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interfere with sudden destructive actions. I recall that after we had accepted the application for holding a great mass-meeting to be participated by 40,000 women and children in celebration of reunification at the Victoria Park on 1 July 1997, the Alliance requested approval for organizing a demonstration parade with 3000 participants, to be held just beside the 40,000 women and children. The Hon. SZETO Wah, Chairman of the Alliance, declared in the Council that if their request was rejected, they would take to civil disobedience and break into the Victoria Park. According to the findings of a public opinion survey carried out by a leading newspaper, one-third of the respondents thought that there would be conflicts and danger if two parties of opposing aims organized activities at the same venue. Mr. Chairman, if there is a 30% possibility that the plane you are going to take has carried a bomb and there is also a 30% possibility that it may explode, would you allow this plane to take off? Although the newspaper intended to bolster the fighting spirit of the Alliance by putting on its headline that "50% of the respondents were not worried about the precipitation of conflicts", the Hon. SZETO Wah, a headmaster who has protected his students for over 30 years, finally retracted his words and averted an impending danger. My thanks to him. Today, the frankness of the Hon. LEE Cheuk-yan exactly reflects the wise decision of the Council made at that time.
A TSANG Cho-choi alone clearly reveals the lack of coordination and incapability of Government departments. In the past 20-odd years, this Mr. TSANG has been making graffiti wantonly in public places all over the territory, be it a public wall, a flyover pillar, a lamp-post, or a switch box. It is even more ridiculous that some so-called artists have commended his “works” as works of art. They have indeed played a joke on the six million people of Hong Kong. However, as people at the top appreciate such an act, those at the lower level would definitely be even more so. Few political parties and councillors in Hong Kong do not violate the law knowingly and, before obtaining approval from the District Lands Offices concerned, they deliberately hoisted banners and wooden placards at various places throughout the territory. Whenever Mr. TSANG Cho-choi makes a new graffiti, it represents another challenge to the law of Hong Kong and a further scoff at the incapability of the Hong Kong Government. In connection with the launching of the “Healthy Living into the 21st Century" Campaign led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, it is suggested that the fine for a littering offence should be $1,000 upon first conviction, and cleansing service for subsequent convictions. However, before the "works" of Mr. TSANG Cho-choi have been properly dealt with, how can the aforesaid suggestion of fines be convincing enough? Over 170,000 civil servants have been at wit's end with just a simple case involving only one person, not to mention the incidents of the bird flu and the new airport. One single incident signifies a lot of things. The extravagant hope that the authorities concerned can solve problems promptly and satisfactorily is nothing but castle in the air.
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