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set by the Council on the use of funding, save for expenditures relating to overseas performances which should not be included as part of the subsidy.
MR. CHRISTOPHER CHUNG SHU-KUN (in Cantonese):-I have a follow-up question. As the Council's subsidy for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society amounts to some $74m, being the largest subsidy granted to the three performing companies under the Council and exceeding the subsidy for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra by more than 50%, I wish to ask the Chairman of the Select Committee how the Council monitors the use of the public money. Through what kind of mechanism do we monitor the use of the public money? How do those Councillors who are not on the Board of Directors of the Orchestra find out that such a large sum of public money is properly used? Or, may I ask the Chairman of the Select Committee whether he can tell us if there is any value-for-money assessment of the proper use of the administration expenditure? It is also mentioned in the written reply that being the sole professional orchestra in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra has higher artistic attainments than the other symphony orchestras in the territory. Are there any objective yardsticks to assess or evaluate the global artistic achievement of the Orchestra to convince Members that the some $74m has been well spent and not wasted? In the past year, we noted a number of issues involving the dismissal of musicians of the Orchestra. I must state here that I have no intention of interfering with the administration of the Orchestra, but we did receive some complaints about the Director and musicians of the Orchestra. Mr. Chairman, can we ask the Chairman of the Select Committee to brief us on the system of appointment and dismissal of the executive staff, Director and musicians of the Orchestra so that Members may know how the money is used?
MR. PAO PING-WING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, Mr. Christopher CHUNG has raised a number of questions. As they are a bit complicated, I will try to explain them one by one.
The first follow-up question raised by Mr. CHUNG is in fact also a question that Members are concerned. It is about how the Council monitors the proper use of the money by the Orchestra, or the so-called question of the use of public money.
Members will recall that in April this year, representatives of the Council were elected to the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society. At the same time, Mr. Ho Chi-ping was elected to the chairmanship of the Society. In fact, there is no direct supervision from the Council. Instead, we monitor the administration of the Society, including the use of money through our colleagues elected to the Board of Directors. In fact, the Board of Directors does not merely exercise supervision, because the decisions in respect of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and its parent body (the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society) are also made by it. As the Council's elected representatives to the Board of Directors account for half of the membership
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