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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCILCHAIRMAN:-I must express with deep regret that I was removed from the Auxiliary Police on the grounds of age, (Laughter) but I would also add that, not trusting my own investigation of this matter, a special request was made to the Central Division to send someone to check up on the alleged gambling and after investigation the reply was in the negative.
DR. BELL: Could it have been that there was a "stool pigeon"?
CHAIRMAN:-I can say neither "yes" nor "no", but the matter was looked into and nothing was seen.
MR. HU:-Do you think some secret information was sent to them when you went to visit them? In any event if there is in future more gambling taking place in this lane, may I refer to this question again? (Laughter)
MR. FORSGATE: -Mr. Chairman, could Mr. Hu make a citizen arrest? (Laughter)
The Chairman moved:
MOTIONSThat the Council do resolve itself into Committee of the Whole to consider under Standing Order 10(1) the motion standing in the name of Mr. Henry H. L. Hu as Item 4(1) on the order of business.
The Acting Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services seconded.
Motion carried unanimously.
Council then went into Committee.
Council resumed.
CHAIRMAN: ---Council in Committee of the Whole agreed under Standing Order 10(1) to debate the motion which appears as Item 4(1) on the order of business. The mover of the motion is Mr. Henry Hu.
(1) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu moved the following motion:
Resolved that for the betterment of Hong Kong as a whole and for achieving the fundamental fairness of its inhabitants, this Council urges Government to introduce the system at present carried out by the Urban Services Department of answering all Chinese correspondence in Chinese.
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313
He said:-Mr. Chairman, first of all, I should like to thank you and all my colleagues for supporting that this motion should be debated here today.
As you are all aware, during my election campaign I advocated that Government should lay equal emphasis on English and Chinese, and Chinese should be one of the official languages in the Colony. That of course can only be achieved gradually. We cannot achieve it overnight.
I advocate it not only because many useful talents in the Colony cannot be utilized due to the lack of understanding of English, but also because I have been deeply impressed by the fact that many Chinese suffer undue hardship by having to correspond with Government in the English language which they do not understand. This can create misunderstanding between the Government and the people here. I advocate this not only for fostering the understanding between the Government and the people here, but also to alleviate hardship of hundreds of thousands of Chinese inhabitants who do not understand English and whose education standards are low.
Happily, I am not the first one who sees the very obvious fact. Many of my colleagues who are sitting here today, both from the elected bench and the appointed bench, have voiced this idea before me. They have achieved successfully. The Urban Services Department has already taken this as an existing practice, namely, to quote: "Replies to Chinese letters received in the Department are mostly written in English with a Chinese translation attached. Correspondence sent to the Department in Chinese is given the same consideration as correspondence received in English." I would not quote in detail about this matter. You may still remember the details of the answer which the Chairman of our Council so kindly gave to us in answering my question No. 14 of the August Meeting of the Council. In answering that question, our Chairman also referred to the simultaneous translation. It may be possible that other Government Departments have already followed this practice. But for the public interest, I should think this matter should be couched in a motion and adopted by this Council.
My humble view is that the adoption of this motion may well be worth more than 10 elected seats in the Legislative Council so far as serving as a bridge between the Government and the people of Hong Kong is concerned. (Laughter) Government and people can thus communicate more easily with each other without difficulty. With these short remarks I move this motion to the Council.
MR. BERNACCHI: -Mr. Chairman, in seconding this Motion I give it my full support. The Urban Services Department and, indeed, nowadays the Resettlement Department are fully aware of the need to answer Chinese correspondence in the Chinese language, but in the
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
CHAIRMAN:-I must express with deep regret that I was removed from the Auxiliary Police on the grounds of age, (Laughter) but I would also add that, not trusting my own investigation of this matter, a special request was made to the Central Division to send someone to check up on the alleged gambling and after investigation the reply was in the negative.
DR. BELL: Could it have been that there was a "stool pigeon"?
CHAIRMAN:-I can say neither "yes" nor “no”, but the matter was looked into and nothing was seen.
MR. HU:-Do you think some secret information was sent to them when you went to visit them? In any event if there is in future more gambling taking place in this lane, may I refer to this question again? (Laughter)
MR. FORSGATE: -Mr. Chairman, could Mr. Hu make a citizen arrest? (Laughter)
The Chairman moved:
MOTIONS.
That the Council do resolve itself into Committee of the Whole to consider under Standing Order 10(1) the motion stand- ing in the name of Mr. Henry H. L. Hu as Item 4(1) on the order of business.
The Acting Deputy Director of Medical and Health Services seconded.
Motion carried unanimously.
Council then went into Committee.
Council resumed.
CHAIRMAN: ---Council in Committee of the Whole agreed under Standing Order 10(1) to debate the motion which appears as Item 4(1) on the order of business. The mover of the motion is Mr. Henry Hu.
(1) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu moved the following motion:
Resolved that for the betterment of Hong Kong as a whole and for achieving the fundamental fairness of its inhabitants, this Council urges Government to introduce the system at present carried out by the Urban Services Department of answering all Chinese correspondence in Chinese.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
313
He said:-Mr. Chairman, first of all, I should like to thank you and all my colleagues for supporting that this motion should be debated here today.
As you are all aware, during my election campaign I advocated that Government shoul lay equal emphasis on English and Chinese, and Chinese should be one of the official languages in the Colony. That of course can only be achieved gradually. We cannot achieve it over- night.
I advocate it not only because many useful talents in the Colony cannot be utilized due to the lack of understanding of English, but also because I have been deeply impressed by the fact that many Chinese suffer undue hardship by having to correspond with Govern- ment in the English language which they do not understand. This can create misunderstanding between the Government and the people here. I advocate this not only for fostering the understanding between the Government and the people here, but also to alleviate hardship of hundred of thousands of Chinese inhabitants who do not understand English and whose education standards are low.
Happily, I am not the first one who sees the very obvious fact. Many of my colleagues who are sitting here today, both from the elected bench and the appointed bench, have voiced this idea before me. They have achieved successfully. The Urban Services Department has
already taken this as an existing practice, namely, to quote: "Replies to Chinese letters received in the Department are mostly written in English with a Chinese translation attached. Correspondence sent to the De- partment in Chinese is given the same consideration as correspondence received in English." I would not quote in detail about this matter. You may still remember the details of the answer which the Chairman of our Council so kindly gave to us in answering my question No. 14 of the August Meeting of the Council. In answering that question, our Chairman also referred to the simultaneous translation. It may be possible that other Government Departments have already followed this practice. But for the public interest, I should think this matter should be couched in a motion and adopted by this Council.
My humble view is that the adoption of this motion may well be worth more than 10 elected seats in the Legislative Council so far as serving as a bridge between the Government and the people of Hong Kong is concerned. (Laughter) Government and people can thus com- municate more easily with each other without difficulty. With these short remarks I move this motion to the Council.
MR. BERNACCHI: -Mr. Chairman, in seconding this Motion I give it my full support. The Urban Services Department and, indeed, now- adays the Resettlement Department are fully aware of the need to answer Chinese correspondence in the Chinese language, but in the
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