-committees. It might well be so, but they do good work and there is so much backlog to catch up. Of course, the working structure could be easily altered to be even more businesslike. But, then, it might be politically hard to accept by some who hope for automatic election as committee chairmen by virtue of seniority and other claims, spurious or not, in the division of spoils.
If the Standing Committee of the Whole Council were to re-order working arrangements, there might well be fewer posts to go round. And then, there is always the latent hope that committee leaders would be selected entirely on proven leadership and management ability, capacity for effective hard-work and willingness to put in far more time every day and not spasmodically. Meritocracy might serve the public interest better than apportionment on political lines. It is up to the Council to choose its course.
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