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authorities to explain to the nearest City District Office or in front of a J.P. Should they totally disregard this obligation, punishment should be imposed on them. The purpose of bringing such a legislation into effect is to inculcate the parents or guardians to have a sense of responsibility and to show community as a whole has the duty to take care of those children and youths.
(ii) To go hand in hand with the above-mentioned legislation, Education Department, Labour Department, Housing Department and City District Office staff should jointly conduct a sample survey in public housing estates by distributing printed forms to the householders, who are required then to fill in all information about their children's schooling or employment. The survey findings obtained would help the needy start a new life, and improve the social surroundings.
(Dr. P. C. WONG left the meeting at this point.)
(iii) To encourage the adoption of apprenticeship system. In addition to imparting academic as well as technical knowledge to the children and youths, guidance should be given in respect of morality, intelligence, discipline and group life. The ultimate purpose is to make them become good citizens.
(iv) I am also very much concerned about the creation of "child actors" in the entertainment circle. To the best of my knowledge, proper education will have to be laid aside in order to make a "child actor" who can sing and dance well or a "little warrior" out of a minor. These so-called "child actors" might earn a fortune for their parents or guardians, but they thus lose the chance to receive proper education. When they grow up, they might not be stars any more. Then, it would be very easy for them to go astray because they used to live luxuriously during childhood and are unable to adapt themselves to other ways of life and occupations. I think we should require parents or guardians of these "child actors" to hire registered teachers to teach them for not less than 6 hours a day up to Form V standard. This could serve as a remedy to the problem.
The other problem which I am going to talk about is juvenile delinquency. It is all because children below 14 were not given proper care and assistance ten years ago, they did not go to school nor work but loitered around doing nothing, and became the "new-blood delinquents" of today. With the influx of this batch of "new blood", the number of juvenile delinquency cases has had a sudden increase. If we do not think out ways to take care of the children now, there would be another batch of "new-blood delinquents" ten years later, and it will become all the more difficult to solve the problem.
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quents" of today. With the influx of this batch of "new blood", the number of juvenile delinquency cases has had a sudden increase. If we do not think out ways to take care of the children now, there would be another batch of "new-blood delinquents" ten years later, and it will become all the more difficult to solve the problem.
As regards the problem of social order which is a common concern to all members of the community, I think the thing offenders fear most is a genuine high detection rate. In other words, if they can't escape when law's hand-grip, they would hesitate before committing a crime. There is a large number of people reporting crime and the detection rate is high, the rate is a genuine one. On the other hand, when there is a small number of people reporting crime but the detection rate is high, it will not be a genuine one. When the offenders realize that the high detection rate is not a genuine one, they would fear nothing and continue holding the law in defiance.
In the past, the Urban Services Department worked on a division basis (i.e., Abattoirs, Hawkers and Markets Division, Cleansing Division, Hygiene Division and Recreation and Amenities Division). An Assistant Director headed a division, and under him there were Executive Officers and health inspectors. There are sub-divisions too. Therefore, due to division of work and the inter-relation among the divisions and sub-divisions, a lot of time was spent on finding out the unit which was responsible for a problem, which was dealt with only after long delay. In view of the inconvenience, the Urban Services Department started a re-organization last November and works on a District basis. There are four districts, namely, Western District, Central District, Wanchai District and Eastern District, in Hong Kong Island and six, namely, Sham Shui Po District, Mong Kok District, Yau Ma Tei District, Kowloon City District, Wong Tai Sin District and Kwun Tong District, in Kowloon. There is an Assistant Director in Hong Kong Region, Kowloon Region and New Territories Region. Each of the districts is under an Urban Services Officer who will see that all matters arising in his district be handled immediately. Such a Region and District system makes possible a better understanding of the various districts on the one hand and saves a lot of time when coming across matters that need to be attended promptly on the other. I personally think this system greatly raises working efficiency and that the public should be given a more in-depth understanding of how this system works. If any member of the public has a complaint or a suggestion which is of public interest to put forth, he could always, through arrangement of the kaifong leader and City District Office concerned,
Page 175 of 212
Page 174 of 212
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authorities to explain to the nearest City District Office or in front of a J.P. Should they totally disregard this obligation, punishment should be imposed on them. The purpose of bringing such a legislation into effect is to inculcate the parents or guardians to have a sense of responsibility and to show community as a whole has the duty to take care of those children and youths.
(ii) To go hand in hand with the above-mentioned legislation, Education Department, Labour Department, Housing Depart- ment and City District Office staff should jointly conduct a sample survey in public housing estates by distributing printed forms to the householders, who are required then to fill in all information about their children's schooling or employment. The survey findings obtained would help the needy start a new life, and improve the social surroundings.
(Dr. P. C. WONG left the meeting at this point.)
(iii) To encourage the adoption of apprenticeship system. In addition to imparting academic as well as technical knowledge to the children and youths, guidance should be given in respect of morality, intelligence, discipline and group life. The ulti- mate purpose is to make them become good citizens.
(iv) I am also very much concerned about the creation of "child actors" in the entertainment circle. To the best of my knowledge, proper education will have to be laid aside in order to make a "child actor" who can sing and dance well or a "little warrior" out of a minor. These so-called "child actors" might earn a fortune for their parents or guardians, but they thus lose the chance to receive proper education. When they grow up, they might not be stars any more. Then, it would be very easy for them to go astray because they used to live luxuriously during childhood and are unable to adapt them- selves to other ways of life and occupations. I think we should require parents or guardians of these "child actors" to hire registered teachers to teach them for not less than 6 hours a day up to Form V standard. This could serve as a remedy to the problem.
The other problem which I am going to talk about is juvenvile delinquency. It is all because children below 14 were not given proper care and assistance ten years ago, they did not go to school nor work but loitered around doing nothing, and became the "new-blood delin-
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277
quents" of today. With the influx of this batch of "new blood", the number of juvenile delinquency cases has had a sudden increase. If we do not think out ways to take care of the children now, there would be another batch of "new-blood delinquents" ten years later, and it will become all the more difficult to solve the problem.
As regards the problem of social order which is a common concern to all members of the community, I think the thing offenders fear most is a genuine high detection rate. In other words, if they can't escape When law's hand-grip, they would hesitate before committing a crime. there is a large number of people reporting crime and the detection rate is high, the rate is a genuine one. On the other hand when there is a small number of people reporting crime but the detection rate is high, it will not be a genuine one. When the offenders realize that the high detection rate is not a genuine one, they would fear nothing and continue holding the law in defiance.
In the past the Urban Services Department worked on a division basis (i.e. Abattoirs, Hawkers and Markets Division, Cleansing Division, Hygiene Division and Recreation and Amenities Division.). An Assist- ant Director headed a division, and under him there were Executive There- Officers and health inspectors. There are sub-divisions too. fore, due to division of work and the inter-relation among the divisions and sub-divisions, a lot of time was spent on finding out the unit which was responsible for a problem which was dealt with only after long delay. In view of the inconvenience, the Urban Services Department started a re-organization last November and works on a District basis. There are four districts, namely, Western District, Central District, Wanchai District and Eastern District, in Hong Kong Island and six, namely, Sham Shui Po District, Mong Kok District, Yau Ma Tei District, Kowloon City District, Wong Tai Sin District and Kwun Tong District, in Kowloon. There is an Assistant Director in Hong Kong Region, Kowloon Region and New Territories Region. Each of the districts is under an Urban Services Officer who will see that all matters arising in his district be handled immediately. Such a Region and District system makes possible a better understanding of the various districts on the one hand and saves a lot of time when coming across matters that need to be attended promptly on the other. I personally think this system greatly raises working efficiency and that the public should be given a more in-depth understanding of how this system works. If any member of the public has a complaint or a suggestion which is of public interest to put forth, he could always, through arrangement of the kaifong leader and City District Office concerned,
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