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CHAIRMAN: --I do not remember offhand, Mr. BERNACCHI, but the Festival is only for about a week, so nothing of any length to worry about.
MR. BERNACCHI : Do I take it from your answer that only because of this Festival will these study rooms be completed before December?
CHAIRMAN: ---As you see, Mr. BERNACCHI, only a part of the conversion will be done, but certainly I think there has been a special effort made to get things ready for the Festival.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Would you make it clear to the authorities concerned, that this Urban Council, through approving the motion of Mrs. ELLIOTT, is concerned with the reading rooms for study for young persons not with any exhibition?
CHAIRMAN:-In fact, this Festival exhibition will help this project to get off the ground.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Yes, Sir, I gather that from your answer, but it should not have been so necessary.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I think you should pass it around that this pilot project has helped to get people off the ground.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, I wonder whether Mr. BERNACCHI has been baiting me as Chairman of the Festival of Hong Kong Organizing Committee. I think it is a fact of life, and it would be naive to suggest that it is otherwise, that the Festival of Hong Kong has helped to speed up certain programmes which the Urban Council wanted to carry out very much. Two of them particularly, the one at Morse Park, the open-air theatre, and the other one, the tremendous improvement to the playground in Boundary Street.
MRS. ELLIOTT: --Mr. Chairman, would you confirm that while you said at the beginning that I had refused to answer this question, the answer you gave was different from the one you offered me?
CHAIRMAN: That is indeed so, Mrs. ELLIOTT, and you have every right to change any draft I send you.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, would you admit that it is difficult for me to get this information from the Education Department which you have been able to do?
CHAIRMAN: --We have been trying to get the information from other departments to help with the reply, but, as I say, I am still discussing this particular problem with the Education Department and I would like to think that the answer would be the right one as far as this Council is concerned.
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MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask a supplementary. Since Mrs. ELLIOTT'S Motion was passed in June 1968, was there any proposal to establish a study room in Aberdeen? What about that?
CHAIRMAN:--No, Mr. Hu, this is a pilot project, and it must be left at that.
MR. HU:-So there was no proposal to establish a study room in Aberdeen?
CHAIRMAN:-There were odd proposals, but I cannot recall them at present, though there was possibly mention of Aberdeen at one stage. Until this pilot project gets off the ground however, I am afraid we are not going to get very far.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, surely, Mr. Hu, my great friend, must understand that Tsim Sha Tsui has priority over Aberdeen? (Laughter).
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I clarify by saying that we did not propose any reading room, any particular one, but that this one was offered to us, is that right?
MR. HU:-You mean any room in Aberdeen? (Laughter).
MRS. ELLIOTT:-No. (Laughter).
MR. HU: -I think, if my memory is correct, there was a proposal to establish a reading room in Aberdeen, but later it was decided that it would not be possible so it was dropped. Is that correct?
CHAIRMAN:-I think it is.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I clarify? I think we were offered an old police station for a library and it was not suitable.
MR. HU-So, Mr. Chairman, through you, could I ask if other places could be looked into?
CHAIRMAN:-In due course, Mr. Hu. Including Aberdeen?
MR. HU: Yes, including Aberdeen.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, could not Mr. Henry Hu, as visiting member for Aberdeen, look around for a suitable site and co-operate with Mrs. ELLIOTT'S Committee?
MR. HU: Of course, looking for a site is not the job for a Ward Member. (Laughter). I wish that I could have time to do it. I am the Ward Councillor for Aberdeen because I was the last in the list at the time and, nobody would take it, so I took Aberdeen four years ago. (Laughter).
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CHAIRMAN: --I do not remember offhand, Mr. BERNACCHI, but the Festival is only for about a week, so nothing of any length to worry
about.
MR. BERNACCHI : Do I take it from your answer that only because of this Festival will these study rooms be completed before December?
CHAIRMAN: ---As you see, Mr. BERNACCHI, only a part of the conversion will be done, but certainly I think there has been a special effort made to get things ready for the Festival.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Would you make it clear to the authorities con- cerned, that this Urban Council, through approving the motion of Mrs. ELLIOTT, is concerned with the reading rooms for study for young persons not with any exhibition?
CHAIRMAN:-In fact, this Festival exhibition will help this project to get off the ground.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Yes, Sir, I gather that from your answer, but it should not have been so necessary.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, I think you should pass it around that this pilot project has helped to get people off the ground.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, I wonder whether Mr. BERNACCHI has been baiting me as Chairman of the Festival of Hong Kong Organizing Committee. I think it is a fact of life, and it would be naive to suggest that it is otherwise, that the Festival of Hong Kong has helped to speed up certain programmes which the Urban Council wanted to carry out very much. Two of them particularly, the one at Morse Park, the open-air theatre, and the other one, the tremendous improvement to the playground in Boundary Street.
MRS. ELLIOTT: --Mr. Chairman, would you confirm that while you said at the beginning that I had refused to answer this question, the answer you gave was different from the one you offered me?
CHAIRMAN: That is indeed so, Mrs. ELLIOTT, and you have every right to change any draft I send you.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, would you admit that it is difficult for me to get this information from the Education Department which you have been able to do?
CHAIRMAN: --We have been trying to get the information from other departments to help with the reply, but, as I say, I am still discussing this particular problem with the Education Department and I would like to think that the answer would be the right one as far as this Council is concerned.
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235
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask a supplementary. Since Mrs. ELLIOTT'S Motion was passed in June 1968, was there any proposal to establish a study room in Aberdeen? What about that? CHAIRMAN:--No, Mr. Hu, this is a pilot project, and it must be left at that.
MR. HU:-So there was no proposal to establish a study room in Aberdeen?
CHAIRMAN:-There were odd proposals, but I cannot recall them at present, though there was possibly mention of Aberdeen at one stage. Until this pilot project gets off the ground however, I am afraid we are not going to get very far.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, surely, Mr. Hu, my great friend, must understand that Tsim Sha Tsui has priority over Aberdeen? (Laughter).
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I clarify by saying that we did not propose any reading room, any particular one, but that this one was offered to us, is that right?
MR. HU:-You mean any room in Aberdeen? (Laughter). MRS. ELLIOTT:-No. (Laughter).
MR. HU: -I think, if my memory is correct, there was a proposal to establish a reading room in Aberdeen, but later it was decided that it would not be possible so it was dropped. Is that correct?
CHAIRMAN:-I think it is.
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, may I clarify? I think we were offered an old police station for a library and it was not suitable.
MR. HU-So, Mr. Chairman, through you, could I ask if other places could be looked into?
CHAIRMAN:-In due course, Mr. Hu. Including Aberdeen? MR. HU: Yes, including Aberdeen.
MR. CHEONG-LEEN:-Mr. Chairman, could not Mr. Henry Hu, as visiting member for Aberdeen, look around for a suitable site and co-operate with Mrs. ELLIOTT'S Committee?
MR. HU: Of course, looking for a site is not the job for a Ward Member. (Laughter). I wish that I could have time to do it. I am the Ward Councillor for Aberdeen because I was the last in the list at the time and, nobody would take it, so I took Aberdeen four years ago. (Laughter).
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