HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
357
Members consider that the District Boards are but ‘a forum for shooting the breeze' while others consider that the two Municipal Councils, with huge social resources to their name and being over-powered, are too cumbersome to be effective. Nevertheless, it is certainly not because of the misconception that a certain bureau secretary keeps repeating, which has misled the public into thinking that the review and reorganization of district bodies are called for because the Urban Council has committed serious mistakes in its cultural policies. I therefore beseech members of the public, including Members who are present, to remain sensible. The review or reorganization of district bodies should be supported but any recommendations on ‘a big step backward for democracy' in the forms of 'cutting back on powers' and 'cutting back on resources' should be strongly objected to.
Mr. Chairman, the second point that I hope you would reflect to the Chief Executive is the mentality of these officials and bureau secretaries in handling political reforms of such significance. Civil servants, public officers and elected politicians must put up with reproof. Only those who regard themselves 'officials' would go into a tantrum like a spoiled son of a rich man does. I recall that in the 80's, Mrs. Margaret THATCHER was seen being scolded by an old lady in a British TV news report because of the battle on Falkland Islands. And then, as everyone knows, in the 90's 'Fat Pang' came to Hong Kong and in a Question Time for the policy address, he was yelled at by a lady, who demanded that her question be answered first. And then a couple of weeks ago, we saw from the television that JIANG Zemin, the President of our country, had to put on a smile in front of demonstrators or human-right supporters who were shouting and abusing. What stirs me is that in addition to turning the Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) into a rubber stamp, the executive-led approach adopted by Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the general director, has done harm before doing any good. The high-ranking officials of our government have developed the habit of grading others as second or third rate, even to the point of criticizing some councillors as being of a low standard and others, of a high standard. In so doing, they have completely lost the humbleness, sincerity and composure that a civil servant should have. If no improvement was made, the central government would eventually make mistakes. I completed this speech of mine only two days ago and today, the financial crisis has already set in and there are runs on banks. I consider that we can to a certain extent attribute this to our officials who are too arrogant and self-centred.
In fact, reorganization of district bodies involves very complicated vested interests and also touches on the development of democracy, which is a major question of the right and the wrong. I earnestly beseech the Chief Executive and the officials concerned to be sincere in conducting the consultation on constitutional reforms, to humbly accept advice and criticisms, to be picked on or even to be scolded. The intelligence of the public is by no means below standard. After all the views are screened, the good ones will remain and a
Page 361 of 654
Page 361 of 654
Page 361 of 654
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
357
Members consider that the District Boards are but ‘a forum for shooting the breeze' while others consider that the two Municipal Councils, with huge social resources to their name and being over-powered, are too cumbersome to be effective. Nevertheless, it is certainly not because of the misconception that a certain bureau secretary keeps repeating, which has misled the public into thinking that the review and reorganization of district bodies are called for because the Urban Council has committed serious mistakes in its cultural policies. I therefore beseech members of the public, including Members who are present, to remain sensible. The review or reorganization of district bodies should be supported but any recommendations on ‘a big step backward for democracy' in the forms of 'cutting back on powers' and 'cutting back on resources' should be strongly objected to.
Mr. Chairman, the second point that I hope you would reflect to the Chief Executive is the mentality of these officials and bureau secretaries in handling political reforms of such significance. Civil servants, public officers and elected politicians must put up with reproof. Only those who regard themselves 'officials' would go into a tantrum like a spoiled son of a rich man does. I recall that in the 80's, Mrs. Margaret THATCHER was seen being scolded by an old lady in a British TV news report because of the battle on Falkland Islands. And then, as everyone knows, in the 90's 'Fat Pang' came to Hong Kong and in a Question Time for the policy address, he was yelled at by a lady, who demanded that her question be answered first. And then a couple of weeks ago, we saw from the television that JIANG Zemin, the President of our country, had to put on a smile in front of demonstrators or human-right supporters who were shouting and abusing. What stirs me is that in addition to turning the Provisional Legislative Council (PLC) into a rubber stamp, the executive-led approach adopted by Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the general director, has done harm before doing any good. The high-ranking officials of our government have developed the habit of grading others as second or third rate, even to the point of criticizing some councillors as being of a low standard and others, of a high standard. In so doing, they have completely lost the humbleness, sincerity and composure that a civil servant should have. If no improvement was made, the central government would eventually make mistakes. I completed this speech of mine only two days ago and today, the financial crisis has already set in and there are runs on banks. I consider that we can to a certain extent attribute this to our officials who are too arrogant and self-centred.
In fact, reorganization of district bodies involves very complicated vested interests and also touches on the development of democracy, which is a major question of the right and the wrong. I earnestly beseech the Chief Executive and the officials concerned to be sincere in conducting the consultation on constitutional reforms, to humbly accept advice and criticisms, to be picked on or even to be scolded. The intelligence of the public is by no means below standard. After all the views are screened, the good ones will remain and a
Page 361 of 654
Page 361 of 654
Page 361 of 654
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