HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
143
We have done a lot but there is still room for improvement. The Urban Council, as far as resources allow, will try the best to provide more services and make improvements to the sports and recreational facilities for the disabled. By strengthening our efforts in this aspect, people will not misunderstand that we discriminate against the disabled or ignore their needs. Referring to what Ms. CHOW said, in our libraries, we have already provided special machines for the blind or those who are visually impaired. Furthermore, every year we allocate some funds to produce Braille books for the visually impaired.
Mr. Chairman, as far as this motion is concerned, I agree that we can do more for the disabled and therefore support the motion.
Mr. Leung KAM-TAO (in Cantonese):—The ADPL was all along concerned with the needs of the disabled. I support the spirit of the motion but am worried about its implementation. When the Department organizes activities based on the principle of integrating the disabled and able-bodied, they apparently enjoy equal opportunities. However, as we don't make special arrangements for the disabled, the able-bodied will actually enjoy the majority of our resources. The disabled, because of a number of restrictions, will be barred from participation. I have been providing services for the disabled for a long time and from my experience, I understand that the disabled faced a number of restrictions. First of all, the disabled may feel that they are inferior and their abilities fall short of that of the able-bodied. This is a major obstacle. As a result, the disabled are discouraged from taking part in the ordinary activities. Secondly, the design of our programmes and facilities are mainly for the needs of the able-bodied. It makes it difficult for the disabled to participate, for example, the disabled cannot participate in training courses on ball games. Of course, it is found that some disabled can take part in basketball games but they have to sit on wheelchairs. Indeed, the ordinary training courses may not be able to cater for their needs. Thirdly, when we design our venues, we only use the able-bodied as target participants. For example, the temperature of water in our swimming pools is set at a level which suits the able-bodied, but what about the disabled people, the elderly, and people who have some physical disabilities? I don't think they can really stand the water temperature in our swimming pools. There are many restrictions in the design of our venues. So, I think we should adopt integration as our long-term goal but before we can reach this goal, I think the Council has to set aside some funds to organise activities specially for the disabled and encourage their participation. In order to reach our long-term goal, I suggest 3 measures.
First, the Council must co-operate with the groups who take care of the interests of the disabled to organise more activities and encourage the disabled to participate. Secondly, we must take into account the special abilities and needs of the disabled in designing the format of activities with a fixed proportion of resources for organising such activities. Thirdly, we should reconsider the design of our venues other than their accessibility and the provision of disabled public toilets. We should take into account the needs of
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