1988 — Page 91

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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN (in English):—Ladies and Gentlemen, the meeting is called to order.

## MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 October 1988, were confirmed.

## STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN (in English): I must say all of you are very attractive in this new Chamber. Before we get down to the formal business of the meeting today, I would like to say a couple of things.

First of all, I would like to welcome Miss Juliana Li to the Urban Council. This is her first meeting of the full Council and I am sure she will take a full part in our work over the next few months. We all look forward to working with her. Welcome, Juliana. (Applause)

You may notice that we have renovated the Council Chamber which will now enable us to perform two functions in the same room; first of all, to have our public meetings such as this one in a reasonably formal atmosphere but also to conduct our larger Committee meetings using the same facility where our business is conducted in a more informal manner around the table. TV monitors of course are not for amusement, therefore, passing out information away from camera.

The reason why this is necessary is, of course, because from 1 April next year we are to receive an extra ten members from the District Boards and already our main Committee Room is unable to accommodate all those who are required to attend for some of our larger Committee meetings.

We had considered perhaps moving to other premises, however, the options opened to us elsewhere were not as good as those which we have been able to obtain within this building. I would, in particular, like to thank Mrs. Eleanor LING and her Working Party for overseeing the changes and also Mr. Paul CORSER and the staff from the Architectural Services Department who in co-operation with Cable and Wireless have done such excellent work and with great efficiency.

The Chamber is now brighter and more cheerful than before and I hope that the new colour scheme and new seats will enable us to conduct our business in our usual bright and breezy manner.

Finally and properly, and most importantly that the whole job was done for just over 5 million dollars, well below the budget estimated at 8.3 million dollars. News which I am sure will be glad to our head of the Government who have promised to reimburse for the expenditure.

## PAPER

# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

The following paper was laid on the table:-

175

(1) Report to the Urban Council by the Director of Urban Services and Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of October 1988.

## QUESTIONS

1.

MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG asked the following question (in Cantonese):—In all the major cities of the world, elderly people are given senior citizens' concessionary rates for attending entertainment and cultural activities organized by Government or municipal authorities. Can members of the public be enlightened what is the present position and policy of the Council regarding concessionary rates for senior citizens attending Urban Council presentations and performances? As a sincere gesture of our respect for and recognition of the senior citizens' contribution to society, have we any plans to organize urban wide recreational programmes or festivals to encourage greater participation of the senior sectors of the community in Urban Council venues and facilities?

DR. THE HON. ELSIE TU, MEMBER OF THE ADMINISTRATION SELECT COMMITTEE replied as follows (in English): Mr. Chairman, in the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the relevant Select Committee, I should like to answer the question.

This question is in two parts. The first part refers to the Urban Council's position regarding the granting of concessionary rates for elderly people attending Council presentations and performances. The Urban Council has a policy of granting concessionary rates to persons aged 60 and over attending Council events and using certain Council facilities. Since 1 March 1987 the charge for use of the obligatory cloakroom service in the Council's public libraries has been waived for senior citizens. As from 15 October 1988, cloakroom charges at the City Hall and Space Museum have also been waived for them. From the same date, reduced rates for senior citizens have also been introduced for admission to Space Museum sky shows, entertainment programmes, cultural presentations, performing companies and festivals.

A number of other concessionary rates relating to sporting and recreational activities will be introduced for the benefit of elderly people as soon as the Urban Council by-laws which prescribe fees for admission to or hire of facilities have been amended. These will include reduced hire charges for various facilities such as tennis, squash and badminton courts, table tennis tables, bowling greens, sports pitches and certain amenities at indoor games halls. Senior citizens will also be entitled to a reduced entrance fee at Urban Council swimming pools.

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