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(1) All the hawkers pay an adequate licence fee;
(2) An individual hawker keeps in one area, and his licence is marked with that area;
(3) If more than one member of the family hawk, then they hawk together under one licence, and not in separate places.
However, this is already being reviewed by a special Hawker Policy Committee, and I have confidence in them and their Chairman, Mrs. ELLIOTT, to come up with suggestions, which we should at least try.
Finally, I want to say a word about finance, particularly as I am Vice-Chairman of the Finance Select Committee. I consider that talk of exhausting our reserves, in effect going bankrupt in two years' time, are all baloney. Either the Government wants us to be part of itself, and to look after the services which are given to us, or not. If it does still want us to do so, it must find the finance. I am against cutting the cost to suit our diminishing finances, to the extent of endangering the services which we render to the Hong Kong Government. It is, for instance, not for us of our own backs, to recommend an increase in the Urban Council rates payable by the public. It is for Government to adjust the percentages, so as to meet our needs out of adjusted share of the rates. They can do it by other means, for instance, they can give us annual grants to meet the anticipated deficiency. But for myself, I regard the adequacy of the services as a first priority, if we do not have the money, then I am sorry, we will have to just wrap up.
Of course, like Government in general, we must always look for means of saving money, especially when the Government itself is running on a deficit budget. I know there have been a lot of criticisms in some newspapers about the money spent on the Asian Festival of Arts. It is argued that the Government's own Hong Kong Arts Festival is adequate as an annual event. It is even from time to time suggested that the Asian Festival of Arts, organized by ourselves, is sour-grapes, because the Government did not ask the Urban Council, as a Council, to organize their Festival of Arts. I think there is some truth in these criticisms. Also, indeed, the Urban Council in recent years has taken a significant part in the Hong Kong Festival of Arts. I think consideration should be given by Government, to asking the Urban Council to take it over entirely, and just incorporating some of the features of the Asian Festival of Arts into the overall Hong Kong Festival of Arts, especially now that the District Boards are proposing to have their own Arts Festivals.
Nevertheless, despite what perhaps the public think, the main expenditure is just on salaries and wages for the Urban Services Department, the department that services the Urban Council's needs. In future apparently, it will be the City Services Department. The amount of those wages is, of course, entirely for the Government to determine as we are serviced by Government servants, but any reduction in the pure man-power of that Department, would affect immediately the services which we render. I say again therefore, the first priority is the adequacy of these services, and it is basically up to the Government to adjust the share of our rates, so that we get sufficient to balance our budget. At least the finances of the Government have reserves, we have not. The matter is urgent, but frankly I do not think that it is for us to worry about, other than to take care not to involve the Government, through the Urban Council, on unnecessary expenses.
With these words, I support the Motion, Mr. Chairman.
MRS. E. ELLIOTT (in English):—Mr. Chairman, now that the worries of the past two years are behind us, and the Sino-British Joint Declaration has been duly signed, we must face 1985, and the years that follow, with confidence and determination. I personally have confidence that our Hong Kong people are capable of stimulating prosperity even more in the future than they have done in the past. But I should like to emphasize that prosperity depends upon stability, and stability can only be maintained if right and justice prevail over the forces of vice, crime and selfishness, and if the powers-that-be are prepared to dedicate their efforts to making sure that the social conditions for achieving stability exist.
I will not say much about the further development of local administration, because this subject has been exhaustively debated throughout Hong Kong. All I would like to say on that subject is, that while the half-hearted experiment outlined in the White Paper is being put into effect during the next year or so, concerted efforts by all sectors of the community must be made to educate the population into their voting responsibilities. Also, civic leaders must devote themselves to public duty and not to position and power-seeking. During these next two years, the Government should take advice from a wider section of the population on what form the future administration should take. I have never agreed to the idea of factions and parties because they do not serve the people, even in the west, let alone here in Hong Kong. Those elected on party lines owe allegiance to their parties and not to the whole community. What we need in Hong Kong, in my estimation, is a government composed of dedicated individuals who are prepared to take into consideration the needs of all the people, and not be controlled behind the scenes by parties, clubs, business interests and professional allegiances, which alienate them from the population as a whole. We need individuals who are chosen for their ability in all the varied fields which make up our community, but who are not dedicated solely to their own particular field of interest. We must rid ourselves of those old ideas that friendship, social connections, and traditional interest groups can represent the needs of our present generation. For a hundred and fifty years, the people of Hong Kong have been denied the right to take part in their Government. Now is the time to make a brand new start, and learn from the errors of our own past, and also from the errors of western democracies, some of which are now outdated.
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