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desired standard. The Council has decided to improve the system and the new system will contain a sound reinforcement system which provides stereo amplification, directional realism and even distribution of sound. A complete sound broadcast/recording system for full stereo and mono recording and broadcasting will also be included. The installation work should be completed by the end of January 1977 in time for the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February 1977.
The Recital Hall, which was put into operation in September this year, is equipped with adequate facilities. Action is being taken to provide further improvement to the Recital Hall and this includes the provision of a new grand piano and improvement of sound insulation of the Hall. The Council will take the lead in promoting the use of this new facility.
On the popular outdoor entertainment programmes, The Council has further intensified its activities. This year up to the end of November, the Council has presented a total of 483 free entertainment performances in various parks and playgrounds covering all ten urban districts. The programmes are of great variety so that different kinds of performances are staged for different tastes and age groups. The events have been well attended and the frequency for the most popular items increased. The Council also encouraged active participation of local people in the programmes. A typical example is the singing competition organized this year. Over 1,000 amateur singers and pop groups participated in six sections of the competition. The semi-finals and the grand final held in the City Hall Theatre and Concert Hall were all fully attended and the winners were invited to perform in the Council's outdoor programmes.
I will now turn to my favourite subject, Recreation, which is very closely related to this Council. We are pleased to note that many new recreational facilities have been provided this year and even more facilities are under planning for completion in the next few years. The Council took the initiative of organizing district sports competitions with various governing sports bodies covering practically all major and minor sports. This year, up to the end of November, over 9,000 competitors took part in these sports activities and a total of about 300,000 spectators enjoyed watching these matches. 80 teams from 10 urban areas will participate in the district football league this season whilst there were only 35 teams from urban areas when we first started sponsoring this popular event in 1973. Learn-to-swim scheme attracted a record number of participants this year and proved to be a very popular programme. Besides Water Safety Poster Design Competition, the Council organized Water Safety Slogan Competition for the first time this year. Recreation activities vote in 1977-78 will be further increased and we can anticipate healthy development along this line which will bring greater enjoyment to both participants and spectators.
We note that the Government has accepted the recommendations of Council for Recreation and Sport to extend the Recreation and Sport Service to every district. There has always been close cooperation between Urban Council and Recreation and Sport Service as their work supplements each other. Some of my colleagues are of the opinion that the Recreation and Sport Service should be part of, and run by this Council so that those who are responsible for the use of the facilities will be in at the inception of the planning of the facilities. This is a sound suggestion which should be seriously studied. In any case, this Council will have to step up management and control of its sports facilities to make sure that they are well and properly used, even if doing so entails engaging specialist recreation staff. In the meantime, we should also consider other alternative arrangements in order to ensure that the Recreation and Sport Service can be operated more efficiently and effectively, as public fund must be spent wisely. The Council for Recreation and Sport consists of official and unofficial members who, without any doubt, are dedicated to recreation and have wide experience in the operation and management of recreation activities. I believe that the Recreation and Sport Service will be more effective and will have better community relations if it is made an executive arm of the Council for Recreation and Sport which should directly supervise the work of Recreation and Sport Service instead of being put under the Education Department.
The Government recently decided to grant financial assistance to five major governing sports bodies in meeting the expenditure of executive secretary's salary, office rent and related expenditure. In order to avoid duplication and unnecessary waste of space and facilities, I believe that these sports bodies should have a combined office which is close to or part of sports stadium. Morrison Hill indoor stadium, when it is ready in two years' time, is in my opinion, the ideal choice and the design of the stadium can easily allow the accommodation of such office. As an interim measure, this Council could provide temporary office space for this purpose.
Turning now to the question of Hawkers, this Council has had this problem on hand for years and has not yet found a satisfactory solution. The policy is basically sound but we hesitate to implement the policy thoroughly for one reason or another. We spent too much time on
Page 103 of 135
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 103 of 135
170
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
desired standard. The Council has decided to improve the system and the new system will contain a sound reinforcement system which pro- vides stereo amplication, directional realism and even distribution of sound. A complete sound broadcast/recording system for full stereo and mono recording and broadcasting will also be included. The installation work should be completed by the end of January 1977 in time for the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February 1977.
The Recital Hall, which was put into operation in September this year, is equipped with adequate facilities. Action is being taken to provide further improvement to the Recital Hall and this includes the provision of a new grand piano and improvement of sound insulation of the Hall. The Council will take the lead in promoting the use of this new facility.
On the popular outdoor entertainment programmes. The Council has further intensified its activities. This year up to the end of Novem- ber, the Council has presented a total of 483 free entertainment per- formances in various parks and playgrounds covering all ten urban districts. The programmes are of great variety so that different kinds of performances are staged for different tastes and age groups. The events have been well attended and the frequency for the most popular items increased. The Council also encouraged active participation of local people in the programmes. A typical example is the singing com- petition organized this year. Over 1,000 amateur singers and pop groups participated in six sections of the competition. The semi-finals and the grand final held in the City Hall Theatre and Concert Hall were all fully attended and the winners were invited to perform in the Council's outdoor programmes.
I will now turn to my favourite subject, Recreation, which is very closely related to this Council. We are pleased to note that many new recreational facilities have been provided this year and even more facilities are under planning for completion in the next few years. The Council took the initiative of organizing district sports competition with various governing sports bodies covering practically all major and minor sports. This year, up to the end of November, over 9,000 competitors took part in these sports activities and a total of about 300,000 specta- tors enjoyed watching these matches. 80 teams from 10 urban areas will participate in the district football league this season whilst there were only 35 teams from urban area when we first started sponsoring this popular event in 1973. Learn-to-swim scheme attracted a record number of participants this year and proved to be a very popular programme. Besides Water Safety Poster Design Competition, the
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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Council organized Water Safety Slogan Competition for the first time this year. Recreation activities vote in 1977-78 will be further increased and we can anticipate healthy development along this line which will bring greater enjoyment to both participants and spectators.
We note that the Government has accepted the recommendations of Council for Recreation and Sport to extend the Recreation and Sport Service to every district. There has always been close co- operation between Urban Council and Recreation and Sport Service as their work supplement each other. Some of my colleagues are of the opinion that the Recreation and Sport Service should be part of, and run by this Council so that those who are responsible for the use of the facilities will be in at the inception of the planning of the facilities. This is a sound suggestion which should be seriously studied. In any case, this Council will have to step up management and control of its sports facilities to make sure that they are well and properly used, even if doing so entails engaging specialist recreation staff. In the meantime, we should also consider other alternative arrangements in order to ensure that the Recreation and Sport Service can be operated more efficiently and effectively, as public fund must be spent wisely. The Council for Recreation and Sport consists of official and unofficial members who, without any doubt, are dedicated to recreation and have wide experience in the operation and management of recreation activi- ties. I believe that the Recreation and Sport Service will be more effective and will have better community relations if it is made an executive arm of the Council for Recreation and Sport which should directly supervise the work of Recreation and Sport Service instead of being put under the Education Department.
The Government recently decided to grant financial assistance to five major governing sports bodies in meeting the expenditure of execu- tive secretary's salary, office rent and related expenditure. In order to avoid duplication and unnecessary waste of space and facilities, I believe that these sports bodies should have a combined office which is close to or part of sports stadium. Morrison Hill indoor stadium, when it is ready in two years' time, is in my opinion, the ideal choice and the design of the stadium can easily allow the accommodation of such office. As an interim measure, this Council could provide tem- porary office space for this purpose.
Turning now to the question of Hawkers, this Council has had this problem on hand for years and has not yet found a satisfactory solution. The policy is basically sound but we hesitate to implement the policy thoroughly for one reason or another. We spent too much time on
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