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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

But, our elected colleagues are not offered such an opportunity. No wonder Dr. Denny HUANG had remarked with regret that since the Elected Members did not form a united front, he felt deplorable and shameful for them.

Being one of the Elected Members, I should have a feeling of shame. Upon review, it seems that certain Senior Elected Members should be mostly held responsible for it. As we are junior Councillors absolutely without an opportunity to become the chairman, we keep ourselves off the strife. Should there be one who is fully supported by all the elected, I, being a junior, shall surely cast him my vote. But, why is there no such person available? Why is there no one capable to take up the leadership? What makes Dr. Denny HUANG heave a sigh saying that "even the vice-chairmanship intended for the Elected Members was almost chosen by the appointed members"?

Although I am only a junior councillor, I have to ask who is to shoulder the responsibilities?

Under these circumstance, whether or not the Government intends to control the Council through the Appointed Members, the outcome is them same. I, as a junior Urban Councillor, shall only heave a sigh, but will not feel ashamed.

In making the aforesaid two remarks, I only argue about the matter in the light of actual facts and do not nourish any disrespect against Dr. HUANG. In reality, I hold him in great esteem, for he is a man of good reputation, of high status and of immense popularity. In future, whenever occasion arises, I shall be too pleased to be enlightened by him in another debate on this.

As regards the Council's own affairs, there are two problems which have, for years, remained a headache for us as well as the entire local community and which have been the subject of unending controversies, with no one being able to come up with a solution acceptable to all.

One of these is the hawker problem. Each year the Council spends a sizable amount of money on hawker control which takes up a lion's share of the Council's budget. If this sum of money, obtained from tax-payers, can be put to other more meaningful and constructive use, the community will benefit more. It is indeed a great pity that this is not the case.

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

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Personally I am sympathetic with most hawkers who, being old or infirm, have no means of making a living other than by hawking. What is at issue is not this but the regrettable fact that even the able- bodied have also joined the hawking ranks. These people, with their physical fitness, should divert their energy to the production field, including the booming construction industry, thereby helping to push up the gross production of Hong Kong and at the same time augmenting their own income. It is therefore most deplorable that they should choose to earn a living by hawking, which is tantamount to a waste of manpower.

The majority of these hawkers are not licensed. They usually trade at key traffic points and have to be "on the run" all the time to avoid arrest. As a result, not only are pavements and carriageways blocked by their operations, but pedestrians and vehicles are often forced to manoeuvre dangerously for road space.

While it is heart-rending to learn that hawkers are widely exploited by some triad societies, a point which has been repeatedly raised by Mrs. Elsie ELLIOTT, it strikes one as being grossly unfair that some hawkers are making much more money a month than a great number of small and medium shopkeepers.

It can be said that the hawker problem is not just a problem concerning the elderly and the infirm who make a scanty livelihood by hawking, but a rather complicated issue which should not be viewed from only one angle but should be seen in its proper perspective. All members of the Council should therefore put their heads together and make greater efforts in finding a fool-proof formula which would solve the problem completely.

Under the

Another problem is that of unlicensed restaurants. newly-enacted legislation, operators of unlicensed food businesses are liable to imprisonment which, in my opinion, should be reviewed. I am all against the very existence of unlicensed food businesses, but consider that resorting to imprisonment as a form of punishment to produce a deterrent effect is no solution. If a businessman is prosecuted and sent to jail just for commencing a food business while applying for a licence, it will spark off public attack and resentment to an unimaginable extent. People will naturally have this to say: “Even a bona fide businessman is sent to jail. What kind of a society is it? No wonder so many people have become thieves." At the same time, a great many people will blame the Urban Council for its com- plicated licensing procedure and failure to issue a licence with the minimum delay, as a result of which bona fide businessmen are forced

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