Page 257 of 279
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Courts of assaults on members of the Force, the majority of those convicted being unlicensed hawkers selling restricted food.
The members of the Hawker Control Force derive their authority from Section 18(1) of the Hawker Control Force Ordinance (Chapter 325 of the New Edition of the Ordinances of Hong Kong). This empowers members of the Force to arrest persons suspected of being guilty of certain offences. The obstruction of traffic is covered by Section 4A(1) of the Summary Offences Ordinance, and members of both the Police Force and the Hawker Control Force have authority to make arrests in such cases.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, do I understand correctly that, since in your reply to my question, paragraph two, you said that "members of the Hawker Control Force do not receive the same benefits is not solely dictated by a desire to save money". The Hawker Control Force will get equal pay with the Police Force in the near future?
CHAIRMAN: ---No, Sir. There are other disciplined services, Prisons, Fire Services, District Watch Force, Preventive Service, who would consider they have an equal claim with the Hawker Control Force for equivalent pay. The question of conditions of service is something which, as a former Establishment Officer, I have a little knowledge of. To get them altered without upsetting the balance somewhere else in the Government salary structure is extremely difficult. My hope of getting better conditions of service for the Hawker Control Force rests largely upon accommodation, transport, and better working conditions through having better offices.
MR. BERNACCHI: -Mr. Chairman, you say that members of the Hawker Control Force are not operating usually between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m. Am I then correct in saying that hawking at night is not controlled anyhow by our Urban Council, despite the fact that factories have night-shifts, which gives rise to unlicensed hawking of cooked food, usually without any observance of the health regulations?
CHAIRMAN: -The reason why in the main we have no control of hawking at night is because most hawkers go home by about ten o'clock. I agree with you, Sir, that there are food stalls which operate up to two and three in the morning. I should like to enquire as to the degree of control over their operations which can be exercised, if any.
MR. SALES: Sir, would you not agree that it would raise the morale of the Force if we were to consider a change of name for it?
CHAIRMAN: -That is an interesting suggestion which Mr. BERNACCHI will no doubt wish to consider to-morrow morning at the Hawker Select Committee meeting. (Laughter).
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
487
MR. SALES: --Sir, may I also ask you to refer to the Chairman of the Hawker Select Committee the suggestion that he might well, in that capacity, serve also as Commander-in-Chief of the Urban Council's own private force if there were a suitable change of name. (Laughter). I could suggest for one, Sir, that it might be termed the Kowloon Independent Army, since it operates mostly in Kowloon and Kowloon has pretensions to secede. (Laughter).
MR. HU: -Mr. Chairman, on the second page of your answer to my question you said "It has, of course, always been the policy of this Council that the Force should make use of persuasion as far as possible in its dealings with hawkers". Mr. Chairman, would you, as Director of the Urban Services Department, agree with me that the function of the Hawker Control Force should be limited, leaving the arrest and charging of hawkers to the Police Force?
CHAIRMAN: -I am sorry, Mr. Hu, I do not agree with you.
If you will turn again to this invaluable document, the monthly Report, you will see that 6,100 warnings were given in January; 900 summonses were taken out and 1,500 hawkers were charged. Therefore, the balance of action, as demonstrated by those figures, is: warning and persuasion.
MR. HU: -Mr. Chairman, do we have any female members in the Hawker Control Force. (Laughter).
CHAIRMAN: -No, Sir.
MR. HU: Do you think, Mr. Chairman, as Director of the Urban Services Department, it is advisable for the purpose of persuasion to have them? (Laughter).
CHAIRMAN: —I think lady members might charm the hawkers, but not persuade them. (Laughter).
MR. SALES: Sir, why is it that the Hawker Select Committee has discriminated against the employment of females in the Hawker Control Force? (Laughter).
MR. BERNACCHI: -The answer is that it has not.
(7) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:
At the beginning of August 1966, Sergeant No. 43 of the Hawker Control Force was badly injured because of an acid attack. What is now the condition of his left eye which was only 60% efficient at that time? Is he back
Page 279
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Page 257 of 279
486
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Courts of assaults on members of the Force, the majority of those convicted being unlicensed hawkers selling re- stricted food.
The members of the Hawker Control Force derive their au- thority from Section 18(1) of the Hawker Control Force Ordinance (Chapter 325 of the New Edition of the Ordin- ances of Hong Kong). This empowers members of the Force to arrest persons suspected of being guilty of cer- tain offences. The obstruction of traffic is covered by Section 4A(1) of the Summary Offences Ordinance, and members of both the Police Force and the Hawker Con- trol Force have authority to make arrests in such cases.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, do I understand correctly that, since in your reply to my question, paragraph two, you said that "members of the Hawker Control Force do not receive the same benefits is not solely dicated by a desire to save money". The Hawker Control Force will get equal pay with the Police Force in the near future?
CHAIRMAN: ---No, Sir. There are other disciplined services, Prisons, Fire Services, District Watch Force, Preventive Service, who would consider they have an equal claim with the Hawker Control Force for equivalent pay. The question of conditions of service is something which, as a former Establishment Officer, I have a little knowledge of. To get them altered without upsetting the balance somewhere else in the Government salary structure is extremely difficult. My hope of getting better conditions of service for the Hawker Control Force rests largely upon accommodation, transport, and better working conditions through having better offices.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, you say that members of the Hawker Control Force are not operating usually between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m. Am I then correct in saying that hawking at night is not controlled anyhow by our Urban Council, despite the fact that factories have night-shifts, which gives rise to unlicensed hawking of cooked food, usually without any observance of the health regulations?
CHAIRMAN: -The reason why in the main we have no control of hawking at night is because most hawkers go home by about ten o'clock. I agree with you, Sir, that there are food stalls which operate up to two and three in the morning. I should like to enquire as to the degree of control over their operations which can be exercised, if any.
MR. SALES: Sir, would you not agree that it would raise the morale of the Force if we were to consider a change of name for it?
CHAIRMAN:-That is an interesting suggestion which Mr. BERNACCHI will no doubt wish to consider to-morrow morning at the Hawker Select Committee meeting. (Laughter).
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
487
MR. SALES: --Sir, may I also ask you to refer to the Chairman of the Hawker Select Committee the suggestion that he might well, in that capacity, serve also as Commander-in-Chief of the Urban Council's own private force if there were a suitable change of name. (Laughter). I could suggest for one, Sir, that it might be termed the Kowloon Independent Army, since it operates mostly in Kowloon and Kowloon has pretentions to secede. (Laughter).
MR. HU:-Mr. Chairman, on the second page of your answer to my question you said "It has, of course, always been the policy of this Council that the Force should make use of persuasion as far as possible in its dealings with hawkers". Mr. Chairman, would you, as Director of the Urban Services Department, agree with me that the function of the Hawker Control Force should be limited, leaving the arrest and charging of hawkers to the Police Force?
CHAIRMAN:-I am sorry, Mr. Hu, I do not agree with you.
If you will turn again to this invaluable document, the monthly Report, you will see that 6,100 warnings were given in January; 900 summonses were taken out and 1,500 hawkers were charged. Therefore, the balance of action, as demonstrated by those figures, is: warning and persuasion.
MR. HU:-Mr. Chairman, do we have any female members in the Hawker Control Force. (Laughter).
CHAIRMAN: -No, Sir.
MR. HU: Do you think, Mr. Chairman, as Director of the Urban Services Department, it is advisable for the purpose of persuasion to have them? (Laughter).
CHAIRMAN: —I think lady members might charm the hawkers, but not persuade them. (Laughter).
MR. SALES: Sir, why is it that the Hawker Select Committee has discriminated against the employment of females in the Hawker Control Force? (Laughter).
MR. BERNACCHI:-The answer is that it has not.
(7) MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:
At the beginning of August 1966, Sergeant No. 43 of the Hawker Control Force was badly injured because of an acid attack. What is now the condition of his left eye which was only 60% efficient at that time? Is he back
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