TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 19
KUK PRAISED FOR KEEPING UP WITH CHANGES
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THE WORK OF THE HEUNG YEE KUK HAS DEVELOPED AND CHANGED IN THE PAST 25 YEARS SO THAT THERE ARE NOW 24 SUB-COMMITTEES DEALING WITH SUBJECTS RANGING FROM HOUSING AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES TO EDUCATION AND CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
THIS WAS STATED TODAY BY THE ACTING GOVERNOR, SIR DAVID AKERS-JONES, AT THE INAUGURATION CEREMONY OF THE 26TH TERM OF THE N. T. HEUNG YEE KUK.
RECALLING THAT HE WAS ALSO PRESENT AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE 14TH TERM OF THE KUK 25 YEARS AGO, SIR DAVID SAID: +TODAY, AFTER 25 YEARS OF CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH THE KUK, IT GIVES ME GREAT PLEASURE TO RE-AFFIRM MY INTEREST BY BEING PRESENT AT THIS INAUGURATION OF THE 26TH TERM.+
SIR DAVID SAID THE KUK, IN THE PAST 25 YEARS, HAD MA INTA I NED ITS DETERMINATION TO FULFIL ITS OBJECTIVES BY REFLECTING THE NEEDS AND ASPIRATIONS OF THE PEOPLE, BY WISE ADVICE AND BY ASSISTING IN THE SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN THE COURSE OF DEVELOPMENT AND BY EXPLAINING THESE DEVELOPMENTS TO THE PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE SO DRAMATICALLY AFFECTED BY THEM.
+WITHOUT THIS COOPERATION, THE PROGRESS MADE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED, HE SAID.
THE HEUNG YEE KUK ORDINANCE, HE SAID, ENACTED AT THE END OF 1959, NOT ONLY GAVE THE KUK A FORMAL AND LEGAL EXISTENCE, IT ALSO ESTABLISHED THE CHAIRMAN, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF RURAL COMMITTEES, AND SPECIAL COUNCILLORS OF THE KUK AS A SYSTEM OF REPRESENTATION FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE NEW TERRITORIES REACHING UPWARD FROM THE VILLAGES TO A CENTRAL BODY.
HE SAID WHEN THE 14TH TERM OF THE KUK TOOK OFFICE AND BECAME A STATUTORY ORGANISATION IN 1960, THE POPULATION OF THE NEW TERRITORIES WAS ONLY ABOUT 400 000. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, IT IS ESTIMATED TO BE AROUND 1 837 000.
TO COPE WITH URBANISATION AND THE EXPANSION OF THE POPULATION, NEW SYSTEMS OF REPRESENTATION HAD BEEN INTRODUCED, HE SAID.
SIR DAVID SAID HE WAS PLEASED TO SEE THAT THE LONG ESTABLISHED ORGANISATION OF THE KUK HAD BEEN ABLE TO PLAY A PROMINENT PART IN THIS PROCESS.
+ IN THE MIDST OF THESE, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGES, THE MEMBERSHIP OF RURAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN ON THE DISTRICT BOARDS AND OF MEMBERS OF THE KUK ON THE REGIONAL COUNCIL IS OF GREAT VALUE, HE SAID.
SIR DAVID SAID HE HAD TAKEN NOTE OF THE CHAIRMAN, MR LAU WONG-FAT'S FRANK ADVICE ON A NUMBER OF MATTERS.
/INEVITABLY, HE