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two existing Municipal Councils, they will certainly be able to take concerted actions on the implementation of laws and policies. In that case, I must ask: will they still be councils, solemn forums reflecting public opinions?
The proposal to merge the two Municipal Councils and District Boards into several municipal councils is really disappointing. Only two kinds of people are in favour of this proposal. One is the central government which intends to control and manipulate everything. Such a government will find it easy to deal with representatives of public opinions through the tactic of 'divide and rule'. The other kind is the bureaucrats in power. They will find it easy to make use of their executive or financial power to control or manipulate individual districts in making reasonable requests. Worse still, local interests will be suppressed on the pretext of safeguarding the overall interests of the community. In other words, the executive-led policy will be applied to everything. If Municipal Councils based on territory-wide representation are dismantled and replaced by weak municipal councils with little popular representation, it will still be very difficult for the public to make any significant achievements through these municipal councils even if there is a 'commander with no soldier'. Facing this 'commander with no soldier', they can do little about it. The Urban Council is the first council with elected members. Both District Boards and the Municipal Councils were fully-elected bodies before July, 1997. Now, some people intend to bring them down. It is really regrettable. Is this a progression or retrogression in democracy? I hope Councillors with political wisdom will give more thought to this question.
With these remarks, Sir, I support the motion.
THE HON. HENRY WU KING-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the Provisional Urban Council's Annual Debate is held today as a motion debate for the Provisional Urban Council's Statement of Aims for 1998/99.
I understand that the annual Statement of Aims has been drawn up by the Select Committees after having thorough consideration and discussion, and with proper amendments. The meetings of today and the day after tomorrow are not only a formal procedure to endorse the Chairman's motion, but also an opportunity for colleagues to make a concluding speech on the Statement of Aims.
I have been much benefited from my work with the Provisional Urban Council in the past 6 months. Before I became a member of the Urban Council, I thought that its work was uncomplicated. However, after joining the Council, I have found that its work is far from being simple as it involves the provision of various services to the public, in areas related to daily life, recreation and sports, culture and entertainment, hygiene and environment, to name just a few. Given the importance of the Council's work to the people's daily lives and its close relationship with Hong Kong's overall urban
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