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park within a quarter of a mile of every citizen's home. Has any similar objective been considered by this Council, in particular in reference to the Western area?

MR. SALES: -Mr. Chairman, may I answer that question? The first part of the question, the distance of quarter of a mile between the home of any child and a public park is a very old yardstick. In fact, the Hansard will show that this was brought up many years ago, and in Hong Kong it is easy to use that yardstick, because here the urban areas are very compact. So in Hong Kong it is far better to use the yardstick which we are employing, that is per 100,000 people in any newly developing district, an acreage of 15% would be set aside for public open space, particularly for active recreation as distinct from sitting-out areas. So this yardstick is more suitable to Hong Kong than the one which Mr. BERNACCHI has cited, and which we discarded about five years ago. Now, we would be very happy indeed to be given more scope for the development of recreational facilities in Mr. Hu's ward, as well as in any other ward, and Mr. BERNACCHI can rest assured that our attention has been greatly exercised by the same deficiency in Chai Wan as is well known. (Laughter).

(16) MR. HENRY H. L. HU asked the following question:-

Could the Chairman please inform the Council which Department in the Government is responsible for recreational matters of our young people? If the answer is the Urban Services Department, could the Chairman tell the Council what we have done in the past and what are our plans for the future?

MR. A. de O. SALES, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION AND AMENITIES SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows:-

I am obliged to Mr. Hu for asking this very timely and important question on youth recreation.

There are, in fact, several Government departments which are actively concerned with the recreation of young people in Hong Kong, mainly the Education Department, the Social Welfare Department, the New Territories Administration, the Secretariat for Home Affairs, and the Urban Services Department.

For its part during the year from 1st April, 1968 to 31st March, 1969, the Urban Services Department through the Recreation and Amenities Division, was directly concerned with the organization of a total of 297 recreational and entertainment functions which included such activities as swimming parties, classical music concerts, variety shows, launch parties and pop-ins. Thousands of youngsters were thus given the chance to participate in various activities. Full details of both the 1968-69 programme for this Division and of the tentative programme for 1969-70 are contained in Committee Paper RA/3/69; Mr. HU has received a copy of this paper as have other members of the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. Briefly this envisages the presentation of nearly 400 separate entertainments and an expenditure of some $200,000. A separate section of the Division, headed by a Senior Executive Officer, has been created to organize and present this programme. Suggestions for worthwhile public entertainment will be welcomed.

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entertainment functions which included such activities as swimming parties, classical music concerts, variety shows, launch parties and pop-ins. Thousands of youngsters were thus given the chance to participate in various activities. Full details of both the 1968-69 programme for this Division and of the tentative programme for 1969-70 are contained in Committee Paper RA/3/69; Mr. HU has received a copy of this paper as have other members of the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. Briefly this envisages the presentation of nearly 400 separate entertainments and an expenditure of some $200,000. A separate section of the Division, headed by a Senior Executive Officer, has been created to organize and present this programme. Suggestions for worthwhile public entertainment will be welcomed.

In addition, the Cultural Services Division of the Department through its administration of the City Hall continues to give opportunities to many people, of whom a large proportion are young, to attend concerts of a high standard and to attend many exhibitions on a wide variety of topics. There were 42 popular concerts and 10 exhibitions in the Museum and Art Gallery in the year 1968-69. Furthermore the Urban Council Public Libraries that are administered by the Cultural Services Division have provided the facilities for many young people and adults to use and enjoy books freely and for meaningful and purposeful recreation and this usage is steadily increasing. Members are also aware that expansion of the Public Library service is under active consideration with a view to opening more Urban Council public libraries in other parts of the urban areas.

Finally it should be noted that the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department are responsible for the administration of many parks and playgrounds totalling 1,300 acres and for 36 gazetted beaches and for two public swimming pools; anybody who visits them, particularly in the evening or at weekends and holidays, must be struck by the way they are so well used and enjoyed by young people. The two pools attracted 1,254,509 paid attendances and 118 private bookings by schools, clubs and other groups in 1968-69. Members are already aware that further developments are planned that will result in an increase in the provision of these facilities and so enlarge the opportunities for healthy recreation for young people; notable among these projects are the new groups of swimming pools to be provided at Morse Park, Lei

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