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them tomorrow. But I have absolutely the right to ask why I should be required to pass examinations when I am already growing grey.
I ran out of ink when I was writing the draft speech, thus I have to do it verbally now. In the Chinese, we have the three-letter book which says that just rearing a child does not educating him is the fault of the father, just educating a child but not enforcing straight discipline is the indolence of the teacher. A lot of people say that the instructors are lazy, that's why many students failed the test. So the instructor should be retested. If the instructor is lazy, you can fire him, but there is no reason not to let him teach another student. A good instructor would be highly demanded while those who are not good enough may consider changing their job, but you cannot drive a person out of the job just because he fails to teach certain student. If the student fails, the punishment should not just make on the teacher. If the result of the student is poor and you blame the teacher, that is only an idea handed down from the old days in China. In those days, when somebody broke the law, then the Emperor would kill all that is connected including the teacher because the teacher is not teaching well. But in a modern society as it is today, the responsibility of the student passing on to the teacher is really quite out of date. I think my time is nearly up but as Dr. HUANG has said earlier, a lot of members of the press asked beforehand on whether I am going to talk about the topic which involves 4 digits. I said I was not going to say it, but after I have written the draft, I went down from my office and there was a new restaurant downstairs called ‘1997'.
MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman and fellow Members, in taking part in this year's annual debate, I feel that time really flies. It seems as if it was only yesterday when I first served on the Council 12 years ago. However, in the next ten-odd years, we shall have to work harder and be more on the alert and ready to face challenges although I do not know whether it will be easy to pass these 10 years.
At the monthly meeting in October, the Chairman reported that the Council would be spending $3,200 million on various capital works to be completed in the 80's. This is very heartening indeed. The Council has won high praise for the many facilities it has provided and numerous projects carried out, such as the Space Museum and the Hong Kong Coliseum at Hung Hom which is soon to be completed. The Coliseum, with over 10,000 seats, an area of over 1,600 square meters and a piazza of more than 20,000 square meters, can certainly claim the honour of being among the best of its kind in South East Asia. In addition, there is the fan-shaped Ko Shan Theatre which is equipped with the most advanced sound and lighting systems. We must not, of course, leave out the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre and the Science Museum as well as other projects which are under planning. All these will provide worthwhile cultural, recreational and entertainment activities for the people of Hong Kong and they do testify to the Council's outstanding service to the public. Of late, the future of Hong Kong has become a hot subject and in the face of dissipation of public confidence, we shall have to shoulder more responsibilities. To meet the so-
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called future change of Hong Kong's status, we must be more on the alert and create a new image. First of all, we must maintain the present standard of living of the entire population, and then further exert our efforts to make Hong Kong a free, self-governing city. Being an important part of the administrative structure of Hong Kong, the Council should recognize the importance of its service to the public and carry out its commitment to the full. That is our future mission and over 5 million residents are anxiously looking to us to take the lead.
In the 1982 Annual Report, the Chairman clearly pointed out that the Council is responsible for the management of a range of municipal activities for over 4 million people. This is a continuing and challenging task. The Council's ultimate objective should be to bring stability and prosperity to the people of Hong Kong. Such responsibility should be shouldered, not by high government officials, but by the Council which is closest to the population. We are the backbone of Hong Kong and whatever changes there may be, the Council will always hold its place. If we lay a good foundation now, no matter what pressure is brought to bear on us, we shall still be able to discharge our duties in the future. There is at present a task before us, i.e. the provision of services to the old which in the past has escaped our attention. We have done very well in the field of recreation and cultural entertainment, but we have yet to devise any plans to benefit the elderly. The Housing Department will in future provide in its new estates 37 hostels to accommodate 4,500 old people. In order to encourage young people to live with the elderlies, the Housing Department has made it a regulation that they will consider these young people's cases as priority if they will live with their elderlies in the unit. This is a challenge which the Council must take up. We should therefore make our efforts to provide more services to the elderly so as to balance our attention to both the old and the young. This also fits our policy of caring for our senior residents.
There are at present only 2 recognized universities in Hong Kong. In view of Hong Kong's position and world reputation, it is surely an outrage on the Pearl of the Orient. Prosperity and stability are not slogans only, but should tally with the realities of our society. To achieve good efficiency, we must have fine leaders in many fields and it is now time to educate and nurture the talents among us. I therefore suggest that we should immediately plan to set up a municipal university.
Hong Kong is the busiest port in the world and the financial centre of South East Asia, but there is not even a municipal university. Is Hong Kong really a cultural desert? Are we constrained by the lack of funds? Let us look at the galaxy of wealthy merchants and community leaders who contribute most generously to the Hong Kong University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Many of their donations are to the tune of million or tens of million dollars. Are there difficulties in recruiting staff? Scholars all over the world have expressed admiration for the Pearl of the Orient and are most interested in the study of oriental culture. Many would readily respond to the call of the Urban Council. I am confident that recruitment of staff would not present much of a
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