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this meeting, or else the result of the decision of the Select Committee will be sent to Mr. Hu in due course.
At a glance I can see that it seems to be a difficult problem, a problem of helping a new wax population in Hong Kong. (Laughter).
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I thank the Chairman of the Museum & Art Gallery Select Committee. Certainly I will attend the meeting, but just for clarification, as a matter of fact I sent this paper in, in Chinese, about a month ago. I asked the Secretary to translate it into English so that the Select Committee could discuss it.
MR. BERNACCHI: Was there not indeed something in the papers about a similar proposal?
CHAIRMAN: Yes, indeed, Mr. BERNACCHI.
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, may I suggest Kowloon as a site for this wax museum?
MRS. ELLIOTT: Why? Do you want to be in it? (Laughter).
MR. HU: I think so, Mr. Chairman. (Laughter).
(10) DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question:
I understand that revised legislation for the control of advertisements is being considered. Could the Chairman inform the Council of what progress has been made?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:
In the latter part of 1968, interested Government departments were consulted on general proposals for revision as drawn up by a special sub-committee set up by the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. Comments by departments were considered by the Select Committee earlier this year after which drafting instructions were forwarded to the Colonial Secretariat for approval in principle, before the Legal Department gets down to drafting new Advertisements By-laws.
DR. HUANG: Mr. Chairman, may I, through you, ask the Chairman of the Recreation & Amenities Select Committee to inform me whether or not those temporary advertisements with big Chinese characters on the rocks, walls and hillsides for Chinese tablets and package medicines are included in the new by-laws.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. SALES: Mr. Chairman, the proposal which the Select Committee put to the Government on behalf of the Urban Council is so comprehensive that I should imagine that these tablets would be included, although I should be very sorry myself to see them go because I resort to their use. (Laughter).
MOTION.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI moved:
The Council appreciates the need for hawkers of cooked food in Hong Kong and remits this matter to the Hawker Policy Select Committee for it to work out the practical details.
He said: The object of this Motion is to lay down for the Policy Select Committee the intention of this Council to re-introduce the cooked food stall licence whilst leaving it open to the Hawker Policy Select Committee to work out the practical details, namely, whether it is better for the new cooked food stalls to be in hawker bazaars, the size of the stall etc., etc. The issue of new licences for cooked-food stalls was stopped first of all as a temporary measure about 10 years ago and then was made permanent by the adoption of the Hawker Report. At that time it was considered that the restrictions on hawkers selling cooked food would lead to more restaurants, and more important to the working class men, the formation of economy canteens. Economy canteens were started just after the War and the maximum prices were controlled by this Council. The control over economy canteens was ended at about the end of 1952 and despite the fact that no new licences for cooked food stalls have been issued for about 10 years, no big new economy canteens have been established. Although year by year, the number of restaurants is gradually increasing yet a very liberal estimate has put the number of persons who takes at least one meal at a cooked food stall a day at about 1 million people. In other words, a quarter of our whole population eat at cooked food stalls. How then can we not appreciate the need for cooked food hawkers in Hong Kong? Of course there are health objections. Of course we should control the hawkers of cooked food stalls, but what control can there be when for 10 years we have not given out any new licences and therefore there are as many, if not more, unlicensed hawkers of cooked food as there are licensed.
The factories as a whole although there are very significant exceptions do not provide meals for the workers in canteens and the average worker in industrial areas goes out on to the streets and sits down and takes his meal at a cooked food stall. Indeed some of the industrialists to whom I have spoken, maintain that it is no use providing canteens for their workers because the average man prefers to go out into street where there is usually a comparatively cool breeze and take his food at a cooked food stall. We all know that many resettlement areas have
Page 32 of 237
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Page 32 of 237
46
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
this meeting, or else the result of the decision of the Select Committee will be sent to Mr. Hu in due course.
At a glance I can see that it seems to be a difficult problem, a problem of helping a new wax population in Hong Kong. (Laughter).
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I thank the Chairman of the Museum & Art Gallery Select Committee. Certainly I will attend the meeting, but just for clarification, as a matter of fact I sent this paper in, in Chinese, about a month ago. I asked the Secretary to translate it into English so that the Select Committee could discuss it.
MR. BERNACCHI :- -Was there not indeed something in the papers about a similar proposal?
CHAIRMAN: --Yes, indeed, Mr. BERNACCHI.
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, may I suggest Kowloon as a site for this wax museum?
MRS. ELLIOTT:-Why? Do you want to be in it? (Laughter).
MR. HU: I think so, Mr. Chairman. (Laughter).
(10) DR. DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question:-
I understand that revised legislation for the control of adver- tisements is being considered. Could the Chairman in- form the Council of what progress has been made?
MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-
In the latter part of 1968, interested Government departments were consulted on general proposals for revision as drawn up by a special sub-committee set up by the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. Comments by depart- ments were considered by the Select Committee earlier this year after which drafting instructions were forwarded to the Colonial Secretariat for approval in principle, before the Legal Department gets down to drafting new Adver- tisements By-laws.
DR. HUANG:-Mr. Chairman, may I, through you, ask the Chair- man of the Recreation & Amenities Select Committee to inform me whether or not those temporary advertisements with big Chinese charac- ters on the rocks, walls and hillsides for Chinese tablets and package medicines are included in the new by-laws.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
47
MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, the proposal which the Select Com- mittee put to the Government on behalf of the Urban Council is so comprehensive that I should imagine that these tablets would be in- cluded, although I should be very sorry myself to see them go because I resort to their use. (Laughter).
MOTION.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI moved:
The Council appreciates the need for hawkers of cooked food in Hong Kong and remits this matter to the Hawker Policy Select Committee for it to work out the practical details.
He said: The object of this Motion is to lay down for the Policy Select Committee the intention of this Council to re-introduce the cooked food stall licence whilst leaving it open to the Hawker Policy Select Committee to work out the practical details, namely, whether it is better for the new cooked food stalls to be in hawker bazaars, the size of the stall etc., etc. The issue of new licences for cooked-food stalls was stopped first of all as a temporary measure about 10 years ago and then was made permanent by the adoption of the Hawker Report. At that time it was considered that the restrictions on hawkers selling cooked food would lead to more restaurants, and more important to the working class men, the formation of economy canteens. Economy canteens were started just after the War and the maximum prices were controlled by this Council. The control over economy canteens was ended at about the end of 1952 and despite the fact that no new licences for cooked food stalls have been issued for about 10 years, no big new economy canteens have been established. Although year by year, the number of restaurants is gradually increasing yet a very liberal estimate has put the number of persons who takes at least one meal at a cooked food stall a day at about 1 million people. In other words, a 4 of our whole population eat at cooked food stalls. How then can we not appreciate the need for cooked food hawkers in Hong Kong? Of course there are health objections. Of course we should control the hawkers of cooked food stalls, but what control can there be when for 10 years we have not given out any new licences and therefore there are as many, if not more, unlicensed hawkers of cooked food as there are licensed.
The factories as a whole although there are very significant excep- tions do not provide meals for the workers in canteens and the average worker in industrial areas goes out on to the streets and sits down and takes his meal at a cooked food stall. Indeed some of the industrialists to whom I have spoken, maintain that it is no use providing canteens for their workers because the average man prefers to go out into street where there is usually a comparatively cool breeze and take his food at a cooked food stall. We all know that many resettlement areas have
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