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fact we do not need any grandiose or ephemeral fanfare. I believe that the people of Hong Kong do not want any extravagant celebrations. The Home Affairs Bureau may not be too pleased to hear this for such is the gimmick they are good at. We are not celebrating just for one day; we are celebrating for the renewal of society and for orientation so as to meet the challenges of the next century.
In organizing these celebration activities, the Council should seize the opportunity to initiate a series of cultural activities instead of any grandiose fanfare, so as to let the public share and take pride in the achievements of Hong Kong and to have a better understanding of our history and culture, for the ultimate purpose of showing to our next generation the variety and diversity of our culture.
Mr. Chairman, if the Council can take the lead and adopt a pragmatic and forward-looking attitude in organizing a series of turn-of-the-century literary activities and stage events by making full use of our venues and public spaces, we will leave the people of Hong Kong with a lot of good memories in the coming year. Even if the Municipal Councils are to be dissolved, Hong Kong people will miss the good old days of the Councils and will snap up the souvenirs engraved with the UC bauhinia logo, just as they flocked to the Kai Tak Airport before its closure. They will be staying with us to witness this historic moment and the Urban Council will be within one of the cherished memories of the people of Hong Kong. Mr. Chairman, these are my remarks.
Ms. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman,
Just now many colleagues have expressed their feeling on the 'scrapping of the Municipal Councils', but I think whatever the Urban Council (UC) will become in future, we should still adhere to our positive, enterprising and down-to-earth attitude. As pointed out by the Chairman in his motion just now, UC has initiated a lot of positive measures during the economic downturn to facilitate the recovery of the economy in the public interest. These include freezing and reducing rentals and charges etc. as well as urging the USD to study the feasibility of setting up a flea market, so as to create more employment and business opportunities. It shows that UC, an elected Council with policy-making power, is not only capable of providing urban and hygiene services and promoting culture and entertainment, but can also discern and respond to public sentiment and social climate. On the contrary, the inter-departmental working group on "Healthy Living into the 21st Century" has misplaced its focus. At present the urgent task in society is to tackle the unemployment problem, but the Government has overlooked the overall social climate. Whilst the people are deeply concerned about their rice bowl, the Government has requested the UC to assist it in launching the 'Black Spots Elimination Exercise'. However, hygiene problem is closely related to economic condition. When the economy is poor, unlicensed hawkers will drastically increase, making the streets dirtier, thus creating more black spots
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