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The same thing happened in respect to the Director of Medical Services. A former Director of Medical Services had a personal dispute with a former Chairman of the Urban Council and as a result he refused to attend the Council Meetings and eventually "the powers that be" gave in and agreed that he should be represented by the Assistant Director of Health Services. I have a great admiration for a lot of the work that the present Director of Medical Services is doing and the same goes for the new Commissioner of Police but they should be here on this Council and this Council should be the Municipal Council of the Colony or it should not be here at all.
Talk, talk continues in respect to the question of slum clearance, but has this Council been consulted or invited to participate? Are we even consulted about the development of the city itself? What is all this talk about a hotel to be built on Murray Parade Ground by some syndicate that certainly seem to have a lot of inside information about things? Should the Murray Parade Ground go to auction as a hotel site? Is that the best use for this particular piece of land? Whose decision was it? Certainly not ours! At present we are a sop, Sir. A sop to the principle of elected representation when in fact the elections are by an infinitesimal proportion of the citizens of Hong Kong to a permanent minority on a Council that has less real authority than a Rural Committee in England.
Some Members may be complaining that we were overruled by the Governor in Council in the matter of the Cape Collinson Cemetery. Personally, I do not complain about that. At least at present let the Governor in Council sit as a sort of final Court of Appeal if people do not like our decisions and wish to take the matter further, but for goodness sake give this Council some real power and responsibility or let it go. Why, not only have we no real staff even to carry out the decisions of this Council but it is stressed to us again and again that the so-called Urban Services Department is quite separate and distinct from the Council and is more and more performing duties allocated to it by Government which we are told are no real concern of the Council. We have graciously been allowed to advise on bathing beaches in the New Territories which are now administered by Urban Services Department staff. What a farce! How ridiculous can we get in this Colony.
In this Colony enormous power is wielded by such Heads of Departments as the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Works and a few others. Powers which in my opinion should not be held by members of the Civil Service however able they may be. Quite a recent example is this fantastic written examination that has been introduced now as part of the driving test. An examination which apparently takes no regard to the fact that owing to our inadequate educational facilities many young men and women holding learners driving licences are not able to reach a sufficient standard of reading and writing to be able to sit for a written examination. One young man I know who in my opinion is a very capable driver was failed because he returned a blank paper on his written examination for the simple reason that he did not know enough Chinese to be able to read the questions. Yet, if some outsider comes to Hong Kong with a driving licence he has picked up in some backwater he will be able to exchange it for a Hong Kong driving licence. I only pick this as an example of the almost uncontrolled power that the Police and other Departments have in this Colony.
Measures are taken to control corruption. I doubt whether they will succeed. Ultimately, the only way to control corruption is to create a healthy spirit of moral rearmament in the people of this Colony whatever their beliefs and religions, and how can that happen if they are not given some chance to have a say in the government of this Colony. But alright, I know the odds are piled against me in this type of battle. I know that if the Government intends to retain this power in the Heads of Department, and has the support from the Colonial Office, it will do so, but all I say is that if you do do that, then do not continue this farce of an Urban Council.
With these words Mr. Chairman and for what it is worth, I accept the Council's statement of progress and policy that you have tabled, knowing full well that it is the best that can be hoped for consistent with Government's present policy and your own position as a Civil Servant appointed by law to be Chairman of this Council. And let me end what I know is a provocative speech and intended to be so, by saying that in any proper Municipal Council the Chairman would be one of the Members elected to that Office by his fellow Members year by year.
MR. LI YIU-BOR:- Mr. Chairman, this is the only occasion in the year when standing orders are put aside and members are at liberty to speak on anything under the sun. However, as far as I can remember, this privilege has never been abused, and members have almost invariably confined themselves to subjects of genuine interest to the community.
First, Sir, permit me to congratulate you on a very comprehensive report which covers almost every branch of this Council's activities. I am particularly pleased to see the rapid development of parks, playgrounds and roadside plots for the use of the general public, and I have no doubt that the 30-odd schemes planned for the next fiscal year will be completed according to schedule, but I should like to take this opportunity to urge that the Kowloon Tsai Park with its swimming pools should be built as early as circumstances will permit.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 20 of 118
Page 19 of 118
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
The same thing happened in respect to the Director of Medical Services. A former Director of Medical Services had a personal dispute with a former Chairman of the Urban Council and as a result he refused to attend the Council Meetings and eventually "the powers that be" gave in and agreed that he should be represented by the Assistant Director of Health Services. I have a great admiration for a lot of the work that the present Director of Medical Services is doing and the same goes for the new Commissioner of Police but they should be here on this Council and this Council should be the Municipal Council of the Colony or it should not be here at all.
Talk, talk continues in respect to the question of slum clearance, but has this Council been consulted or invited to participate? Are we even consulted about the development of the city itself? What is all this talk about a hotel to be built on Murray Parade Ground by some syndicate that certainly seem to have a lot of inside information about things? Should the Murray Parade Ground go to auction as a hotel site? Is that the best use for this particular piece of land? Whose decision was it? Certainly not ours! At present we are a sop, Sir. A sop to the principle of elected representation when in fact the elections are by an infintesimal proportion of the citizens of Hong Kong to a permanent minority on a Council that has less real authority than a Rural Committee in England.
Some Members may be complaining that we were overruled by the Governor in Council in the matter of the Cape Collinson Cemetery. Personally, I do not complain about that. At least at present let the Governor in Council sit as a sort of final Court of Appeal if people do not like our decisions and wish to take the matter further, but for goodness sake give this Council some real power and responsibility or let it go. Why, not only have we no real staff even to carry out the decisions of this Council but it is stressed to us again and again that the so-called Urban Services Department is quite separate and distinct from the Council and is more and more performing duties allocated to it by Government which we are told are no real concern of the Council. We have graciously been allowed to advise on bathing beaches in the New Territories which are now administered by Urban Services Department staff. What a farce! How ridiculous can we get in this Colony.
In this Colony enormous power is wielded by such Heads of Departments as the Commissioner of Police, the Director of Public Works and a few others. Powers which in my opinion should not be held by members of the Civil Service however able they may be. Quite a recent example is this fantastic written examination that has been introduced now as part of the driving test. An examination which apparently takes no regard to the fact that owing to our
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
23
inadequate educational facilities many young men and women holding learners driving licences are not able to reach a sufficient standard of reading and writing to be able to sit for a written examination. One young man I know who in my opinion is a very capable driver was failed because he returned a blank paper on his written examination for the simple reason that he did not know enough Chinese to be able to read the questions. Yet, if some outsider comes to Hong Kong with a driving licence he has picked up in some backwater he will be able to exchange it for a Hong Kong driving licence. I only pick this as an example of the almost uncontrolled power that the Police and other Departments have in this Colony.
Measures are taken to control corruption. I doubt whether they will succeed. Ultimately, the only way to control corruption is to create a healthy spirit of moral rearmament in the people of this Colony whatever their beliefs and religions, and how can that happen if they are not given some chance to have a say in the government of this Colony. But alright, I know the odds are piled against me in this type of battle. I know that if the Government intends to retain this power in the Heads of Department, and has the support from the Colonial Office, it will do so, but all I say is that if you do do that, then do not continue this farce of an Urban Council.
With these words Mr. Chairman and for what it is worth, I accept the Council's statement of progress and policy that you have tabled, knowing full well that it is the best that can be hoped for consistent with Government's present policy and your own position as a Civil Servant appointed by law to be Chairman of this Council. And let me end what I know is a provocative speech and intended to be so, by saying that in any proper Municipal Council the Chairman would be one of the Members elected to that Office by his fellow Members year by year.
MR. LI YIU-BOR:-Mr. Chairman, this is the only occasion in the year when standing orders are put aside and members are at liberty to speak on anything under the sun. However, as far as I can remember, this privilege has never been abused, and members have almost invariably confined themselves to subjects of genuine interest to the community.
First, Sir, permit me to congratulate you on a very comprehensive report which covers almost every branch of this Council's activities. I am particularly pleased to see the rapid development of parks, playgrounds and roadside plots for the use of the general public, and I have no doubt that the 30-odd schemes planned for the next fiscal year will be completed according to schedule, but I should like to take this opportunity to urge that the Kowloon Tsai Park with its swimming pools should be built as early as circumstances will permit.
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Private notes are available after approval.