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provide; the hundreds of millions of dollars available must be spent in accordance with the priority of the services.
As golf was invented in Scotland, (Laughter) it is no wonder that Dr. BELL is proposing to have a municipal golf course as the cities have in Scotland. And owing to the large number of those on this Council, who wear heather on St. Andrew's Day, I am afraid that the motion may carry. While I can appreciate the motive of Dr. BELL's proposal, it will be sometime before Hong Kong can afford to become golf conscious. It is a relatively expensive sport, and it is as well a rich man or rich woman's game. And for the time being we must leave that sport to private golf clubs.
It will be a long time before Hong Kong reaches the educational standards prevailing in Scotland: similarly, it will be a long time before Hong Kong reaches the same level of sporting facilities as those available in Scotland. The funds that are available must, therefore, be concentrated on providing facilities for the most popular sports in Hong Kong; playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming pools, sports arenas and indoor stadia must take priority over the proposed golf course. A survey from the Hong Kong Tiger Standard shows the following figures:
Sports Interest % Swimming 72 Football 48 Horse Racing 18 Basketball 14 Tennis 14 Badminton 11 Table Tennis 7If a motion for a public golf course is introduced in the near future I would caution this Council to ensure the judicious use of public funds before it votes.
The Statement of Aims also had a word on air-conditioning, and I would draw particular attention to the Air-Conditioning Regulations. As you know we are continuing the periodical check of air-conditioning from the public health point of view. There is a common misconception that air-conditioning must be installed in public places. In fact, one theatre was threatened that unless the cooling part of the air-conditioning worked it would not be allowed to reopen for business. Speaking professionally, or rather unprofessionally, all that is necessary to conform with the regulations is to carry out Section 93(1) and the Schedule II of Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, 1960, i.e. to provide 7 cubic feet of fresh air per person per minute for the theatres and 10 cubic feet of fresh air per person per minute for the restaurants. That is all that is necessary, and air-conditioning, although desirable, is not compulsory.
Concerning the problem of hawkers, this is the 6th year which I am serving on the Hawkers Select Committee. Last year, I said that hawkers' problems are like knowledge; the more you know, the more you know how much you don't know. This year I have come to a conclusion that there is a solution.
We are all aware that although the hawkers tend to obstruct pedestrian and vehicular traffic on public pavements and streets, they nevertheless are earning a living, in a place like Hong Kong where the economy is such that it is hard for industries to absorb all the free labour. This is an important consideration. Although we have classified the streets into categories whereby hawkers are allowed on certain streets and forbidden on others, the residents of Hong Kong are generally agreed that hawkers can be allowed on any street in which they do not have their residence. In other words, the unhygienic state of the hawker stalls and the paraphernalia which goes with them are alright as long as they are on other streets, and not in front of one's own residence.
The long term solution, as in other great cities of the world, must be the clearance of the streets from tradesman of any sort and the conversion of hawkers into market stall holders or small shopkeepers. The general formula should be to convert pedlar hawkers of essential commodities such as vegetables etc. into market stall-holders in the markets, and the fixed-pitched hawkers into shopkeepers.
There will be a great deal of work to be done in sorting out the various types of pedlar hawkers to whom this Council has issued pedlar licences indiscriminately perhaps in moments of weakness, and in choosing the line of least resistance. The bona fide pedlar who carries vegetables and sells them to support his family must be found a place in the markets where such essential foodstuff should be sold. There are other pedlars of unessential goods which cannot justify their continuous obstructions of public pavements and streets.
Similarly, with reference to the fixed-pitched stalls we have already a policy for the elimination of cooked food stalls, and licences are not renewed upon the death of the licence holder. This is based on the grounds of public health as the standard of hygiene in the cooked food stalls is far from satisfactory, and having no sanitary facilities, it is difficult for them to maintain the standard of hygiene which is required of the restaurants.
452
453
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
provide; the hundreds of millions of dollars available must be spent in accordance with the priority of the services.
As golf was invented in Scotland, (Laughter) it is no wonder that Dr. BELL is proposing to have a municipal golf course as the cities have in Scotland. And owing to the large number of those on this Council, who wear heather on St. Andrew's Day, I am afraid that the motion may carry. While I can appreciate the motive of Dr. BELL's proposal, it will be sometime before Hong Kong can afford to become golf conscious. It is a relatively expensive sport, and it is as well a rich man or rich woman's game. And for the time being we must leave that sport to private golf clubs.
It will be a long time before Hong Kong reaches the educational standards prevailing in Scotland: similarly, it will be a long time before Hong Kong reaches the same level of sporting facilities as those available in Scotland. The funds that are available must, therefore, be concentrat- ed on providing facilities for the most popular sports in Hong Kong; playgrounds, tennis courts, swimming pools, sports arenas and indoor stadia must take priority over the proposed golf course. A survey from the Hong Kong Tiger Standard shows the following figures:
Sports Interest
Swimming
Football
Horse Racing
Basketball
Tennis
Badminton
Table Tennis
%
72
48
18
14
14
11
7
If a motion for a public golf course is introduced in the near future I would caution this Council to ensure the judicious use of public funds before it votes.
The Statement of Aims also had a word on air-conditioning, and I would draw particular attention to the Air-Conditioning Regulations. As you know we are continuing the periodical check of air-conditioning from the public health point of view. There is a common misconcep- tion that air-conditioning must be installed in public places. In fact, one theatre was threatened that unless the cooling part of the air- conditioning worked it would not be allowed to reopen for business. Speaking professionally, or rather unprofessionally, all that is necessary to conform with the regulations is to carry out Section 93(1) and the Schedule II of Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, 1960, i.e. to provide 7 cubic feet of fresh air per person per minute for the
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
453
theatres and 10 cubic feet of fresh air per person per minute for the restaurants. That is all that is necessary, and air-conditioning, although desirable, is not compulsory.
Concerning the problem of hawkers, this is the 6th year which I am serving on the Hawkers Select Committee. Last year, I said that hawkers' problems are like knowledge; the more you know, the more you know how much you don't know. This year I have come to a conclusion that there is a solution.
We are all aware that although the hawkers tend to obstruct pedestrian and vehicular traffic on public pavements and streets, they nevertheless are earning a living, in a place like Hong Kong where the economy is such that it is hard for industries to absorb all the free labour. This is an important consideration. Although we have classi- fied the streets into categories whereby hawkers are allowed on certain streets and forbidden on others, the residents of Hong Kong are generally agreed that hawkers can be allowed on any street in which they do not have their residence. In other words, the unhygienic state of the hawker stalls and the paraphernalia which goes with them are alright as long as they are on other streets, and not in front of one's own residence.
The long term solution, as in other great cities of the world, must be the clearance of the streets from tradesman of any sort and the conversion of hawkers into market stall holders or small shopkeepers. The general formula should be to convert pedlar hawkers of essential commodities such as vegetables etc. into market stall-holders in the markets, and the fixed-pitched hawkers into shopkeepers.
There will be a great deal of work to be done in sorting out the various types of pedlar hawkers to whom this Council has issued pedlar licences indiscriminately perhaps in moments of weakness, and in choosing the line of least resistance. The bona fide pedlar who carries vegetables and sells them to support his family must be found a place in the markets where such essential foodstuff should be sold. There are other pedlars of unessential goods which cannot justify their con- tinuous obstructions of public pavements and streets.
Similarly, with reference to the fixed-pitched stalls we have already a policy for the elimination of cooked food stalls, and licences are not renewed upon the death of the licence holder. This is based on the grounds of public health as the standard of hygiene in the cooked food stalls is far from satisfactory, and having no sanitary facilities, it is difficult for them to maintain the standard of hygiene which is required of the restaurants.
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Private notes are available after approval.