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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English): Council will come to order.
DR. THE HON. HENRY H. L. Hu (in English): Mr. Chairman, before you take the first item on the agenda, may I on behalf of the whole Council, congratulate you on the very high award of the Cruzeiro do Sul conferred upon you by the President of Brazil. This is the highest award presented by the Brazilian Government, and must be of great satisfaction to you. Mr. Chairman, again, our hearty congratulations. (Applause)
CHAIRMAN (in English): Thank you, Dr. Hu, Ladies and Gentlemen.
## MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 21st February 1978 were confirmed.
## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English): For five years the Council has been evolving an internal working structure suited to its needs. Indeed, it has always modified its organization to cope with new circumstances even before reconstitution. The transformation since then has been intensified by the accelerating pace of work. It has meant a hard look at old responsibilities at the same time as other emerging needs have been tackled. So, while old ways of doing things have been changed for the better where warranted, novel activities have been taken up too. Working arrangements should be adjusted periodically if public requirements are to be met in good measure.
Even more, the Council must anticipate the needs of tomorrow. Otherwise, it would let the people down. Its organizational effectiveness in a changing situation should be expertly examined at regular intervals. Of course, the Council must be clear in its aim and purpose. In other words, it must know what it wants to do. And, it must know how to do it.
There is always the problem of competing demands on limited staff, money and facilities. In consequence, the judicious allocation of all its resources for the common good is the measure of competent leadership. However, in such an exercise, there is also the danger of the application of such resources intended for the attainment of the public good being subordinated to political and other aims instead. In effect, unbridled individual ambitions may not be in tune with the realities of public political expectations of the Council as a whole, and thus may well be off beat too. But, is this perceived? Sadly, not altogether.
Hence, the collective response must be positive if the Council is not to be held up to public ridicule. It might be accused of letting political considerations get out of hand. For, effective management must be the order of the day. In a preeminently business-minded society, this is taken for granted. Such an approach entails an objective analysis of the current position together with an incisive probe into the many-sided requirements of a progressive community. In the circumstances, there must be a close assessment of the extent of political compromise allowed by the public interest. For there are tolerable limits beyond which the common good may be put in jeopardy in a sensitive situation where there are prime political imponderables ever present. The scale of the problem may be arguable yet nothing can gainsay its existence. So, in this context, the basic objective must be simple and realistic. Indeed, one should ask: what is the public will? Inescapably, it is clear: the Council must do all it can for community betterment at all times and in any circumstances. To achieve this one and only goal, it is expected to employ all the human resources at its command regardless of the provenance of its membership. Whether elected by a handful of votes in proportion to the teeming population or selected by the natural process of proven record of community service is not a matter of consequence. What matters truly is public confidence in the attributes of the persons involved with the particular jobs in hand. And, what is also of direct concern to the collectivity is that those who hold public office must accept without question that they are publicly accountable for what they do and even for what they fail to do for the good of the greatest number.
When there is little substance to offer, beyond dangerous meddling with success for political window-dressing or other reasons, then the natural inclination to give-and-take must unhappily give way for, with all the goodwill in the world, it cannot justify the setting aside of combined public confidence and credibility. True, speaking academically, elementary counsel of perfection suggests parity of committee responsibility. In practice, the community expects its interest to be safeguarded, first and foremost. For, it is mostly indifferent to political issues as such. So, the Council must keep faith with the
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