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culture from that of China and thus when we formulate our cultural policies, we must be mindful of this fact. I don't think we should lead others' mind, interfere with others' on their development of ideology and impose our cultural policies on others. The Urban Council is only an organization in which we can make use of our resources to provide information to others and to promote culture and art. I think this is a line I am always taking. Based on the foregoings, I support the motion.
MR. DANIEL TO BOON-MAN (in Cantonese): share the points raised by Miss Wong since the motion has outlined a need for developing culture and art, though we have to proceed with caution. If you look at our past records, it is not true that we did not have an aim. It is just the aim was vague, unclear and concerned only with the development of hardware. As regards the development of software, I think Miss WONG was correct in saying that we did not have much sense of direction.
Consequently, we need to systematise, clarify and materialize our aims today so that we will have some sort of path to follow. I believe Members will not object to the suggestion of having a set of clear departmental guidelines which can assist in developing our plans strategically and with a greater sense of direction. The Urban Council is an autonomous body and if we have a plan and direction, we can better utilise our resources by prioritising them to achieve our goals. We can also have a clearer and more objective assessment of the work done vis a vis the aims and policies that we lay down. Given that this is a path for the Council to follow in future, to avoid being vague and ambiguous, I suggest the Council to set up a working group to follow up this issue so that we can discuss and liaise with the relevant arts community, Arts Development Council and Sports Development Board on our plans with a view to implementing them for the benefit of the Hong Kong community.
MR. CHRISTOPHER CHUNG SHU-KUN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I support Miss WONG's motion not because she has taken more than 20 minutes to express her views but rather because I think that this motion would be generally agreeable by Members and as a matter of fact, her suggestion is supported by the cultural community in Hong Kong. So I recommend her proposal to you all. In fact, this does not have a very strong impact on the work of the Department, because after all, we are simply talking about drafting clear and reasonable 5-year plans. Without these 5-year plans, the work of the Council will become that much easier in the sense that we just say Yes or No after looking at the papers and then the meeting will adjourn.
We are elected Members, from the 1995 election and we have the responsibility to promote cultural activities. Even though many of us are laymen in the field, as elected Members, I feel we should move forward with confidence and adopt a spirit of openness and frankness in listening to the views of others, the honourary advisers, community groups and the audience. So even though the 5-year plan would entail more work for us, I still feel it is worth
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