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be no beginning for the many improvements that need to be made. And the key to the key is the leaders of the Council and the Department.
Regrettably the Chairman has left early. Although he is not present, I still wish to offer him a small piece of advice. He is the conductor of the entire symphony orchestra. He leads us in playing harmonious and majestic music. He must not leave his post and go to hit the cymbal and play the violin. He should pay attention to the entire Council and do his job. It is only then the operation can be smooth. If he neglected the affairs of the Council as a whole and frequently interfered with individual matters, especially specific disputes, the operation of the Council would definitely be affected.
Thanks to Mr. LAI for pinpointing that the Council's image depended on the efforts of every Member, but I do hope that there is no misunderstanding on the part of the public that in certain circumstances, the performance of a certain Member does not necessarily represent that of the entire Council. Thank you, Mr. Chairman,
The question was put.
18 in favour. 4 abstentions.
The motion was carried.
(6) MR. WONG Kwok-hing moved the following motion:-
'RESOLVED that the Council should strengthen the control on mechanical amusement games venues to vigorously stamp out gambling machines and unlicensed operations, and ensure public security and healthy development of children.'
He said (in Cantonese):-Since the American Adventure Land mechanical games centre in Cityplaza was prosecuted because of unlicensed operation and the case was covered by the press at the end of July, there has been much public concern for the safety, licensing procedures and bad influence of gambling games on children.
Amusement games centres such as the American Adventure Land are directly licensed and supervised by the Council and the Department. They are unlike electronic games centres which are licensed by the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA). They are inspected by the police and monitored by TELA.
According to information provided by the Department, there are at present a total of 52 mechanical games centres, 17 of which are now applying for a licence and are therefore operating without one. These venues must be granted a licence for place of public entertainment by the Council before they can operate legally. The question therefore arises that should accidents happen in
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Page 274 of 654