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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
outturn forecast for the current financial year. The main sources of our revenue are:-
Swimming pools—Admission and hire charge $18.0 million
Tennis courts 6.8 million
Squash courts, bowling and putting greens etc. 7.2 million
Games halls 8.0 million
Stadia and public pleasure grounds 4.1 million
Recreational and sports activities 5.5 million
Bathing sheds, kiosks etc. 8.0 million
Others 0.7 million
Total: $58.3 million
The level of subsidy for the various activities that come within our Committee is therefore nearly 80 per cent or $28.6 million. That is to say, for any person spending $10 of their money in using our various venues or facilities, the Urban Council had to spend $40 to match it at the same time. As more and more recreational facilities, both active and passive, are coming onto stream in the next two or three years, we must therefore take steps to strengthen our management at various levels.
With these few words, Mr. Chairman, I support your motion.
MR. LO KING-MAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the Urban Council's Statement of Aims for 1987/88 in respect of the work of the Culture Select Committee sets out objective guidelines in two broad areas.
The first concerns the management and usage of the cultural venues, facilities and services under the control of the Council, including those already existing, those under construction, and those being planned.
The second concerns the organization, promotion and development of activities including the three major annual festivals, the work of the performing companies and the on-going programme of cultural presentations.
The situation of Hong Kong's performing venues and facilities is both encouraging and worrying.
Encouraging because good progress has been made both in the projects for the improvement of the City Hall complex and in the construction of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Phase II, in Tsim Sha Tsui, whose Auditoria Building comprises a large Concert Hall, a Grand Theatre, a Studio Theatre and a range of ancillary facilities. As regards the provision of community arts centres, the Ngau Chi Wan Complex is nearing completion; the Western Complex is expected to be in use by mid-1988; the Sai Wan Ho Complex is under advanced planning. Recently, a special group under the Kwun Tong District Board has been formed to consider a cultural centre for Kwun Tong.
Page 152 of 201
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Worrying because by the end of 1989 when Hong Kong Cultural Centre Phase II is opened, the Urban Council alone will be providing some 11 000 seats in seven purpose-built public venues of different types and sizes. My estimation of the Regional Council's provision in five known similar venues is over 7 000 seats by 1988. In addition, three other major public venues- the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the Academic Community Hall at Baptist College and the Academy for Performing Arts, are together providing nearly 4 400 seats. (I exclude the Hong Kong Coliseum and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, which are not purpose-designed for cultural performances; and other institutional facilities which are not generally regarded as public venues.)
Thus, in a few years' time, the whole of Hong Kong will have at least 16 public performing venues with a total of 22 400 seats. Assuming a modest utilization rate of 60 per cent at 60 per cent capacity, an audience attendance approaching 3 million per year has to be achieved.
With the exception of the City Hall, the Hong Kong Arts Centre and perhaps the Tsuen Wan Town Hall, most of the above-mentioned performing venues were conceived and planned during the late 1970s and early 80s, a decade of great optimism. I applaud optimism, which is a reflection of the Government's and the people's confidence in their future. But optimism has to be based on reality; and now is the time to pause and review.
On the part of the Urban Council, a joint review with the Government is urgently needed as to the advisability of further provision of this nature at various grades and levels. Demands must be considered in the light of real substantial and sustaining needs. It is important for all concerned to regard such facilities as strategically placed provisions across regional and district boundaries. It is vital to view cultural development, of which the arts are a most significant feature, not from a narrow, localized perspective, but with the needs the entire territory, of cosmopolitan Hong Kong as a whole, in mind.
As of now, the dramatic increase in the provision of performing venues requires a very dynamic approach to audience-building and education, to the encouragement of participation and creativity, and to programme planning. This falls within the second main area of the Culture Select Committee's responsibilities: the organization, promotion and development of cultural activities to increase the accessibility of the performing arts to the public.
A few years' ago I had, perhaps in a simplistic way, great expectation of a well-balanced structure for the development of the performing arts in Hong Kong emerging, with the Urban Council and the Regional Council providing a range of varied programmes for all to appreciate with emphasis on audience-building and quality presentations, the Hong Kong Arts Centre supplementing them with a more adventurous approach to creativity, the Council for the Performing Arts giving the necessary support and encouragement for local professional development towards a high level of excellence, the Academy for the Performing Arts serving as the centre for education and training, the
262
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
outturn forecast for the current financial year. The main sources of our revenue
are:-
Swimming pools—Admission and hire charge Tennis courts
$18.0 million 6.8 million
Squash courts, bowling and putting greens etc.
7.2 million
Games halls
8.0 million
Stadia and public pleasure grounds
4.1 million
Recreational and sports activities
5.5 million
Bathing sheds, kiosks etc.
Others
8.0 million 0.7 million
$58.3 million
Total:
The level of subsidy for the various activities that come within our Committee is therefore nearly 80 per cent or $28.6 million. That is to say, for any person spending $10 of their money in using our various venues or facilities, the Urban Council had to spend $40 to match it at the same time. As more and more recreational facilities, both active and passive, are coming onto stream in the next two or three years, we must therefore take steps to strengthen our management at various levels.
With these few words, Mr. Chairman, I support your motion.
MR. LO KING-MAN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, the Urban Council's Statement of Aims for 1987/88 in respect of the work of the Culture Select Committee sets out objective guidelines in two broad areas.
The first concerns the management and usage of the cultural venues, facilities and services under the control of the Council, including those already existing, those under construction, and those being planned.
The second concerns the organization, promotion and development of activities including the three major annual festivals, the work of the performing companies and the on-going programme of cultural presentations.
The situation of Hong Kong's performing venues and facilities is both encouraging and worrying.
Encouraging because good progress has been made both in the projects for the improvement of the City Hall complex and in the construction of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Phase II, in Tsim Sha Tsui, whose Auditoria Building comprises a large Concert Hall, a Grand Theatre, a Studio Theatre and a range of ancillary facilities. As regards the provision of community arts centres, the Ngau Chi Wan Complex is nearing completion; the Western Complex is expected to be in use by mid-1988; the Sai Wan Ho Complex is under advanced planning. Recently, a special group under the Kwun Tong District Board has been formed to consider a cultural centre for Kwun Tong.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 152 of 201
263
Worrying because by the end of 1989 when Hong Kong Cultural Centre Phase II is opened, the Urban Council alone will be providing some 11 000 seats in seven purpose-built public venues of different types and sizes. My estimation of the Regional Council's provision in five known similar venues is over 7 000 seats by 1988. In addition, three other major public venues- the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the Academic Community Hall at Baptist College and the Academy for Performing Arts, are together providing nearly 4 400 seats. (I exclude the Hong Kong Coliseum and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, which are not purpose-designed for cultural performances; and other institutional facilities which are not generally regarded as public venues.)
Thus, in a few years' time, the whole of Hong Kong will have at least 16 public performing venues with a total of 22 400 seats. Assuming a modest utilization rate of 60 per cent at 60 per cent capacity, an audience attendance approaching 3 million per year has to be achieved.
With the exception of the City Hall, the Hong Kong Arts Centre and perhaps the Tsuen Wan Town Hall, most of the above-mentioned performing venues were conceived and planned during the late 1970s and early 80s, a decade of great optimism. I applaud optimism, which is a reflection of the Government's and the people's confidence in their future. But optimism has to be based on reality; and now is the time to pause and review.
On the part of the Urban Council, a joint review with the Government is urgently needed as to the advisability of further provision of this nature at various grades and levels. Demands must be considered in the light of real substantial and sustaining needs. It is important for all concerned to regard such facilities as strategically placed provisions across regional and district boundaries. It is vital to view cultural development, of which the arts are a most significant feature, not from a narrow, localized perspective, but with the needs the entire territory, of cosmopolitan Hong Kong as a whole, in mind.
As of now, the dramatic increase in the provision of performing venues requires a very dynamic approach to audience-building and education, to the encouragement of participation and creativity, and to programme planning. This falls within the second main area of the Culture Select Committee's responsibilities: the organization, promotion and development of cultural activities to increase the accessibility of the performing arts to the public.
A few years' ago I had, perhaps in a simplistic way, great expectation of a well-balanced structure for the development of the performing arts in Hong Kong emerging, with the Urban Council and the Regional Council providing a range of varied programmes for all to appreciate with emphasis on audience- building and quality presentations, the Hong Kong Arts Centre supplementing them with a more aventurous approach to creativity, the Council for the Performing Arts giving the necessary support and encouragement for local professional development towards a high level of excellence, the Academy for the Performing Arts serving as the centre for education and training, the
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