HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
347
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion moved by Mr. WONG Chung-ki today.
MR. Kwok Bit-chun (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, about Mr. Wong's motion that if the Council runs into financial deficit, it should ask the Government to make up for the insufficient allocation of funds, Councillors who are members of the DAB wish to give their support. The motion is so worded that it is difficult for us not to support it, because if the Urban Council is short of funds, the only solution is to seek supplementary provision from the Government. We can't expect Members to chip in or expect the Urban Council to borrow money from finance companies, can we?
As to the need to ensure that the quality of municipal services will not be affected in times of financial difficulties, not only a consensus has been reached among Members, but a study on how this should be handled was already initiated by the various select committees and the Department some months ago.
Mr. Chairman, it should be pointed out that the motion only mentions the need to ensure that the quality of services will not be affected, but it does not mention 'quantity'. Mr. Chairman, I hope the mover would not misunderstand us for having a play on words. The fact is rather simple. For instance, we would not lower the standard of the musical dramas presented by the Urban Council because of the cut on budget. The quality of the production, props, costumes etc would be maintained. The only difference is that the number of productions per year would no longer exceed 50. If this happened, it would be disastrous, because the impact on the community would be very great. Another example is the Music Office. It would not lower the quality of its services. It would only reduce the number of students from several thousands to several hundreds. And so on.
Mr. Chairman, I would not waste anymore time by quoting more examples. Neither do I intend to amend the motion because there really isn't much point for the motion to exist. Mr. Chairman, what I mean is that now that various select committees have already done a lot, to move such a motion at this point in time is really quite meaningless.
If one is to use this opportunity to denounce the Government for the insufficient allocation of funds, isn't it a bit late? Nevertheless, on the face of the wordings of the motion, Councillors who are members of the DAB absolutely have no repulsion for it.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-As the spokesman on the motion, would Mr. WONG Chung-ki exercise his right of reply?
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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
347
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion moved by Mr. 'WONG Chung-ki today.
MR. Kwok Bit-chun (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, about Mr. Wong's motion that if the Council runs into financial deficit, it should ask the Government to make up for the insufficient allocation of funds, Councillors who are members of the DAB wish to give their support. The motion is so worded that it is difficult for us not to support it, because if the Urban Council is short of funds, the only solution is to seek supplementary provision from the Government. We can't expect Members to chip in or expect the Urban Council to borrow money from finance companies, can we?
As to the need to ensure that the quality of municipal services will not be affected in times of financial difficulties, not only a consensus has been reached among Members, but a study on how this should be handled was already initiated by the various select committees and the Department some months ago.
Mr. Chairman, it should be pointed out that the motion only mentions the need to ensure that the quality of services will not be affected, but it does not mention 'quantity'. Mr. Chairman, I hope the mover would not misunderstand us for having a play on words. The fact is rather simple. For instance, we would not lower the standard of the musical dramas presented by the Urban Council because of the cut on budget. The quality of the production, props, costumes etc would be maintained. The only difference is that the number of productions per year would no longer exceed 50. If this happened, it would be disastrous, because the impact on the community would be very great. Another example is the Music Office. It would not lower the quality of its services. It would only reduce the number of students from several thousands to several hundreds. And so on.
Mr. Chairman, I would not waste anymore time by quoting more examples. Neither do I intend to amend the motion because there really isn't much point for the motion to exist. Mr. Chairman, what I mean is that now that various select committees have already done a lot, to move such a motion at this point in time is really quite meaningless.
If one is to use this opportunity to denounce the Government for the insufficient allocation of funds, isn't it a bit late? Nevertheless, on the face of the wordings of the motion, Councillors who are members of the DAB absolutely have no repulsion for it.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-As the spokesman on the motion, would Mr. WONG Chung-ki exercise his right of reply?
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