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transit system is also one of the best in the world. The investment exceeds HK$17 billion. Hong Kong is a unique and most useful communication base for the people of those nations who wish to establish economic relations with the one billion people in China. It is also an ideal place for those who wish to make use of Hong Kong's manufacturing workers to produce those products which cannot be viably produced by high-technology robotized systems.
However, it is highly plausible that in a matter of a decade or even sooner, many Hong Kong capitalists may choose to stay away temporarily or for good. They will take away whatever amount of money they can earn with blood and sweat prior to that moment of truth for them and hand over on a silver platter to whichever country they shall be allowed to stay. They may leave the most viable city in the world not for any solid reasons but mainly on psychological grounds. With their world-famous gambling nature, it is somewhat ironic that they shall withdraw their betting stake on the future of this city.
The irony is that those countries which shall receive them and their wealth will most probably return those money to Hong Kong by financing their own nationals, who have no such psychological problems, to invest in Hong Kong. In other words, the people of those countries who shall help solve the psychological problems of the Hong Kong Chinese capitalists will reap the two-fold benefits of using their money in the first place and of enjoying all the fruits of labour which those capitalists may have sowed prior to the time including the executives and workers they may have trained and developed over the years. Many of those executives and workers, who shall stay behind, will have received information technology-orientated education and will be highly adapted to technology-orientated works. They will stay behind either because they may not be financially ready to leave or they may not have any worries for 1997.
Hong Kong is at present already very international. However, it will become more so in the course of time when more and more people from other parts of the world shall discover the enormous value of Hong Kong as a communicative bridge between China and the rest of the world and also as a manufacturing partner. Therefore, even with the population shift which may take place in the course of time as aforesaid, Hong Kong will remain effective to play the key role of revitalizing the world's economy by neutralizing and synchronizing the communication gap and difference between one billion Mainland Chinese and hundreds of millions of non-Chinese speaking people in various parts of the world, especially the English-speaking west.
With that remark, I support the motion.
(Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI left at this point—4.30 p.m.)
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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MR. WALTER M. SULKE (in English):—Mr. Chairman, my new year's resolution was to be polite to civil servants, so when our Secretary asked me to switch from first in the order of speaking on Thursday to last today, I did and since I knew that our fickle T.V. friends would be gone by now, at least I saved the price of a haircut.
In spite of the comments by some members that this debate is distinguished by its long boring speeches, I make no apology today when, with the Chairman's indulgence, I make a 20-minute speech which is concerned solely with the nitty-gritty of local Government. This may well sound boring but it affects every man, woman, and child in our City and I just wish that more of our citizens out there would understand how important to them Governmental systems can be and how bad systems make bad Government, increase taxes, and eventually become ineffective.
So my speech today aims to cut some of the Governmental red tape which so decoratively entwines us.
I want to get rid of licensing, and the Secretariat of Municipal Services, and my own committee, not necessarily in that order.
I also want to give some of our money to the District Boards and allow LegCo members to ask questions in this Council.
First, as Chairman of the Food Hygiene Select Committee I want to commend the great majority of restauranteurs who comply with, and in some cases exceed, our Food Hygiene Regulations, which is one of the reasons why mercifully we have very little food poisoning, especially when compared to similar-sized cities in surrounding areas. However, unfortunately, we also have plenty of bad pennies among our restauranteurs, food factories, and other food for man suppliers and although we prosecute these regularly and shut them down fairly frequently the public still patronizes such restaurants, food stalls, fast food outlets, etc., so one of the conclusions I have drawn is that we must advertise suspensions not simply by putting a note on the restaurant's door but also by putting an advertisement into newspapers notifying the public of such suspensions and why the suspension was necessary. I think also that it would raise standards if instead of licensing the restaurants etc. we licensed the managers of such restaurants, and in order to obtain such a licence each restaurant manager would have to pass a food hygiene examination. This would be especially beneficial for the smaller food outlets where often food hygiene rules are ignored out of ignorance of why hygiene is necessary, and even such simple things as keeping your hands clean while preparing food are ignored.
Which brings me to the subject of licensing. Since I have taken over as Chairman of Food Hygiene I have had many complaints about the difficulties of obtaining a licence and the length of time it takes to do so. When I asked somewhat naively why licences for restaurants are necessary I was told that the public expects us to issue licences since this indicates that there is some control over the place which is licensed. What I am going to say now applies to all our
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Page 104 of 195
176
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
transit system is also one of the best in the world. The investment exceeds HK$17 billion. Hong Kong is a unique and mist useful communication base for the people of those nations who wish to establish economic relations with the one billion people in China. It is also an ideal place for those who wish to make use of Hong Kong's manufacturing workers to produce those product which cannot be viably produced by high- technology robotized systems.
However, it is highly plausible that in a matter of a decade or even sooner, many Hong Kong capitalists may choose to stay away temporarily or for good. They will take away whatever amount of money they can earn with blood and sweat prior to that moment of truth for them and hand over on a silver platter to whichever country they shall be allowed to stay. They may leave the most viable city in the world not for any solid reasons but mainly on psychological ground. With their world- famous gambling nature, it is somewhat ironical that they shall withdraw their betting stake on the future of this city.
The irony is that those countries which shall receive them and their wealth will most probably return those money to Hong Kong by financing their own nationals, who have no such psychological problems, to invest in Hong Kong. In other words, the people of those countries who shall help solve the psychological problems of the Hong Kong Chinese capitalists will reap the two-fold benefits of using their money in the first place and of enjoying all the fruits of labour which those capitalists may have sowed prior to the time including the executives and workers they may have trained and developed over the years. Many of those executives and workers, who shall stay behind will have received information technology-orientated education and will be highly adapted to technology-orientated works. They will stay behind. either because they may not be financially ready to leave or they may not have any worries for 1997.
Hong Kong is at present already very international. However, it will become more so in the course of time when more and more people from other parts of the world shall discover the enormous value of Hong Kong as a communicative bridge between China and the rest of the world and also as a manufacturing partner. Therefore, even with the population shift which may take place in the course of time as aforesaid, Hong Kong will remain effective to play the key role of revitalizing the world's economy by nuntralizing and synchronizing the communication gap and difference between one billion Mainland Chinese and hundreds of millions of non-Chinese speaking people in various parts of the world, especially the English-speaking west.
With that remark, I support the motion.
(Mr. B. A. BERNACCHI left at this point-4.30 p.m.)
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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177
MR. WALTER M. SULKE (in English):---Mr. Chairman, my new year's resolution was to be polite to civil servants, so when our Secretary asked me to switch from first in the order of speaking on Thursday to last today, I did and since I knew that our fickle T.V. friends would be gone by now, at least I, save the price of a
haircut.
In spite of the comments by some members that this debate is distinguished by its long boring speeches, I make no apology today when, with the Chairman's indulgence, I make a 20 minute speech which is concerned solely with the nitty gritty of local Government. This may well sound boring but it affects every man, woman, and child in our City and I just wish that more of our citizens out there would understand how important to them Governmental systems can be and how bad systems make bad Government, increase taxes, and eventually become ineffective.
So my speech today aims to cut some of the Governmental red tape which so decoratively entwines us.
I want to get rid of licensing, and the Secretariat of Municipal Services, and my own committee, not necessarily in that order.
I also want to give some of our money to the District Boards and allow LegCo members to ask questions in this Council.
First, as Chairman of the Food Hygiene Select Committee I want to commend the great majority of restauranteurs who comply with, and in some cases exceed, our Food Hygiene Regulations, which is one of the reasons why mercifully we have very little food poisoning, especially when compared to similar sized cities in surrounding areas. However, unfortunately we also have plenty of bad pennies among our restauranteurs, food factories, and other food for man suppliers and although we prosecute these regularly and shut them down fairly frequently the public still patronizes such restaurants, food stalls, fast food outlets, etc., so one of the conclusions I have drawn is that we must advertise suspensions not simply by putting a note on the restaurant's door but also by putting an advertisement into newspapers notifying the public of such suspensions and why the suspension was necessary. I think also that it would raise standards if instead of licensing the restaurants etc. we licensed the managers of such restaurants, and in order to obtain such a licence each restaurant manager would have to pass a food hygiene examination. This would be especially beneficial for the smaller food outlets where often food hygiene rules are ignored out of ignorance of why hygiene is necessary, and even such simple things as keeping your hands clean while preparing food are ignored.
Which brings me to the subject of licensing. Since I have taken over as Chairman of Food Hygiene I have had many complaints about the difficulties of obtaining a licence and the length of time it takes to do so. When I asked somewhat naively why licences for restaurants are necessary I was told that the public expects us to issue licences sine this indicates that there is some control over the place which is licensed. What I am going to say now applies to all our
Page 104 of 195
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