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# HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
although there is room for improvement in both councils, especially in the aspect of communication between them, careful consideration of the merits and demerits of the merger should be made before the long-standing system is changed. Alternatively, the two councils should be retained with a new communication mechanism. Nevertheless, as their functions are similar, it should be easier to arrive at a conclusion regarding the councils.
To sum up, Councillors who are members of the DAB consider that a review should be conducted and would be in the interests of the people of Hong Kong. We consider that the review should be conducted in the direction of facilitating communications between the councils and the public. Any large reduction in the number of members would weaken the channel for public communication and reflection of their views. We also consider that there are more disadvantages in merging the two tiers of the Municipal Councils and the District Boards than there are advantages and the proposal therefore warrants careful deliberation. In particular, for centrally oriented issues, division of management must not be introduced. We consider that the possibility of merging the two Municipal Councils could be examined, but we should put it on the back burner and implement it step by step. Our spirit has been to serve actively and all the Members too are very enterprising. Being true to this spirit, Mr. Chairman, I have made these remarks in support of the motion.
MR. TIM S. MANUEL CHAN (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I believe that if today's motion is carried, there will be more time for Members who are present to ponder over some specific recommendations. Accordingly, I wish to raise two points in full support of Mr. Joseph CHAN's motion. We must conduct a review of the Urban Council's functions candidly. We must also clearly assess the current situation in developing advantageous and constructive recommendations on district administration and the development of democracy. We need to stay alert and calm, or else our constitutional development would be like the general minor stock-holders who lose completely in the stock market amidst cries of 'reorganization of red chips', 'reorganization of state enterprises' and so on.
Why have I compared the forthcoming consultation on constitutional reforms to the stock market? This is because we have already detected that some officials and bureau secretaries of the central government are having secret plans of their own under the pretext of reorganization. By mocking himself as 'a commander without soldiers', he was trying to win over public support. The ultimate aim was to weaken the awareness of democracy. It was both implicitly and explicitly expressed that if reorganization was implemented, $1.4b worth of cultural resources would be transferred to the central government. If he really got what he wants, democratization of cultural policies would definitely be doomed.
It is generally known that the review of the 2-tier structure is called for because district administration has been in place for a long time.
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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
although there is room for improvement in both councils, especially in the aspect of communication between them, careful consideration of the merits and demerits of the merger should be made before the long-standing system is changed. Alternatively, the two councils should be retained with a new communication mechanism. Nevertheless, as their functions are similar, ir should be easier to arrive at a conclusion regarding the councils.
To sum up, Councillors who are members of the DAB consider that a review should be conducted and would be in the interests of the people of Hong Kong. We consider that the review should be conducted in the direction of facilitating communications between the councils and the public. Any large reduction in the number of members would weaken the channel for public communication and reflection of their views. We also consider that there are more disadvantages in merging the two tiers of the Municipal Councils and the District Boards than there are advantages and the proposal therefore warrants careful deliberation. In particular, for centrally oriented issues, division of management must not be introduced. We consider that the possibility of merging the two Municipal Councils could be examined, but we should put it on the back burner and implement it step by step. Our spirit has been to serve actively and all the Members too are very enterprising. Being true to this spirit. Mr. Chairman, I have made these remarks in support of the motion.
MR. TIM S. MANUEL CHAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I believe that i today's motion is carried, there will be more time for Members who are present to ponder over some specific recommendations. Accordingly, I wish to raise two points in full support of Mr. Joseph CHAN's motion. We must conduct a review of the Urban Council's functions candidly. We must also clearly assess the current situation in developing advantageous and constructive recommendations on district administration and the development of democracy. We need to stay alert and calm, or else our constitutional development would be like the general minor stock-holders who lose completely in the stock market amidst cries of 'reorganization of red chips'. 'reorganization of state enterprises' and so on.
Why have I compared the forthcoming consultation on constitutiona reforms to the stock market? This is because we have already detected that some officials and bureau secretaries of the central government are having secret plans of their own under the pretext of reorganization. By mocking himself as 'a commander without soldiers', he was trying to win over public support. The ultimate aim was to weaken the awareness of democracy. It was both implicitly and explicitly expressed that if reorganization was implemented, $1.4b worth of cultural resources would be transferred to the central government. If he really got what he wants, democratization of cultural policies would definitely be doomed.
It is generally known that the review of the 2-tier structure is called for because district administration has been in place for a long time. Some
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