314
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Mr. FAN Kam-ping dealt with the question of sporting activities and particularly the responsibilities of subsidizing and promoting such activities as between the Council for Recreation and Sport and the Regional and Urban Councils. He further mentioned that the Council had been organizing a large number of district games and sporting activities, which would help identify potentials for reaching a higher standard and that the Council's work on sports promotion was, under the present system and policy, more efficient and cost effective. He further suggested that the Queen's Birthday holiday could well be designated as a 'Youth Day'. I am sure that the Administration will be willing to consider this.
Mr. Marvin CHEUNG also dealt with cultural matters and in particular the funding for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and considered that Council should take a realistic look at the funding it provided to the Orchestra, particularly in view of the very limited private funds which, in view of its poor cultural heritage, Hong Kong had been able to generate for such purposes.
He then went on to ask for more detail on the Director of Audit's work on the Council's activities. He is a professional auditor himself and perhaps in view of this he should be pleased with the Council's clear audit certificates over the past year or so.
Mr. CHOW Wai-keung expressed his concern on the problems of elderly people and remarked that the Urban Council recreational venues and some of the cultural venues were largely used by the elderly. He was also aware that the elderly people were seen picking up rubbish dumped by other people and engaged in what is commonly known as 'totting'. Whilst I am sure that it is not particularly pleasing for the elderly to have to do this kind of thing, it benefits the economy and ecology also, and elsewhere it is done in a more formal manner and dignified by the title recycling.
I have some sympathy with Mr. CHOW as I approach my dotage with his plea for more centres for the elderly and that the Government, and indeed the Council, should look more actively into the facilities which our senior citizens deserve.
On hearing Mr. MAN Sai-cheong's speech concerning the environment, I thought initially it was perhaps written by Mr. SULKE. However, as a former Chairman of EPCOM, I cannot but agree with him that the action taken to improve the water quality in our harbour and on our beaches is a case of too little too late. This, I am afraid, has too often been the case with the growth of industrial societies. However, there is a bright side to this as indeed in Britain the River Thames has been transformed from one of the country's largest open sewers to a river where salmon and other fish can again be seen. Of course, this took a lot of time and money but I am sure Hong Kong could do the same given the necessary will and resources. I am sure that most thinking people agree with Mr. MAN that we should re-double our efforts to see what can be done to improve our environment, including both the land and the air we breathe.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 178 of 201
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Mr. CHAN Kwok-ming dealt with the nuisance caused by on-street cooked food stalls in Mong Kok, including the fire dangers posed by these stalls, obstruction to traffic and the noise generated at night time to the annoyance of residents, and general environmental pollution. He then suggested a number of methods whereby the situation can be alleviated and I am quite sure that the Department and the Council committees concerned with this matter will seriously consider his proposals.
Miss Fok Pui-yee dealt with the lack of social security in Hong Kong, claiming that Hong Kong was well behind advanced countries in this respect. She then went on to support the setting up of a Central Provident Fund which she considered, based on the growth and yield from local and overseas stocks, contributions would generate sufficient income to make the Fund a sound proposition.
Miss Fok also asked that the Council should avoid duplication of facilities in districts and thus avoid waste of public money in this way. On this, I cannot agree more with her as I think that the District Boards are so district-minded that they demand facilities for particular districts which are already provided for nearby but within adjacent District Board areas. The Council's policy is as far as possible to provide facilities for the whole of the population of the urban areas and whilst it tries to cope with District Board demands, the overall demand of the population is of paramount importance.
Mr. Ronnie WONG considered that the deterioration in the sea water quality locally was likely to affect public health by virtue of sea food becoming contaminated by the local waters and this should be vigorously combatted by all means open to the Government.
As a well-known Olympic swimmer, he then went on to suggest swimming lessons be added to the curriculum of primary schools as well as to secondary schools. In more advanced countries, swimming was a compulsory school activity and indeed in some areas this was also carried on as a subject at tertiary level as well.
Mr. WONG thought that any political changes should be undertaken very slowly and that too many quick changes might well have a deleterious effect on Hong Kong.
Mr. SULKE's covered the wide variety of controversial issues which we have come to expect from him, ranging from Daya Bay power station to the re-introduction of summer time, to electronic road pricing, to Government's Green Paper on the Further Development of Representative Government, based on experiences by Japan and Federal Republic of Germany. He also dealt with the establishment of a Hong Kong Patent Registry, over-the-counter stock dealings, a wish for the Urban Council to be able to appoint a member to sit on ExCo, also to appoint two members to LegCo and other issues stretching far beyond 1997. He also tabled his speech which he made to the Rotary Club several months earlier on nuclear power station. In this speech, I note with interest that he also broke into verse.
1
314
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Mr. FAN Kam-ping dealt with the question of sporting activities and particularly the responsibilities of subsidizing and promoting such activities as between the Council for Recreation and Sport and the Regional and Urban Councils. He further mentioned that the Council had been organizing a large number of district games and sporting activities, which would help identify potentials for reaching a higher standard and that the Council's work on sports promotion was, under the present system and policy, more efficient and cost effective. He further suggested that the Queen's Birthday holiday could well be designated as a 'Youth Day'. I am sure that the Administration will be willing to consider this.
Mr. Marvin CHEUNG also dealt with cultural matters and in particular the funding for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, and considered that Council should take a realistic look at the funding it provided to the Orchestra, particularly in view of the very limited private funds which, in view of its poor cultural heritage, Hong Kong had been able to generate for such purposes.
He then went on to ask for more detail on the Director of Audit's work on the Council's activities. He is a professional auditor himself and perhaps in view of this he should be pleased with the Council's clear audit certificates over the past year or so.
Mr. CHOW Wai-keung expressed his concern on the problems of elderly people and remarked that the Urban Council recreational venues and some of the cultural venues were largely used by the elderly. He was also aware that the elderly people were seen picking up rubbish dumped by other people and engaged in what is commonly known as 'totting'. Whilst I am sure that it is not particularly pleasing for the elderly to have to do this kind of thing, it benefits the economy and ecology also, and elsewhere it is done in a more formal manner and dignified by the title recycling.
I have some sympathy with Mr. CHOW as I approach my dotage with his plea for more centres for the elderly and that the Government, and indeed the Council, should look more actively into the facilities which our senior citizens deserve.
On hearing Mr. MAN Sai-cheong's speech concerning the environment, I thought initially it was perhaps written by Mr. SULKE. However, as a former Chairman of EPCOM, I cannot but agree with him that the action taken to improve the water quality in our harbour and on our beaches is a case of too little too late. This, I am afraid, has too often been the case with the growth of industrial societies. However, there is a bright side to this as indeed in Britain the River Thames has been transformed from one of the country's largest open sewers to a river where salmon and other fish can again be seen. Of course, this took a lot of time and money but I am sure Hong Kong could do the same given the necessary will and resources. I am sure that most thinking people agree with Mr. MAN that we should re-double our efforts to see what can be done to improve our environment, including both the land and the air we breathe.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 178 of 201
315
Mr. CHAN Kwok-ming dealt with the nuisance caused by on-street cooked food stalls in Mong Kok, including the fire dangers posed by these stalls, obstruction to traffic and the noise generated at night time to the annoyance of residents, and general environmental pollution. He then suggested a number of methods whereby the situation can be alleviated and I am quite sure that the Department and the Council committees concerned with this matter will seriously consider his proposals.
Miss Fox Pui-yee dealt with the lack of social security in Hong Kong, claiming that Hong Kong was well behind advanced countries in this respect. She then went on to support the setting up of a Central Provident Fund which she considered, based on the growth and yield from local and overseas stocks, contributions would generate sufficient income to make the Fund a sound proposition.
Miss Fok also asked that the Council should avoid duplication of facilities in districts and thus avoid waste of public money in this way. On this, I cannot agree more with her as I think that the District Boards are so district-minded that they demand facilities for particular districts which are already provided for nearby but within adjacent District Board areas. The Council's policy is as far as possible to provide facilities for the whole of the population of the urban areas and whilst it tries to cope with District Board demands, the overall demand of the population is of paramount importance.
Mr. Ronnie WONG considered that the deterioration in the sea water quality locally was likely to affect public health by virtue of sea food becoming contaminated by the local waters and this should be vigorously combatted by all means open to the Government.
As a well-known Olympic swimmer, he then went on to suggest swimming lessons be added to the curriculum of primary schools as well as to secondary schools. In more advanced countries, swimming was a compulsory school activity and indeed in some areas this was also carried on as a subject at tertiary level as well.
Mr. WONG thought that any political changes should be undertaken very slowly and that too many quick changes might well have a deleterious effect on Hong Kong.
Mr. SULKE's covered the wide variety of controversial issues which we have come to expect from him, ranging from Daya Bay power station to the re- introduction of summer time, to electronic road pricing, to Government's Green Paper on the Further Development of Representative Government, based on experiences by Japan and Federal Republic of Germany. He also dealt with the establishment of a Hong Kong Patent Registry, over-the-counter stock dealings, a wish for the Urban Council to be able to appoint a member to sit on ExCo, also to appoint two members to LegCo and other issues stretching far beyond 1997. He also tabled his speech which he made to the Rotary Club several months earlier on nuclear power station. In this speech, I note with interest that he also broke into verse.
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