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also commenced the planning at the time when he planned the Lyemun Park, but no further progress since then. I hope that the Department should provide full information for Council's consideration and speed up the planning process before the existing site installations had gone to an irrepairable state due to long weathering and neglect. The Council will further enrich the cultural life of Hong Kong people by providing this much needed and yet outstanding War Museum and at the same time contribute to heritage protection by allowing its declaration.

(2) The conservation of Nos. 10 and 11 Wong Chuk Hang as a Folk Museum and as historical buildings related to the name-origin of ‘Hong Kong'. Any government will attach much greater importance and give much higher priority to the preservation of any historic traces, no matter how slight it appears to be at the beginning, of the birth place or historic origin of a nation or city. Now there is a gleam of light thrown on the origin of the name of Hong Kong by the identification of these 2 rural houses of pre-modern Hong Kong period. They are the last but yet well preserved rural houses of Wong Chuk Hang San Wai which was formerly known as Heung Kong Sun Wai (***); and Heung Kong Sun Wai was itself an extension of the most original historic village of Heung Kong Wai (*) which name appeared in the Xin-An Gazetteer (M), although the village itself is no longer exist. These 2 houses are now considered as being indirectly related to the 'Birth place of the City of Hong Kong' where the name of 'Heung Kong' (#) was originated. The Council should back up the Museum of History to carry out more research on it and speed up the project so that the declaration will not be delayed.

(3) The integration of the former KCR Clock Tower into the complex of the new Hong Kong Cultural Centre. There is no need to further introduce this well-known landmark which now appears to be well integrated into the new Cultural Complex's Forecourt and Promenade Area for which the project architect should be congratulated. In spite of many other criticisms, the windowless blank wall and the curved roof-line of the new building have incidentally provided quite a satisfactory setting for the free-standing Tower, accepting of course that historic and symbolic significance should take priority over visual consideration in this case. The Council should respect public sentiment and demonstrate its sense of responsibility in playing a leading role in heritage protection by an immediate support for the declaration and complete the task of rendering the Clock Tower full legal protection under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. The Council should have no fear of any unreasonable technical restrictions on the further maintenance of both the structure and the clock mechanism, after declaration, as they are already under the expert monitoring of the special maintenance division of the Architectural Services Department in consultation with the Antiquities and Monuments Office anyway. As a feedback from experience, there has been so far, no complaint from any managements of all such declared monuments as the Han Tomb, the Flagstaff House, the Hong Kong University, the Legislative Council building, etc., about any subsequent unreasonable restrictions after their respective declarations.

Finally, I wish to conclude my speech by a few suggestions as follows: (a) I urge the Council to take up a more positive and leading role to involve in issues of local heritage conservation and continue to improve its public image along this line. Being part of the existing Hong Kong Laws, the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance shall remain after 1997, as stated in Article 8, Chapter 1 of the Drafted Basic Law. Besides, promotion of heritage protection should also be a good way of boosting up community confidence of Hong Kong's future, and the Council should therefore be on the right track, even politically.

(b) I suggest that either the Capital Works Select Committee or the Museum Select Committee shall establish a special Working Sub-Committee called: 'CAP or MUS (Heritage)/Sub-Committee' along the line of the existing CAP (Landuse)/Sub-Committee or the CAP (Leisure Pool)/Sub-Committee, to deal with projects that may involve heritage protection problems and make its recommendations on case-study basis in depth to the Council for consideration.

(c) To preserve the vanishing culture of the more traditional ways of preparing, tasting and enjoying tea and its related life-style in the ancient days as opposite to the present-day industrial and commercial erosion of this heritage, the Council should seriously consider the provision of a separate Chinese Tea Pavilion adjoining the existing Tea-Ware Museum at Flagstaff House which is storing the best collection of Chinese tea-ware in the world. This additional Tea Tasting Pavilion should be designed and run in an authentic way including its interior, furniture, and various traditional ways of cooking, presenting, and tasting different types of teas... which should elevate the status of our existing Tea-ware Museum to the top of its kind in the world.

(d) The Council as a protector of our overall city environment, should voice our concern over the Government's ambitious new air-port and sea-port reclamation programme, to the effect that:

(i) The historic Tung Chung Fort and Tung Chung Battery should not be vanished in the overall redevelopment planning of the area;

(ii) The historic Victoria Harbour with its beautiful meandering coastlines should not be over reclaimed to have its size greatly reduced and its coastlines much straightened... and certainly not to ultimately replace the existing natural harbour by an artificial canal!

(iii) All the ancient lighthouses, now computerized and deserted by watchmen, as those at the Wagland Island, the Cape D'Aguilar, and at some other coastal spots, should be preserved and declared as historic buildings.

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