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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

reading, and is the 4th one since 1938 but until very recently

we have only 2 small floors in the high block in which to display our pieces. The present design for the Museum and Art Gallery in the Kowloon Civic Centre is still based on this report and, as a member of the Civic Centre Complex Select-Committee, I do hope that the Museum and Art Gallery does get built within this decade, even if we have to partly finance it with our own money, as we are doing with the planetarium. We have however temporarily taken a lease of an extensive area of Star House on a 5-year basis, renewable for another two years, where our museum collection generally will be housed until the Civic Complex Museum is erected. The Art Gallery including the fine arts like Chinese ceramics will at present still be housed in 10th and 11th floors of the City Hall high block, but we are separating the administration at the expert level for the historical museum and the Art Gallery in the wide sense that it generally has nowadays. Local architects have already been engaged to plan the City Museum in Kowloon where our historical exhibitions will be displayed for some years to come.

We intend exhibiting there on a more or less permanent basis, a total of about 4,350 items, large and small.

I could not submit my report on this Select Committee without mentioning the items acquired at Sotheby's Auction last year which caused a 9-day rumpus because some items had been bought without taking or against the advice of the advisors. As regards those partic- ular items, I have already expressed the fact that the Urban Council greatly appreciates our advisor's work and advice throughout this and former years. But I could not let the subject go by without saying, as a personal observation, that my public remarks at a former meeting about offers to re-purchase seem to show that the Urban Council has in fact got a reasonable deal. Although it is public money that we are spending, therefore we must obviously not waste it, nevertheless, I do consider that the duty of every well-run museum is to acquire fine pieces, preferably with a historical element, and to display them in such a way as to encourage our young persons to look at and to learn from them.

Ward System: Finally on Urban Council matters, I come to deal with the ward offices and my ward office in Chai Wan in particular. Apart from hawkers, the vast majority of the applicants are to do with public housing generally. Public housing has not been taken away from the Urban Council, I repeat, public housing has not been taken away from the Urban Council. The Urban Council pressed for all public housing to be put under one authority and that has now been done. All public housing is now under the Housing Authority. The

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Housing Authority used to be composed of all Urban Councillors. However, with the increased power of the Authority, the composition of its members have been slightly altered. Nevertheless, the Urban Council still has the largest individual group on the Authority, namely, 8 members, who although are appointed individually by the Governor, are nevertheless appointed as Urban Councillors, and on the under- standing that the appointment will automatically cease if he or she ceases to be a member of the Urban Council. If any member not on the Housing Authority have difficulty in their wards in finding out the policies of the Authority, and to whom to contact in respect to a parti- cular housing problem, please inquire from one of the Urban Council representatives on the Authority and always remember there is a man- agement select-committee of the Authority who looks after the day- to-day management problems and whose advice can always be sought in the last resort. One of Urban Councillors is Chairman of that select- committee.

I would now devote the remainder of my speech in seconding this motion to deal albeit briefly with the economic crisis.

(a) Hong Kong is of course too small a place by world standards to have much effect on outside influences that basically have caused this economic crisis.

(b) On the other hand, the Hong Kong Dollar, despite everything, remains sound and we should do everything we can to keep it that way.

(c) The soundness of Hong Kong Dollar depends considerably on the availability of work for our citizens, and on the con- trary, if there is no work, then we can expect depression more economic instability, and eventually riots.

(d) Therefore I advise the Government to set the lead in provid- ing work for the people of Hong Kong, even if it means drawing considerably on our reserves. I am utterly against any further cut-back in the public Housing Programme. I am against a cutting down of the Public Works Department work schedule. I am against any reduction in the number of hospitals to be built and operated. I am against any re- duction in the number of schools to be built. Indeed, last but not least, I am against the attitude of the Government in saying, "Wait, wait, wait . . ." to the number of Urban Council projects that the Government has undertaken to do for us on our becoming independent now almost 2 years ago.