1997 — Page 487

Urban Council Proceedings 市政局議事錄 All AI Reviewed

HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL

seats, save some indirectly elected seats through District Boards, were directly elected. Since all seats in the District Boards came from a ‘single-seat, single-vote' voting system, indirect elections in the District Boards were somehow conducted on the basis of public opinion and in line with democratic principles. What about the election next year? If there are still appointed seats in District Boards, democracy in indirect elections will surely be adversely affected. If there are still appointed seats in Urban Council, the result of the Council's indirect election for seats in the Legislative Council will also be adversely affected. The Democratic party opposes any appointment system. Will there be any change to the original 'single-seat, single-vote' voting system? We will wait and see. I anticipate that proportional representation will not be adopted because such a system is not tailor-made for the Democratic party in the Urban Council. We will maintain sharp vigilance on a 'multi-seat, single-vote' voting system, and to see if there will be a further regression in democratic government.

Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.

MR. LAI HOK-LIM (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, in the historical development of China, whenever there was a change of dynasty, the rulers always attached great importance to the compilation of the history of the previous dynasty. In the extreme case of the Qing Dynasty, the compilation of the history of Ming Dynasty had led to a number of literary convictions and thousands of people were executed as a result.

During the period preceding and following the reunification, the people of Hong Kong began to resume their keen interest in the history of the territory, trying to review the past and look forward to the future. Right at this moment, the Council shows its courage in making a bold move to construct the Hong Kong Museum of History, which naturally draws the attention of the public. One thing special is that after the reunification, there is an opinion in the society that we should give up the old way of looking at the history of Hong Kong from Westerners' viewpoint and replace it by the Chinese viewpoint so as to re-valuate the history of Hong Kong. Simply from the academic point of view, history is an ever-changing subject that allows free discussion and interpretation. The academic platform can accommodate all kinds of discussion involving different conceptions whether it is the materialistic conception of history or the historical Darwinism. However, when the Council is confronted with these views, especially the one on the re-valuation of the history of the past colonial era, the question of what viewpoint and policy should be applied to the issue becomes very important.

At the meeting of the Museums Select Committee held this morning, a Member mentioned that the viewpoints used to evaluate the Opium War can be classified into that of the foreigners, the Chinese and the Kuomintang of Taiwan. This makes us wonder why is it that the Kuomintang of Taiwan is not classified as Chinese. That Member also suggested that in the future Hong

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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL seats, save some indirectly elected seats through District Boards, were directly elected. Since all seats in the District Boards came from a ‘single-seat, single-vote' voting system, indirect elections in the District Boards were somehow conducted on the basis of public opinion and in line with democratic principles. What about the election next year? If there are still appointed seats in District Boards, democracy in indirect elections will surely be adversely affected. If there are still appointed seats in Urban Council, the result of the Council's indirect election for seats in the Legislative Council will also be adversely affected. The Democratic party opposes any appointment system. Will there be any change to the original 'single-seat, single-vote' voting system? We will wait and see. I anticipate that proportional representation will not be adopted because such a system is not tailor-made for the Democratic party in the Urban Council. We will maintain sharp vigilance on a 'multi-seat, single-vote' voting system, and to see if there will be a further regression in democratic government. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion. MR. LAI HOK-LIM (in Cantonese):- Mr. Chairman, in the historical development of China, whenever there was a change of dynasty, the rulers always attached great importance to the compilation of the history of the previous dynasty. In the extreme case of the Qing Dynasty, the compilation of the history of Ming Dynasty had led to a number of literary convictions and thousands of people were executed as a result. During the period preceding and following the reunification, the people of Hong Kong began to resume their keen interest in the history of the territory, trying to review the past and look forward to the future. Right at this moment, the Council shows its courage in making a bold move to construct the Hong Kong Museum of History, which naturally draws the attention of the public. One thing special is that after the reunification, there is an opinion in the society that we should give up the old way of looking at the history of Hong Kong from Westerners' viewpoint and replace it by the Chinese viewpoint so as to re-valuate the history of Hong Kong. Simply from the academic point of view, history is an ever-changing subject that allows free discussion and interpretation. The academic platform can accommodate all kinds of discussion involving different conceptions whether it is the materialistic conception of history or the historical Darwinism. However, when the Council is confronted with these views, especially the one on the re-valuation of the history of the past colonial era, the question of what viewpoint and policy should be applied to the issue becomes very important. At the meeting of the Museums Select Committee held this morning, a Member mentioned that the viewpoints used to evaluate the Opium War can be classified into that of the foreigners, the Chinese and the Kuomintang of Taiwan. This makes us wonder why is it that the Kuomintang of Taiwan is not classified as Chinese. That Member also suggested that in the future Hong Page 487 of 654

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Tage 4 487 of 654 482 HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL seats, save some indirectly elected seats through District Boards, were directly elected. Since all seats in the District Boards came from a ‘single-seat, single- vote' voting system, indirect elections in the District Boards were somehow conducted on the basis of public opinion and in line with democratic principles. What about the election next year? If there are still appointed seats in District Boards, democracy in indirect elections will surely be adversely affected. If there are still appointed seats in Urban Council, the result of the Council's indirect election for seats in the Legislative Council will also be adversely affected. The Democratic party opposes any appointment system. Will there be any change to the original 'single-seat, single-vote' voting system? We will wait and see. I anticipate that proportional representation will not be adopted because such a system is not tailor-made for the Democratic party in the Urban Council. We will maintain sharp vigilance on a 'multi-seat, single- vole' voting system, and to see if there will be a further regression in democratic government. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion. MR. LAI HOK-LIM (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, in the historical development of China, whenever there was a change of dynasty, the rulers always attached great importance to the compilation of the history of the previous dynasty. In the extreme case of the Qing Dynasty, the compilation of the history of Ming Dynasty had led to a number of literary convictions and thousands of people were executed as a result. During the period preceding and following the reunification, the people of Hong Kong began to resume their keen interest in the history of the territory. trying to review the past and look forward to the future. Right at this moment. the Council shows its courage in making a bold move to construct the Hong Kong Museum of History, which naturally draws the attention of the public. One thing special is that after the reunification, there is an opinion in the society that we should give up the old way of looking at the history of Hong Kong from Westerners' viewpoint and replace it by the Chinese viewpoint so as to re-valuate the history of Hong Kong. Simply from the academic point of view, history is an ever-changing subject that allows free discussion and interpretation. The academic platform can accommodate all kinds of discussion involving different conceptions whether it is the materialistic conception of history or the historical Darwinism. However, when the Council is confronted with these views, especially the one on the re-valuation of the history of the past colonial era, the question of what viewpoint and policy should be applied to the issue becomes very important. At the meeting of the Museums Select Committee held this morning, a Member mentioned that the viewpoints used to evaluate the Opium War can be classified into that of the foreigners, the Chinese and the Kuomintang of Taiwan. This makes us wonder why is it that the Kuomintang of Taiwan is not classified as Chinese. That Member also suggested that in the future Hong Page 487 of 654

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482

HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL

seats, save some indirectly elected seats through District Boards, were directly elected. Since all seats in the District Boards came from a ‘single-seat, single- vote' voting system, indirect elections in the District Boards were somehow conducted on the basis of public opinion and in line with democratic principles. What about the election next year? If there are still appointed seats in District Boards, democracy in indirect elections will surely be adversely affected. If there are still appointed seats in Urban Council, the result of the Council's indirect election for seats in the Legislative Council will also be adversely affected. The Democratic party opposes any appointment system. Will there be any change to the original 'single-seat, single-vote' voting system? We will wait and see. I anticipate that proportional representation will not be adopted because such a system is not tailor-made for the Democratic party in the Urban Council. We will maintain sharp vigilance on a 'multi-seat, single- vole' voting system, and to see if there will be a further regression in democratic government.

Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.

MR. LAI HOK-LIM (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, in the historical development of China, whenever there was a change of dynasty, the rulers always attached great importance to the compilation of the history of the previous dynasty. In the extreme case of the Qing Dynasty, the compilation of the history of Ming Dynasty had led to a number of literary convictions and thousands of people were executed as a result.

During the period preceding and following the reunification, the people of Hong Kong began to resume their keen interest in the history of the territory. trying to review the past and look forward to the future. Right at this moment. the Council shows its courage in making a bold move to construct the Hong Kong Museum of History, which naturally draws the attention of the public. One thing special is that after the reunification, there is an opinion in the society that we should give up the old way of looking at the history of Hong Kong from Westerners' viewpoint and replace it by the Chinese viewpoint so as to re-valuate the history of Hong Kong. Simply from the academic point of view, history is an ever-changing subject that allows free discussion and interpretation. The academic platform can accommodate all kinds of discussion involving different conceptions whether it is the materialistic conception of history or the historical Darwinism. However, when the Council is confronted with these views, especially the one on the re-valuation of the history of the past colonial era, the question of what viewpoint and policy should be applied to the issue becomes very important.

1997 — Page 487

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