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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
maintain traditional ancestral worship in a permanent cemetery without having to pay the ridiculously high fees of private cemeteries. If there is any group who will undertake to manage this permanent cemetery and charge only $500 or under for the fee, Council should not have any objection to giving the management of the cemetery to the group concerned.
This Council has encountered a most difficult problem in deciding what should be the fair and practical rental for market stalls. The scale based on auction results is not reliable or realistic, because speculation plays a large part in these results. In one or two instances, the rent arrived at amounts to the rent paid by the food-shops. Now, the food-shops are permitted to sell different kinds of commodities, whereas the market-stall holders are licensed to sell only one. Is it fair therefore to ask the market-stall holders to pay a rental equal to that of the food-shops? Would it not be fairer to both the Council and the stall-holders if the rent charged is based on the business return from the Revenue Department?
With these few remarks, Mr. Chairman, I have much pleasure in accepting your Statement of Progress and Policy placed before this Council. (Applause).
DR. R. H. S. LEE:-The Elected Members regard to-day's Annual Debate with the greatest importance because it is the only time in the year that they have the chance of forwarding the views of the Electorate in matters not related to the present scope of this Council. In the course of meeting the voters we are constantly reminded of the problems of the people. These range from medical facilities, welfare services, housing, public transportation to education.
Because of our rapidly growing population and our ever expanding economy, not only much forward planning and development are required, but a high degree of co-ordination and urgency is needed to meet these mounting demands. These shortages are well known, and they should have been realized a long time ago. As an example, we had pressed for a major hospital in Kowloon and another in Shau Kei Wan as long as 7 years ago. We were reassured by the then Director of Medical and Health Services that the one in Kowloon would probably be completed in 1959, and certainly not later than 1960; and that the medical needs of Shau Kei Wan would be taken care of. Need I remind Members that the foundation stone of the new Kowloon hospital has only recently been laid? And the site for the Shau Kei Wan hospital has not even been started? The trouble with Hong Kong, Mr. Chairman, is the fragmentation of powers vested in various Government departments and the absence of true representative government to give it a sense of cohesion and drive to get things done in the Legislature. If there were elected members on this Council, I am sure these matters would not be allowed to lie dormant for so long because the electorate would not stand for it. Nor with our contacts with the public would we press for the review of rent decontrol at this inopportune moment.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Since the Urban Council is the only body with an elected element in the Colony's Administration, it is high time that the status of this Council should be elevated to that of a City Council. A lot of delays in solving this Colony's problems are due to delays of timing the Colony's needs at a given particular moment. The most striking examples are those of resettlement and housing. Had these been tackled at the time when we pressed for them I am sure much greater results could be shown. Had Government had the benefit of elected members in its counsel this kind of delay would not be permitted: in another word, it suffers from the antiquity of its governmental machinery. If my diagnosis is not correct I am willing to take issue with any body that for every modern major city without a properly constituted municipal council I am prepared to name ten which have. It follows therefore that in this connection it can not be that every city is wrong and that Hong Kong is right. Nobody can deny the unsolved problems of Hong Kong and its teeming population. Like waging a war, how can we hope to solve to-day's problems with last century's weapons?
The Elected Members have been patient enough in withholding its demand for more powers to be given to this Council. Unless these legitimate demands are met it is quite probable that the more conscientious Members of this Council who have the true interests of Hong Kong at heart will not long remain a party to this organized hypocrisy. We try our best to advance the true aspirations of the people. Unless we have the means of achieving it like in any local government it means that the position of an elected member in respect to his constituency remains absolutely untenable. If we are unable to solve their problems it is better that we should step down and let others take the field.
To cope with our ever increasing problems, the Council should be enlarged to cover not only licensing, urban amenities, health and sanitation, but also highways, education, medical facilities and welfare services. Like any organization it must have a sound basis. We know what this Council is, and what it is not. Never, I believe, has any Council been asked to assume such responsibilities with so few elected Councillors. To guide the affairs of more than 2.4 million people, this Council requires the status of a City Council.
In view of Hong Kong's rapidly growing population, it is difficult to envisage a time when private schools can be dispensed with. Through no fault of their own, there are many such institutions operating for a long time in the urban area in structures which are not only
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
maintain traditional ancestral worship in a permanent cemetery without having to pay the ridiculously high fees of private cemeteries. If there is any group who will undertake to manage this permanent cemetery and charge only $500 or under for the fee, Council should not have any objection to giving the management of the cemetery to the group concerned.
This Council has encountered a most difficult problem in deciding what should be the fair and practical rental for market stalls. The scale based on auction results is not reliable or realistic, because speculation plays a large part in these results. In one or two instances, the rent arrived at amounts to the rent paid by the food-shops. Now, the food-shops are permitted to sell different kinds of commodities, whereas the market-stall holders are licensed to sell only one. Is it fair therefore to ask the market-stall holders to pay a rental equal to that of the food-shops? Would it not be fairer to both the Council and the stall-holders if the rent charged is based on the business return from the Revenue Department?
With these few remarks, Mr. Chairman, I have much pleasure in accepting your Statement of Progress and Policy placed before this Council. (Applause).
DR. R. H. S. LEE:-The Elected Members regard to-day's Annual Debate with the greatest importance because it is the only time in the year that they have the chance of forwarding the views of the Electorate in matters not related to the present scope of this Council. In the course of meeting the voters we are constantly reminded of the problems of the people. These range from medical facilities, welfare services, housing, public transportation to education.
Because of our rapidly growing population and our ever expanding economy, not only much forward planning and development are re- quired, but a high degree of co-ordination and urgency is needed to meet these mounting demands. These shortages are well known, and they should have been realized a long time ago. As an example, we had pressed for a major hospital in Kowloon and another in Shau Kei Wan as long as 7 years ago. We were reassured by the then Director of Medical and Health Services that the one in Kowloon would probably be com- pleted in 1959, and certainly not later than 1960; and that the medical needs of Shau Kei Wan would be taken care of. Need I remind Mem- bers that the foundation stone of the new Kowloon hospital has only recently been laid? And the site for the Shau Kei Wan hospital has not even been started? The trouble with Hong Kong, Mr. Chairman, is the fragmentation of powers vested in various Government departments and the absence of true representative government to give it a sense of cohe- sion and drive to get things done in the Legislature. If there were
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
15
elected members on this Council, I am sure these matters would not be allowed to lie dormant for so long because the electorate would not stand for it. Nor with our contacts with the public would we press for the review of rent decontrol at this inopportune moment.
Since the Urban Council is the only body with an elected element in the Colony's Administration, it is high time that the status of this Council should be elevated to that of a City Council. A lot of delays in solving this Colony's problems are due to delays of timing the Colony's needs at a given particular moment. The most striking ex- amples are those of resettlement and housing. Had these been tackled at the time when we pressed for them I am sure much greater results could be shown. Had Government had the benefit of elected members in its counsel this kind of delay would not be permitted: in another word, it suffers from the antiquity of its governmental machinery. If my diagnosis is not correct I am willing to take issue with any body that for every modern major city without a properly constituted municipal council I am prepared to name ten which have. It follows therefore that in this connection it can not be that every city is wrong and that Hong Kong is right. Nobody can deny the unsolved problems of Hong Kong and its teeming population. Like waging a war, how can we hope to solve to-day's problems with last century's weapons?
The Elected Members have been patient enough in withholding its demand for more powers to be given to this Council. Unless these legitimate demands are met it is quite probable that the more con- scientious Members of this Council who have the true interests of Hong Kong at heart will not long remain a party to this organized hypocrisy. We try our best to advance the true aspirations of the people. Unless we have the means of achieving it like in any local government it means that the position of an elected member in respect to his con- stituency remains absolutely untenable. If we are unable to solve their problems it is better that we should step down and let others take the field.
To cope with our ever increasing problems, the Council should be enlarged to cover not only licensing, urban amenities, health and sanitation, but also highways, education, medical facilities and welfare services. Like any organization it must have a sound basis. We know what this Council is, and what it is not. Never, I believe, has any Council been asked to assume such reponsibilities with so few elected Councillors. To guide the affairs of more than 24 millions people, this Council requires the status of a City Council.
In view of Hong Kong's rapidly growing population, it is difficult to envisage a time when private schools can be dispensed with. Through no fault of their own, there are many such institutions operat- ing for a long time in the urban area in structures which are not only
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