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important carrier of the daily 8,500 tonnes of domestic waste, our Council should have no hesitation to refuse remaining scavenger and handler, but our Council should actively propose active strategies for the benefit of Hong Kong at large.
In that, I propose that we immediately set out to build two modern incinerators and start target-related waste reduction and recycling programmes. Such programmes need to be target-related. I will give you one example. Australia is committed to reduce its waste by 50% by the year 2000, what about Hong Kong? Hong Kong could have a more conservative yet practical approach. What about 25% reduction by the same time span?
A swan song should be soft, sad and appealing. My swan song has been aggressive and accusative. My 4 years in the Urban Council have given me good knowledge and insight on urban problems, public health problems and political problems. Very soon, I shall disappear from this Chamber. However, the insight and knowledge I have gained will stay with me and further strengthen me in my firm belief and practice in giving service to the community. I believe therefore that I shall stay concerned and aggressive. This concern, nevertheless, may have to await a changed climate which does not rely totally on political success but respects more professional expertise from the concerned citizen.
With this sad tune, I thank you for all your patience and the Chairman, in particular, for his guidance.
MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, one of the Urban Council's commitments to the community is the provision of comprehensive community recreation and sports activities, which of course include those for the disabled. The Urban Council increased its funding from $0.44 million in 1993/94 to $1.44 million this year for organizing various kinds of recreation and sports activities for disabled persons. These activities, which are carefully designed by the Department, include training courses, fun days, competitions in sports such as lawn bowls, aerobic dance, mini-tennis and swimming, sea excursions, family days and family leisure camps. The Council's determination to provide a wide range of programmes for the disabled is evident to all. I would like to pay tribute to the Department's staff and all members of the Sports and Activities Sub-committee and also to all Councillors for their efforts made in this area. Yet, it is a pity that it is only when the Urban Council and other voluntary agencies organize or jointly organize such activities that the disabled have the opportunity to join in. They are rather passive, so to speak. If we ask the disabled to take the initiative to book a venue, to watch a cultural programme or use a recreational facility in a way just like ordinary people do, how can they make out what it is all about?
It is known to everyone that the Urban Council has long been providing the elderly and students with half-price concessions. These people need only pay half price when hiring recreational and sports venues or enjoying programmes organized by the Urban Council because they hold senior citizen cards or student cards. The Council has all along denied the disabled the same benefits given to the aforesaid two categories of people. This, we feel, is unfair to the disabled. As we all know, the elderly and students can enjoy half-price concessions by virtue of their senior citizen cards or student cards. The disabled also have their own associations, which may issue cards to them as proof of their disabilities. It is unconvincing to say that they cannot enjoy the privilege offered by the Council because they lack identifications of disabilities.
Take the half-price concession scheme for students as an example. From the Council's point of view, there is only one category of students, that is, students receiving education full-time. However, students in Hong Kong come from a thousand schools, or rather, over two thousand if kindergartens are included as well. There are students in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, universities and tertiary institutions, technical institutes and various polytechnics, etc. As long as they possess a student card, they can enjoy the half-price privilege. Why is there an identification problem with regard to the disabled? We could see that there are indeed not too many types of disabilities, and they are the physically handicapped, the hearing-impaired, the visually impaired, the ex-mentally ill and so on. Students are, relatively speaking, of only one category. But how many schools are there in Hong Kong? As I have said earlier, there are over a thousand. The number of disabled persons in Hong Kong is certainly much less than that of senior citizens and students. Among them, 90% are under the care of sheltered workshops and voluntary agencies, which means that their disabilities could easily be proved once they were issued with some kind of documents by those organizations.
I also hope that the Urban Council and the Social Welfare Department will jointly issue them a disabled card for identification purposes, just like the senior citizen card issued by the Government. This way, they can enjoy the half-price concessions offered by the Council. If we can handle so many student cards issued by various schools while selling tickets or admitting them, why can't we deal with disabled cards issued by only a few organizations, especially when the disabled usually participate in the Council's activities at non-peak hours, which means our service during peak hours will not be affected! Why can't we give them the same status as the able-bodied?
It is my hope that the Council will increase the funding this year so as to attract more disabled organizations and rehabilitation institutions in Hong Kong to bid for our provisions, so as to prove disabled persons' determination to take part and get involved in our activities. I would like to see the Council really encourage the disabled to actively participate in our activities and be a part of our society by giving them more equal opportunities. Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude to the Chairman for his concern in the past year. I support the motion. Thank you.
MR. CHIANG SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I would like to say a few words at the Annual Debate, which is the last one in this term of office. Firstly, I am grateful that with the full support of all the staff of the Urban Services Department, the policies formulated by the Urban Council during the past year were successfully implemented. In regard to public health, the Health Education Unit has done a remarkable job in the past few years. Assisted by the Department, it spared no effort in promoting health education by liaising closely with schools and community groups and spreading the message of public health through various activities such as carnivals, the Ambassador of Hygiene Scheme, etc. In the Restaurant Hygiene Competition, we can see improvements every year. For example, in the past, food shops were required to enrol for competition, but now the eligibility has been expanded to include all licensed food premises. This is very important for food business operators throughout
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important carrier of the daily 8 500 tones of domestic waste, our Council should have no hesitation to refuse remaining scavenger and handler, but our Council should actively propose active strategies for the benefit of Hong Kong at large.
In that, I propose that we immediately set out to build two modern incinerators and start target related waste reudction and recycling programmes. Such programmes need to be target related. I will give you one example. Australia is committed to reduce its waste by 50% by the year 2000, what about Hong Kong? Hong Kong could have a more conservative yet practical approach. What about 25% reduction by the same time span?
A swan song should be soft, sad and appealing. My swan song has been aggressive and accusative. My 4 years in the Urban Council have given me good knowledge and insight on urban problems, public health problems and political problems. Very soon, I shall disappear from this Chamber. However, the insight and knowledge I have gained will stay with me and further strengthen me in my firm belief and practice in giving service to the community. I believe threrefore that I shall stay concerned and aggressive. This concern, nevertheless may have to await for a changed climate which does not rely totally on political success but respect more professional expertise from the concerned citizen.
With this sad tune, I thank you for all your patience and the Chairman in particular, for his guidance.
MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, one of the Urban Council's commitments to the community is the provision of comprehensive community recreation and sports activities, which of course include those for the disabled. The Urban Council increased its funding from $0.44 million in 1993/94 to $1.44 million this year for organized various kinds of recreation and sports activities for disabled persons. These activities, which are carefully designed by the Department, include training courses, fun days, competitions in sports such as lawn bowls, aerobic dance, mini-tennis and swimming, sea excursions, family days and family leisure camps. The Council's determination to provide a wide range of programmes for the disabled is evident to all. I would like to pay tribute to the Department's staff and all members of the Sports and Activities Sub-committee and also to all Councillors for their efforts made in this area. Yet, it is a pity that it is only when the Urban Council and other voluntary agencies organize or jointly organize such activities that the disabled have the opportunity to join in. They are rather passive so to speak. If we ask the disabled to take the initiative to book a venue, to watch a cultural programme or use a recreational facility in a way just like ordinary people do, how can they make out what it is all about? It is known to everyone that the Urban Council has long been providing the elderly and students with half-price concessions. These people need only pay half price when hiring recreational and sports venues or enjoying programmes organized by the Urban Council because they hold senior citizen cards or student cards. The Council has all along denied the disabled the same benefits given to the aforesaid two categories of people. This, we feel, is unfair to the disabled. As we all know, the elderly and students can enjoy half-price concessions by virtue of their
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senior citizen cards or student cards. The disabled also have their own associations, which may issue cards to them as proof of their disabilities. It is unconvincing to say that they cannot enjoy the privilege offered by the Council because they lack identifications of disabilities. Take the half-price concession scheme for students as an example. From the Council's point of view, there is only one category of students, that is, students receiving education full-time. However, students in Hong Kong come from a thousand schools, or rather, over two thousand if kindergartens are included as well. There are students in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, universities and tertiary institutions, technical institutes and various polytechnics etc. As long as they possess a student card, they can enjoy the half-price privilege. Why is there an identification problem with regard to the disabled? We could see that there are indeed not too many types of disabilities, and they are the physically handicapped, the hearing impaired, the visually impaired, the ex-mentally ill and so on. Students are, relatively speaking, of only one category. But how many schools are there in Hong Kong? As I have said earlier, there are over a thousand. The number of disabled persons in Hong Kong is certainly much less than that of senior citizens and students. Among them, 90% are under the care of sheltered workshops and voluntary agencies, which means that their disabilities could easily be proved once they were issued with some kind of documents by those organizations. I also hope that the Urban Council and the Social Welfare Department will jointly issue them a disabled card for identification purposes, just like the senior citizen card issued by the Government. This way, they can enjoy the half-price concessions offered by the Council. If we can handle so many student cards issued by various schools while selling tickets or admitting them, why can't we deal with disabled cards issued by only a few organizations, especially when the disabled usually participate in the Council's activities at non-peak hours, which means our service during peak hours will not be affected! Why can't we give them the same status as the able-bodied? It is my hope that the Council will increase the funding this year so as to attract more disabled organizations and rehabilitation institutions in Hong Kong to bid for our provisions, so as to prove disabled persons' determination to take part and get involved in our activities. I would like to see the Council really encourage the disabled to actively participate in our activities and be a part of our society by giving them more equal opportunities. Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude to the Chairman for his concern in the past year. I support the motion. Thank you.
MR. CHIANG SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I would like to say a few words at the Annual Debate, which is the last one in this term of office. Firstly, I am grateful that with the full support of all the staff of the Urban Services Department, the policies formulated by the Urban Council during the past year were successfully implemented. In regard to public health, the Health Education Unit has done a remarkable job in the past few years. Assisted by the Department, it spared no effort in promoting health education by liaising closely with schools and community groups and spreading the message of public health through various activities such as carnivals, the Ambassador of Hygiene Scheme, etc. In the Restaurant Hygiene Competition, we can see improvements every year. For example in the past, food shops were required to enrol for competition, but now the eligibility has been expanded to include all licensed food premises. This is very important for food business operators throughout
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