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standard for their studies to be awarded degrees by many leading universities throughout the world, e.g. Yale, New York State, Philadelphia, Toronto, Paris, Berlin etc.
It is hoped that our Government will now realize that sufficient and efficient personnel is a much more important factor in providing a good medical service than impressive modern buildings and that its responsibility to help to train more and better doctors through establishing at least one more medical school will help basically to solve the problem of shortage of doctors.
To aim at an ever-rising standard of medicine through competition and co-operation, our local medical associations must regard it as their duty to support any proposal for more training centres for medical doctors. They need not fear the increase in the number of practitioners, for the demand for western medicine continued to grow and if they could exert their influence on the Government to require employers to provide some sort of subsidized medical service for their employees, a suggestion I made a long time ago, then there would certainly be an immense demand for professional services.
Next month the United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong will move to its permanent site and a year later New Asia College will do the same. With their spacious campus in Shatin and easy access to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon Hospital and also the new Lai Chi Kok Hospital now under construction, the Chinese University authorities perhaps could now come out in support of my proposal. After all, it is their duty to provide more advanced training facilities for Chinese middle school graduates.
IV. Chinese as an Official Language
Finally, a few words on making Chinese an official language. The Government appointed Chinese Language Committee has recommended in its final Report, dated 26th of July 1971, that "Chinese and English be declared to have equal status" and that "Government should consider promulgating a firm policy, in a suitable manner, that Chinese and English are official languages". This sounds very promising as it appears to be in full alignment with the aims of all campaigners to make Chinese an official language.
However I object strongly to their findings on the use of Chinese in the courts and in the laws declaring that there it is impossible for Chinese to attain equal status with English. Since in their report they admitted that in Canada and in Switzerland all official languages have attained both equal use and equal status in the courts, the laws being written in all official languages, why then cannot we have just two official languages, English and Chinese, accorded both equal use and equal status? Furthermore, all laws are made as guidelines for the people; in a community composed of over 98% Chinese, how can a Government expect its people to be law-abiding when the laws are written only in a language foreign to them?
The argument that Hong Kong is a British colony cannot hold water in the nineteen seventies, particularly as the future of Hong Kong is uncertain and the Chinese language itself will undoubtedly attain a much more important position in the international sphere in the near future.
We have been waiting patiently for three months for Government to declare its acceptance of both English and Chinese as official languages. It is hoped that the new Governor on his arrival will treat this matter as one of top urgency, as further delaying tactics will not work. By complying with the wishes of the community at large he will certainly further strengthen the unity between Government and people.
With these remarks I support the motion. (Applause).
(The Director of Public Works left at this point).
MR. PETER P. K. NG:—Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin my speech by stretching a little outside of the scope of the Urban Council and say a few words about the Blind. As a member of the Council for the Society of the Blind, I must remind all of us here that we take care and train blind people for their own benefit and not exploit them. We do not need advice from outsiders who know nothing about our operation, except to cash in on the difficulties of the unfortunate people for his or her own publicity.
I would also like to say something about the Victoria Park demonstration. As a local Chinese I must say that the majority of the local Chinese, including the genuine youth of Hong Kong, are too preoccupied with our other many problems to be concerned with such quixotic pursuits.
(Dr. HUANG left the meeting at this point).
My next subject I want to talk about is the White Paper which I consider has made very comprehensive and sensible recommendations to reform the present structure and to extend the scope of the Urban Council, and I cannot help saying that the Paper has been carefully thought of and weighted out to give what is considered to be the best for the Council as well as for the community it speaks for at large. Let us examine some of the proposals made in the Paper in greater detail. First, it's the use of Cantonese as well as English at
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Page 170 of 242
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standard for their studies to be awarded degrees by many leading York State, universities throughout the world, e.g. Yale, New Philadelphia, Toronto, Paris, Berlin etc.
It is hoped that our Government will now realize that sufficient and efficient personnel is a much more important factor in providing a good medical service than impressive modern buildings and that its responsibility to help to train more and better doctors through establish- ing at least one more medical school will help basically to solve the problem of shortage of doctors.
To aim at an ever-rising standard of medicine through competition and co-operation, our local medical associations must regard it as their duty to support any proposal for more training centres for medical doctors. They need not fear the increase in the number of practitioners, for the demand for western medicine continued to grow and if they could exert their influence on the Government to require employers to provide some sort of subsidized medical service for their employees, a suggestion I made a long time ago, then there would certainly be an immense demand for professional services.
Next month the United College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong will move to its permanent site and a year later New Asia College will do the same. With their spacious campus in Shatin and easy access to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon Hospital and also the new Lai Chi Kok Hospital now under construction, the Chinese University authorities perhaps could now come out in support of my proposal. After all, it is their duty to provide more advanced training facilities for Chinese middle school graduates.
IV. Chinese as an Official Language
Finally, a few words on making Chinese an official language. The Government appointed Chinese Language Committee has recommended in its final Report, dated 26th of July 1971, that "Chinese and English be declared to have equal status" and that "Government should con- sider promulgating a firm policy, in a suitable manner, that Chinese and English are official languages". This sounds very promising as it appears to be in full allignment with the aims of all compaigners to make Chinese an official language.
However I object strongly to their findings on the use of Chinese in the courts and in the laws declaring that there it is impossible for Chinese to attain equal status with English. Since in their report they admitted that in Canada and in Switzerland all official languages have attained both equal use and equal status in the courts, the laws being written in all official languages, why then cannot we have just two official languages, English and Chinese, accorded both equal use and
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
321
equal status? Furthermore, all laws are made as guidelines for the people; in a community composed of over 98% Chinese, how can a Government expect its people to be law-abiding when the laws are written only in a language foreign to them?
The argument that Hong Kong is a British colony cannot hold water in the nineteen seventies, particularly as the future of Hong Kong is uncertain and the Chinese language itself will undoubtedly attain a much more important position in the international sphere in the near future.
We have been waiting patiently for three months for Government to declare its acceptance of both English and Chinese as official languages. It is hoped that the new Governor on his arrival will treat this matter as one of top urgency, as further delaying taitics will not work. By complying with the wishes of the community at large he will certainly further strenthen the unity between Government and people.
With these remarks I support the motion. (Applause).
(The Director of Public Works left at this point).
MR. PETER P. K. NG:—Mr. Chairman, I would like to begin my speech by stretching a little outside of the scope of the Urban Council and say a few words about the Blind. As a member of the Council for the Society of the Blind, I must remind all of us here that we take care and train blind people for their own benefit and not exploit them. We do not need advice from outsiders who know nothing about our operation, except to cash in on the difficulties of the unfortunate people for his or her own publicity.
I would also like to say something about the Victoria Park demonstration. As a local Chinese I must say that the majority of the local Chinese, including the genuine youth of Hong Kong, are too preoccupied with our other many problems to be concerned with such quixotic pursuits.
(Dr. HUANG left the meeting at this point).
My next subject I want to talk about is the White Paper which I consider has made very comprehensive and sensible recommenda- tions to reform the present structure and to extend the scope of the Urban Council, and I cannot help saying that the Paper has been carefully thought of and weighted out to give what is considered to be the best for the Council as well as for the community it speaks for at large. Let us examine some of the proposals made in the Paper in greater detail. First, it's the use of Cantonese as well as English at
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