HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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time, as members of the public can look into the expenditure of all Members at any time, any improper or inexplicable account will not be able to escape public scrutiny. As Members themselves have to be accountable to the public, this will no doubt increase the transparency of Members' expenditure. Therefore, I urge the Urban Council to lose no time in drawing up a good remuneration and allowance monitoring system under the principle of fairness, openness and reasonableness to ensure that the resources of the Urban Council can be utilized in a satisfactory manner and to improve the overall quality of the Urban Council.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
Mr. Chan Kwok-leung (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, in the eyes of the people of Hong Kong, 1997 should be the most impressive year. On the political front, there was the return to the mother country with the establishment of the Government of the Special Administrative Region. As for the economy, there was the October stock market crisis coupled with a downward slide in property prices. The stock market crisis came at a season when we should be able to enjoy hairy crabs. But contrary to our expectation, many stock investors became 'hairy crabs' instead and they relived the experience of being 'hairy crabs' over the past two weeks. Nevertheless, my main concern is not those 'hairy crabs' but the old subject of food hygiene.
1997 can be said to be a disastrous year for food hygiene and I suppose this view should be most sympathetically shared by chickens. Although we cannot say that Hong Kong is affluent, the local people are basically well-fed. Yet in 1997, we found ourselves facing the risk of food deprivation. In March, 1997, Hong Kong discovered the first case of beef carrying E. Coli O157 virus. A few months later, the case recurred in the same place and some people were so worried that they dared not have beef. In October, an import ice-cream was found to contain Listeria monocytogenes, driving some people away from ice-cream thereafter for the sake of their health and not for mere diet purpose. In November, residues of a pesticide containing methamidophos were found in vegetables and gave rise to food poisoning cases. By then, people began to be aware that being vegetarian was not absolutely safe. On 28th December, the Government conducted the historical chicken slaughter exercise in order to prevent the spread of bird influenza. As a result, people had to give up even chickens from their diet. The people of Hong Kong are thrown out from their well-fed state today simply because an alarm has been sounded on the local food hygiene system. The recent bird flu outbreak fully exposed the old-fashioned attitude and insensitive response of the officials in the health departments of Hong Kong as well as the poor leadership and indecisive character of the senior levels in the Hong Kong Government. Consequently, the bird flu outbreak became unmanageable.
The first case of bird flu virus infecting human body was discovered in Hong Kong as early as May, 1997. Under the assistance of overseas experts, it was
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