1995 — Page 312

Urban Council Proceedings 市政局議事錄 All AI Reviewed

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

The Council is often criticized by the general public for failing in all these years to come up with a more effective way to deal with the problem of hawker control. The fact is, it is really difficult to handle unlicensed hawkers since the issue is mainly related to the economy of society. What's more, some investors have moved their plants to China in recent years, resulting in a loss of jobs for many workers in Hong Kong. Having to make a living, a large number of these unemployed have become itinerant hawkers, selling sundry goods or cooked food in various districts. Under these circumstances, neither the Council nor the Department can find a better way to deal with the hawker problem. As for the Itinerant Hawker Licence Deletion Policy to be implemented by this Council on April 1st this year, I believe that it will surely reduce the activities of licensed itinerant hawkers. But does it mean that illegal hawking will be put under control? This is a question that warrants our careful consideration. I hope that Members can put forward some constructive ideas when discussing the hawker issue in the future.

Lastly, I'd like to speak on the work of other Select Committees. In the past year, Members have offered a lot of constructive views on the various services provided by the Council and enjoyed the full co-operation of the Department. I hope the co-operation will continue in the future so that we can serve the public at large and contribute to the goal of community building.

Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.

MR. LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman. I joined the Council in November 1994. I had attended, up to March 1995, i.e. within a period of five months, approximately 40 meetings, large or small. Every opinion I heard in the meetings was given after detailed research and analysis and every view put forward for discussion was subject to serious deliberation.

The Urban Services Department used to know well the way things were handled by the Council in the past hundred years or so. Preparation of papers and implementation of resolutions therefore were but easy jobs for them. When thorny issues cropped up, the Department and the Council would join hands in finding ways to resolve the problem, and few paid attention to the newsworthiness of them.

But April 1995 brought with it a great impact on the Department. Faced with a fully elected Urban Council, the Department was at a loss and sometimes even wary of what it should do. It gets on one's nerves to see that departmental officers are always playing the role of 'Yu Lai-chun', the bullied, while the rudeness and unreasonable behaviour of 'Tam Lan-hing', the bully, is directly or indirectly the result of the Department's submissiveness.

The redevelopment of the Hong Kong Stadium is the masterpiece of the Government and the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Initially, it was not intended to be handed over to the Urban Council, but eventually the Council succeeded in taking over the management. The pitch and noise problems came to light after the

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL 25 The Council is often criticized by the general public for failing in all these years to come up with a more effective way to deal with the problem of hawker control. The fact is, it is really difficult to handle unlicensed hawkers since the issue is mainly related to the economy of society. What's more, some investors have moved their plants to China in recent years, resulting in a loss of jobs for many workers in Hong Kong. Having to make a living, a large number of these unemployed have become itinerant hawkers, selling sundry goods or cooked food in various districts. Under these circumstances, neither the Council nor the Department can find a better way to deal with the hawker problem. As for the Itinerant Hawker Licence Deletion Policy to be implemented by this Council on April 1st this year, I believe that it will surely reduce the activities of licensed itinerant hawkers. But does it mean that illegal hawking will be put under control? This is a question that warrants our careful consideration. I hope that Members can put forward some constructive ideas when discussing the hawker issue in the future. Lastly, I'd like to speak on the work of other Select Committees. In the past year, Members have offered a lot of constructive views on the various services provided by the Council and enjoyed the full co-operation of the Department. I hope the co-operation will continue in the future so that we can serve the public at large and contribute to the goal of community building. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion. MR. LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman. I joined the Council in November 1994. I had attended, up to March 1995, i.e. within a period of five months, approximately 40 meetings, large or small. Every opinion I heard in the meetings was given after detailed research and analysis and every view put forward for discussion was subject to serious deliberation. The Urban Services Department used to know well the way things were handled by the Council in the past hundred years or so. Preparation of papers and implementation of resolutions therefore were but easy jobs for them. When thorny issues cropped up, the Department and the Council would join hands in finding ways to resolve the problem, and few paid attention to the newsworthiness of them. But April 1995 brought with it a great impact on the Department. Faced with a fully elected Urban Council, the Department was at a loss and sometimes even wary of what it should do. It gets on one's nerves to see that departmental officers are always playing the role of 'Yu Lai-chun', the bullied, while the rudeness and unreasonable behaviour of 'Tam Lan-hing', the bully, is directly or indirectly the result of the Department's submissiveness. The redevelopment of the Hong Kong Stadium is the masterpiece of the Government and the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Initially, it was not intended to be handed over to the Urban Council, but eventually the Council succeeded in taking over the management. The pitch and noise problems came to light after the Page 312 of 485 Page 312 of 485

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Page 312 of 485 Page 312 of 485 HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL 25 The Council is often criticized by the general public for failing in all these years to come up with a more essective way to deal with the problem of hawker control. The fact is, it is really difficult to handle unlicensed hawkers since the issue is mainly related to the economy of society. What's more, some investors have moved their plants to China in recent years, resulting in a loss of jobs for many workers in Hong Kong. Having to make a living, a large number of these unemployed have become itinerant hawkers, selling sundry goods or cooked food in various districts. Under these circumstances, neither the Council nor the Department can find a better way to deal with the hawker problem. As for the Itinerant Hawker Licence Deletion Policy to be implemented by this Council on April 1st this year, I believe that it will surely reduce the activities of licensed itinerant hawkers. But does it mean that illegal hawking will be put under control? This is a question that warrants our careful consideration. I hope that Members can put forward some constructive ideas when discussing the hawker issue in the future. Lastly, I'd like to speak on the work of other Select Committees. In the past year, Members have offered a lot of constructive views on the various services provided by the Council and enjoyed the full co-operation of the Department. I hope the co-operation will continue in the future so that we can serve the public al large and contribute to the goal of community building. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.. MR. LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonesc);—Mr. Chairman. I joined the Council in November 1994. I had attended, up to March 1995, i.e. within a period of five months, approximately 40 meetings, large or small. Every opinion I heard in the meetings was given after detailed research and analysis and every view put forward for discussion was subject to serious deliberation. The Urban Services Department used to know well the way things were handled by the Council in the past hundred years or so. Preparation of papers and implementation of resolutions therefore were but easy jobs for them. When thorny issues cropped up, the Department and the Council would join hands in finding ways to resolve the problem, and few paid attention to the newsworthiness of them. But April 1995 brought with it a great impact on the Department. Faced with a fully elected Urban Council, the Department was at a loss and sometimes even wary of what it should do. It gets on one's nerves to see that departmental officers are always playing the role of 'Yu Lai-chun', the bullied, while the rudeness and unreasonable behaviour of 'Tam Lan-hing, the bully, is directly or indirectly the result of the Department's submissiveness. The redevelopment of the Hong Kong Stadium is the masterpiece of the Government and the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Initially, it was not intended to be handed over to the Urban Council, but eventually the Council succeeded in taking over the management. The pitch and noise problems came to light after the Page 312 of 485 Page 312 of 485

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

The Council is often criticized by the general public for failing in all these years to come up with a more essective way to deal with the problem of hawker control. The fact is, it is really difficult to handle unlicensed hawkers since the issue is mainly related to the economy of society. What's more, some investors have moved their plants to China in recent years, resulting in a loss of jobs for many workers in Hong Kong. Having to make a living, a large number of these unemployed have become itinerant hawkers, selling sundry goods or cooked food in various districts. Under these circumstances, neither the Council nor the Department can find a better way to deal with the hawker problem. As for the Itinerant Hawker Licence Deletion Policy to be implemented by this Council on April 1st this year, I believe that it will surely reduce the activities of licensed itinerant hawkers. But does it mean that illegal hawking will be put under control? This is a question that warrants our careful consideration. I hope that Members can put forward some constructive ideas when discussing the hawker issue in the future.

Lastly, I'd like to speak on the work of other Select Committees. In the past year, Members have offered a lot of constructive views on the various services provided by the Council and enjoyed the full co-operation of the Department. I hope the co-operation will continue in the future so that we can serve the public al large and contribute to the goal of community building.

Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion..

MR. LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonesc);—Mr. Chairman. I joined the Council in November 1994. I had attended, up to March 1995, i.e. within a period of five months, approximately 40 meetings, large or small. Every opinion I heard in the meetings was given after detailed research and analysis and every view put forward for discussion was subject to serious deliberation.

But April 1995 brought with it a great impact on the Department. Faced with a fully elected Urban Council, the Department was at a loss and sometimes even wary of what it should do. It gets on one's nerves to see that departmental officers are always playing the role of 'Yu Lai-chun', the bullied, while the rudeness and unreasonable behaviour of 'Tam Lan-hing, the bully, is directly or indirectly the result of the Department's submissiveness.

1995 — Page 312

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