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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Another aspect of service by the Council which has a great appeal to young people is entertainment, many programmes of which are provided free of charge in outdoor venues, such as parks, playgrounds and football pitches. Programmes which young people enjoy most are folk songs and dances, puppet shows, acrobatic shows, children's parties and youth dances. In addition to outdoor programmes which are run on a daily basis, the Council also holds joint functions with other Government departments and organizations. These include painting competitions for children, music fetes and Children's Day Celebrations, etc. Every summer, the Council holds a Summer Fun Festival for youngsters who can choose from a wide variety of events such as launch picnics, swim-ins, camping, children's film shows and youth dances. Dinner balls are also held on festival days such as Easter, Christmas and New Year for the enjoyment of young people.
Hong Kong is a city of young people, while we are doing everything we can to expand and improve our existing services to meet the needs of the young, we are also looking for new ideas all the time for future projects to meet the challenges of our next generation. For example, in addition to the Space Museum which was opened in late 1980, the Council is pressing ahead with the construction of the Museum of Science and Technology in Chatham Road East. It is hoped that this new project, like the Space Museum, will become another centre for recreation and education for our young people.
(Miss Cecilia L. Y. YEUNG, Mr. TSIN Sai-nin and Mr. Edmund W. H. CHOW arrived during the Chairman's address.)
PAPER
The following paper was laid on the table:-
(1) Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of February 1982.
QUESTIONS
1. MR. WALTER M. SULKE asked the following question (in English):-Since it appears that there are many Clubs being set up for no other reason than to circumvent the Restaurant Licencing regulations and since it is also possible for such Clubs to circumvent the liquor licencing laws by allowing 'Members' to bring in their own alcoholic drinks, will this Council consider recommending legislation to control such Clubs in order to protect the public from unsupervised and unhygienically operated food and drink vendors?
MR. CHAN CHI-KWAN, PETER, Chairman of the Liquor Licensing Board, replied as follows (in English):-This question concerns the serving of food and alcohol in clubs set up to circumvent restaurant licensing laws and which also circumvent liquor licensing laws.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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The great majority of the clubs known to the Urban Services Department are genuine and provide facilities only to members and their guests. However, although no accurate figures are available, it seems likely that there has been an increase in the number of clubs set up with the deliberate intention of circumventing restaurant and liquor licensing laws. Any such establishments which come to notice and which are believed to be open to the public are put under surveillance and, if sufficient evidence is obtained by departmental health staff, legal action is taken against them.
As regards clubs which do not have a club licence and which allow members to bring in their own alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises, legal advice available confirms that there is no provision in the existing legislation to prohibit persons from bringing their own liquor and consuming it in a club. However, Regulation 26(1) of Dutiable Commodities (Liquor) Regulations says 'No liquor shall be supplied at the premises used by any club for the purposes of the club to any member of the club except under and in accordance with a club liquor licence'.
'Bringing their own alcoholic drink...' may not be interpreted as 'supplied at the premises'. I am prepared to accept the legal advice given.
At the meeting on the 24 of February 1982, the Urban Services Department has been instructed by the Liquor Licensing Board to refer this matter to the Attorney-General. Since Mr. SULKE is a member of the Liquor Licensing Board and must have some idea on what legislation we may consider to recommend, I have decided to include this in the agenda of the forthcoming Liquor Licensing Board meeting and will report to this Council in due course.
MR. SULKE (in English):-Thank you for the answer. I shall look forward to discussing the same thing in the Liquor Licensing Board, but I am also very concerned that clubs apparently are not inspected for hygiene and other things when they serve food and I think something ought to be done about that as well.
MR. C. K. CHAN (in English):-As far as I understand that some clubs do have or receive advice from staff who visit them from time to time although there is not a statutory requirement. Some clubs actually welcome the advice of our Health Inspectors who are experts, of course, that depends on the club. As far as those clubs of which I am a member, we as members would be more vigilant to see that they are more hygienically run than the restaurants over which I have no control. As a member, if the committee do not listen to members, the committee may not serve any more than their existing term.
MR. SULKE (in English):-If the committee get food poisoning just because of bad hygiene in the kitchen, I think we might have a bit of a problem. Don't you think that we should try and legislate on this matter?
MR. C. K. CHAN (in English):-Of course, I mean that if Mr. SULKE has some evidence of some of these clubs that he is concerned with, he can bring it up in
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