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Omnimax Theatre which is somewhat bigger but very similar to the one that Council has had for six years in our Space Museum.
I personally think the lesson to be learnt from this is that we are in fact on the right track with our new facility where we seem to be aiming at having good robust exhibits, a large number of which will be of the hands-on type, but at the same time having a modern facility with all the necessary visual aids currently available.
Film Archives
There have recently been suggestions in various Committee meetings that perhaps Hong Kong is losing a lot by not having a film archive. Many of the smaller but long-established film studios seem to be disappearing and it would be a pity if Hong Kong's output of films was lost and not available to future generations.
Members visited the London Film Archive and also the Cinematheque Francaise in France. The latter facility was particularly interesting insofar as it ran two cinemas for the showing of films from their archives as well as a museum devoted to the cinema where one could see sets from various old films and varied camera and projection equipment including the most primitive type used in the production of early films.
We were, however, basically interested in the costs involved as clearly whilst the formation of a film archive might be very desirable we do not wish to spend too much money should this eventually go ahead. Consequently, we were relieved to discover even the French film archives which were very extensive and appeared to be very well managed did not incur too much expenditure although like any other organizations dealing with the arts, their main complaint was of being under-funded.
Poll tax
Whilst we were visiting the Department of Environment, we also considered that we might well look into the latest British Government proposal for a 'poll tax' to replace the domestic rating system. This is, in fact, known as the 'community charge' and basically is a tax on individuals in households rather than a tax on the value of domestic properties. It was explained that a single person living in an identical house to his next door neighbour having five residents, would need to pay the same rates under the current legislation, although the local authorities facilities would be utilized by all five people in one case, so in effect the single occupant was subsidizing the rest.
This is a very political issue and not one that I wish to get involved with here. However, I think that we were wise to take the opportunity, whilst at the Department of Environment, to bring ourselves up-to-date on current thinking although I have seen no proposal for such a change in Hong Kong's rating system.
Fun pools We also paid a visit to a very small privately run fun pool complex in Richmond which consisted of little more than five enclosed pipes which deposited the patrons into a small receiving pool, each pipe having graduated degrees of speed and excitement. This was on a small piece of land rented from the local Council and adjacent to the local swimming pool but did not form part of it. The emphasis here was the necessity not only to be vigilant in controlling patrons but to have frequent and publicly visible emergency drills several times a day to keep the staff on their toes and also to show the public that the management was safety conscious. Notwithstanding this, there had in fact been one recent death in the facility. However, the Coroner's Court has not yet decided on the cause of death but the management thought that it might have been due to medical causes outside their own control.
Informal visit
Members were also able to visit informally the excitement of open air performances at the old market at Covent Garden and also other outdoor performances adjacent to the Pompidou Centre in Paris. Such performances were in themselves most interesting and also showed that an old market building and open space could be used to good effect and whilst the Council has for many years, of course, run performances in various outdoor venues, such as playgrounds, perhaps we could investigate this further in due course.
I would also like to publicly pay tribute to all the people we saw on our visit. Everyone freely gave time to the delegation, and they were most keen to answer all our questions and to show us their facilities where appropriate. We made many useful contacts and I myself feel that the trip was very worthwhile and that it has given both myself and the other members of the visiting team a broader vision on many aspects of the Council's activities which I am sure will permeate into our overall thinking over the next few years.
STATEMENT BY MR. PETER C. K. CHAN, CHAIRMAN OF THE LIQUOR LICENSING BOARD
He said (in Cantonese):-The decision made by the Liquor Licensing Board at its last meeting to over-rule an application by the Police for revocation of a liquor licence touched off considerable media and public interest.
As Chairman of the Board, I would like to explain that the Board takes every aspect into consideration before coming to a decision. In this particular case, the Board found that a revocation was not justified as there was not sufficient evidence to support allegations that the establishment had involvement with triads and incidents of violence. There had indeed been some worrying incidents in the vicinity of the nightclub, but not on the actual premises.
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