HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. MORRISON:--Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I am most touched by your kind words, most of which are entirely undeserved. I have indeed been associated with this Council for a number of years since 1955 in various capacities. I think I have attended 68 monthly meetings, not all of which, of course, have been quite as long as this one. (Laughter). It has been the greatest of pleasures to know you all personally and to participate in the very valuable discussions which take place around this table. I cannot claim to have contributed very much myself to these discussions but I certainly learned a lot and I am very grateful for the guidance which I have received from you all at various times. In fact, the only permanent mark that I shall leave on the face of the Colony is rather a trim building, white outside, with wooden floors, in Causeway Bay which houses two excellent squash courts. (Laughter). At the same time, I think I can say that there are few Government servants who have been called on to answer quite so many questions in public, (I am referring, of course, to the supplementaries of my old friends Hilton and Sonny) and also deal with the epistolary and oral broadsides from Mrs. ELLIOTT. (Laughter). I must confess that there have been occasions when I have disagreed with the views of the majority, but you have been very kind and sympathetic and understanding. There is certainly no-one who better appreciates the vast amount of time which you all devote to the affairs of this Council to the detriment of your normal private affairs.
Arguments and disagreements are a very good thing because they lead eventually to the "happy mean", and this is what we are all after. I know for certain that the one guiding force which keeps you all together is the assurance that you are all determined that the guiding force for you should be the "Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number". That is the fundamental belief which can keep any Council on the right track in the long run, and progress will unquestionably be sure and steady. That is, provided, of course, that the track is neither completely obstructed by litter, parked motor vehicles, tolerated illegal structures, unofficial hawker bazaars, and cattle, swine, sheep and goats, nor obscured by smoke from abattoirs and incinerators or fallouts from nuclear explosions (Laughter) and the Councillors do not stumble into wells and pools or get entangled in Standing Orders or consume water from doubtful sources (Laughter) and do not fall victim to a gunpowder-like plot on the part of the Pest Control Section. (To-day is, of course, Guy Fawkes day.) (Laughter).
With these words (it has been a very long meeting and I do not want to keep it any longer) I would like to express my grateful thanks for all the friendships and kindnesses which I have experienced in this Council and wish you all the best in the future. (Applause).
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADJOURNMENT.
CHAIRMAN:-That concludes the business of this meeting. Council stands adjourned until Tuesday, 3rd December, 1963.
PRINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, HONG KONG
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Page 118 of 194
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. MORRISON:--Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I am most touched by your kind words, most of which are entirely undeserved. I have indeed been associated with this Council for a number of years since 1955 in various capacities. I think I have attended 68 monthly meetings, not all of which, of course, have been quite as long as this one. (Laughter). It has been the greatest of pleasures to know you all personally and to participate in the very valuable discussions which take place around this table. I cannot claim to have contributed very much myself to these discussions but I certainly learned a lot and I am very grateful for the guidance which I have received from you all at various times. In fact, the only permanent mark that I shall leave on the face of the Colony is rather a trim building, white outside, with wooden floors, in Causeway Bay which houses two excellent squash courts. (Laughter). At the same time, I think I can say that there are few Government servants who have been called on to answer quite so many questions in public, (I am referring, of course, to the supplemen- taries of my old friends Hilton and Sonny) and also deal with the epis- tolary and oral broadsides from Mrs. ELLIOTT. (Laughter). I must confess that there have been occasions when I have disagreed with the views of the majority, but you have been very kind and sympathetic and understanding. There is certainly no-one who better appreciates the vast amount of time which you all devote to the affairs of this Council to the detriment of your normal private affairs.
Arguments and disagreements are a very good thing because they lead eventually to the "happy mean", and this is what we are all after. I know for certain that the one guiding force which keeps you all to- gether is the assurance that you are all determined that the guiding force for you should be the "Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Num- ber". That is the fundamental belief which can keep any Council on the right track in the long run, and progress will unquestionably be sure and steady. That is, provided, of course, that the track is neither com- pletely obstructed by litter, parked motor vehicles, tolerated illegal struc- tures, unofficial hawker bazaars, and cattle, swine, sheep and goats, nor obscured by smoke from abattoirs and incinerators or fallouts from nuclear explosions (Laughter) and the Councillors do not stumble into wells and pools or get entangled in Standing Orders or consume water from doubtful sources (Laughter) and do not fall victim to a gunpowder- like plot on the part of the Pest Control Section. (To-day is, of course, Guy Fawkes day.) (Laughter).
With these words (it has been a very long meeting and I do not want to keep it any longer) I would like to express my grateful thanks for all the friendships and kindnesses which I have experienced in this Council and wish you all the best in the future. (Applause).
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADJOURNMENT.
219
CHAIRMAN:-That concludes the business of this meeting. Council stands adjourned until Tuesday, 3rd December, 1963.
PRINTED BY THE GOVERNMENT PRINTER, HONG KONG
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