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district, whereas the Urban Services Department can step up the control of hawkers in the district and pay more attention to greening, street cleaning and hygiene facilities etc. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion. Thank you.
MS. CARLYE TSUI WAI-LING (in English): My speech on my fourth occasion of the Urban Council Annual Conventional Debate will be short as I wish to drive home vital messages.
Firstly, the Council as a whole is seemingly experiencing low marks in public's evaluation. Witness recent and frequent negative publicity about the Council in the local media. Something needs to be done to keep the public accurately informed, particularly in controversy-prone or easily misunderstood issues.
Whilst the Council continues with its general corporate communication programmes, such as open houses, corporate advertising and event announcement, etc., I recommend that each Select Committee reviews its specific communication strategy and formulates policies for publicity and public education. We need to mount intensive and sustained programmes to enhance public awareness of the Council's areas and scope of work to zoom in on specific issues so as to clarify situations and to bring about attitudinal or behavioural changes, whether in effecting good public toilet management, cremation issues, reducing cooked food hawking or eradicating fake URBTIX tickets. I urge the various Select Committees to focus on publicity and public education tactics in each of their strategies and programmes.
Secondly, a good image is the result of consolidated and united efforts among other things. Whilst the USD is charged with executive responsibilities of the Council, we as Councillors are as much responsible for the Council's image development as the Department. In the interest of projecting a solidarity image, of conveying a clear picture of issues and of working towards improving the quality of life for the public, I urge that we take care not to turn the Council into a purely political arena, particularly as we will soon install a new regime with the change in composition of the Council. Touching the everyday lives of our citizens, the Council must function as a practical, efficient and effective service provider.
Thirdly, to all intents and purposes, we aim at developing a client-based service-oriented culture. In order to be successful in this aspect, we need to work with creative approaches, appropriate methodology and state-of-the-art tools. I have always been a strong advocate in the use of information technology by the Council in order to meet the needs of a modern-day society. Although there has been significant development in the application of information technology in the Council's work, I believe we still have a long way to catch up with the requirements of today's information era. I therefore appeal to this Council to place more emphasis and financial budget towards this aim. Moreover, we need to apply up-to-date management systems and programmes in order to bring us to the level of first-class service organisations. In the 1993 debate, I spoke about them and I now reiterate that we must adopt ISO 9000 or similar as service efficiency standards and TQM, or Total Quality Management, as an instigating and motivating programme of service effectiveness. The successful application of quality management provides opportunities for the motivation of staff, improved service performance and productivity, cost reduction, better management of the social processes involved in a service and eventually public satisfaction and the realisation of, to coin a term for the future Urban Council, a smart Council.
Lastly, year after year, we debate on the Statement of Aims for the coming year. It is time that we review this approach of setting objectives. The aims laid out in this Statement tend to be broad brush strokes and in most cases, lacking in definition of achievement milestones or target figures and short-term in nature. I recommend that a more demanding and disciplined approach should be devised in the setting of short-term goals. In addition, we should make projection of mid-term and long-term directions and objectives. This will call for review of our existing policies, public expectations and probably, committee structures and modus operandi of the Council's meetings.
Mr. Chairman, we must position the Council to be more visionary in our strategic planning, better organised and equipped, more focused in a unified way coupled with improved communications with all relevant parties in order to prepare for meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. RONALD POON CHO-YIU (in English): Mr. Chairman, as you know, I always write my Annual Debate speech in pleasant surroundings in order to lessen the horrific task. This year, it is of no exception. However, this year I started early as I did not want to spoil my Christmas holidays. I wrote this at the poolside of the Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel in Manila, during the morning break of the 6th Asian Congress of Architects, amidst splashes and laughter produced by some unruly Taiwanese holiday makers. This scene is reminiscent of the scenery we have come to experience in recent times in Hong Kong and come to think of it, in these Chambers occasionally where budding politicians try frantically to make themselves seen and heard.
Very often, we see them exposing their total lack of understanding and ulterior motives unintentionally, periodically making life unbearable, at times creating some excitement in our newspapers and occasionally making a reasonable constructive intrusion.
This scene is inevitable in the formative days of Democracy and particularly unavoidable when the pace is at neck-breaking speed. When an organisation reaches a certain point of development, new blood is necessary and vital to survival in this ever-changing world. Like a human body at old age, occasional blood transfusions help to rejuvenate bodily functions and almost make a new man out of you if the blood type is correct, but a total transfusion can be quite devastating. It either makes you into a completely different man or it may kill you if the blood type is foreign to yours. Therefore, progress and political changes should be gradual and sympathetic to the local situation.
In the last 2 years, the political scene in Hong Kong is similar to a place next to a volcano. We had the Patten eruption, we had the tidal waves which swept away all appointed seats and now, we are going through the after-tremors created by the new breed of politicians. Let's hope that like a volcanic eruption, after a while things
Page 103 of 115
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 103 of 115
195
Page 103 of 115
194
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
district, whereas the Urban Services Department can step up the control of hawkers in the district and pay more attention to greening, street cleaning and hygiene facilities etc. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion. Thank you.
MS. CARLYE TSUI WAI-LING (in English):---My speech on my fourth occasion of the Urban Council Annual Conventional Debate will be short as I wish to drive home vital messages.
Firstly, the Council as a whole is seemingly experiencing low marks in public's evaluation. Witness recent and frequent negative publicity about the Council in the local media. Something needs to be done to keep the public accurately informed, particularly in controversy prone or easily misunderstood issues.
Whilst the Council continues with its general corporate communication programmes, such as open houses, corporate advertising and event announcement, etc. I recommend that each Select Committee reviews its specific communication strategy and formulates policies for publicity and public education. We need to mount intensive and sustained programmes to enhance public awareness of the Council's areas and scope of work to zoom in on specific issues so as to clarify situations and to bring about attitudinal or behavioural changes, whether in effecting good public toilet management, cremation issues, reducing cooked food hawking or eradicating fake URBTIX tickets. I urge the various Select Committees to focus on publicity and public education tactics in each of their strategies and programmes.
Secondly, a good image is the result of consolidated and united efforts among other things. Whilst the USD is charged with executive responsibilities of the Council, we as Councillors are as much responsible for the Council's image development as the Department. In the interest of projecting a solidarity image, of conveying a clear picture of issues and of working towards improving the quality of life for the public, I urge that we take care not to turn the Council into a purely political arena particularly as we will soon install a new regime with the change in composition of the Council. Touching the everyday lives of our citizens, the Council must function as a practical, efficient and effective service provider.
Thirdly, to all intents and purposes, we aim at developing a client based service oriented culture. In order to be successful in this aspect, we need to work with creative approaches, appropriate methodology and state of the art tools. I have always been a strong advocate in the use of information technology by the Council in order to meet the needs of a modern day society. Although there has been significant development in the application of information technology in the Council's work, I believe we still have a long way to catch up with the requirements of today's information era. I therefore appeal to this Council to place more emphasis and financial budget towards this aim. Moreover, we need to apply up to date management systems and programmes in order to bring us to the level of first class service organisations. In the 1993 debate, I spoke about them and I now reiterate that we must adopt ISO 9000 or similar as service efficiency standards and TQM, or Total Quality Management, as an instigating and motivating programme of service effectiveness. The successful application of quality management provides opportunities for the motivation of staff, improved
Page 103 of 115
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 103 of 115
195
service performance and productivity, cost reduction, better management of the social processes involved in a service and eventually public satisfaction and the realisation of, to coin a term for the future Urban Council, a smart Council.
Lastly, year after year, we debate on the Statement of Aims for the coming year. It is time that we review this approach of setting objectives. The aims laid out in this Statement tend to be broad brush strokes and in most cases, lacking in definition of achievement mile stones or target figures and short term in nature. I recommend that a more demanding and disclipined approach should be devised in the setting of short term goals. In addition, we should make projection of mid term and long term directions and objectives. This will call for review of our existing policies, public expectations and probably, committee structures and modus operandi of the Council's meetings.
Mr. Chairman, we must position the Council to be more visionary in our strategic planning, better organized and equipped, more focused in a unified way coupled with improved communications with all relevant parties in order to prepare for meeting the challenges of the 21st century.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. RONALD POON CHO-YIU (in English):—Mr. Chairman, as you know, I always write my Annual Debate speech in pleasant surroundings in order to lessen the horrific task. This year, it is of no exception. However, this year I started early as I did not want to spoil my Christmas holidays. I wrote this at the poolside of the Westin Phillipine Plaza Hotel in Manila, during the morning break of the 6th Asian Congress of Architects, amidst splashes and laughter produced by some unruly Taiwanese holiday makers. This scene is reminiscent of the scenery we have come to experience in recent times in Hong Kong and come to think of it, in these Chambers occasionally where budding politicians try frantically to make themselves seen and heard.
Very often, we see them exposing their total lack of understanding and ulterior motives unintentionally, periodically making life unbearable, at times creating some excitement in our newspapers and occasionally making a reasonable constructive intrusion.
This scene is inevitable in the formative days of Democracy and particularly unavoidable when the pace is at neck breaking speed. When an organisation reaches a certain point of development, new blood is necessary and vital to survival in this ever changing world. Like a human body at old age, occasional blood transfusions help to rejuvenate bodily functions and almost makes a new man out of you if the blood type is correct, but a total transfusion can be quite devastating. It either makes you into a completely different man or it may kill you if the blood type is foreign to yours. Therefore, progress and political changes should be gradual and sympathetic to the local situation.
In the last 2 years, the political scene in Hong Kong is similar to a place next to a volcano. We had the Patten eruption, we had the tidal waves which swept away all appointed seats and now, we are going through the after tremors created by the new breed of politicians. Let's hope that like a volcanic eruption, after a while things
Page 103 of 115
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