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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
3. MR. YIM KWOK-ON, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, moved the following motion:
'RESOLVED that the Public Health and Municipal Services (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) (No. 3) Order 1993 be made under section 106 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'
He said (in Cantonese):-As Vice-Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee, I rise on the motion standing in my name:
'RESOLVED that the Public Health and Municipal Services (Public Pleasure Grounds) (Amendment of Fourth Schedule) (No. 3) Order 1993 be made under section 106 of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Cap. 132.'
The purpose is to amend the Fourth Schedule of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, Chapter 132 to include five new venues and delete one existing public pleasure ground.
Sir, I so move.
MR. JOSEPH CHAN YUEK-SUT (in Cantonese):-I second the motion.
The question was put.
The motion was carried unanimously.
4.
THE HON. MAN SAI-CHEONG moved the following motion:-
'RESOLVED that in the context of the Urban Council's statutory powers and autonomy in matters of policy and finance, the Council reaffirms its existing commitments and will continue to play a key role in Hong Kong relating to the creation, promotion, preservation and public education in the performing, visual and literary arts.'
He said (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I move the motion today in order that Councillors and the public will pay close attention to our arts policy and the direction in which it will develop in future. I hope that Councillors will also look at the existing framework, the authority and also financial aspects of arts so that on an established basis, the Council can continue to play an important role in performing, visual and literary arts particularly in the areas of creation, promotion, preservation and education.
The Arts Policy Review Report was published by the Recreation and Culture Branch and the public is being consulted on the paper. The Urban Council is one of the most important agencies in promoting, supporting and participating in arts and arts development. We should indeed forward our views and we should indeed review the role to be played by the Urban Council.
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Arts helps to spark inspiration, to provide enjoyment to the public so that people will know, appreciate and criticise their society. So it plays an important role from the view point of individuals or the community as a whole. If we promote arts, arts will become popular and people will then have the rights to enjoy and to participate in artistic activities. Education plays an important role as to how to make the public to appreciate and understand arts. So public education on the arts front will help to publicise arts. Antique items of art have to be properly preserved so that our cultural legacy will remain with us to let further studies and appreciation of these arts continue. We want to diversify arts so that arts can reflect the present day society and also to enable us to take a critical look and reality. So when we review the role played by the Urban Council in the arts front, I will highlight four areas, namely, creation, promotion, education and preservation. I would like to exchange views with Councillors on these four points. With regard to arts promotion, the Urban Council has spared no efforts in the past. We provided basic facilities e.g. we built, reinstall and manage venues of facilities for artistic activities and we organized cultural activities e.g. Festival of Asian Arts, International Films Festival, Community Cantonese Operas Performances and also a Night of Philharmonic Music. These activities were well received by different strata of people, different age groups, people with different cultural taste. We have played a positive role in promoting and spreading classical music, traditional operas and also good films. As regards some professional and amateur dance, music or drama organizations, we reduce their rental charges so that the public can afford to appreciate these arts by paying a low fee. Free house programmes will help the public get to know these arts better and to increase their enjoyment in these arts. But the Urban Council should not be complacent.
With regard to promoting arts, I believe there are still rooms for improvement. For example, we have put in a lot of money to build the Museum of Art, but it is not that popular. The reason is that we charge fees for admission. Therefore the number of people visiting the museum has been reduced. The establishment of the Museum of Art is to let more people visit and appreciate the arts so as to promote the visual art. Admission fees have been levied when the climate for arts in Hong Kong is not yet ripe. The suggestion of designating a day in a week for free admission to our Museum of Art and Museum of History was not even considered. This is one example of inadequacy in promotion of arts. I believe that there are other examples that can be quoted. In these areas, it needs improvements. With regard to the strategy for promotion of arts, we have all along been lacking a comprehensive one and close cooperation with the media needs to be strengthened.
Secondly, I want to talk about education in arts. The Government have to promote arts education so that arts will become more popular. By doing so, the public will be interested in arts and know how to appreciate it. More visitors will then visit our cultural centres, civic centres and museums. From another view point, the cultural centres, civic centres, museums and libraries provided by the Urban Council have indirectly educated the public in appreciation of
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