1993 — Page 23

Page 23 of 132

43

42

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, under the auspices of the Urban Council, has expanded and is still expanding to include more difficult and demanding music. Recently, the music of Rachmaninov and Stravinsky, through Vaughan Williams and Britten to local composers such as Chan Wing Wah and David Gwilt has been featured, in some cases, for the first time ever in Hong Kong. The Orchestra now has a wider range of works in its repertoire than ever before, from classical to modern and performs to widespread public and critical acclaim.

Some concerts feature the Philharmonic's own players as soloists, but it is also able to attract visiting performers from all over the world: Jon Kimura Parker, Misha Maisky, James Galway, Peter Donohoe, and the conductor, Jorge Mester are some of the international names who have appeared with the Orchestra in the past year.

Not surprisingly, as the standard of the Philharmonic has increased, so has its popularity, and audience figures have been maintained at around 75%, notwithstanding the tremendous increase in competing events in Hong Kong. These days, the Orchestra is fully utilized, constantly in demand over a wide range of activities. Besides its own frequent and regular concerts performed at the Urban Council venues throughout Hong Kong, the Philharmonic performs at the Arts Festival, provides accompaniment for opera and ballet, and fulfils an educational role providing ensembles for performances in schools and free educational concerts. It also, of course, is an inspiration and a draw for local talent, graduates from the Academy for Performing Arts, for example, both in an artistic and management capacity.

At this point, no sudden or major expansion of the Orchestra is foreseen, rather a gradual improvement, which I believe will be achieved if we continue along the present lines. And, of course, we are mindful of the constraints caused by the need to balance the limited resources.

The Philharmonic is Hong Kong's only professional orchestra and might arguably not exist, at least in its present form, without the Urban Council. The role of the Urban Council, therefore, has been and will continue to be vital to the continuous success of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and, through it, to the flourishing of the performing arts as a whole. For a fine orchestra is the foundation of all the other arts, the flagship of the cultural life of a community, and the body by which the state of the arts as a whole is known and judged. This is why I am happy to add my voice to those calling for a reaffirmation of the Urban Council's support of the arts in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future.

Although all the speeches today were centred around the Arts Policy Review being conducted by the Recreation and Culture Branch, the wording of the Motion does not clearly relate the debate to the current Review; indeed, the Arts Policy Review is conspicuously absent. In order that the Motion fairly reflects the sentiment of the speeches, I intend to move an amendment to the Motion and hope that someone will second my amendment.

Also, I am disappointed that the wording of the motion does not clearly state the precise role of the Council in the promotion of arts. As there are other public bodies in Hong Kong, such as, to name just two, the Council for Performing Arts and the Regional Council, who are also active in the promotion of arts, this may give the public the impression that the Urban Council's arts promotion activities could well duplicate the efforts of, or compete with, other art promotions. This is, in fact, not the case. It should be clearly stated that the Council's role is aimed at ensuring that the public has the opportunity to enjoy a full range of artistic performances. Where it is evident that a form of art is not promoted, then the Council will endeavour to fill the gap. I do hope that this important message is appreciated by the public as well as the Government, in the current debate over the Arts Policy Review.

Mr. Chairman, I now formally move under Standing Order 15(g) that the following amendment to the motion, after the words 'Resolved that' to add ‘in response to the current Arts Policy Review being conducted by the Administration'. May I have a seconder please.

MRS. ELEANOR LING CHING-MAN (in English): I would like to second the amendment made by Mr. CHEUNG.

CHAIRMAN (in English): In that case, the amendment to the original motion has been proposed and seconded. I would like to, at this stage, put this amendment to a vote before we vote on the original motions, although there are some other speakers who will be addressing the original motions. Once again, there is a minor amendment in addition to the original motion that is proposed by the Hon. Marvin CHEUNG and seconded by Mrs. Eleanor LING. I would like to put this amendment to a vote.

THE HON. MARVIN CHEUNG KIN-TUNG (in English): I propose the amended motion by adding the following words after the words 'Resolved that', 'in response to the current Arts Policy Review being conducted by the Administration and'. The motion then reads as follows:

'RESOLVED that in response to the current Arts Policy Review being conducted by the Administration and in the context of the Urban Council's statutory powers and autonomy in matters of policy and finance, the Council reaffirms its existing commitments and will continue to play a key role in Hong Kong relating to the creation, promotion, preservation, and public education in the performing, visual, and literary arts.'

CHAIRMAN (in English): Actually, this amendment is just to explain it more clearly and definitely make a clear reference to the Arts Policy Review document as tabled for the motion, I think. Is everybody clear about this amendment? It is just an addition to the original motion. Yes, MAN Sai-cheong.

Page 23 of 132