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worked with my colleagues in this Council for the past few months, I have, to my great delight, arrived at the conclusion that the Council faces more opportunities. Some friends who care about us have told us not to worry. In fact, the crises they mentioned are nothing to worry about if we are willing to face up to reality and take positive measures to deal with the crises properly. From the experience I have gained in the past years with the Council, I would like to bring to Members' attention the following points which may help to make the Urban Council with its present composition, a dynamic institution providing better municipal services to the public:
(1) Although there are now different parties, different people as well as different views in the Urban Council, there is one thing in our tradition to which we should attach great importance, and that is: though we have majority rule, we also take the minority's interest into account. We should not act arbitrarily just because we are in the majority. We should also respect dissident opinions so as to maintain the spirit of seeking common stand but tolerating dissenting views. I believe that this is a very important point.
(2) In the past, the work of the Urban Council has always been non-political and practical. Of course, some people may not agree with me on this. They argue that politicization is an inevitable trend of the Urban Council. This is a fact and I agree. However, if we can consider politicization in the context of party politics, then you may share my view. Therefore, my second point is very important. We very much hope that the work of the Urban Council will not be affected by party politics. In other words, I hope when Members consider policies and measures to be adopted by the Council, they will base their decisions on their personal experience, their own wisdom, their personal knowledge of municipal services, and their own accountability to their constituencies, instead of always having only their political party in mind when making decisions. If we can do this, then we will really be judging all matters on their own merits, and really be giving municipal services top priority.
(3) As regards the concept of depoliticization, we should target our attention on the issues in front of us and not on individual Councillors, much less on parties. I had the worry that some good proposals would be shot down by Councillors of other parties simply because they were put forward by certain political groups. That would be bad for the Urban Council and is the last thing the public want to see. If we consider politicization in this context, it will be easier to understand my idea of. Moreover, the Urban Council, the Urban Services Department and the public have all along been a trinity. It has nothing to do with religious beliefs but is a belief that we hold in providing services to the public. In this trinity, the Urban Council is the policy maker, the Urban Services Department the executive arm and the public, we hope, the beneficiary. In this respect, the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department have a very delicate relationship with each other. We hope that all colleagues will understand that, over the years, we
Page 298 of 485
Page 298 of 485
Page 298 of 485
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
11
worked with my colleagues in this Council for the past few months, I have, to my great delight, arrived at the conclusion that the Council faces more opportunities. Some friends who care about us have told us not to worry. In fact, the crises they mentioned are nothing to worry about if we are willing to face up to reality and take positive measures to deal with the crises properly. From the experience I have gained in the past years with the Council, I would like to bring to Members' attention the following points which may help to make the Urban Council with its present composition, a dynamic institution providing better municipal services to the public:
(1) Although there are now different parties, different people as well as different views in the Urban Council, there is one thing in our tradition to which we should attach great importance, and that is: though we have majority rule, we also take the minority's interest into account. We should not act arbitrarily just because we are in the majority. We should also respect dissident opinions so as to maintain the spirit of seeking common stand but tolerating dissenting views. I believe that this is a very important point.
(2) In the past, the work of the Urban Council has always been non-political and practical. Of course, some people may not agree with me on this. They argue that politicization is an inevitable trend of the Urban Council. This is a fact and I agree. However, if we can consider politicization in the context of party politics, then you may share my view. Therefore, my second point is very important. We very much hope that the work of the Urban Council will not be affected by party politics. In other words, I hope when Members consider policies and measures to be adopted by the Council, they will base their decisions on their personal experience. their own wisdom, their personal knowledge of municipal services, and their own accountability to their constituencies, instead of always having only their political party in mind when making decisions. If we can do this, then we will really be judging all matters on their own merits, and really be giving municipal services top priority.
(3) As regards the concept of depoliticization, we should target our attention on the issues in front of us and not on individual Councillors, much less on parties. I had the worry that some good proposals would be shot down by Councillors of other partics simply because they were put forward by certain political groups. That would be bad for the Urban Council and is the last thing the public want to see. If we consider politicization in this context, it will be easier to understand my idea of. Moreover, the Urban Council, the Urban Services Department and the public have all along been a trinity. It has nothing to do with religious beliefs but is a belief that we hold in providing services to the public. In this trinity, the Urban Council is the policy maker, the Urban Services Department the executive arm and the public, we hope, the beneficiary. In this respect, the Urban Council and the Urban Services Department have a very delicate relationship with each other. We hope that all colleagues will understand that, over the years, we
Page 298 of 485
Page 298 of 485
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