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# HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
## ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen, may I call the meeting to order.
## MINUTES
The minutes of meeting held on 13 July 1993 were confirmed.
## PAPERS
The following papers were laid on the table:
(1) Reports to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the months of July and August 1993.
DR. THE HON. SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI (in English):-The first sentence of the August Report says the Council was in 'access'.
CHAIRMAN (in English): It should be 'Recess'. I am sorry for the misspelling. Thank you for pointing out the typing error. The Secretary will have this amended.
## QUESTIONS
1.
MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- It has come to my notice that some restaurants sell the venomous stone fish to attract customers who are fond of novelty. As this kind of fish has highly venomous prickles on its dorsal fin, many waiters and kitchen staff of food premises have been injured by the fish. Although up to now, food poisoning as a result of eating those improperly handled Stone Fish has not occurred, the Council should take suitable action in view of the rising trend of eating novelty food by Hong Kong people. Could the Council enact by-laws to control the selling and handling of all kinds of venomous seafood or food by food premises?
PROFESSOR LEUNG PING-CHUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, Stone Fish which is commonly known as Synanceja usually have a large number of spines and they have very thick skin. Under the spines, there are some venom glands. If the spine of the fish enters body tissues, the venom glands will release some stonustoxin and the sting will cause a sharp and intense pain. The area of skin around the wound would turn a purplish colour with a decrease in blood supply as well as oxygen supply to the blood. This venomous protein decomposes very easily. This is a purified protein. There will be no poison after the fish is cooked.
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Potential hazard posed by venomous protein is more likely to arise through careless handling of the fish by those engaged in occupations alike fishermen and fishmongers. For those who eat the fish meat, there is no risk. And so for the fishermen and the fishmongers who do not handle the fish properly, there will be sharp and intense pain for them. This can be regarded as an occupational hazard and is not related to food consumption. As to whether we need legislative control or food poisoning legislation, the answer is very clear. This is an occupational hazard and is not related to food consumption. But of course if the public are very concerned about the issue, the USD should also pay attention to the problem. If there are more such cases, I think the Department can consider producing some advisory notes or codes of practice for people who always handle stone fish. In future seminars for restaurant operators, we should remind the waiters and other workers to handle such fish in a suitable way. In fact for those who fish in Hong Kong I think there are other types of fish which can pose similar risks and endanger lives of the people who are in contact with the sting. This case is also applicable to snakes. Every year many people are bitten by snakes but in fact if you cook the snakes then there will not be any food poisoning even if you eat them.
2.
MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- Following the occurrence of a tragic accident in Hong Kong Coliseum in February this year, the sale of fake tickets of a local singer's concert held in Hong Kong Coliseum in early August was discovered. Some 200 people were cheated in the incident. This reveals that the Council must step up the supervision on the commercial organizations who hire our venues for holding major performances such as concerts. Therefore, I would like to ask the following questions:
(i) Whenever major performance such as pop singer's concert is held at an UC venue, could the Council step up the scrutiny and supervision on the various types of related work of the organiser, for example, the quantity of tickets for sale and the ticket outlets, the safety of both the show and the performance venue, crowd control and prevention of commercial fraud from happening so as to save the Council's image and reputation from being tarnished?
(ii) Does the public liability insurance policy taken out by the Council cover the audience of such performances or even members of the public who have unknowingly purchased faked tickets issued in the name of the Department? Could we request the organizers of such major performances to contribute to the cost of this kind of insurance?
(iii) It is understood that 79% of tickets for such concerts are sold by the organizer itself and the remaining 21% through URBTIX. This appears to run against the spirit of the Council's provision of facilities, which is to serve the public. Could the Council review the situation and consider that when future bookings of UC venues are made for these profit-making events, the ratio of tickets to be sold by URBTIX be increased, thus enhancing the public's access to shows presented by commercial concerns?
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86
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen, may I call the meeting to order.
MINUTES
The minutes of meeting held on 13 July 1993 were confirmed.
PAPERS
The following papers was laid on the table:
(1) Reports to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the
months of July and August 1993.
DR. THE HON. SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI (in English):-The first sentence of the August Report says the Council was in 'access'.
CHAIRMAN (in English): It should be 'Recess'. I am sorry for the misspelling. Thank you for pointing out the typing error. The Secretary will have this amended.
QUESTIONS
1.
MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- It has come to my notice that some restaurants sell the venomous stone fish to attract customers who are fond of novelty. As this kind of fish has highly venomous prickles on its dorsal fin, many waiters and kitchen staff of food premises have been injured by the fish. Although up to now, food poisoning as a result of eating those improperly handled Stone Fish has not occurred, the Council should take suitable action in view of the rising trend of eating novelty food by Hong Kong people. Could the Council enact by-laws to control the selling and handling of all kinds of venomous seafood or food by food premises?
PROFESSOR LEUNG PING-CHUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, Stone Fish which is commonly known as Synanceja usually have a large number of spines and they have very thick skin. Under the spines, there are some venom glands. If the spine of the fish enters body tissues, the venom glands will release some stonustoxin and the sting will cause a sharp and intense pain. The area of skin around the wound would turn a purplish colour with a decrease in blood supply as well as oxygen supply to the blood. This venomous protein decomposes very easily. This is a purified protein. There will be no poison after the fish is cooked.
Page 39 of 132
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 39 of 132
87
Potential hazard posed by venomous protein is more likely to arise through careless handling of the fish by those engaged in occupations alike fishermen and fishmongers. For those who eat the fish meat, there is no risk. And so for the fishermen and the fishmongers who do not handle the fish properly, there will be sharp and intense pain for them. This can be regarded as an occupational hazard and is not related to food consumption. As to whether we need legislative control or food poisoning legislation, the answer is very clear. This is an occupational hazard and is not related to food consumption. But of course if the public are very concerned about the issue, the USD should also pay attention to the problem. If there are more such cases, I think the Department can consider producing some advisory notes or codes of practice for people who always handle stone fish. In future seminars for restaurant operators, we should remind the waiters and other workers to handle such fish in a suitable way. In fact for those who fish in Hong Kong I think there are other types of fish which can pose similar risks and endanger lives of the people who are in contact with the sting. This case is also applicable to snakes. Every year many people are bitten by snakes but in fact if you cook the snakes then there will not be any food poisoning even if you eat them.
2.
MR. FUNG KWONG-CHUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):- Following the occurrence of a tragic accident in Hong Kong Coliseum in February this year, the sale of fake tickets of a local singer's concert held in Hong Kong Coliseum in early August was discovered. Some 200 people were cheated in the incident. This reveals that the Council must step up the supervision on the commercial organizations who hire our venues for holding major performances such as concerts. Therefore, I would like to ask the following questions:
(i) Whenever major performance such as pop singer's concert is held at an UC venue, could the Council step up the scrutiny and supervision on the various types of related work of the organiser, for example, the quantity of tickets for sale and the ticket outlets, the safety of both the show and the performance venue, crowd control and prevention of commercial fraud from happening so as to save the Council's image and reputation from being tarnished?
(ii) Does the public liability insurance policy taken out by the Council cover the audience of such performances or even members of the public who have unknowingly purchased faked tickets issued in the name of the Department? Could we request the organizers of such major performances to contribute to the cost of this kind of insurance?
(iii) It is understood that 79% of tickets for such concerts are sold by the organizer itself and the remaining 21% through URBTIX. This appears to run against the spirit of the Council's provision of facilities, which is to serve the public. Could the Council review the situation and consider that when future bookings of UC venues are made for these profit-making events, the ratio of tickets to be sold by URBTIX be increased, thus enhancing the public's access to shows presented by commercial concerns?
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