1979 — Page 27

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN (in English):-It is 4 o'clock. Council will proceed with business of today's meeting.

MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 April 1979 were confirmed.

STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN (in English):-The International Year of the Child is the righ time to review what the Council does to make life happier and healthier fo every boy and girl growing up in Hong Kong and for others too.

Of course, the Council works in a very confined area. The teeming popula tion lives in overcrowded conditions. Land for public use is thus not easy te come by and there are usually competing claims. Even when assigned to the Council, the sites are not always conveniently located or of the right dimen sions. Consequently, every piece of land intended for public recreation ha to be developed for intensive use in common. Not only is it generally laid ou for several purposes but diverse activities have also to be systematically organized to get the most benefit for the young and for adults as well.

For nearly 25 years the Council has tried hard to acquire more public land for recreation so that the people might have better opportunities and mor pleasing surroundings for the pursuit of their leisure. There were then in Hong Kong only 89 community sports and recreational facilities after a centur Now there are 1 477 in all. The Council had then only 4 small and simply equipped children's playgrounds under its control; there are now 142 spread out into every neighbourhood. There were no public swimming pools and games halls. Neither were there any squash, tennis and badminton courts There were only 8 basketball and volleyball courts and 14 other games pitches. There are now 523 sports grounds and buildings. So, with foresigh and perseverance, the Council has changed the situation radically. Hong Kong has in consequence a growing social investment of inestimable value which has even gained world recognition.

In the quarter-century that has passed, the community is really better provided with play amenities and sports opportunities comparable in number and standard with any city in this region, but admittedly still far from enough for the increasing leisure the people now enjoy. Still, there is the promise of many more recreational facilities in a short time to come, speciall if new reclamations yield open spaces to make up for the inadequacy of existing provisions. In fact, 34 recreation projects are under construction

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

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while many others are in various stages of planning. All this building pro- gramme is designed merely to create the physical conditions for intensive beneficial use by the greatest number. Unfortunately, some major development has been put back in a densely populated district, short of open land and lacking sports facilities, because the heavy influx of refugees has caused the allocated sites to be converted into a camp, hopefully of transitory nature. No public or private organization approaching the Council with a reason- able proposal, particularly if the object is to make life happier for children in deprived circumstances, is ever turned away. Advantage is taken of voluntary community effort to involve every neighbourhood in healthy and enjoyable activities. For example, in the last financial year, the Council backed no less than 93 different major sports competitions, festivals and carnivals with 8 098 separate events for the benefit and enjoyment of young people. They attracted many thousands of participants and well over a million spectators. Besides, there were 827 free outdoor entertainment programmes wherever there were suitable physical conditions in a district to stage them. Not to be overlooked too are the numerous useful educational programmes in the libraries and in the City Hall and the Museums, going on unceasingly, as it were. Indeed, taken all together, it is estimated that there are upwards of 10 000 events and presentations each year, mostly for the young.

All such activites had modest beginnings. Little or none was offered to the public twenty-five years ago. Now the Council stands on the threshhold of expanding such programmes and creating new ones to penetrate into every neighbourhood and to engage the participation of the young generation in far greater numbers, as the organizers gather experience and make closer contact with community action groups in a joint endeavour to make life more enjoyable in pleasant conditions. Thus, the Council gives practical meaning to the right of every citizen to rest and recreation. And, it honours the right of every child to play without regard of social origin or condition. Once, sadly, it was for long a voice in the wilderness. Now, happily, the situation is improving gradually but the population is growing too. The Council has therefore an enduring social obligation to use its resources for the continuing benefit of the young people here.

PAPER

(Mr Edmund W. H. Chow 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 April 1979.