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I'
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
parts of Hong Kong were overcrowded, filthy and deficient in all the primary elements of health and decency. When I assumed the Governorship some 99 years later I found no necessity to report to the Secretary of State in a similar vein. That the need has gone owes much to the determination of this Council over the years to make Hong Kong a cleaner and pleasanter place to live in, to the benefit both of the people who live here and our international reputation.
The Council's area of concern has long gone beyond cleansing and hygiene. With your interest in markets, street traders, libraries and museums, and recreational facilities, as well as culture, you are now responsible for activities and facilities which closely affect the everyday life of our citizens. Their efficient management can contribute greatly to the well-being of our society by making this city a pleasanter, easier and less stressful place to live in, and in so doing create an environment in which the social evils of the modern world find it more difficult to grow.
The population in the area for which this Council is responsible has also grown enormously in the post-war years. It is therefore fitting that arrangements have been made for the Council to reinforce its contacts with those whom it represents not only through elections on a wider franchise but through the provision of seats for elected Councillors on the District Boards in their constituencies. This will improve the access of the Council to the views of those on whose behalf you act and enable you to reflect the needs of the districts in the decisions which you take. It will in turn provide a means by which the policies adopted by the Council can be explained and gain acceptance at District level.
Before concluding, Mr. Chairman, I should like to pay my tribute to the contribution to the work of the Council which has been made by its members both past and present. There are three still serving, of whom you are one, Mr. Chairman, whose service stretches over more than two decades. The community is grateful to you all for the contribution which you have made. And now the Council welcomes new faces. With them will come, I am sure, new ideas and new perspectives. In the area of your responsibilities, it will be your task, and it is a challenging one, to meet the needs of our fast-developing urban society, and I wish you all every success in it.
MOTION
THE CHAIRMAN, Urban Council moved the following motion:
'RESOLVED that the Urban Council of Hong Kong, on reaching its centenary, gratefully remembers and acknowledges the past endeavours of the Members of the Urban Council and its direct predecessor, the Sanitary Board, who have served the community for a period of one hundred years.'
He said (in English):—Your Excellency and Council Members Past and Present here today:
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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It is with an acute awareness of history that I rise to move the motion before the House in this hundredth year of the Urban Council's history.
In 1883 the then Governor of Hong Kong had cause to compare the filth and squalor of parts of Hong Kong with Middle East and European cities like Cairo, Smyrna, Rome and London. Today, one century later, we in Hong Kong take justifiable pride in the cleanliness of our streets and our standard of public health, which is comparable to that of any other great international city.
Through the services of past Members of this Council and its predecessor, the Sanitary Board, which had only 3 members when it was first constituted, we have come a long way, so much so that the Urban Council, as of this year, is a reconstituted municipal body of 30 members, half of whom have been elected on the basis of universal franchise in 15 individual constituencies covering a population of about 4 million citizens.
In culture and public entertainment, the Urban Council today plays a pre-eminent role territory-wide. With the support of Government and the voluntary and private sectors, the Council could well transform Hong Kong into a major international centre of the performing arts by the end of this decade.
Also in sports and recreation, the Council, with the close co-operation of Government and all the national sports associations, plays an equally pre-eminent role territory-wide. An excellent example of the support this Council receives from Government is the Coliseum, a $140 million indoor stadium, which Your Excellency will officially open at the end of this month and which is to be managed by Council. I think Members are aware that this indoor stadium is one of the finest of its kind in the world.
With the introduction of the new District Board system, Council has a minimum of two and a maximum of 4 Members sitting on each of the 10 Urban District Boards. I am confident that in due course the Urban Council will be developing and expanding in tandem with the evolving District Board system.
All this would not have come about had it not been for the dedicated endeavours of past Members of Council, some of whom have honoured us with their presence in this Chamber here today. Because of the firm foundation that they have laid, we, the incumbent Councillors, can face our future role and responsibilities with courage, conviction and hope. We hereby pledge our dedication towards improving the living environment and quality of life of all Hong Kong citizens.
To Your Excellency, may I, on behalf of Council, express our gratitude for your presence at today's Centenary proceedings and for your Address of support and encouragement to the Urban Council of Hong Kong.
I so move.
MR. H. M. G. FORSGATE, VICE-CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, seconded (in English): It is my great pleasure and privilege, Mr. Chairman, to second your
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