HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
327
1.
The hope to keep up our traditional culture and the social cultural life of Hong Kong:
2.
To provide better facilities so as to enhance the quality of community life:
3.
4.
To give elderly folks a chance for social activities and a chance to make more friends;
The hope that no other elderly folk will be prosecuted and convicted for bird-appreciation activities in a park.
I have so moved. I hope Members will support my motion.
MR. KAM NAI-WAI (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I support the motion moved by Mr. Stanley NG.
MR. DANIEL TO KIN-MAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, personally, I support bird-appreciation activities in the open area because birds can only have a good life in open, natural surroundings. Only then can birds stay, feed and breed in between trees. As an environmental protectionist, this is my very small hope.
In formulating our policies in future, the Urban Council should create more such environment. Currently, the Council maintains large bird-cages in the Botanical Gardens and the Kowloon Park for members of the public to appreciate birds. Today's motion is about the appreciation of birds in cages. Perhaps we should look at the motion from another angle because it is about a traditional folk activity that dates back a long long time. If the public wants to preserve this activity, the Council should face up to it and carry out surveys or studies.
First of all, we need to decide whether we see this activity positively as a normal activity of our people. We should find out the number of people involved in this and make it the basis of our evaluation. At the same time, we should consider the venue and see if we have a suitable place as a test point. If we make the test point within the urban area at a spot where more bird-appreciators gather together such as Mong Kok, Wan Chai or the Eastern District, can we put the activity on to a normal track? If we can make use of simple but effective management methods to enable bird-appreciators and park-goers share UC facilities, it will be a good thing.
Singapore was just now mentioned as an example. Maybe I can share with you what I know about the example. Places to hang up bird-cages have been designed in leisure gardens in Singapore, for example underneath creeper sheds or in the tree shades. A bird appreciator can pick up a metal number disc from the park management office, attach it to his cage and hang it up at the designated place. He can appreciate his birds there, so can passers-by. When he leaves, he has to return the disc to the management office for the next person in line to use. The Tourist Board of Singapore promotes such an activity and
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