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9.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
opinions from the public in order to collect fundamental information for the purpose of drafting the Council's arts policies and development plan.
What is expected of the Urban Council
The Urban Council has all along given the public the impression that it is responsible for the control of hawkers, maintaining the sanitary condition of markets, street cleaning, collection of refuse and management of beaches, swimming pools and toilets. Our Chairman is even called ‘Doctor of Toilets'. The public regard this Council as a utilities company providing services to them. It is therefore worth our while to consider whether we should re-build our image as a fully elected Council. I have two unforgettable experiences on this subject. One is when Mr. HOARE, Director of Administration, attended a meeting of the Council to report on the resolution of the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group on the Court of Final Appeal. The other one is when an Urban Council Member raised a motion on the cessation of importation of labour. These subject matters are obviously not purely municipal issues. However, they have aroused heated discussions among Members and extensive report by the media. This tells us that in the process of democratization of the social culture, the role of the Urban Council should be redefined and its scope of business needs to be revised, because the society is now testing the effectiveness of representation of this Council and the public is now testing the democratic accomplishment of every elected Council Member.
Enriching City Life
'Enriching City Life' is the motto of the Council. Apart from fulfilling our basic duties of providing cultural, recreational and public health services, are we not committed to joining hands with the Hong Kong citizens to make Hong Kong a more caring, polite, understanding, cooperative and harmonious society?
Mr. Chairman, if we agree that the culture of Hong Kong is the product of a civilized and open society ruled by law, then we have full confidence and ability to go beyond 1997 with the people of Hong Kong, and to continue refining human qualities, promoting social justice and enhancing democratic awareness among the people in Chinese territory.
Mr. DANIEL TO BOON-MAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to deliver my speech today. First of all, I would like to tell what I think of the Council. With the introduction of a fully elected Urban Council in this term of office, different kinds of opinions are voiced in the Council, thereby making some people feel worried. However, I think that such worries are unwarranted because this is what we have to go through in the process of advancing toward an open society with a democratic system. We should be open-minded enough to tolerate those holding different views, to seek common ground while reserving differences, and to respect each other. I am aware of a lot of things in the Council. For example, there are many nice colleagues whose talents I admire very much. In fact, their unique
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