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and groups in their presentations at the City Hall, especially to newly formed groups and artistes making their "debut" appearance. As I mentioned earlier, a much larger vote for the Council's cultural presentations will enable the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to begin its first professional season next year; this will lead to the Council sponsoring more local artistes and musical groups, especially in the field of Chinese instrumental music, which is extremely popular among our young population. Further plans under consideration include setting up a repertory theatre company to give regular drama performances in Cantonese, both in the City Hall and at other district venues.
Last but not least, we hope to continue bringing well-known overseas artistes to Hong Kong through the co-operation of national cultural organizations such as the Alliance Française, the American Library, the Dante Alighieri, and the Goethe Institute, thus making the best in the world of performing arts accessible to the community at popular prices.
The City Hall Select Committee is aware of the heavy demand on the facilities of the City Hall. While expanding its programme at the City Hall, it will continue to press for the building of other major cultural complexes, at Tsim Sha Tsui and at Kwun Tong, and to plan further cultural complexes in other districts.
MISS KO SIU-WAH (in English):- Mr. Chairman, would it be possible for the Urban Council to co-sponsor the Arts Festival in the future, or does this mean that we are actually co-sponsoring the Arts Festival without our name being attached to it?
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):- As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Chairman, in my answer, we are, in effect, co-sponsoring the Arts Festival at least to the tune of HK$230,000.
MR. HENRY H. L. Hu (in English):- Mr. Chairman, may I ask Mr. Lo to elaborate a little bit further on the last sentence about expanding its programme at City Hall? It will continue to press for the building of other major cultural complexes at Tsim Sha Tsui and at Kwun Tong? At what stage are we now with regard to the other cultural complexes?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
159
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):- As regards the Tsim Sha Tsui Complex, I gather we have long ago settled the schedule of accommodation. We cannot get down to doing the architectural design in detail because we have not yet formally got the land demarcated by the Government.
In fact, of course, all of us are pressing the Government for this, and in particular, the Chairman of the Council has been in constant liaison with the Public Works and other relevant departments on the matter.
MR. HENRY H. L. Hu (in English):- Mr. Chairman, could Mr. Lo tell us in his estimate, or in the estimate of his Select Committee, when we will get these cultural complexes either at Tsim Sha Tsui or at Kwun Tong?
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):- Mr. Chairman, we cannot really anticipate too far ahead. Suffice to say that we have not yet put into our estimate for next year any money relating to the proposed complex.
(3) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question (in English):-
What progress has been made on providing improvements in paving, entrances, water, and electricity in the Shui Wo Street Bazaar in Kwun Tong?
MR. HENRY H. L. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, at the July meeting of the Council, in answer to a similar question from Mrs. ELLIOTT, I stated that completion of the improvements to the Shui Wo Street Hawker Bazaar in Kwun Tong could be expected by the end of this year. I regret to say that it now appears that there will be some delay because the hawkers in the bazaar have been most unco-operative and were most reluctant to make way for the necessary works to be carried out. Not until the end of September did the hawkers finally agree to move their stalls and permit the contractors to begin work when they should have moved in. As a result, the various improvement works have been delayed considerably. I understand that the district Hawker Liaison staff are trying their best to persuade the hawkers to co-operate, and if everything goes well, the work should be completed within the next six to eight months.
Page 113 of 212
Page 113 of 212
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
and groups in their presentations at the City Hall, especially to newly formed groups and artistes making their "debut" appearance. As I mentioned earlier, a much larger vote for the Council's cultural presentations will enable the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra to begin its first professional season next year, this will lead to the Council sponsoring more local artistes and musical groups, especially in the field of Chinese instrumental music which is extremely popular among our young population. Further plans under consideration include the setting-up of a repertory theatre company to give regular drama performances in Cantonese, both in the City Hall and at other district venues.
Last but not least, we hope to continue bringing well-known overseas artistes to Hong Kong through the co-operation of national cultural organizations such as the Alliance Francaise, the American Library, the Dante Alighieri and the Goethe Institute, thus making the best in the world of performing arts accessible to the community at popular prices.
The City Hall Select Committee is aware of the heavy demand on the facilities of the City Hall. While expanding its programme at the City Hall, it will continue to press for the building of other major cultural complexes, at Tsim Sha Tsui and at Kwun Tong, and to plan further cultural complexes in other districts.
MISS KO SIU-WAH (in English):-Mr. Chairman, would it be possible for the Urban Council to co-sponsor the Arts Festival in the future, or does this mean that we are actually co-sponsoring the Arts Festival without our name being attached to it?
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):-As I mentioned earlier, Mr. Chairman, in my answer, we are, in effect, co-sponsoring the Arts Festival at least to the tune of HK$230,000.
MR. HENRY H. L. Hu (in English):-Mr. Chairman, may I ask Mr. Lo to elaborate little bit further the last sentence about expanding its programme at City Hall? It will continue to press for the building of other measures, cultural complexes at Tsim Sha Tsui and at Kwun Tong? At what stage are we now with regard to the other cultural complexes?
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
159
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):—As regards the Tsim Sha Tsui Complex, I gather we have long ago settled the schedule of accommoda- tion. We cannot get down to doing the architectural design in detail because we have not yet formally got the land demarcated by the Government.
In fact, of course, all of us are pressing the Government for this, and in particular, the Chairman of the Council has been in constant liaison with the Public Works and other relevant departments on the matter.
MR. HENRY H. L. Hu (in English):-Mr. Chairman, could Mr. Lo tell us in his estimate, or in the estimate of his Select Committee, when we will get these cultural complexes either at Tsim Sha Tsui or at Kwun Tong?
MR. LO TAK-SHING (in English):-Mr. Chairman, we cannot really anticipate too far ahead. Suffice to say that we have not yet put into our estimate for next year any money relating to the proposed complex.
(3) MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question (in English) : -
What progress has been made on providing improvements in paving, entrances, water and electricity in the Shui Wo Street Bazaar in Kwun Tong?
MR. HENRY H. L. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE HAWKERS SELECT COM- MITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-
Mr. Chairman, at the July meeting of the Council, in answer to a similar question from Mrs. ELLIOTT, I stated that completion of the improvements to the Shui Wo Street Hawker Bazaar in Kwun Tong could be expected by the end of this year. I regret to say that it now appears that there will be some delay, because the hawkers in the bazaar have been most unco-operative, and were most reluctant to make way for the necessary works to be carried out. Not until the end of September did the hawkers finally agree to move their stalls and permit the contractors to begin work, when they should have moved in. As a result, the various improvement works have been delayed considerably. I understand that the district Hawker Liaison staff are trying their best to persuade the hawkers to co-operate, and if everything goes well the work should be completed within the next six to eight months.
No comments yet.
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