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I have been a DB/UC Member for seven years. In fact, '7' is my number. My occupation is social work. I set my mind on becoming a social worker as early as my Form III days. I joined the social work profession seven years later. My wife and I had a seven-year courtship before we got married. When our marriage entered its seventh year, we got a new family member, a daughter. Seven years is quite a long time. I feel I need to have a break for the time being so that I can take stock of my gains and losses and reset the course for my future.
In any case, as an elected Member, I will work to the last minute, notwithstanding that I will leave office very soon. Just like the way Ms. Carlye Tsui handled her suitcase on an overseas duty visit, (I will) ‘only close it at the last minute'. Elected Members have a responsibility towards the people. Although I have decided not to run in the coming election, I will perform my duties till the last minute and get satisfaction out of my work till the last minute.
At the beginning of 1995, I have some new wishes for the new year. I would like to use the three Chinese characters constituting my own name, MA (meaning horse), Lee (Meaning profit) and Wo (meaning to mix), to express my wishes for my colleagues. Stumbling as a horse, putting profit above conscience and mixing up right and wrong without any principle are what I wish will not happen to my colleagues. As our society has become more open and progressive, the public are more demanding with our Members. It is no easy job to perform the role and duties of a Councillor well, I hope, when dealing with various matters and people, Members will come to the forefront, bring in a ten thousand-fold profit or benefit, and maintain harmony all around. If you are able to achieve all these, I believe 1995 will definitely be your year.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in Hong Kong and also my colleagues a prosperous new year and good health.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion. Thank you.
THE HONOURABLE LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman. I have just come to know that Mr. MA Lee-wo and I have one thing in common, that is we both advanced our weddings to 1985 because of the elections. However, I only got 3 days for honeymoon while he got 5. Back to business, now I am going to touch on issues that are absolutely related to the Council. First of all, I would like to talk about the Hong Kong Stadium which has occupied so much of my time as an Urban Councillor. I have all along been keeping an eye on the redevelopment of the Stadium since the Jockey Club informed the Council of its intention to allocate a sum of money for the project. Although the current condition of the Stadium has shown some improvement, yet it has once been the centre of public concern and discontent. One of the problems is the unexpected fitting-out cost of $175 million. It came so shocking because when the Council took over the management of the Stadium it did not realize that such a large expenditure was not covered by the Jockey Club's contribution of $850 million. Therefore, it is absolutely correct for some Councillors to say that the cost for the redevelopment project totals nearly $1 billion.
The second problem is about the sound level. The sophisticated in-house sound system, costing $7 million, has once been the boast of the Stadium. However, it has proved to be a failure in controlling the sound level and preventing nearby residents from complaining about noise pollution whenever concerts are held. In other words, this sound system which costs $7 million can only function as a public address system and cannot serve the purpose of holding concerts. As the Stadium is designed for holding at least several concerts annually, the noise problem must have been overlooked and both the Jockey Club and the Recreation and Culture Branch should be held responsible for the negligence.
The third problem is about the pitch and I still cannot understand why it has become a problem. Although the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Stadium, the Stadium Manager and various experts from the United States and Australia have guaranteed repeatedly at monthly and regular Council meetings that remedial measure would be worked out in 3 months' time, the problem is finally solved by pitch experts of the Urban Services Department. I do not know whether it should be considered fortunate that staff of the USD Nursery Teams is even better than the top overseas experts. But the most important thing is that the pitch is made grassy again for holding events within such a short time and need not to be rebuilt.
A spate of problems arising from the Stadium have caught the attention of the media and sparked off discussions among Urban Councillors. Moreover, I also have some comments on the Board of Governors (BOG). At the outset of its operation, the BOG can be likened to an independent kingdom. Although its status is similar to that of a select committee, its meetings and minutes of meeting were initially not open to other Members. I was quite dissatisfied with such practice. Finally, as Councillors agreed to redefine BOG as a select committee, its information and minutes of meeting were disclosed and Councillors allowed to attend its meetings as observers. I hope that the BOG would, through the mechanism of the Stadium Committee for the Whole Council, consult and listen to the views of Councillors more frequently, especially when making important decisions, instead of acting arbitrarily as before.
I have just listened to many Councillors' speeches and I think that since it is an Annual Debate, I would prefer some debate to reading out one's own speech. After hearing the views of some Councillors, I would like to share some of my feelings with you.
There are at least three experienced Councillors in the Council who hope that in April this year, the Urban Council won't become politicized, and party politics won't be brought into the Council. As the Urban Council is a practical organization providing services to the public, it should not involve itself too much in politics. All these are words from the most experienced elected/directly elected members. However, I personally feel that once there are elections, the existence of politics and political groups is inevitable. Everyone has his own ideal and standpoint. When coming together, those who share similar views will form a group. This happens in any representative Council and organization. So I think it is absolutely wrong to say that there is no politics in the Urban Council. Members compromise with one another to decide on who should be the Chairman and vice-chairman. Members leave the meeting or compromise with one another when there is disagreement. These are all council politics. Right you are, Mr. MA Lee-wo, everybody wants to 'share a cake'. 'Cake-sharing' is already politics. How can we say it is not? Whenever a swimming pool is to be constructed or any project is to be implemented in a district, council politics is involved. What I am saying is that we should not equate politics with something negative, because this means we are not looking at what politics and council politics are. We respect the spirit of a Council, i.e. there are motions and debates. When the majority endorse and the minority does not, we have to act on the majority's decision, which is very normal. It is believed that members from different parties will have a great impact on the Urban Council in April this year. Out of the 41 Councillors in the Urban Council, more than half will certainly be new members. Even though there are 9 members from the District Boards, only 2 of them are experienced, while the rest have taken up office for only several months. Therefore, the Urban Council in April will basically have a new composition. I believe there will definitely be problems concerning the impact of political parties and compromise with the Chairman among the party members, and this is natural. I hope all Councillors can deal with council politics with a normal attitude.
In the beginning of 1995, I have 5 wishes which, I hope, Mr. Chairman and Chairmen of all select committees will make concerted efforts to fulfil.
Firstly, I wish that the Council would take effective action against illegal hawking activities at hawker blackspots. I have always emphasized that this is my duty since I joined the Council more than 3 years ago. The image of the Council will be tarnished by illegal hawking activities which cause nuisance to the public. Thus I give first priority to this item.
Secondly, I wish to see marked improvements over the management of Urban Council markets. In some UC markets, especially those of Kwun Tong District, even the entrance of its office was occupied illegally for hawking purpose. This, I think, is a great humiliation to the Council. So far the problems arising from these thriving markets have not been resolved. This wish is therefore placed second.
Thirdly, with regard to cultural and recreational activities, I wish that the Council would organize fewer extravagant and overambitious events. It would be more beneficial to allocate more resources to the 9 districts and jointly hold more functions with local organizations. More activities should be organized for the grass-roots.
Fourthly, disabled persons who use Council facilities should be offered preferential rates similar to those for the elderly.
Fifthly, I wish that the pitch and noise problems of the Stadium could be resolved completely before 1996.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in English):—That concludes the business of today's. The Council stands adjourned until Thursday, 12 January 1995 at 2.30 p.m. on which day other members will resume the Debate.
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I have been a DB/UC Member for seven years. In fact, '7' is my number. My occupation is social work. I set my mind on becoming a social worker as early as my Form III days. I joined the social work profession seven years later. My wife and I had a seven-year courtship before we got married. When our marriage entered its seventh year, we got a new family member, a daughter. Seven years is quite a long time. I feel I need to have a break for the time being so that I can take stock of my gains and losses and reset the course for my future.
In any case, as an elected Member, I will work to the last minute, notwithstanding that I will leave office very soon. Just like the way Ms. Carlye Tsui handled her suitcase on an overseas duty visit, (I will) ‘only close it at the last minute'. Elected Members have a responsibility towards the people. Although I have decided not to run in the coming election, I will perform my duties till the last minute and get satisfaction out of my work till the last minute.
At the beginning of 1995, I have some new wishes for the new year. I would like to use the three Chinese characters constituting my own name, MA (meaning horse), Lee (Meaning profit) and Wo (meaning to mix), to express my wishes for my colleagues. Stumbling as a horse, putting profit above conscience and mixing up right and wrong without any principle are what I wish will not happen to my colleagues. As our society has become more open and progressive, the public are more demanding with our Members. It is no easy job to perform the role and duties of a Councillor well, I hope, when dealing with various matters and people, Members will come to the forefront, bring in a ten thousand-fold profit or benefit, and maintain harmony all around. If you are able to achieve all these, I believe 1995 will definitely be your year.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone in Hong Kong and also my colleagues a prosperous new year and good health.
Mr. Chairman, I support the motion. Thank you.
THE HONOURABLE LI WAH-MING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman. I have just come to know that Mr. MA Lee-wo and I have one thing in common, that is we both advanced our weddings to 1985 because of the elections. However, I only got 3 days for honeymoon while he got 5. Back to business, now I am going to touch on issues that are absolutely related to the Council. First of all, I would like to talk about the Hong Kong Stadium which has occupied so much of my time as an Urban Councillor. I have all along been keeping an eye on the redevelopment of the Stadium since the Jockey Club informed the Council of its intention to allocate a sum of money for the project. Although the current condition of the Stadium has shown some improvement, yet it has once been the centre of public concern and discontent. One of the problems is the unexpected fitting-out cost of $175 million. It came so shocking because when the Council took over the management of the Stadium it did not realize that such a large expenditure was not covered by the Jockey Club's contribution of $850 million. Therefore, it is absolutely correct for some Councillors to say that the cost for the redevelopment project totals nearly $1 billion.
The second problem is about the sound level. The sophisticated in-house sound system, costing $7 million, has once been the boast of the Stadium. However, it has
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proved to be a failure in controlling the sound level and preventing nearby residents from complaining about noise pollution whenever concerts are held. In other words, this sound system which costs $7 million can only function as a public address system and cannot serve the purpose of holding concerts. As the Stadium is designed for holding at least several concerts annually, the noise problem must have been overlooked and both the Jockey Club and the Recreation and Culture Branch should be held responsible for the negligence.
The third problem is about the pitch and I still cannot understand why it has become a problem. Although the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong Stadium, the Stadium Manager and various experts from the United States and Australia have guaranteed repeatedly at monthly and regular Council meetings that remedial measure would be worked out in 3 months' time, the problem is finally solved by pitch experts of the Urban Services Department. I do not know whether it should be considered fortunate that staff of the USD Nursery Teams is even better than the top overseas experts. But the most important thing is that the pitch is made grassy again for holding events within such a short time and need not to be rebuilt.
A spate of problems arising from the Stadium have caught the attention of the media and sparked off discussions among Urban Councillors. Moreover, I also have some comments on the Board of Governors (BOG). At the outset of its operation, the BOG can be likened to an independent kingdom. Although its status is similar to that of a select committee, its meetings and minutes of meeting were initially not open to other Members. I was quite dissatisfied with such practice. Fianlly, as Councillors agreed to redefine BOG as a select committee, its information and minutes of meeting were disclosed and Councillors allowed to attend its meetings as observes. I hope that the BOG would, through the mechanism of the Stadium Committee for the Whole Council, consult and listen to the views of Councillors more frequently, especially when making important decisions, instead of acting arbitrarily as before.
I have just listened to many Councillors' speeches and I think that since it is an Annual Debate, I would prefer some debate to reading out one's own speech. After hearing the views of some Councillors, I would like to share some of my feelings with you.
There are at least three experienced Councillors in the Council who hope that in April this year, the Urban Council won't become politicized, and party politics won't be brought into the Council. As the Urban Council is a practical organization providing services to the public, it should not involve itself too much in politics. All these are words from the most experienced elected/directly elected members. However, I personally feel that once there are elections, the existence of politics and political groups is inevitable. Everyone has his own ideal and standpoint. When coming together, those who share similar views will form a group. This happens in any representative Council and organization. So I think it is absolutely wrong to say that there is no politics in the Urban Council. Members compromise with one another to decide on who should be the Chairman and vice-chairman. Members leave the meeting or compromise with one another when there is disagreement. These are all council politics. Right you are, Mr. MA Lee-wo, everybody wants to 'share a cake'. 'Cake-sharing' is
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already politics. How can we say it is not? Whenever a swimming pool is to be constructed or any project is to be implemented in a district, council politics is involved. What I am saying is that we should not equate politics with something negative, because this means we are not looking at what politics and council politics are. We respect the spirit of a Council, i.e. there are motions and debates. When the majority endorse and the minority does not, we have to act on the majority's decision, which is very normal. It is believed that members from different parties will have a great impact on the Urban Council in April this year. Out of the 41 Councillors in the Urban Council, more than half will certainly be new members. Even though there are 9 members from the District Boards, only 2 of them are experienced, while the rest have taken up office for only several months. Therefore, the Urban Council in April will basically have a new composition. I believe there will definitely be problems concerning the impact of political parties and compromise with the Chairman among the party members, and this is natural. I hope all Councillors can deal with council politics with a normal attitude.
In the beginning of 1995, I have 5 wishes which, I hope, Mr. Chairman and Chairmen of all select committees will make concerted efforts to fulfil.
Firstly, I wish that the Council would take effective action against illegal hawking activities at hawker blackspots. I have always emphasized that this is my duty since I joined the Council more than 3 years ago. The image of the Council will be tarnished by illegal hawking activities which cause nuisance to the public. Thus I give first priority to this item.
Secondly, I wish to see marked improvements over the management of Urban Council markets. In some UC markets, especially those of Kwun Tong District, even the entrance of its office was occupied illegally for hawking purpose. This, I think, is a great humiliation to the Council. So far the problems arising from these thriving markets have not been resolved. This wish is therefore placed second.
Thirdly, with regard to cultural and recreational activities, I wish that the Council would organize fewer extravagant and overambitious events. It would be more beneficial to allocate more resources to the 9 districts and jointly hold more functions with local organizations. More activities should be organized for the grass-roots.
Fourthly, disabled persons who use Council facilitates should be offered preferential rates similar to those for the elderly.
Fifthly, I wish that the pitch and noise problems of the Stadium could be resolved completely before 1996.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-That concludes the business of today's. The Council stands adjourned until Thursday, 12 January 1995 at 2.30 p.m. on which day other members will resume the Debate.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.