Page 106 of 120
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light for two reasons. Firstly, some of the applications on which hearings are conducted are rather colourful establishments. Secondly, members of the Board are taken on site visits regularly by their chairman who advocates that 'seeing is believing'.
One of the biggest concerns of the Board is that neither the Board nor the Council should issue any licence when it can be construed as an official endorsement of an illegal or immoral establishment. Being a member of the Board, I am particularly concerned about press reports that school girls are working as bar hostesses, sometimes even in their school uniforms. As the Hong Kong Government has now taken a rather stringent view towards cinemas, whereby certain films that are rated 'adult' must, by legislation, not be allowed admission to persons under 18, the same can certainly apply to some licensed establishments as well. In other words, some liquor licences can be issued on condition that the applicants would not admit as staff or customer any persons under the age of 18. There must also be provisions in the law to punish those licensees who deviate from their commitment. I might add that such punishment must go beyond a fine, making jail sentence mandatory. This seems to be the only way we can protect our young from what perhaps may best be termed as a necessary nuisance.
A lot has been said on the White Paper on District Administration. The whole concept works well on paper, and if we achieve the right kind of public participation, Hong Kong will no doubt be a better place to live. However, at the end of the day, the success of the system depends to a large extent on how much respect and support unofficials can win from the public, be they elected or appointed. This in turn depends on the leadership quality, integrity, and dedication of the candidate.
Many people in Hong Kong, particularly young adults, are not unwilling to serve the community. However, there is at present no provision to compensate these people for their efforts, and in practical terms, those talents in the lower income brackets just cannot afford to take up public duties unless they are prepared to make tremendous personal sacrifices or are heavily subsidized by their employers. In the end, the less well-to-do but otherwise suitable candidates are left giving way only to the affluent and the exceptional. A reasonable compensation structure is needed for these people, not so much as a monetary inducement, but rather as a solution to practical problems faced by desirable talents who have the brain but not the means. Indeed, the form of compensation need not be strictly monetary. One possibility is the provision of housing for those who are eligible. Everything must be done to broaden the base for wider public participation in determining how Hong Kong should be run, but it would be unrealistic to ignore the practical barrier that exists.
With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would now like to say a few words on the general topic of population. Overcrowdedness remains the basic cause of many problems that we are now facing in Hong Kong. In the last three years, the estimated increase in immigrants, legal and illegal, is 400,000. The number of births is 250,000. Balancing the sum total of these two additions with the total number of deaths that occurred in the same period, 75,000, we are still facing an increase of 575,000.
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Of the immigrants, 55% are within the age group of 16 to 30. On becoming Hong Kong residents, they are not required to go through any orientation course, and there is no telling what educational background they have attained before they come here. They are on their own, be it seeking employment or integrating into the local community. The luckier ones might be assisted by relatives and friends. The less fortunate are left entirely by themselves. Since they are of such a large number, I feel some efforts must be made on the part of the government to educate them on not only the facts of Hong Kong but also their responsibility as residents here.
The Family Planning Association, with the assistance of the Immigration Department, is planning to conduct special lectures and seminars for recent immigrants. If the government is to take the initiative in forming a working group to conduct a comprehensive orientation course to cover other social welfare agencies and adult education bodies specially designed for Chinese-speaking immigrants, recent arrivals can be 'taken by the hand' through an otherwise rough transition and will hopefully emerge as more responsible and civic-minded citizens.
Up till now, the Government has still not taken any measures in checking the natural increase of the population. In 1979, Census figures showed that 11% of all births in Hong Kong were of the 4th child or above. Yet our tax structure continues to make allowance up to the ninth child. Large families enjoy preference over small families in the allocation of public housing. The minimum household size for applicants of the Home Ownership Scheme has been raised from two to three persons.
Now that we have managed to check the influx of immigrants, it seems an opportune time for the Government to formulate an official population policy upon which pursuit of a better quality of life for all can be based.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion.
DR. PHILIP C. K. Kwok (in English):-I think everybody is relieved that I will be the last speaker. Since I am that, some of the points I am going to cover will have been touched upon by my colleagues, and I hope that you will bear with me for another 10 minutes. The first topic is:
Urban Council in the eyes of the Public
I found out after I joined the Council that my previous conception of the work of the Urban Council was very inadequate. Once aware of this fact, I have on numerous occasions queried my friends, most of them well-informed by any standard, on their understanding of the Council's work. The conclu-
Page 107 of 120
(expected to be continued on next page, but not provided in the given snippet)
Page 106 of 120
178
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
light for two reasons. Firstly, some of the applications on which hearings are conducted are rather colourful establishments. Secondly, members of the Board are taken on site visits regularly by their chairman who advocates that 'seeing is believing'.
One of the biggest concern of the Board is that neither the Board nor the Council should issue any licence when it can be construed as an official endorsement of an illegal or immoral establishment. Being a member of the Board, I am particularly concerned about press reports that school girls are working as bar hostesses, sometimes even in their school uniforms. As the Hong Kong Government has now taken a rather stringent view towards cinemas, whereby certain films that are rated 'adult' must, by legislation, not be allowed admission to persons under 18, the same can certainly apply to some licensed establishments as well. In other words some liquor licences can be issued on condition that the applicants would not admit as staff or customer any persons under the age of 18. There must also be provisions in the law to punish those licensees who deviate from their commitment. I might add that such punishment must go beyond a fine making jail sentence man- datory. This seems to be the only way we can protect our young from what perhaps may best be termed as a necessary nuisance.
A lot has been said on the White Paper on District Administration. The whole concept works well on paper, and if we achieve the right kind of public participation, Hong Kong will no doubt be a better place to live. However, at the end of the day the success of the system depends to a large extend on how much respect and support unofficials can win from the public, be they elected or appointed. This in turn depends on the leadership quality integrity and dedication of the candidate.
Many people in Hong Kong, particularly young adults, are not unwilling to serve the community. However, there is at present no provision to com- pensate these people for their efforts, and in practical terms, those talents in the lower income brackets just cannot afford to take up public duties unless they are prepared to make tremendous personal sacrifices or are heavily subsidized by their employers. In the end, the less well-to-do but otherwise suitable candidates are left giving way only to the affluent and the exceptional. A reasonable compensation structure is needed for these people, not so much as monetary inducement, but rather as a solution to practical problems faced by desirable talents who have the brain but not the means. Indeed, the form of compensation need not be strictly monetary. One possibility is the provision of housing for those who are eligible. Everything must be done to broaden the base for wider public participation in determining how Hong Kong should be run, but it would be unrealistic to ignore the practical barrier that exists.
With your permission, Mr. Chairman, I would now like to say a few words on the general topic of population. Overcrowdedness remains the basic cause of many problems that we are now facing in Hong Kong. In the last three
i
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
179
years, the estimated increase in immigrants legal and illegal is 400 000. The number of births is 250 000. Balancing the sum total of these two additions with the total number of deaths that occurred in the same period 75 000, we are still facing an increase of 575 000.
Of the immigrants, 55% are within the age group of 16 to 30. On becoming Hong Kong residents, they are not required to go through any orientation course, and there is no telling what educational background they have attained before they come here. They are on their own be it seeking for employment or integrating into the local community. The luckier ones might be assisted by relatives and friends. The less fortunate are left entirely by themselves. Since they are of such a large number, I feel some efforts must be made on the part of the government to educate them on not only the facts of Hong Kong, but also their responsibility as residents here.
The Family Planning Association with the assistance of the Immigration Department is planning to conduct special lectures and seminars for recent immigrants. If the government is to take the initiative in forming a working group to conduct a comprehensive orientation course to cover other social welfare agencies and adult education bodies specially designed for Chinese speaking immigrants, recent arrivals can be 'taken by the hand' through an otherwise rough transition, and will hopefully emerge as more responsible and civic-minded citizens.
Up till now the Government has still not taken any measures in checking the natural increase of the population. In 1979, Census figures showed that 11% of all births in Hong Kong were of the 4th child or above. Yet our tax structure continues to make allowance up to the ninth child. Large families enjoy preference over small families in the allocation of public housing. The minimum household size for applicants of Home Ownership Scheme has been raised from two to three persons.
Now that we have managed to check the influx of immigrants, it seems an opportune time for the Government to formulate an official population policy upon which pursuit of a better quality of life for all can be based.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion.
DR. PHILIP C. K. Kwok (in English):-I think everybody is relieved that I will be the last speaker. Since I am that, some of the points I am going to cover will have been touched upon by my colleagues and I hope that you will bear with me for another 10 minutes. The first topic is:
Urban Council in the eyes of the Public
I found out after I joined the Council that my previous conception of the work of the Urban Council was very inadequate. Once aware of this fact, I have on numerous occasions queried my friends, most of them well-informed by any standard, on their understanding of the Council's work. The conclu-
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