Page 432 of 654
or 654
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428
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
on political interests, the attitudes of political parties, or the image of a political personality, but on public interest, the effectiveness of the policies, and the action that the Urban Council should take as a council of urban services. This is my stand on the Urban Council being not politically oriented. We are not, as certain people misconstrue, in complete lack of political standpoint.
There is another issue I would like to remark on. The 9 newly-appointed Councillors have not heard the following views of mine, and what I am about to say is a reiteration of what I said when the Council increased the number of elected seats. I feel that this is a suitable opportunity to reintroduce the subject. In the Urban Council, there are many areas of division of labour and different ad hoc committees, and various mechanisms, channels, ways, and practices have been instituted for each Councillor to follow. We have a way, a set of procedures, and a book of regulations by which to voice our dissatisfaction or put forth suggestions about urban services. It is a great pity, therefore, that more and more of our colleagues do not choose to furnish opinions in the Council, no matter such suggestions are critical or positive. Instead, they opt for other channels. While those channels may turn them into stars in the eyes of the mass media and may exalt their images, they should not forget that this precisely harms the Urban Council's overall image. When the Urban Council is at fault, we can certainly criticise it, but we should do so in a manner stipulated by the Urban Council. Why have we not done this? Why have we not put forward suggestions in the Council and have chosen to offer criticisms and suggestions in ways that can highlight personal images? You are certainly free to choose to do so, but I would like to urge you, my colleagues, to ponder the following questions: if the citizens think negatively of the entire Urban Council and only think positively of you, would you be considered a good councillor and the Urban Council a worthy council? Would this Council be able to achieve its tasks properly? That would be utterly impossible. We, as councillors, are hence obliged to have a sense of belonging towards the Urban Council. Our sense of belonging does not lie in condoning the Council's negative acts but in changing it. It is very important that we should change it in compliance with a set of measures on which we have reached agreement.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the relationship between the Urban Services Department and the Urban Council. I believe you have already formed an opinion on who was right and who was wrong in the past incidents. and I will not bring them up again. Dismayingly, those incidents have given the public the impression that the Urban Council is in serious chaos, that the Councillors are ineffectual and our leadership is one that does not know what it is doing. Such misunderstandings are entirely due to various bygone incidents. Dear colleagues, we have the responsibility to rectify those misunderstandings and bring about coordination in the work of the Urban Services Department and the Urban Council. If we shun responsibility and blame one another, I infallibly believe that even without the Central Government's reforms in political system, the public would still cast the Urban
£654
Page 432 of 654
or 654
Page 432 of 654
428
HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
on political interests, the attitudes of political parties, or the image of a political personality, but on public interest, the effectiveness of the policies, and the action that the Urban Council should take as a council of urban services. This is my stand on the Urban Council being not politically oriented. We are not, as certain people misconstrue, in complete lack of political standpoint.
There is another issue I would like to remark on. The 9 newly-appointed Councillors have not heard the following views of mine, and what I am about to say is a reiteration of what I said when the Council increased the number of elected seats. I feel that this is a suitable opportunity to reintroduce the subject. In the Urban Council, there are many areas of division of labour and different ad hoc committees, and various mechanisms, channels, ways, and practices have been instituted for each Councillor to follow. We have a way, a set of procedures, and a book of regulations by which to voice our dissatisfaction or put forth suggestions about urban services. It is a great pity, therefore, that more and more of our colleagues do not choose to furnish opinions in the Council, no matter such suggestions are critical or positive. Instead, they opt for other channels. While those channels may turn them into stars in the eyes of the mass media and may exalt their images, they should not forget that this precisely harms the Urban Council's overall image. When the Urban Council is at fault, we can certainly criticise it, but we should do so in a manner stipulated by the Urban Council. Why have we not done this? Why have we not put forward suggestions in the Council and have chosen to offer criticisms and suggestions in ways that can highlight personal images? You are certainly free to choose to do so, but I would like to urge you, my colleagues, to ponder the following questions: if the citizens think negatively of the entire Urban Council and only think positively of you, would you be considered a good councillor and the Urban Council a worthy council? Would this Council be able to achieve its tasks properly? That would be utterly impossible. We, as councillors, are hence obliged to have a sense of belonging towards the Urban Council. Our sense of belonging does not lie in condoning the Council's negative acts but in changing it. It is very important that we should change it in compliance with a set of measures on which we have reached agreement.
Lastly, I would like to talk about the relationship between the Urban Services Department and the Urban Council. I believe you have already formed an opinion on who was right and who was wrong in the past incidents. and I will not bring them up again. Dismayingly, those incidents have given the public the impression that the Urban Council is in serious chaos, that the Councillors are ineffectual and our leadership is one that does not know what it is doing. Such misunderstandings are entirely due to various bygone incidents. Dear colleagues, we have the responsibility to rectify those misunderstandings and bring about coordination in the work of the Urban Services Department and the Urban Council. If we shun responsibility and blame one another, I infallibly believe that even without the Central Government's reforms in political system, the public would still cast the Urban
£654
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