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duced only at district levels. I imagine this is one of the possibilities, and we are exploring all the angles of simultaneous translation which might be introduced at all levels; at district level and at Greater Council level, I expect that our report, with the help of all the other members of the sub-committee, will be completed in a few weeks' time.
DR. BELL:-Mr. Chairman, could I ask Mr. Wilfred WONG a supplementary question? Who are all the other members of the sub-committee?
MR. WONG:--Mrs. ELLIOTT, Mr. Li Yiu-bor, Mr. TINSON and myself.
MR. HU:--Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. WONG through you for his very good answer. Following his answer, may I ask him would he kindly do us a favour as he is also jointly a member of the Legislative Council, to raise this matter in the Legislative Council?
MR. WONG: -I must say, Mr. Chairman, that I do not know whether I should be answering that question. I think, as far as translation is concerned, that the Hansard of the Legislative Council is already being translated into Chinese.* As to the question of simultaneous translation in the Legislative Council, I will bear Mr. Henry Hu's suggestion in mind and I will certainly give this matter my best consideration.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask two supplementaries together on this? May I ask first of all who is responsible for the frequency or infrequency of the meetings of the sub-committee on Organization, and would it be possible on such an important matter as this to have more frequent meetings and get on with this as instructed?
MR. WONG:-I take that suggestion very seriously and we will not only have weekly meetings, but we will have regular meetings. In fact I have already set the date of the next meeting, just before today's meeting.
MR. HU:-Could I also ask Mr. WONG, when this sub-committee is deliberating this point, could he also widen the consideration of the Council as to whether we are competent to do such things, to implement the right policy of taking Chinese as an official language?
MR. WONG:-Well, actually, I think I mentioned in my answer that one of the suggestions made was that Chinese should be used only at the district level. I am just mentioning that this was considered in our deliberations.
MR. HU:-Thank you very much, I will not press this further, Mr. Chairman.
* No official translation is made.
F (11)
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:
435
Is the Chairman aware that the area around the running track in the Kowloon Tsai Park is enclosed by a wire fence and the gates of which are locked? Is there any good reason why the gates of the said fence should not be opened, especially in the mornings and evenings because this path was in very popular use by walkers before the running track was laid?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE PARKS, RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
I did not know that the gates of this athletic ground were kept closed so that the public had no access to the area. Instructions have since been issued for the ground to be available to the public during all the opening hours of the park, except when the athletic track is booked for exclusive use. I thank Mr. Hu for drawing our attention to this matter and assure him that we share his concern that the public must be given full use of all our amenities.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. SALES very much through you for his very good answer and the steps that he has taken. As a matter of fact, this question was brought to me by a very, very old resident in Kowloon and very respectable too. He is a past president of my Association and apparently he used to walk on this path.
(12) DR. P. F. Woo, in the absence of MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN, asked the following question:---
About four months ago I requested the Secretary of Urban Council to investigate the feasibility of having an abridged Chinese translation of the Annual Report of the Urban Council in printed form to be circulated among schools and associations interested in the work of the Urban Council; can the Chairman advise whether it will be possible to have the next annual report of the Urban Council translated in Chinese so that a concise and readable translation can be made available to the public in printed form?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, replied as follows:-
The Secretary regrets that he does not recall your request made about four months ago. He does, however, acknowledge a reminder on the matter which you gave him on the 1st December, 1967.
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duced only at district levels. I imagine this is one of the possibilities, and we are exploring all the angles of simultaneous translation which might be introduced at all levels; at district level and at Greater Council level, I expect that our report, with the help of all the other members of the sub-committee, will be completed in a few weeks' time.
DR. BELL:-Mr. Chairman, could I ask Mr. Wilfred WONG a supplementary question? Who are all the other members of the sub- committee?
MR. WONG:--Mrs. ELLIOTT, Mr. Li Yiu-bor, Mr. TINSON and myself.
MR. HU:--Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. WONG through you for his very good answer. Following his answer, may I ask him would he kindly do us a favour as he is also jointly a member of the Legislative Council, to raise this matter in the Legislative Council?
MR. WONG: -I must say, Mr. Chairman, that I do not know whether I should be answering that question. I think, as far as translation is concerned, that the Hansard of the Legislative Council is already being translated into Chinese.* As to the question of simultaneous translation in the Legislative Council, I will bear Mr. Henry Hu's suggestion in mind and I will certainly give this matter my best consideration.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I ask two supplementaries together on this? May I ask first of all who is responsible for the frequency or infrequency of the meetings of the sub-committee on Organization, and would it be possible on such an important matter as this to have more frequent meetings and get on with this as instructed?
MR. WONG:-I take that suggestion very seriously and we will not only have weekly meetings, but we will have regular meetings. In fact I have already set the date of the next meeting, just before today's meeting.
MR. HU:-Could I also ask Mr. WONG, when this sub-committee is deliberating this point, could he also widen the consideration of the Council as to whether we are competent to do such things, to implement the right policy of taking Chinese as an official language?
MR. WONG:-Well, actually, I think I mentioned in my answer that one of the suggestions made was that Chinese should be used only at the district level. I am just mentioning that this was considered in our deliberations.
MR. HU:-Thank you very much, I will not press this further, Mr. Chairman.
* No official translation is made.
F
(11)
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. HENRY H. L. Hu asked the following question:
435
Is the Chairman aware that the area around the running track in the Kowloon Tsai Park is enclosed by a wire fence and the gates of which are locked? Is there any good reason why the gates of the said fence should not be opened, especially in the mornings and evenings because this path was in very popular use by walkers before the running track was laid?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE PARKS, RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
I did not know that the gates of this athletic ground were kept closed so that the public had no access to the area. Instructions have since been issued for the ground to be available to the public during all the opening hours of the park, except when the athletic track is booked for exclu- sive use. I thank Mr. Hu for drawing our attention to this matter and assure him that we share his concern that the public must be given full use of all our amenities. MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I thank Mr. SALES very much through you for his very good answer and the steps that he has taken. As a matter of fact, this question was brought to me by a very, very old resident in Kowloon and very respectable too. He is a past president of my Association and apparently he used to walk on this path.
(12) DR. P. F. Woo, in the absence of MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN, asked the following question:---
About four months ago I requested the Secretary of Urban Council to investigate the feasibility of having an abridged Chinese translation of the Annual Report of the Urban Council in printed form to be circulated among schools and associations interested in the work of the Urban Council; can the Chairman advise whether it will be possible to have the next annual report of the Urban Council translated in Chinese so that a concise and read- able translation can be made available to the public in printed form?
THE CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, replied as follows:-
The Secretary regrets that he does not recall your request made about four months ago. He does, however, acknowledge a reminder on the matter which you gave him on the 1st December, 1967.
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