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6. MR. MA LEE-WO asked the following question (in Cantonese):-Since the beginning of the swimming season, I have received complaints from many residents that as no change service is provided at the entrances of the public swimming pools, it causes them great inconvenience, in particular, families who have to carry with them tens of coins for entry payment.
(a) Can change service be provided at swimming pools so as to minimise the inconvenience to swimmers?
(b) Can we replace the existing coin-operated machines with those which accept stored value ticket instead?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU, Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee, replied as follows (in Cantonese):
This question concerns the inconvenience caused to swimmers, in particular families, by the lack of coin change service at the entrances of the public swimming pools. The question is divided into two parts. The first is whether change service can be provided at swimming pools so as to minimise the inconvenience to swimmers and the second is whether we can replace the existing coin-operated machines with those which accept stored value ticket instead.
As regards the first question, the Department has conducted trials earlier on providing a change service in the form of a note-to-coin change machine at Kowloon Park Swimming Pool. The result of these trials was that the system proved to be unsatisfactory because of low reliability of the machine and the disproportionate staff involvement. The findings were reported in detail to Members of the Recreation Select Committee vide Committee Paper REC/55/91. Since the HK public is not unaccustomed to tendering exact fare as in the case of public transport, it is not unrealistic to expect them to do so for entering into our swimming pools.
As regards the second question, the original system of collecting admission charges for swimming pools was a manual system and this was replaced totally in 1989 by an automatic turnstile system costing $6 m which not only collected the money but gave a record of numbers admitted to the pools at any one time. The main advantages of the present automatic turnstile system are that they save staff cost and eliminate the need for the public to queue for any length of time for admission. These turnstiles are functioning well at the Urban Council's 13 public swimming pools. Whilst there is no intention at present to replace them with a stored value ticket system, the Department has been exploring the practicability of linking up the turnstile computers at our swimming pools with the Common Stored Value Ticket System of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC). Preliminary negotiations have been going on between the copyright holder of our computer programme, the Fuji Denki Reiki Co. Ltd. of Japan, and the MTRC to see if the proposed interfacing of the two separate programmes is feasible. In these discussions, the Department will need to assess the viability and cost-effectiveness of a ticket system and this will be done as details become available.
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MR. MA LEE-WO (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, we have a special case this year. Because of shark threat, most of our beaches are closed and more people are going to our public swimming pools. I have therefore received more complaints from the public about the lack of coin change service. I observe that at the entrance of each swimming pool, there is a staff deployed there, so is it possible that the staff member be asked to do coin change service as well? That is my first question. The second question is about the study for the replacement of the coin-operated machines with stored value ticket system. When will the result be made available? Can we target this service to be provided at the next swimming season? In other words, by the next swimming season, can members of the public be able to use stored value tickets to gain admission to some of our swimming pools?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, the first question by Mr. Ma is whether we can ask the staff deployed at the entrance to take up the coin change service. I think we can refer the suggestion back to the Select Committee for discussion. As for the shark threat which has caused higher rate of admission in public swimming pools, the information as at the 30.6.1991 suggests that there is no significant increase of usage of our public swimming pools. As regards the second question on whether we can set the target for stored value ticket to be used at the beginning of the next swimming season, the Select Committee will definitely look into that and hopefully if the scheme is feasible, it will be implemented at the next swimming season.
MR. WONG SHUI-LAI (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have a follow-up question. How long will it take to complete the study of linking up the turnstile computers with the Common Stored Value Ticket System of the MTRC? Can we take a simple approach by issuing a set of tickets so that a family consisting of 4 or 5 members do not need to carry so many coins with them? So is it possible that to have pre-printed tickets which can be used for the whole season? They can buy any number of tickets they wish beforehand. Have we carried out this kind of investigation because the Urban Council can earn some interests by issuing this kind of tickets?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-Thank Mr. WONG for his suggestion. In fact, the system of pre-printed tickets has been used by some of the private pools and I am sure the Select Committee can consider this further. As for the time frame of the study on the Common Stored Value Ticket System, I don't have any Information off-hand. I will discuss it with the Department and I will give a written reply to Mr. WONG.
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a follow-up question about the automatic turnstile system. Since automatic turnstile system has been installed in 13 public swimming pools, it involves members of a whole family. Although the automatic turnstile system has an advantage of controlling the crowd entering the pool, it also has a drawback. The automatic
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
6. MR. MA LEE-Wo asked the following question (in Cantonese):-Since the beginning of the swimming season, I have received complaints from many residents that as no change service is provided at the entrances of the public swimming pools, it causes them great inconvenience, in particular, families who have to carry with them tens of coins for entry payment.
(a) Can change service be provided at swimming pools so as to minimise the
inconvenience to swimmers?
(b) Can we replace the existing coin-operated machines with those which accept
stored value ticket instead?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU, Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee, replied as follows (in Cantonese):
This question concerns the inconvenience caused to swimmers, in particular families, by the lack of coin change service at the entrances of the public swimming pools. The question is divided into two parts. The first is whether change service can be provided at swimming pools so as to minimise the inconvenience to swimmers and the second is whether we can replace the existing coin-operated machines with those which accept stored value ticket instead.
As regards the first question, the Department has conducted trials earlier on providing a change service in the form of a note-to-coin change machine at Kowloon Park Swimming Pool. The result of these trials was that the system proved to be unsatisfactory because of low reliability of the machine and the disproportionate staff involvement. The findings were reported in detail to Members of the Recreation Select Committee vide Committee Paper REC/55/91. Since the HK public is not unaccustomed to tendering exact fare as in the case of public transport, it is not unrealistic to expect them to do so for entering into our swimming pools.
As regards the second question, the original system of collecting admission charges for swimming pools was a manual system and this was replaced totally in 1989 by an automatic turnstile system costing $6 m which not only collected the money but gave a record of numbers admitted to the pools at any one time. The main advantages of the present automatic turnstile system are that they save staff cost and eliminate the need for the public to queue for any length of time for admission. These turnstiles are functioning well at the Urban Council's 13 public swimming pools. Whilst there is no intention at present to replace them with a stored value ticket system, the Department has been exploring the practicability of linking up the turnstile computers at our swimming pools with the Common Stored Value Ticket System of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC). Preliminary negotiations have been going on between the copyright holder of our computer programme, the Fuji Denki Reiki Co. Ltd. of Japan, and the MTRC to see if the proposed interfacing of the two separate programmes is feasible. In these discussions, the Department will need to assess the viability and cost-effectiveness of a ticket system and this will be done as details become available.
Page 37 of 126
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
65
MR. MA LEE-WO (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, we have a special case this year. Because of shark threat, most of our beaches are closed and more people are going to our public swimming pools. I have therefore received more complaints from the public about the lack of coin change service. I observe that at the entrance of each swimming pool, there is a staff deployed there, so is it possible that the staff member be asked to do coin change service as well? That is my first question. The second question is about the study for the replacement of the coin-operated machines with stored value ticket system. When will the result be made available? Can we target this service to be provided at the next swimming season? In other words, by the next swimming season, can members of the public be able to use stored value tickets to gain admission to some of our swimming pools?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, the first question by Mr. Ma is whether we can ask the staff deployed at the entrance to take up the coin change service. I think we can refer the suggestion back to the Select Committee for discussion. As for the shark threat which has caused higher rate of admission in public swimming pools, the information as at the 30.6.1991 suggests that there is no significant increase of usage of our public swimming pools. As regards the second question on whether we can set the target for stored value ticket to be used at the beginning of the next swimming season, the Select Committee will definitely look into that and hopefully if the scheme is feasible, it will be implemented at the next swimming season.
MR. WONG SHUI-LAI (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have a follow-up question. How long will it take to complete the study of linking up the turnstile computers with the Common Stored Value Ticket System of the MTRC? Can we take a simple approach by issuing a set of tickets so that a family consisting of 4 or 5 members do not need to carry so many coins with them? So is it possible that to have pre-printed tickets which can be used for the whole season? They can buy any number of tickets they wish beforehand. Have we carried out this kind of investigation because the Urban Council can earn some interests by issuing this kind of tickets?
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-Thank Mr. WONG for his suggestion. In fact, the system of pre-printed tickets has been used by some of the private pools and I am sure the Select Committee can consider this further. As for the time frame of the study on the Common Stored Value Ticket System, I don't have any Information off-hand. I will discuss it with the Department and I will give a written reply to Mr. WONG.
MR. IP KWOK-CHUNG (in Cantonese):-Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a follow-up question about the automatic turnstile system. Since automatic turnstile system has been installed in 13 public swimming pools, it involves members of a whole family. Although the automatic turnstile system has an advantage of controlling the crowd entering the pool, it also has a drawback. The automatic
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