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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):--Ladies and Gentlemen, the meeting is called to order.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 8 May 1984 were confirmed.
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Despite Hong Kong's reputation as a place of frenetic activity inhabited by people who work from dawn to dusk, we are not a city where it is all work and no play. We earn our recreation, and the pursuit of leisure is something that interests all of us, just the same as every individual quite rightly seeks to improve his or her lifestyle and achieve the highest standard of living possible.
But this was not always so. In the 50's and early 60's, as Hong Kong emerged from the ruins of the Second World War and later had to cope with a multitude of problems spearheaded by the massive influx of immigrants from China, the thought of pursuing leisure-time activities was but a dream to the majority of the population.
However, as Hong Kong overcame its more serious problems and entered a period of prosperity, the Government rightly decided that antiquated labour laws should be updated and well-deserved time off given to the industrious workforce that had performed Hong Kong's economic miracle.
Excluding Sundays, the number of public holidays given to the workers of Hong Kong was thus increased from only a few days in the 1950's to the total of 17 days a year they enjoy at present.
To keep pace with this recognition of the community's right to a little more leisure, long-term plans were made to ensure that the populace had convenient and well-serviced places where they could enjoy their new-found leisure time. As part of the broad scheme, the Country Parks came into existence and more latterly the Recreation and Sport Service was set up. Quite naturally, too, the Urban Council has played a major role in providing facilities where people can enjoy themselves, and in the past 30 years, some 580 parks, playgrounds and gardens have been provided throughout the urban areas.
Another responsibility of the Council is of course the management of public bathing beaches and swimming pool complexes in the urban areas—a highly important task since swimming quickly became the most popular form of summer recreation in Hong Kong. Millions of people now use the 38 gazetted beaches throughout the territory each year, the most popular being some of the 12 beaches on Hong Kong Island under the Council's control. The Council also managed the 11 swimming pool complexes throughout the urban areas that are visited by more than 3.5 million people each year.
This then is the happy picture of how Hong Kong, having earned its right to more holidays, gained so many more places of enjoyment in which to spend their leisure time. Sadly, however, there is a blemish on this idyllic scenario, a blemish caused by a selfish group—many of them young and uncaring—who seem to think that the beaches are their own special preserve and no one else.
While the great majority of beachgoers are there to enjoy themselves and cause no problem to others, this handful of selfish persons seem to delight in annoying both fellow beachgoers and nearby residents by making a nuisance of themselves in a number of ways mainly by producing blaring portable radios and cassette players, and staging rowdy barbecue parties until late at night or early in the morning, inevitably leaving behind them a trail of rubbish in these beach barbecue areas.
The Council does not intend to relinquish control of public beaches to such uncaring individuals any more than it will allow the waters of these beaches to be endangered by speedboats or invaded by windsurfers and other pleasure-boaters.
Already plans are being made to remove the barbecue facilities next year from one of the most popular beaches on the Island, at Repulse Bay, and to develop the site temporarily as a sitting-out area and eventually into a children's playground.
This is proof that the Council, in response to the numerous complaints made by long-suffering residents, can no longer tolerate the activities of such selfish individuals. And if this does not end the problem, the Council will be forced to look at other measures and possibly even consider imposing a total ban on radios and cassette players at public beaches.
But when all is said and done, the Council is not unmindful of the needs of minority beach-users. One example of this is the recent decision to introduce a pilot scheme this November at Stanley Beach to reduce the swimming area to provide a larger area for windsurfers and so prevent accidents involving swimmers and windsurfers. Signs will be put up at the beach to warn swimmers not to go beyond the boom-line.
Finally, if I may briefly turn to a very different but equally important subject, Members of this Council will be happy to know that in addition to the simultaneous translation service we have enjoyed for so many years the Urban Council Ordinance has now been translated into Chinese and will shortly be available to Members.
Also, in a few weeks, the Green Paper on a representative system of government and the democratization of Hong Kong will be published for public
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