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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

(a) Construction of fountains in the Memorial Garden which has greatly

improved the attractiveness of the Garden.

(b) Uprating electricity supply to the Concert Hall and the Theatre to enable the newly installed computerized lighting systems and other lighting equipment to be fully utilized which result in the improved

quality of the performances.

(c) The Secondary Lighting System was completed in October 1979 in line

with the recommendations made by Fire Services Department.

There are also a number of improvement projects under planning includ

ing:

(a) Reconstruction of the covered walkway and work is likely to commence

in early 1980.

(b) Overall improvements to building services including air-conditioning,

lift, etc.

(c) Overall improvement to architectural aspects and interior finishings.

As regard the popular recreational activities, the Council organized 8.000 events in 1979 up to end of November with 64,000 participants and enjoyed by 1,150,000 spectators which again broke previous record. New events introduced in 1979 included recreational activities for mentally handicapped persons, youth sailing training scheme, international clinic and seminar for basketball referees and coaches, international invitation basketball tournament, international table tennis umpires' training course and international invitations sports meet for the disabled persons.

Queen Elizabeth Stadium should be completed and ready for use in the middle of 1980. In order to ensure maximum usage of the Stadium, the Council will also arrange mass entertainment programme and accept bookings for permissible activities by hirers bearing in mind that the primary purpose of this Stadium is to hold sports activities. To ensure better co-ordination of organizing outdoor recreational activities and indoor recreational activities with high entertainment value, the Council will merge the Recreation Promo- tion Unit with the newly established Indoor Stadia Section under the Cultural Affairs Division. A new Stadia sub-committee has been set up under the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee with the purpose of guiding the Stadium Management in future.

This Council consists of twelve elected and twelve appointed members. Six elected members are elected every 2 years. Number of voters registered on the Electoral Roll since 1952 vary between 9,000 in 1952 and 37,788 in 1971. The present number is down to 31,481 although the population has been increasing steadily. Voters must be over 21 years of age and have three years residency. Voters must fall into one of the twenty-three categories. At present the number of persons over 21 years of age in Hong Kong is 2,873,000. Assuming that half of these have been in Hong Kong for more than three years, it would mean that roughly 1.4 million qualify in terms of residency and age. Again, assuming that one-third fall into one of twenty-three cafe-

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gories, there would be million people eligible to be included on the Electoral Roll. However, only just over 30,000 have bothered to register and only 30% on the average cast their votes. In 1977, only 7,308 voters, less than 20% of 37,174 registered voters, bothered to vote. It is safe to say that any person who can gain more than 4,000 votes is assured of a seat. Therefore, the elected members cannot claim that they have the confidence of the registered voters, let alone the public in general. Generally speaking, the people of Hong Kong prefer stability and are not politically minded. The low level of public interest in the election of Urban Council, like other great cities, even among the more educated classes largely explain the difficulty of finding men and women of high mental and moral calibre who are willing to serve on the Council. The only way to get person of high calibre to serve on the Council is through the appointment system. Appointed members have known record of wide business and community services experience and are elected and respected by members of various organizations on which he or she serves. The appointed member can claim that they have the confidence of a considerable number of the general public, many of them do not bother to register as voters. Once appointed, the appointed members carry out the work conscientiously, systematically and quietly as verified by their high attendance record, sensible discussion in Council meetings backed by research and preparation done outside the Council. The public is not interested in election and appointment of members and they will only gauge the per- formance of the Council by its work.

With the increasing population in Hong Kong, the Council will find diffi- culty in maintaining a close contact with the public. The Council may seem to be remote and aloaf especially with the increasing scope, magnitude and complexity of the Council's function. It is worthwhile to consider creation of two-tier system. The creation of lower tier of District Councils can delegate power of purely local matters to District Councils which are in a better position to know much more than this Council about their own districts and they should be able to keep in close and intimate touch with their local affairs while this Council will be responsible for the planning, co-ordination and administration of large-scale functions. Members of this Council can be assigned to the District Councils which will also comprise elected and ap- pointed members of local community. It will greatly encourage community involvement and develop a sense of civic interest in the mind of the public.

Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.

(Mr. B. A. Bernacchi arrived during the Hon. F. K. Hu's address.)

MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the Urban Council had made some important resolutions in order to improve the hawker situation last year. They are:-

(a) To disband the Hawker Control Force and to establish 12 General

Duties Teams;