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the Chinese Language movement originated from this Council years ago, and I spoke in support thereof in last year's annual debate on purely practical ground. As we know, there are many Chinese citizens with wisdom, knowledge and enthusiasm for community service, but their difficulty with the English language has precluded them from serving on this Council. Having in mind the number of non-English speaking citizens that constitute the great majority of the population, this could be one of the very reasons of apathy and disinterest of the Councils activities. The present decision to make it a Bi-lingual Council would go a long way to right the situation.

I do however have some reservation on Paragraph 5(d) of the White Paper. Whilst it would be absolutely essential for the Council to have a more clearly defined area of responsibility within which to operate, it would be a very grave mistake indeed if future Standing Orders were to be prescribed on this pretext so as to muzzle the mouths of members of this only council with elected representation from speak- ing freely on a wider range of subjects that concern the public at large on occasions such as this Annual Debate. Personal attacks are of course a very different matter, and should be discouraged, even prohibited, at all costs.

Hawker and Resettlement Management

In Hong Kong, to tackle the problems of hawkers and resettlement is to tackle poverty and crowded masses with the human yet formi- dable social and environmental problems that entail. Add to these the people's apparent individual enterprise with little consideration for others and the unprecedented density of population and you have some idea of the almost impossible, certainly uneviable and thankless tasks that the Urban Council have to concern itself with. It is also this unglamourous side of the work that at times split the Council and the departments as well as the Elected and Appointed Members. I would however still like to think that whilst opinions differ, there is no reason to doubt Councillors intention to serve the community, be they elected or appointed.

It is in this particular aspect that I would give strong support to my learned colleague, Mr. Loво, who spoke on the urgent need for an improved and co-operative management on both Hawkers and Resettle- ment on Tuesday. As a participant in 1969 in the deliberation on a new Hawker Policy, I was particularly encouraged to see the many senior officers from all relevant departments attending. That there were general understanding and co-operation was evidenced by the fruitful discussions and prompt formulation of a renewed Hawker Policy which the Governor-in-Council endorsed with little delay. It is to be regretted that other relevant departments do not see fit to provide the required legislation and necessary additional resources to

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implement the policy, when at a time of full employment, such policy would certainly see the best chance of a success.

In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. BERNACCHI, Senior Elected Member, unexpectedly dropped a bombshell when he condemned to the wide- spread illegal sub-letting of hawker licences which had been given to the aged and the maimed on compassionate grounds, but who, through physical inability or lack of experience and expertise, were unable to make profitable use of same. He questioned the expediency of dishing out relief in this manner, particularly now that the Public Assistance Scheme has been introduced, and surprisingly, under-utilized. By so doing, Mr. BERNACCHI put the hawker problem into its proper pro- spective, and helped to simplify the solution of this complex and vexing problem. For, sympathetic as we would like to be, not all Councillors have the time nor facilities to care for individual hardship cases which rightfully belong to the domain of the Social Welfare Department. On the other hand, in today's scarce labour market, there is certainly no justification to condone the prolific growth of illegal hawker stalls and activities, which generally are wasteful and unhygienic ways of distribution, that create with it a great deal of public incon- venience and suffering, littering and traffic congestion. This brings to mind a saying of Confucius: "Benevolent but ignorant of administra- tive measures" (K) as he said of Tse-tsan (7), a well intentioned prime minister in one of the Warring Kingdoms.

As for Resettlement management, the Governor has directed that the proven Housing Authority methods be adopted. The new Com- missioner Mr. LIGHTBODY is asking for support for the firm application of settled estate management policy, and to resist attempts by individual tenants to secure personal advantages at the cost of, or inconvenience to, the tenants generally. He has also been advised of the need to bring up competent and experienced estate officers while strengthen- ing on the training of new recruits. With the gradual relief of over- crowding in Mark I and Mark II Estates built in the early days to meet desperate need, we should be able to see further improvements in the resettlement scene, as Mr. LIGHTBODY and his staff get on with the work with the support and encouragement of this Council.

I thank you. (Applause).

MR. HENRY WONG:-Mr. Chairman, as several of my colleagues have spoken at length on the various important issues raised in the Government's White Paper on Urban Council Reform, and Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN has expressed the views of the Civic Association, I being one of the elected members of the Civics team, would fully support his views and would not like to elaborate further. Now I shall confine