HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN:- Mr. Chairman, as you are quite aware, I have on many occasions in the past been critical of some of the actions of either the Urban Services Department or of the Resettlement Department when I consider such to be against the public interest.
But I believe in giving credit where it is due and I take this opportunity of congratulating you and the Commissioner for Resettlement on this satisfactory and efficient manner in which the Estimates this year have been prepared.
Last month I urged you, Mr. Chairman, by means of a Council question to widen the practice of attaching Chinese translations to official replies to non-English speaking hawkers. In the present Estimates, we are asking for an additional Interpreter/Translator for the Resettlement Department. I would ask the Commissioner for Resettlement to seriously consider following the same practice in official replies to non-English speaking residents of the resettlement areas and estates. I am hundred percent sure that this measure would have the wholehearted support of the non-English speaking community.
I recall asking you, Mr. Chairman, in Select Committee whether in view of the "Keep Your City Clean" Campaigns it is really necessary to increase the frequency of street sweeping in a number of streets. Your reply was that the Campaigns were not achieving the full effect desired by the Department. I therefore would like to repeat a previous suggestion that if we are to keep our staff requirements for street cleaning to the absolute minimum consistent with efficiency, we will have to redouble our efforts to keep our streets clean by seeking the closest possible co-operation with the public, both directly and through the assistance of the Kaifongs and other interested organizations. Some of our streets are very clean, while others are atrociously filthy and a disgrace to Hong Kong's reputation as one of the foremost international cities of the world.
Mr. Chairman, I support the Estimates which you have laid on the table today.
CHAIRMAN:---Thank you, gentlemen. I am most grateful for your comments. I am particularly impressed by the suggestion of a small headquarters inspection unit and will look into this issue departmentally. I welcome the emphasis placed on health education. I can assure you that the City Hall is foremost in my thoughts and every care will be given to the selection of efficient staff for this purpose. I should be happy to convey the views of Mr. Bernacchi for the need of a permanent appointment of Secretary, Urban Council. And lastly I am fully in sympathy with the need for Chinese translations of outgoing letters.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
QUESTIONS.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
"A member of the public has suggested that the unused well at the Sung Wong Toi Garden be converted into a lighted fountain, using if possible a Chinese architectural design; will the Chairman please advise whether he would be prepared to support this suggestion and whether the necessary steps will be taken to design and install such a fountain?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
"The well in the Sung Wong Toi Garden is not in fact unused. It is some 25 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter, with a head of water in the wet season of 16 feet, diminishing to 14 feet in the dry season. It provides some 3,600 gallons a day, by means of an electric pump, for the use of the Gardens Section, at the cost of some six hours pumping. This by no means exhausts the well, and in fact it is under consideration as a possible source of water for street washing.
The site of the well itself, in the north-west corner of the garden, is not the best which could be chosen for a fountain. A better site would be between the gateway and the stone itself. The possibility of using the well to serve a fountain is a very real one, and I shall be happy to put the suggestion before the Urban Amenities Select Committee."
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
"In view of the building of the new City Hall, and a rapidly growing interest in music, a number of local music lovers have urged the formation of a Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra:
(a) To what extent has the Chairman given consideration to the formation of a Council-supported Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra?
(b) Would he agree to consult the various local music groups as to the desirability of forming such a Symphony Orchestra and the desirability of the Urban Council obtaining the services of a nucleus of experienced full-time players?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
"The question concerns the formation of a Symphony Orchestra in Hong Kong, a project that has been broached frequently in the past.
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180
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, as you are quite aware, I have on many occasions in the past been critical of some of the actions of either the Urban Services Department or of the Resettlement Department when I consider such to be against the public interest.
But I believe in giving credit where it is due and I take this oppor- tunity of congratulating you and the Commissioner for Resettlement on this satisfactory and efficient manner in which the Estimates this year have been prepared.
Last month I urged you, Mr. Chairman, by means of a Council question to widen the practice of attaching Chinese translations to official replies to non-English speaking hawkers. In the present Estimates, we are asking for an additional Interpreter/Translator for the Resettlement Department. I would ask the Commissioner for Resettlement to seriously consider following the same practice in official replies to non-English speaking residents of the resettlement areas and estates. I am hundred percent sure that this measure would have the wholehearted support of the non-English speaking community.
I recalling asking you, Mr. Chairman, in Select Committee whether in view of the "Keep Your City Clean" Campaigns it is really neces- sary to increase the frequency of street sweeping in a number of streets. Your reply was that the Campaigns were not achieving the full effect desired by the Department. I therefore would like to repeat a previous suggestion that if we are to keep our staff requirements for street clean- sing to the absolute minimum consistent with efficiency, we will have to redouble our efforts to keep our streets clean by seeking the closest possible co-operation with the public, both directly and through the assistance of the Kaifongs and other interested organizations. Some of our streets are very clean, while others are atrociously filthy and a disgrace to Hong Kong's reputation as one of the foremost international cities of the world.
Mr. Chairman, I support the Estimates which you have laid on the table today.
CHAIRMAN:---Thank you, gentlemen. I am most grateful for your comments. I am particularly impressed by the suggestion of a small headquarters inspection unit and will look into this issue departmentally. I welcome the emphasis placed on health education. I can assure you that the City Hall is foremost in my thoughts and every care will be given to the selection of efficient staff for this purpose. I should be happy to convey the views of Mr. Bernacchi for the need of a permanent appointment of Secretary, Urban Council. And lastly I am fully in sympathy with the need for Chinese translations of outgoing letters.
HONG KONG-URBAN COUNCIL
QUESTIONS.
181
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:----
"A member of the public has suggested that the unused well at the Sung Wong Toi Garden be converted into a lighted fountain, using if possible a Chinese architectural design; will the Chairman please advise whether he would be prepared to support this suggestion and whether the neces- sary steps will be taken to design and install such a fountain?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
"The well in the Sung Wong Toi Garden is not in fact unused. It is some 25 feet deep and 5 feet in diameter, with a head of water in the wet season of 16 feet, diminishing to 14 feet in the dry season. It provides some 3,600 gallons a day, by means of an electric pump, for the use of the Gardens Section, at the cost of some six hours pumping. This by no means exhausts the well, and in fact it is under consideration as a possible source of water for street washing.
The site of the well itself, in the north-west corner of the garden, is not the best which could be chosen for a fountain. A better site would be between the gateway and the stone itself. The possibility of using the well to serve a fountain is a very real one, and I shall be happy to put the suggestion before the Urban Amenities Select Committee."
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:
"In view of the building of the new City Hall, and a rapidly growing interest in music, a number of local music lovers have urged the formation of a Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra:
(a) To what extent has the Chairman given consider- ation to the formation of a Council-supported Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra?
(b) Would he agree to consult the various local music groups as to the desirability of forming such a Symphony Orchestra and the desirability of the Urban Council obtaining the services of a nucleus of experienced full-time players?"
THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:
"The question concerns the formation of a Symphony Orches- tra in Hong Kong, a project that has been broached frequently in the past.
Page 98 of 10
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