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Ms. CARLYE W. L. TSUI (in English):--I would like to thank the Vice-Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee for agreeing to pursue further the suggestion made by me in the fourth part of my question.
6. MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):--- I have recently received the proposal that senior citizens should enjoy free admission or half-price concession in attending cultural, entertainment, recreational and sports activities presented by the Council. I have also found that half-price concession was made available for only some of the UC recreational and sports activities. As for cultural presentations, half-price concession was made available for only some of the programmes jointly presented with private organizations. I therefore would like to raise the following questions:
(1) Is it possible to implement a comprehensive concessionary ticket scheme for senior citizens, i.e. to implement mandatory concessionary rate for senior citizens in all cultural, entertainment, recreational and sports activities presented by the Council?
(2) Some of the cultural programmes jointly presented by the Council and other organizations provide concessionary rate for senior citizens but some do not. What makes the difference and what are the criteria for the distinction?
(3) Is it possible to stipulate that half-price concession is offered to senior citizens in the conditions for hiring UC venues for cultural presentations?
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):-The question deals with various aspects of concessionary rates for senior citizens.
The first part concerns the introduction of a mandatory concessionary rate for senior citizens for all Council presentations. Regarding cultural and entertainment programmes with paid admissions, a mandatory scheme was introduced on 1 April 1990. Under this scheme, senior citizens (and students) are offered concessionary tickets for all cultural presentations at half price, subject to a 20% quota for each ticket price category and a minimum charge of $15. More recently, concessionary rates at $10 and $5 have also been introduced for museum exhibitions.
Regarding recreational and sports activities, senior citizens enjoy concessionary rates for:
(a) hire charges for UC sports and recreational venues during specified hours; and
(b) free admission for programmes organized specifically for senior citizens.
In addition, a paper is about to be put to Recreation Select Committee seeking to extend the concessionary rate scheme for senior citizens participating in UC organised community recreation and sports activities.
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The second part of the question asks about differences in the availability of concessionary rates for senior citizens in cultural programmes jointly presented by the Council and other organizations. The short answer is that this really depends on the willingness of the co-presenter. It would be difficult to insist that joint-presenters offer a similar mandatory scheme. The reason for this is the Council's contribution towards joint presentations is, in the main, limited to the provision of the venue, whilst the joint presenter is responsible for the production costs, keeps the box office receipts and takes the commercial risks. As Council normally enters into joint presentation arrangements with non-profit making organizations operating under budget constraints, the imposition of a mandatory scheme will add to the financial burden and risks of the joint presenters, and could result in discouraging them from organising events. This would be contrary to the Council's aim to encourage and promote cultural pursuits.
The third part of the question asks whether it would be possible to stipulate, as a pre-requisite for obtaining a booking of a Council venue, the provision of concessionary tickets for senior citizens. Such a scheme is fraught with even greater difficulties than joint presentations, with proposed concessionary rates given to the senior citizens. First, the bulk of the hirers of Council's cultural venues are relatively small, amateur, non-profit making organizations who can only afford to organise events occasionally despite the large subsidy given by the Council. If they are asked, in addition, to make concessionary rate tickets available, there is a strong likelihood that they would either seek a higher level of subsidy from the Council or forego the events. In either event there would be a loss of revenue to the Council which already heavily subsidizes the operating costs of the venues. Secondly, in the case of hirers who pay full commercial rates, any attempt to impose a mandatory scheme would certainly be seen as interfering with purely commercial decisions.
7. MS. ANNA K. Y. TANG asked the follow question (in Cantonese):-Since 1972, the number of cooked food stalls has been frozen under the Urban Council's scheme to improve the environment and food hygiene. In 1983, a new measure was introduced whereby any cooked food stall operators who voluntarily surrendered their licences would be compensated scores of thousand dollars and those who intended to continue operation would be resited in newly-built UC markets. The scheme was then supported by District Board members and the public. However, as soon as the cooked food stalls moved out, light refreshment shops, cafes and fast food shops proliferated. They expanded from their small shop space, occupying the rear lanes, footpaths and roads where they set up 'Open-air food stalls'. As a result, the streets are strewn with rubbish, roads are polluted, drains are blocked and noise nuisance is caused. Under such circumstances, people become sceptical about the effectiveness of the UC policy to improve the environment, as can be reflected by the numerous complaints lodged with the newspapers and received through the Meet-the-Public Scheme of District Boards. In this connection, I would like to ask the Council:
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