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total financial support for this scheme amounts to $178,000 in these three years.
At the end of the current financial year, a review of the effectiveness and adequacy of the Council's efforts in promoting tai chi will be undertaken in order to establish what further steps could be taken to promote this worth while activity, with a view to improving participation in tai chi exercise for the general enjoyment of the public, and as a non-combative sport for the promotion of physical fitness.
MR CHEONG-LEEN (in English):—Mr Chairman, when the review takes place at the end of the current financial year, will Mr Lo's Committee give consideration to having competitions of a non-combative nature to improve the standard of tai chi as a traditional martial arts sport?
MR LO (in English):—Mr Chairman, I must confess that I do not know a great deal about tai chi. It seems to me to be a solitary sport which we would carry out to improve physical fitness and for our own enjoyment. I am not sure whether competition can in fact be conducted. Perhaps, we can look into this and if the Honourable Hilton CHEONG-LEEN can assist us, we should be very glad to ask him to join our deliberations.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Mr CHEONG-LEEN, Will you accept? (Laughter)
MR CHEONG-LEEN (in English):—Mr Chairman, by way of explanation may I say that I wouldn't try to compete with Mr Lo to know more about the subject.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—I recall the last time you asked this question, we specifically invited you to be our mentor and guide. Was that taken up? (Laughter)
MR LO (in English):—I remember that is what was said, but I leave it at that.
MR YOUNG (in English):—Apart from actually offering the use of Council facilities for the sport, what about the question of improving access to; say spaces underneath flyovers which appear to be of no practical use apart from providing space for this passive exercise?
MR LO (in English):—Yes, Mr Chairman. Spaces underneath flyovers can also be used for this purpose, but I am hoping that we will be able to make use of those spaces for other purposes as well, not just for tai chi classes.
6 DR DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question (in Cantonese): — As the press has recently shown great concern over the performances given by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, may I ask:-
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55
(a) What are the highest and lowest numbers of admission tickets sold for performances given by the Orchestra over the past 4 months?
(b) What is the average percentage of tickets sold for each performance during this period?
MR F. K. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):—Since the 1978-79 season of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra opened in April, the highest attendance was recorded for the concert on 1 April for which 1,332 tickets were sold, and the lowest attendance was for the concert on 28 April for which 391 tickets were sold. A total of 9,859 tickets were sold for the Orchestra's 14 performances during the past 4 months, representing an average of 48% of seating capacity.
DR HUANG (in Cantonese):—Mr Chairman, obviously, the record of the box office is not too satisfactory. I do not think the Philharmonic is being supported by the public of Hong Kong. So I want to ask Mr Hu something about the music critic's comment saying that the ratio of expatriate musical players in this Philharmonic are becoming more and more in number and the Hong Kong Philharmonic should be a Hong Kong orchestra. I do not know whether such comments are correct or not, or will you prepare to research further into this topic?
CHAIRMAN (in English):—That is not related to the original question and it is in the form of a statement too. Nevertheless, since you put it up with concern and in fact you drew attention to a press article in this connection, there is no reason why I should not ask Mr F. K. Hu to answer it for public understanding of the position.
MR HU (in English):—Mr Chairman, actually this Council is concerned with the drop of sale of tickets and there are many reasons as Dr HUANG mentioned there were many explanations given, but we cannot base our action on hearsay and that is why the Council will be conducting a survey to try to determine the reason for the unsatisfactory ticket sales. A questionnaire is being prepared by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society with the assistance of the Council staff. When the survey is completed, then an explanation of the low ticket sales may be found and I think we have to wait for the results of the survey before we can come to a definite conclusion.
DR HUANG (in Cantonese):—I do not know whether I can ask a further supplementary. When Mr Hu asks for a survey of the reasons for the low attendance, would he consider the fact that the Hong Kong Philharmonic should be basically a Hong Kong orchestra and not an orchestra dominated by expatriates?
CHAIRMAN (in English):—You are asking Mr Hu for an expression of opinion (Laughter) and I have already shown my goodwill by allowing the first supplementary.
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Page 46 of 135
Page 45 of 135
54
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
total financial support for this scheme amounts to $178,000 in these three
years.
At the end of the current financial year, a review of the effectiveness and adequacy of the Council's efforts in promoting tai chi will be undertaken in order to establish what further steps could be taken to promote this worth. while activity, with a view to improving participation in tai chi exercise for the general enjoyment of the public, and as a non-combative sport for the promotion of physical fitness.
MR CHEONG-LEEN (in English):—Mr Chairman, when the review takes place at the end of the current financial year, will Mr Lo's Committee give con- sideration to having competitions of a non-combative nature to improve the standard of tai chi as a traditional martial arts sport?
MR LO (in English):-Mr Chairman, I must confess that I do not know a great deal about tai chi. It seems to me to be a solitary sport which we would carry out to improve physical fitness and for our own enjoyment. I am not sure whether competition can in fact be conducted. Perhaps, we can look into this and if the Honourable Hilton CHEONG-LEEN can assist us, we should be very glad to ask him to join our deliberations.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Mr CHEONG-LEEN, Will you accept? (Laughter)
MR CHEONG-LEEN (in English):-Mr Chairman, by way of explanation may I say that I wouldn't try to compete with Mr Lo to know more about the subject.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-I recall the last time you asked this question, we specifically invited you to be our mentor and guide. Was that taken up? (Laughter)
MR LO (in English):—I remember that is what was said, but I leave it at that.
MR YOUNG (in English):—Apart from actually offering the use of Council facilities for the sport, what about the question of improving access to; say spaces underneath flyovers which appear to be of no practical use apart from providing space for this passive exercise?
MR LO (in English):---Yes, Mr Chairman. Spaces underneath flyovers can also be used for this purpose, but I am hoping that we will be able to make use of those spaces for other purposes as well, not just for tai chi classes.
6 DR DENNY M. H. HUANG asked the following question (in Cantonese): — As the press has recently shown great concern over the performances given by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, may I ask:-
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 45 of 135
55
(a) What are the highest and lowest numbers of admission tickets sold for
performances given by the Orchestra over the past 4 months? (b) What is the average percentage of tickets sold for each performance
during this period?
MR F. K. HU, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-Since the 1978-79 season of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra opened in April, the highest attendance was recorded for the concert on 1 April for which 1,332 tickets were sold, and the lowest attendance was for the concert on 28 April for which 391 tickets were sold. A total of 9,859 tickets were sold for the Orchestra's 14 performances during the past 4 months, representing an average of 48% of seating capacity. DR HUANG (in Cantonese):-Mr Chairman, obviously, the record of the box office is not too satisfactory. I do not think the Philharmonic is being sup- ported by the public of Hong Kong. So I want to ask Mr Hu something about the music critic's comment saying that the ratio of expatriate musical players in this Philharmonic are becoming more and more in number and the Hong Kong Philharmonic should be a Hong Kong orchestra. I do not know whether such comments are correct or not, or will you prepare to research further into this topic?
CHAIRMAN (in English):-That is not related to the original question and it is in the form of a statement too. Nevertheless, since you put it up with concern and in fact you drew attention to a press article in this connection, there is no reason why I should not ask Mr F. K. Hu to answer it for public understanding of the position.
MR HU (in English):-Mr Chairman, actually this Council is concerned with the drop of sale of tickets and there are many reasons as Dr HUANG mentioned there were many explanations given, but we cannot base our action on hearsay and that is why the Council will be conducting a survey to try to determine the reason for the unsatisfactory ticket sales. A questionnaire is being prepared by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society with the assistance of the Council staff. When the survey is completed, then an explanation of the low ticket sales may be found and I think we have to wait for the results of the survey before we can come to a definite conclusion.
DR HUANG (in Cantonese):-I do not know whether I can ask a further supplementary. When Mr Hu asks for a survey of the reasons for the low attendance, would he consider the fact that the Hong Kong Philharmonic should be basically a Hong Kong orchestra and not an orchestra dominated by expatriates?
CHAIRMAN (in English):-You are asking Mr Hu for an expression of opinion (Laughter) and I have already shown my goodwill by allowing the first supple-
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