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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
the administration for advancement in the hierarchy. There can also be no place for those pledged to vested business interests above all else. Such a presence, except on grounds of personal merit, would be construed as a relic of colonialism in the corridors of power here.
All these many normal questions and other related ones too, need a clear answer in a society increasingly aspiring to more exacting standards of achievement to make Hong Kong a community of quality. The people must see that the government system works in their interest all the time until another stage of political development emerges with direct elective participation perhaps.
Command should go meanwhile to those whom natural selection has pushed to the top. Alternative propositions would be full of argument probably leading nowhere at the moment. But when selection is biased or capricious, the community becomes poorly served and the credibility of the whole system gravely undermined in consequence.
Meanwhile, too, there is this progressive Council with executive powers and own resources to back its decisions swiftly as it penetrates beneficially into many sectors of community life. There are also the numerous public boards, committees and advisory councils by whatever designation, all doing useful work in varying degree for the well-being of the people and the advancement of the territory. Their public acceptance would be enhanced if the Government would only relax its control. All civil servants could be replaced as chairmen as they should not be judge and jury in their own cause. Their successors should be chosen on their actual special qualifications for each post. And certainly not, the propensity to agree with the official line unless out of conviction that it is right and good for the people. This would remove too the suspicion of packing the jury when making appointments.
It is good policy in the current complex circumstances to attract some of the best local talent to the service of their own community. However, presuming that there is an official policy in this regard and in the belief that such a system is best suited to local requirements for the time being, should there not be also the public duty to say so in so many words instead of hiding behind this Council and using it as a political foil? The continued toleration of persistent disruptive activities which would potentially disturb communal harmony is not benign tolerance of diversity. On the contrary, it is interpreted as a sign of weakness and is probably dangerous because it condones unsettling socio-political segregation in a sensitive situation.
There is now this mixed Council entering into the new decade. How will it chart its course in the twilight years of this century?
Many plans have been laid, hundreds of projects are in the offing and thousands of activities are going on as a matter of course. They are intended to project the Council into the next century and to spread the benefit to every nook and cranny of the urban territory by the proper use of resources in the interest of the population.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
217
All in this Council should participate in its work and find the time to do so properly. Working together enhances the collective power of management of public resources to the best advantage of the community. To invest in success must be the right course for the Council to take. And, Hong Kong expects no less.
This Council has neither stick nor carrot. Indeed, there is no office to terminate nor honours to dispense. Each member lives with his conscience in the performance of his role. Satisfaction in community service is surely its own reward in the end.
PAPER
(Miss Cecilia L. Y. Yeung and Mr. Chan Chi-kwan arrived during the Chairman's address.)
The following paper was laid on the table: Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of February, 1980.
QUESTIONS
1. MRS. GRACE HO asked the following question (in English): What plans, if any, are being made to provide permanent sites for flower sellers who have been trading at Boundary Street, Kowloon, for many decades?
MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE STREET TRADERS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): This question concerns the provision of permanent sites for flower sellers trading in Boundary Street.
The main business of the flower sellers trading in Boundary Street is wholesale and they are not therefore within the purview of the Urban Council. They do not hold hawker licences and, as wholesalers, it would not be appropriate for them to do so. I understand that the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, which is responsible for the management of wholesale markets, has no plans for them at present. Previously, these flower sellers conducted their business early in the morning and cleared the place up before daily traffic and pedestrian movement built up. But, more recently, the business of the flower sellers has extended into the day, with consequent obstruction and nuisance. It might be appropriate for the Street Traders Select Committee and the Markets & Abattoirs Select Committee to consider whether the U.C. should provide suitable permanent off-road premises, perhaps on a dual-purpose basis.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
the administration for advancement in the hierarchy. There can also be no place for those pledged to vested business interests above all else. Such a presence, except on grounds of personal merit, would be construed as a relic of colonialism in the corridors of power here.
All these many normal questions and other related ones too, need a clear answer in a society increasingly aspiring to more exacting standards of achievement to make Hong Kong a community of quality. The people must see that the government system works in their interest all the time until another stage of political development emerges with direct elective participa- tion perhaps.
Command should go meanwhile to those whom natural selection has pushed to the top. Alternative propositions would be full of argument probably leading nowhere at the moment. But when selection is biased or capricious, the community becomes poorly served and the credibility of the whole system gravely undermined in consequence.
Meanwhile, too, there is this progressive Council with executive powers and own resources to back its decisions swiftly as it penetrates beneficially into many sectors of community life. There are also the numerous public boards, committees and advisory councils by whatever designation, all doing useful work in varying degree for the well-being of the people and the advancement of the territory. Their public acceptance would be enhanced if the Govern- ment would only relax its control. All civil servants could be replaced as chairmen as they should not be judge and jury in their own cause. Their successors should be chosen on their actual special qualifications for each post. And certainly not, the propensity to agree with the official line unless out of conviction that it is right and good for the people. This would remove too the suspicion of packing the jury when making appointments.
It is good policy in the current complex circumstances to attract some of the best local talent to the service of their own community. However, presuming that there is an official policy in this regard and in the belief that such a system is best suited to local requirements for the time being, should there not be also the public duty to say so in so many words instead of hiding behind this Council and using it as a political foil? The continued toleration of persistent disruptive activities which would potentially disturb communal harmony is not benign tolerance of diversity. On the contrary, it is interpreted as a sign of weakness and is probably dangerous because it condones unsettling socio-political segregation in a sensitive situation.
There is now this mixed Council entering into the new decade. How will it chart its course in the twilight years of this century?
Many plans have been laid, hundreds of projects are in the offing and thousands of activities are going on as a matter of course. They are intended to project the Council into the next century and to spread the benefit to
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 125 of 136
217
every nook and cranny of the urban territory by the proper use of resources in the interest of the population.
All in this Council should participate in its work and find the time to do so properly. Working together enhances the collective power of management of public
resources to the best advantage of the community. To invest in success must be the right course for the Council to take. And, Hong Kong expects no
less.
This Council has neither stick nor carrot. Indeed, there is no office to ter- minate nor honours to dispense. Each member lives with his conscience in the performance of his role. Satisfaction in community service is surely its own reward in the end.
PAPER
(Miss Cecilia L. Y. Yeung and Mr. Chan Chi-kwan arrived during the Chairman's address.)
The following paper was laid on the table:---Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of February, 1980.
QUESTIONS
1. MRS. GRACE Ho asked the following question (in English):-What plans, if any, are being made to provide permanent sites for flower sellers who have been trading at Boundary Street, Kowloon, for many decades?
MR. SHUM CHOI-SANG, CHAIRMAN OF THE STREET TRADERS SELECT COM- MITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): —-This question concerns the provision of permanent sites for flower sellers trading in Boundary Street.
The main business of the flower sellers trading in Boundary Street is wholesale and they are not therefore within the purview of the Urban Council. They do not hold hawker licences and, as wholesalers, it would not be appropriate for them to do so. I understand, that the Agriculture and Fisheries Department, which is responsible for the management of wholesale markets, has no plans for them at present. Previously, these flower sellers conducted their business early in the morning and cleared the place up before daily traffic and pedestrian movement built up. But, more recently, the business of the flower sellers has extended into the day, with consequent obstruction and nuisance. It might be appropriate for the Street Traders Select Committee and the Markets & Abattoirs Select Committee to con- sider whether the U.C. should provide suitable permanent off-road premises, perhaps on a dual-purpose basis.
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