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1989 is the year of environment in Hong Kong. I would like to urge the government once again in public to protect the public and the environment with courage and determination, to pull up and to take positive actions.
MRS. CHOW CHEUNG WAI-PING (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, in a wink, thirty-three months have passed. Yet, it also seems to be a fairly long period of time to me. Looking back at the issues that have been dealt with, the people whom I have come across and the happenings that have taken place, one can hardly believe that the time span covered was but two or three years. Though the first half of my life had not been a leisurely one, its scope of exposure was, after all, rather limited and simple. My days with the Urban Council could not be said to be splendid, but they are indeed eventful and colorful. These good old days will constitute an unforgettable page in the history of my life. In this connection, I would like to express my gratitude to those friends and members of the public who have supported me in one way or another and, above all, to fellow Urban Councillors for their sincere guidance, especially Mr. SULKE in his speech encouraged me to run for the election again. In reviewing the system of government, I irritatedly said that I was born at the wrong time. But on the other hand, it can be said that I am living in a happy era which, as some people put it, is the honeymoon period of the Urban Council because Councillors are now working in the most united and co-operative manner. The decision to withdraw from the Urban Council election at this particular moment, therefore, inevitably brings about a lingering sense of attachment. It means that I have to leave my colleagues and friends, both old and new, whom I have been working with for three years; that certain things which I intended to do will be left undone, or that I will not be present at the time of their completion. Moreover, I would not be able to put to further use the knowledge and skill which I have acquired. Therefore, I feel strongly indebted to those who have expected much of me. But the time and efforts spent in running three elections within three years are really overwhelming. However, the amount of time available is by no means unlimited, it is thus necessary to make one's choice in deciding how it should be utilized.
In the course of the Urban Council's history of more than a century, there are several points which deserve to be affirmed:
(1) It has established a set of effective and efficient meeting procedures, by means of which many decisions on policies and on the provision of cultural, recreational and sports facilities have been made to improve the quality of life of the people of Hong Kong: including the proposed opening of the sophisticated Museum of Science and Technology in 1990, the renovation of the Space Museum, the imminent opening of the Cultural Centre and the expansion of the Museums of History and Art, etc. All these facilities will play a positive, educative role among people in the cultural circles, youngsters as well as the general public. While Hong Kong has the highest population density in the world and is situated in the sub-tropical zone, its hygienic conditions and city outlook are by no means inferior to those of advanced countries. If its people can stop throwing objects from high-rise buildings, Hong Kong is certainly a unique and lovely metropolis. While it is much regretted that both the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department cannot solve completely the hawker problem left over from the past, the problem has now been contained at a tolerable level, as a result of the strenuous efforts of many people, despite the lack of effective support from the Central Government. Although the design of market complex leaves much to be desired and many markets are not in satisfactory operation, they are not the faults of the Urban Council.
(2) I agree with Mr. Marvin CHEUNG we consume a lot of papers, but I would like to take this opportunity to appreciate that the Urban Council is being served by a systematic and efficient Secretariat.
(3) The facilities installed in the Council Chamber, including both old and new ones, are practical and non-extravagant, plus a solemn glamour that commands respect. All these make me feel reluctant to part with.
(4) Urban Councillors had once been regarded as ombudsmen by members of the public (this is still the case to a certain extent).
Truly speaking, the Urban Council has had its glorious days.
Traditional practices are the basis of progress, but very often, they are the stumbling blocks as well. Hong Kong is changing rapidly, but it seems that the Urban Council still lacks sufficient wisdom and vigour to cope with these changes so as to gain due recognition. Apparently, the Urban Council has suffered defeat after defeat in its confrontation with the Central Government on issues like distribution of power and political reform. It is certainly a good thing if political reforms can bring about higher efficiency and better economic benefits for the Central Government. However, I am afraid that this is not the case. I am obliged by my three-year experience with the Urban Council to reiterate my former suggestions to establish two functionally and structurally similar municipal councils, namely the Urban Council and the 'Regional' Council, to look after the so-called urban areas and the 'New Territories' on this piece of land with merely 413 square miles, and where industry, commerce and finance constitute the leading factors of its economy. One must bear in mind that in the 1960's, farmers in the New Territories were encouraged to leave their farmlands. If you go to Soho in London, we all know the food business are run by the people who came from the New Territories. But in the 1970's, satellite towns had already emerged in the 'New Territories'. From an administrative point of view, it is virtually unnecessary to distinguish between 'urban areas' and the 'New Territories'. In addition, a Municipal Services Branch (its name is rather arbitrary and its functions are ambiguous) has been established as a coordinating body in between the two councils, so as to avoid divergence of policies. Isn't this establishment rather redundant and a waste of resources? Though the Government has its own political motives behind such a measure, the approach of using ‘one region, two councils and two departments' to solve problems is certainly incorrect. What a bad precedent it is! I remember that the reason given by the Government at that time was: to let one Council to...
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