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received a telephone call from a member of the public saying that he had written to Government as far back as 2 years ago and suggested that the Authority concerned, which is the Police, should inquire from the London County Council with a view to obtaining information on the type of smoke absorbers being used on London buses. Mr. Chairman, may I ask that this suggestion be brought to the attention of the Traffic Advisory Committee through our representative on that Committee. I think it is a very important matter because it is being tackled in London and I do not see why it should not equally be tackled in Hong Kong.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SERVICES: ---Certainly, Sir. This is what I suggested in my original answer. (Laughter).

MR. WILSON WANG:-Knowing that our Chairman is a frequent scooter rider, I wonder whether he has ever reported his experiences to the Police? (Laughter).

CHAIRMAN: -Sir, I would like to say that scooter riding became so hazardous that I sold my trusty steed, (Laughter) but I can vouch for the fact that if you want first-hand knowledge on how much smoke emission there is from vehicles, you should ride a scooter. (Laughter). I never reported a case to the Police as I was never sure whether the concentration and toxicity of the gases were sufficient to justify it. (Laughter).

(7) MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN asked the following question:

According to a Labour Department Report last month, there were more than 21,000 jobs in industry for which workers could not be found. Since the number of pedlar hawkers, both licensed and unlicensed, appears to be on the increase, has the Director of Urban Services considered what can be done to introduce and to encourage pedlar hawkers, particularly unlicensed hawkers, to work in factories instead of operating as hawkers? Can the Director of Urban Services consult the Labour Department with a view to working out a feasible plan of action?

THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-

This is a subject which has been raised on a number of occasions recently and I understand that there was some discussion at a recent meeting of the Hawkers Select Committee. The Commissioner of Labour informs me that his department is making arrangements to establish an employment information service which will operate both from its headquarters in Hong Kong and from its divisional offices in Causeway Bay; Sham Shui Po; Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan. Persons calling at any of these offices will be given the names and addresses of factories in particular localities or trades which have reported that they are short of workers. This service will start in two or three weeks' time and hawkers who are interested in taking up industrial employment will be able to take advantage of it on the same basis as other members of the public. A press release will be issued later to-day giving further details of the proposed service.

This action by the Commissioner is aimed at making available information on vacancies in industry to all, including the hawkers, who are interested in taking them up. Hawkers Select Committee have, I think, suggested that the Urban Services Department can also assist in this by publicizing at, for example, the hawker licensing offices and other appropriate places the existence of this employment information service and the places from which it operates. It may be possible to make further arrangements to publicize vacancies to hawkers, in particular in the case of any future hawker move, and these possibilities will be taken up with the Commissioner of Labour although it should, I think, be appreciated that their main impact will be in relation to licensed rather than unlicensed hawkers.

MR. SALES-Mr. Chairman, what is the experience of your Department in relation to this attempt to persuade hawkers to give up peddling and take up employment in industry?

CHAIRMAN:-Sir, I could not make any categorical statement without doing some research, but I got the impression that such attempts as may have been made were not very successful. I would like to ask the Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee to elaborate.

MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, as acting Chairman of the Hawkers Select Committee, as far as I am aware, no attempt has yet been made. (Laughter).

MR. SALES:Mr. Chairman, has that Select Committee considered the point which I believe I made in this Council not long ago that it would be desirable to limit the issue of licences to widows, pensioners, and disabled persons, thus in some way forcing the younger men and women to take up employment in industry and so lead perhaps a more useful life?

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