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in the explanatory note to the amendment and new By-laws. These By-laws shall come into operation on 1st January 1973. The purpose of putting back the commencement date for a few months is to allow the management of private cemeteries sufficient time during the interim period to make necessary arrangements to meet the requirements under certain sections of the Private Cemeteries (Amendment) By-laws 1972 such as the submission of a set of rules providing for the management and control of the cemetery, the submission of a return showing the number of grave spaces, vaults and niches available for allocation and a table of fees to be charged by the manager. Copies of the By-laws would be distributed to all private cemetery managements.
I beg to move.
MR. HENRY WONG:-Mr. Chairman, I beg to second.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I shall refrain from voting and I think the Council has the right to know why, it is simply that I am not convinced of the necessity for this amendment.
The question was put.
The motion was carried with 12 votes for and 3 abstentions.
(Dr. Denny M. H. HUANG left the meeting at this point.)
(6) MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN moved the following motion:-
"RESOLVED that the Hawker By-laws 1972 be made under Section 83A of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132."
He said:-Several years ago, the Council recognized the need to revise the Hawker By-laws and indeed this was considered essential to achieve the aims of the new hawker policy. The drafting work gained more momentum with the acceptance by Government of the Council's policy on hawking but, as Members will note, this constituted a major and difficult task. The basic guidelines were laid by a sub-committee of the Hawkers Select Committee and their onerous and painstaking contributions are much appreciated.
The main purpose of the amended By-laws is to rectify certain deficiencies in the present legislation and to consolidate the powers of the Council for dealing effectively with unlicensed hawking and other major hawking offences; they also ensure that licensed hawking is conducted in an orderly and hygienic manner.
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I would draw particular attention to By-law 12(1) which does not permit the carrying on of business by an assistant if the licensee is not present. This was not the true intention in that an assistant must be allowed to carry on business in the absence of the licensee if the licensee is away for reasonable cause. The subsection has been amended slightly by the inclusion in the bracketed portion shown in the paper before the Council. It is not thought that Members would object to this very minor amendment.
MR. R. H. LOBO:-Mr. Chairman, I rise to second the motion moved by Mr. Charles SIN.
In a few words, Mr. SIN has explained the purpose of his motion and I must support it as it is a step forward in the right direction. For years this Council has been trying to draft and re-draft and has been studying our Hawkers By-laws. Now it has finally been completed and it is being presented for adoption.
MRS. ELLIOTT: Mr. Chairman, I greatly regret having to oppose the motion, because I am as eager as anyone else on this Council to tidy up the streets, the estates and the hawker bazaars, but the penalties are the things that I oppose. I believe that the penalties suggested are out of all proportion to the offences committed, so far out of proportion as to be absurd. I know that the public is opposed to the very light penalties imposed on murderers, manslaughterers, rapists and robbers, and I am quite sure that I am speaking for members of the public when I say that they will not be impressed that we are trying to bring heavy penalties on people who are doing nothing worse than just trying to earn a living. On those grounds I oppose the motion.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I also oppose but, on perhaps, slightly different grounds. I do not oppose as such, but why have these amendments, which are very considerable, not been brought before the Standing Committee as a Whole to consider, just as the Legislative Council considers in committee and then assembles again in open meeting to approve the laws as amended in committee? The equivalent in the Urban Council surely is that these by-laws are drawn up by the Hawkers Select Committee, surely they are then referred to the Committee of a Whole, having been through the Council as a Whole and perhaps amended by the Council as a Whole, including perhaps the point made by Mrs. ELLIOTT about penalties, then they are finally moved in this open Council. Therefore because in my opinion the wrong procedure has been adopted, and we are now asked to approve very numerous amendments that have not been considered in committee of the Council as a Whole only in the Hawkers Select Committee. I oppose this procedure.
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in the explanatory note to the amendment and new By-laws. These By-laws shall come into operation on 1st January 1973. The purpose of putting back the commencement date for a few months is to allow the management of private cemeteries sufficient time during the interim period to make necessary arrangements to meet the requirements under certain sections of the Private Cemeteries (Amendment) By-laws 1972 such as the submission of a set of rules providing for the management and control of the cemetery, the submission of a return showing the number of grave spaces, vaults and niches available for allocation and a table of fees to be charged by the manager. Copies of the By-laws would be distributed to all private cemetery managements.
I beg to move.
MR. HENRY WONG:-Mr. Chairman, I beg to second.
MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. Chairman, I shall refrain from voting and I think the Council has the right to know why, it is simply that I am not convinced of the necessity for this amendment.
The question was put.
The motion was carried with 12 votes for and 3 abstentions.
(Dr. Denny M. H. HUANG left the meeting at this point.)
(6) MR. CHARLES C. C. SIN moved the following motion:-
"RESOLVED that the Hawker By-laws 1972 be made under Section 83A of the Public Health and Urban Services Ordinance, Cap. 132."
He said:-Several years ago, the Council recognized the need to revise the Hawker By-laws and indeed this was considered essential to achieve the aims of the new hawker policy. The drafting work gained more momentum with the acceptance by Government of the Council's policy on hawking but, as Members will note, this constituted a major and difficult task. The basic guidelines were laid by a sub- committee of the Hawkers Select Committee and their onerous and painstaking contributions are much appreciated.
The main purpose of the amended By-laws is to rectify certain deficiencies in the present legislation and to consolidate the powers of the Council for dealing effectively with unlicensed hawking and other major hawking offences; they also ensure that licensed hawking is conducted in an orderly and hygienic manner.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
181
I would draw particular attention to By-law 12(1) which does not permit the carrying on of business by an assistant if the licensee This was not the true intention in that an assistant is not present. must be allowed to carry on business in the absence of the licensee The subsection should the licensee be away for reasonable cause. has been amended slightly by the inclusion in the bracketed portion shown in the paper before the Council. It is not thought that Mem- bers would object to this very minor amendment.
MR. R. H. LOBO:-Mr. Chairman, I rise to second the motion moved by Mr. Charles SIN.
In a few words, Mr. SIN has explained the purpose of his motion and I must support it as it is a step forward in the right direction. For years this Council has been trying to draft and re-draft and has been studying our Hawkers By-laws. Now it has finally been com- pleted and it is being presented for adoption.
MRS. ELLIOTT: Mr. Chairman, I greatly regret having to oppose the motion, because I am as eager as anyone else on this Council to tidy up the streets, the estates and the hawker bazaars, but the penalties are the things that I oppose. I believe that the penalties suggested are out of all proportion to the offences committed, so far out of proportion as to be absurd. I know that the public is opposed to the very light penalties imposed on murderers, manslaughterers, rapists and robbers, and I am quite sure that I am speaking for members of the public when I say that they will not be impressed that we are try- ing to bring heavy penalties on people who are doing nothing worse than just trying to earn a living. On those grounds I oppose the motion.
MR. BERNACCHI:--Mr. Chairman, I also oppose but, on perhaps, slightly different grounds. I do not oppose as such, but why have these amendments, which are very considerable, not been brought before the Standing Committee as a Whole to consider, just as the Legislative Council considers in committee and then assembles again in open meeting to approve the laws as amended in committee? The equiva- lent in the Urban Council surely is that these by-laws are drawn up by the Hawkers Select Committee, surely they are then referred to the Committee of a Whole, having been through the Council as a Whole and perhaps amended by the Council as a Whole, including perhaps the point made by Mrs. ELLIOTT about penalties, then they are finally moved in this open Council. Therefore because in my opinion the wrong procedure has been adopted, and we are now asked to approve very numerous amendments that have not been considered in com- mittee of the Council as a Whole only in the Hawkers Select Com- mittee. I oppose this procedure.
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