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formulated a series of measures accordingly. Staff from the Department were sent to conduct five freezing surveys in the area. In line with the Council's policy, surveyed hawkers with their presence recorded four times or more were issued licences, so that they could continue with their hawking business for a living. This Select Committee has been functioning well in reviewing cases of this category. Regarding the aforesaid one or two appeal cases submitted to the Appeal Board, it is probably because the stall owners were only registered on the spot three times out of the five freezing surveys, and thus they could not meet the Council's criteria for the issuance of hawker licences. As a result, they appealed to the Appeal Board. Although their appeals were successful, I am of the view that the Committee should stick to the established mechanism when it considers whether a licence should be issued. Our modus operandi, which is fair and just, should not be influenced by other factors.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. ALBERT LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, according to a newspaper report, the leading figure of a political party, looking 100% Chinese in both appearance and complexion, once attended a press conference held in Hong Kong. As the reporters there thought that he was Chinese, they asked him questions in Chinese. To their great surprise, the imitation foreigner who had a Chinese countenance stopped them in English and forbade them to raise questions in Chinese. A Chinese disallowed the other Chinese to speak to him in the Chinese language! Mr. Chairman, I thought that time has flown backwards and Hong Kong has returned to a century ago, when a Chinese comprador who could utter a few English sentences bullied his compatriots on the strength of his English-speaking ability. 'No Chinese and dogs are allowed to raise questions.' I wonder whether the reporters, being insulted, had expressed their dissatisfaction on the spot. I suppose this political figure had some peculiar luck, as almost no newspaper dared to report this disgraceful incident the following day. Why was it so? Maybe it had something to do with the freedom of press. But would the following reasons be attributable? The reporters might consider that what the imitation foreigner did was absolutely right and that this incident was not a newsbreak. Another possibility was that the reporters who were there to cover the news item were followers of the imitation foreigner. Who dared to act against the will of the leader? One more possibility was that the reporters were reluctant to irritate the political party which the imitation foreigner represented, fearing that it would affect their chance of obtaining firsthand information on trouble-making in future.
Mr. Chairman, I am very glad that, under your leadership, we can speak freely in Chinese. However, although it has become an established policy of the Urban Services Department to use Chinese in external communication, still all the Council and Departmental papers are not drafted in Chinese. All these papers are drafted in English and then translated into Chinese instead. It is indeed deplorable that we, as Chinese, put our own language in a secondary
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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
formulated a series of measures accordingly. Staff from the Department were sent to conduct five freezing surveys in the area. In line with the Council's policy, surveyed hawkers with their presence recorded four times or more were issued licences, so that they could continue with their hawking business for a living. This Select Committee has been functioning well in reviewing cases of this category. Regarding the aforesaid one or two appeal cases submitted to the Appeal Board, it is probably because the stall owners were only registered on the spot three times out of the five freezing surveys, and thus they could not meet the Council's criteria for the issuance of hawker licences. As a result, they appealed to the Appeal Board. Although their appeals were successful, I am of the view that the Committee should stick to the established mechanism when it considers whether a licence should be issued. Our modus operandi, which is fair and just, should not be influenced by other factors.
Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR. ALBERT LAI WING-LIN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, according to a newspaper report, the leading figure of a political party, looking 100% Chinese in both appearance and complexion, once attended a press conference held in Hong Kong. As the reporters there thought that he was Chinese, they asked him questions in Chinese. To their great surprise, the imitation foreigner who had a Chinese counterance stopped them in English and forbade them to raise questions in Chinese. A Chinese disallowed the other Chinese to speak to him in the Chinese language! Mr. Chairman, I thought that time has flown backwards and Hong Kong has returned to a century ago, when a Chinese comprador who could utter a few English sentences bullied his compatriots on the strength of his English-speaking ability. 'No Chinese and dogs are allowed to raise questions.' I wonder whether the reporters, being insulted, had expressed their dissatisfaction on the spot. I suppose this political figure had some peculiar luck, as almost no newspaper dared to report this disgraceful incident the following day. Why was it so? Maybe it had something to do with the freedom of press. But would the following reasons be attributable? The reporters might consider that what the imitation foreigner did was absolutely right and that this incident was not a newsbreak. Another possibility was that the reporters who were there to cover the news item were followers of the imitation foreigner. Who dared to act against the will of the leader? One more possibility was that the reporters were reluctant to irritate the political party which the imitation foreigner represented, fearing that it would affect their chance of obtaining firsthand information on trouble-making in future.
Mr. Chairman, I am very glad that, under your leadership, we can speak freely in Chinese. However, although it has become an established policy of the Urban Services Department to use Chinese in external communication, still all the Council and Departmental papers are not drafted in Chinese. All these papers are drafted in English and then translated into Chinese instead. It is indeed deplorable that we, as Chinese, put our own language in a secondary
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