1965 — Page 308

182.

Page 308 of 382

Page 308 of 382

594

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

has put forward a motion which is in accord with Article 49, under the caption "General Policy", of the Statement of Aims for 1966. It reads:-

"To press more vigorously for the enlargement of the Council's scope and its representation on various other public bodies". Therefore those unofficial members who voted for the approval of the Statement of Aims for 1966 cannot do an about turn. They must support the motion as it appears in the text before us, not necessarily in the many remarks which Mr. CHEONG-LEEN has made, nor the remarks which our other friends have decided to put forward to-day.

It is the text of the motion which we are supporting, and the text urges Government to request the Colonial Office to give serious con- sideration to the future scope and status of this Council. Whether it goes far enough or not is not part and parcel of the motion. It must be clearly understood that if we vote for the motion we vote for the text of the motion, and what it implies.

Mr. Chairman, I feel as Mr. Henry Hu does, this Council requires a member to devote a tremendous amount of time but, with respect to Mr. Hu, it has been my experience that an unofficial member of this Council would do well to specialize on chosen spheres of activity so that his service in the Council can be to better public advantage. Whether we agree with this take-over bid of the Executive Council and Legislative Council I cannot say, because I do not know the terms which Mr. Henry Hu wishes to offer to Legislative Council and Executive Council. (Laughter).

If the terms were attractive enough no doubt they might accept the bid, but that is not up to us to decide. But the fact remains that however inarticulate the Legislative Council may appear to the public to be, yet I must say they do an enormous amount of work in committee. I am not a member of that council, I can only speak on what I am told, and what I know. Perhaps if they were more articulate they would meet with the standards which my elected friends set for members of that council.

Sir, may I suggest that no-one has so far mentioned Kowloon at all, (Laughter) and I know that my friend Mr. FORSGATE and I my- self feel strongly about home rule for Kowloon in the same way as you feel very strongly about home rule for Scotland. (Laughter). Unfor- tunately it is not part and parcel of the motion, but it may be our in- tention to introduce such a motion in the future, when I hope that the Hong Kong residents will show proper forbearance if they don't want to support that motion. Sir, I agree with Mr. Henry Hu that you have been an excellent Chairman. If we were to elect a Chairman I would no doubt vote for you, but much to my regret you are unable to make up your mind whether to be Chairman of the Urban Council or Director of Urban Services, and until you can do so and answer that question

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

595

effectively, which I put to you at the Annual General Meeting, I must withhold my vote. (Laughter).

It is true that Mr. K. S. Lo decided to sit for a time in the elected benches, but it was only to try out whether they suited him. (Laughter). It appears they did not because quickly enough Mr. Lo appeared back in our ranks as a most honoured and respected member. Of course, all of us may be forgiven if at times we go off the beaten track. On that occasion Mr. K. S. Lo had decided that he would try his luck with the elected benches. The appointed members have resolved that sooner or later we will ask permission to introduce an ultra vires motion, "that this Council be wholly appointed", so that the local council in the New Territories may be totally elected; then my elected friends could try their luck elsewhere. Sir, I agree wholeheartedly that this Council has proved its merit, and that this Council has proved that it is in earnest about the public interest in Hong Kong, and that this Council is deserv- ing of having more power given to it in the public interest, and that Hong Kong Government should conform with universal practice regarding local administration. The quotation which you cited in the nineteenth century should not apply, unless you want to convince us that 19th Century mentality still prevails in the Hong Kong Government. There is no reason why a body of responsible citizens should not be able to undertake more work than is within the competence of the Urban Council now. From a management point of view Sir, it is most unsatisfactory that even this Council has to have many of its decisions screened and approved by the Colonial Secretariat. For the equanimity of the Heads of many Government departments this system could be changed, because I cannot conceive that a civil servant who has risen to be Head of a responsible and a major Government department, should have his opinion and that of his advisers subjected to administrative assistants much junior in rank, simply because they serve in the Colonial Secretariat. It is an antiquated system of Government and it should not prevail. It would make for more efficiency in public administration if more power and discretion were given to Heads of Government departments. It is waste- ful of time, effort and public money for this system to continue as it is. It should be modified, and I have urged in public debate in this Council before that an inquiry be made into how the system of Government as regards public administration should be overhauled in Hong Kong to render it more efficient and economic.

Sir, Mr. CHEONG-LEEN has drawn attention to many short-comings; I would like to point out merely the principle. It is a Christian principle that is not found in the practice of public administration in Hong Kong: the highly respected and widely regarded principle of subsidiarity.

I have mentioned in this Council before, that no public administra- tion should arrogate to itself more power than is needed for the discharge