27
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1994
GOVERNOR:
CAN I CLARIFY THE 500. WE ARE AIMING FOR 500 ADDITIONAL NURSES A YEAR. ON TOP OF THOSE THAT WE NEED TO REPLACE NURSES WHO LEAVE THE PROFESSION OR LEAVE HONG KONG. SO THE GROSS NUMBER WILL BE MORE THAN 500 AND THAT IS GOING TO BE PRETTY CHALLENGING.
WE ARE ALSO TRYING, AS YOU SAID, TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PLACES AVAILABLE FOR NURSING DEGREES. WE ARE DISCUSSING THAT WITH THE UGC AT THE MOMENT AND I HOPE THAT WE WILL BE ABLE то MEET OUR OBJECTIVE OF HAVING MORE NURSING DEGREES AVAILABLE AS WELL AS MORE NURSING DEGREE PLACES AVAILABLE AS WELL AS MORE NURSES IN THE
PROFESSION.
THERE ARE TWO OTHER THINGS WHICH I THINK ARE RELEVANT TO THE PROBLEMS FACED BY NURSES. FIRST, A LOT OF THOSE WHO ARE STUDYING TO BE NURSES FEEL THAT THEY DON'T SPEND QUITE ENOUGH TIME IN THE LECTURE ROOM AND SLIGHTLY TOO MUCH TIME ON THE WARD AND WE ARE ADDRESSING THAT ISSUE TO GIVE THEM MORE TIME IN THE CLASSROOM OR LECTURE ROOM. AND SECONDLY, I THINK A LOT OF NURSES. FEEL THAT THERE ARE MANY JOBS THEY DO WHICH COULD BE BETTER DONE BY OTHER HEALTH WORKERS, BY ANCILLARY HEALTH WORKERS, AND WE ARE HOPING TO ADDRESS THAT PROBLEM AS WELL. SO THAT NURSES ARE SPENDING THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THEIR TIME ON PROFESSIONAL DUTIES RATHER THAN ON DUTIES WHICH COULD BE DONE VALUABLE ANCILLARY WORKER WHO HASN'T BEEN TRAINED AS A NURSE.
QUESTION:
BY A
MR GOVERNOR NOT SO MUCH TALKED-ABOUT QUESTION SO I HAVE ΤΟ GATHER MY COURAGE TO ASK THAT QUESTION. IN YOUR POLICY ADDRESS YOU SEEM TO HAVE INVESTED HEAVILY IN THE ARTS AND OF COURSE WE HAVE A VERY GRAND CULTURAL CENTRE BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED INVESTING IN ARTS, BASIC ARTS EDUCATION AND LOCAL CRITICS MAGAZINES
ON? AND SO BECAUSE IN OTHER AREAS, RTHK FOR EXAMPLE, IT WOULD HAVE CRITICISMS PUBLIC ACTION, GOVERNMENT ACTION AND SO ON. BUT THEN ALSO THERE
PUBLICATION WHICH'S CALLED "CROSS" I BELIEVE, WHICH STOPPED PRESS BECAUSE THERE IS NO MORE SUBSIDY. HOW COME IN HONG KONG WE CANNOT EVEN TOLERATE SUCH A MAGAZINE?
ON
WAS
GOVERNOR:
I AM AFRAID IT'S NOT A MAGAZINE THAT I'VE READ BUT I'VE OBVIOUSLY MISSED OUT. WE SET UP AS YOU KNOW, THE ARTS DEVELOPMENT BOARD WITH A VERY DISTINGUISHED GROUP OF PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE ARTS ON IT AND I THINK THAT THE ARTS ARE PRETTY WIDELY REPRESENTED ON THAT BOARD. AND I BELIEVE MYSELF THAT IT IS RIGHT GIVEN THE LEVEL OF ECONOMIC PROSPERITY THAT HONG KONG HAS ARRIVED AT AND GIVEN THE EDUCATIONAL LEVELS WHICH HONG KONG HAS ARRIVED AT THAT WE SHOULD DO MORE TO SPONSOR AND ENCOURAGE THE ARTS. SO WE'VE GOT THE ARTS DEVELOPMENT BOARD SET UP AND WE HAVE OF COURSE GOT A THRIVING ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS.
/ONE OF