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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):- Council is called to order. I trust Members had a very good recess and are now refreshed to cope with the accumulated work of the Council.
DR HENRY H. L. Hu (in English):- Mr Chairman, on behalf of the Urban Council, I would likewise like to say that we hope you managed to find some time to rest during the recess despite your activities as Chief of Mission of the Hong Kong Team at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. It was heartening to see how well Hong Kong performed at the games, especially our Lawn Bowls Team.
I would also congratulate you on your re-election as the Vice-President for Asia for the Commonwealth Games for the next four years. (Applause).
CHAIRMAN (in English):- Thank you, Mr Hu. The communication services seem to have missed the special success Hong Kong achieved by advocating equality of the sexes in sport. In fact, we won the fight to have a full programme for Ladies' Lawn Bowls in the Commonwealth Games. And, I hope, that is duly appreciated here. (Laughter). May we now proceed with the agenda.
## MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 11.7.1978 were confirmed.
## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):- Soon enough the select committees will be preparing next year's Statement of Aims. Their next budgetary allocations are under examination, too. Indeed, these are related exercises. All public undertakings have definite financial implications, as must be expected.
When reviewing the Council's aims each year, community needs are assessed afresh even though, it may be truly said, they are encountered at every turn. Of course, the desired level of services has to be established. When committees have defined their objectives, then practical targets are set for accomplishment in the coming year.
In the process, the application of resources for the attainment of these aims is a collective management decision. There are constraints which cannot be ignored in this regard. Staff requirements and other pertinent costs of all schemes must be calculated. Then, all claims on such resources are put together in an order of priority because neither money nor manpower is unlimited. Thus, in a pragmatic fashion, the goals of each select committee are set out. Ultimately, plans are evolved and put into practice, when timing is also to be agreed because progressive implementation is usually the order of the day. At the same time, measures to monitor operational progress and to gauge developing trends are set up to enable the select committees to step in at once with corrective action to keep up with changing circumstances. Results are also evaluated regularly. Where services have passed their usefulness, they are phased out. Where new community expectations emerge, corresponding activities are put in train.
The committees work generally in a carefully planned manner with such attendant management safeguards as may be practicable in this stage of development. Nevertheless, in the years immediately ahead, the need for even tighter control and more precise assessment of commitments will arise. And, it would be prudent to anticipate it now, well before the situation becomes critical. For example, the many hundreds of projects and scores of activities now in hand call for more specialist staff and require costly equipment. To be sure, they will cost much more to run. Yet, the community expects better standards of service all-round. In a predictably more exacting situation then, the Council will have to ensure the effective and beneficial use of its scarce resources even more than now.
All the while, it must relate costs of service to the benefits that each activity brings to the community at large. This should be the guiding principle in the intelligent management of the city. The alternative prospect would be bleak for it would mean retrenchment of services and curtailment of activities. Either recourse would be obviously unpalatable. This Council need not come to such a pass. Indeed, it must not. So due care should be taken now to guarantee sustained progress all along the line through positive management attitudes. There is no other safe course under the new dispensation. For, autonomy carries with it also full and direct responsibility. And, presumably, with it, too, the vision of a better city in the making.
## PAPERS
(Mr Ambrose K. C. Choi and Miss Cecilia L. Y. Yeung arrived during the Chairman's address.)
(1) Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the months of July and August 1978.
(2) Statistical Report for 1977-78.
## QUESTIONS
1. MR HOWARD H. W. YOUNG asked the following question (in English):- What is the recurrent cost of providing heated water for Urban Council Swimming Pools in the Winter, and how does this compare with gate receipts?
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Page 50 of 135
ΠΕΙ
64
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Council is called to order. I trust Members had a very good recess and are now refreshed to cope with the accumulated work
of the Council.
DR HENRY H. L. Hu (in English):- Mr Chairman, on behalf of the Urban Council, I would likewise like to say that we hope you managed to find some time to rest during the recess despite your activities as Chief of Mission of the Hong Kong Team at the Commonwealth Games in Edmonton. It was heartening to see how well Hong Kong performed at the games, especially
our Lawn Bowls Team.
I would also congratulate you on your re-election as the Vice-President for Asia for the Commonwealth Games for the next four years. (Applause).
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Thank you, Mr Hu. The communication services seem to have missed the special success Hong Kong achieved by advocating: equality of the sexes in sport. In fact, we won the fight to have a full pro- gramme for Ladies' Lawn Bowls in the Commonwealth Games. And, I hope, that is duly appreciated here. (Laughter). May we now proceed with the agenda.
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 11.7.1978 were confirmed.
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Soon enough the select committees will be prepar ing next year's Statement of Aims. Their next budgetary allocations are under examination, too. Indeed, these are related exercises. All public under- takings have definite financial implications, as must be expected.
When reviewing the Council's aims each year, community needs are assessed afresh even though, it may be truly said, they are encountered at every turn. Of course, the desired level of services has to be established. When committees have defined their objectives, then practical targets are set for accomplishment in the coming year.
In the process, the application of resources for the attainment of these aims is a collective management decision. There are constraints which cannot be ignored in this regard. Staff requirements and other pertinent costs of all schemes must be calculated. Then, all claims on such resources are put together in an order of priority because neither money nor manpower unlimited. Thus, in a pragmatic fashion, the goals of each select committee
is
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 50 of 135
65
are set out. Ultimately, plans are evolved and put into practice, when timing as also to be agreed because progressive implementation is usually the order of the day. At the same time, measures to monitor operational progress and to gauge developing trends are set up to enable the select committees to step in at once with corrective action to keep up with changing circum- stances. Results are also evaluated regularly. Where services have passed their usefulness, they are phased out. Where new community expectations emerge, corresponding activities are put in train.
The committees work generally in a carefully planned manner with such attendant management safeguards as may be practicable in this stage of development. Nevertheless, in the years immediately ahead, the need for even tighter control and more precise assessment of commitments will arise. And, it would be prudent to anticipate it now, well before the situation becomes critical. For example, the many hundreds of projects and scores of activities now in hand call for more specialist staff and require costly equip- ment. To be sure, they will cost much more to run. Yet, the community expects better standards of service all-round. In a predictably more exacting situation then, the Council will have to ensure the effective and beneficial use of its scarce resources even more than now.
All the while, it must relate costs of service to the benefits that each activity brings to the community at large. This should be the guiding principle in the intelligent management of the city. The alternative prospect would be bleak for it would mean retrenchment of services and curtailment of activities. Either recourse would be obviously unpalatable. This Council need not come to such a pass. Indeed, it must not. So due care should be taken now to guarantee sustained progress all along the line through positive manage- ment attitudes. There is no other safe course under the new dispensation. For, autonomy carries with it also full and direct responsibility. And, presumably, with it, too, the vision of a better city in the making.
PAPERS
(Mr Ambrose K. C. Choi and Miss Cecilia L. Y. Yeung arrived during the Chairman's address.)
(1) Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the months of July and August 1978. (2) Statistical Report for 1977-78.
QUESTIONS
1 MR HOWARD H. W. YOUNG asked the following question (in English):- What is the recurrent cost of providing heated water for Urban Council Swimming Pools in the Winter, and how does this compare with gate receipts
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