1975 — Page 37

Page 37 of 154

42

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

of course,

if we give them a licence we will also try our best to create space for them to hawk although we should be very firm in the selection and structures on the site. But, nevertheless, we will provide sufficient sites to accommodate the hawkers who have a licence.

MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I did ask another question which has been lost. Do the fines from the hawkers who have licences, the fines for obstruction, do those fines go into the income because I think they should?

(Mr. Peter P. F. CHAN left the meeting at this point.)

MR. HU (in English):-My answer is "No". They do not go into our income.

MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I heard from Mr. Hu that they will consider increasing hawker fees because of our higher expenses. But I wonder if you have also considered that once we increase hawker fees, part of the licensed hawkers would become unlicensed hawkers instead. I think there is a loophole, in which case, they don't have to pay any hawker fees so that some licensed hawkers could become unlicensed hawkers.

MR. HU (in English):-Mr. Chairman, we did consider this question. If we decide that the unlicensed hawkers should have a licence then, of course, the By-laws should be very strictly enforced because if anybody could have a licence and if anybody chooses not to have it, then of course, he is acting against the Hawker By-laws.

MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):-But, in fact, do we have enough enforcement staff?

In which case,

I think we will have more and more unlicensed hawkers.

MR. HU (in English):-The question you asked is do we have sufficient staff to issue licence or to control?

MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):-Control.

MR. HU (in English):-I haven't studied this problem in detail, but I should think that to check whether a hawker has a licence or not is very easy work.

MR. F. K. HU (in English):-Mr. Chairman, on the provision of hawker bazaars, I would like to know whether the Select Committee has considered the fact that hawkers in some hawker bazaars actually

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

43

are moving out of the bazaars because of lack of business in those bazaars.

MR. HU (in English):-What Mr. Hu said is probably true. We will look into the position.

(3) MR. PETER C. K. CHAN, on behalf of Mr. Hilton CHEONG-LEEN, asked the following question (in English):

What is being done by the Urban Council to foster and encourage Chinese music, drama, opera and other aspects of Chinese performing arts, as well as to encourage more participation by young people in such activities?

CHAIRMAN (in English):-Under Standing Order 12(9), I now ask Mr. Henry Hu to reply to that question.

MR. HENRY H. L. HU, VICE-CHAIRMAN, URBAN COUNCIL, replied as follows (in English):

Mr. Chairman, this question concerns the fostering of Chinese music, drama, opera and other aspects of Chinese performing arts and the encouragement of more participation by young people in such activities.

Of the total of 261 cultural presentations planned for 1975/76 by the Urban Council, 20 are for Chinese instrumental music, 3 for Cantonese operas, 3 for Fukienese glove puppet shows, 27 for Cantonese drama, 13 for Oriental and Chinese folk dances and 12 talks on Chinese music compositions. Thus, about 30% of the programmes in 1975/76 are directly related to the promotion of Chinese performing arts.

Furthermore, Chinese compositions are performed frequently in concerts by local choirs and vocalists. The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, which gives 72 concerts a year in the Council's cultural presentation programmes, has a strong repertoire of Chinese orchestral works which are performed frequently.

In March, the internationally known scholar on Chinese music, Professor Choa Ru-lan, gave two lectures at the City Hall, presented jointly by the Urban Council and Music Department of Chung Chi College. Another important

Page 37 of 154