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kind of advertisements, I would like to remind Members that there is an Equal Opportunities Commission in Hong Kong. We have no right to reject advertisements as long as they are not in breach of the law, because all the properties of the Council are owned by the public. As long as no law is broken, we have no right to select.
Against this background, Mr. Chairman, I object to both the original and amended motions. Thank you.
MS. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese): I support the original motion, which is to actively examine the possibility of allowing commercial organizations to place advertisements on the external and internal facades and other suitable locations of the Council's venues, as well as in the various publicity materials of the Council. Such an idea enables us to fully utilize our existing resources and increase our revenue through bringing into play our role on the existing basis. As Mr. CHIANG mentioned just now, we should start with increasing revenue and reducing expenditure and making full use of the existing resources. I consider this to be very appropriate.
There is of course one point we must take heed of and that is, there must be some conditions attached. The contents of the advertisements to be placed must be carefully regulated or the types of products advertised must be restricted, because the advertisements of some commodities or services might not be appropriate for the Council's venues. I therefore recommend that the types of advertisements be determined according to the classification of the venues. For example, it would be questionable to advertise a certain sport commodity in a games hall. In particular, we should consider whether it would be appropriate to advertise cultural commodities in a cultural venue, so as to avoid violating the Council's spirit and marring its image implicitly.
Locations for display are of course another consideration. I therefore recommend that we examine the scope and feasibility and if situation permits, try out the idea in a few venues before extending it to the rest and formulating the policy.
I therefore consider that it is superfluous for the amended motion to recommend the formulation of a policy. It seems that the amendment is made for the sake of amending the motion. We should examine before policy formulation and try out the idea before further examining implementation.
I am therefore in favour of the original motion. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the original motion.
MR. ERIC WONG CHUNG-KI (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, the Urban Council is a service provider, but regrettably, because of inadequate funding from the Central Government, we have to worry about the shortage of the resources required to maintain our services in the next few years. At the last monthly meeting, we also mentioned that we must make full use of our
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HONG KONG PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
589
kind of advertisements, I would like to remind Members that there is an Equal Opportunities Commission in Hong Kong. We have no right to reject advertisements as long as they are not in breach of the law, because all the properties of the Council are owned by the public. As long as no law is broken, we have no right to select.
Against this background. Mr. Chairman, I object to both the original and amended motions. Thank you.
MS. JENNIFER CHOW KIT-BING (in Cantonese):-I support the original motion, which is to actively examine the possibility of allowing commercial organizations to place advertisements on the external and internal facades and other suitable locations of the Council's venues, as well as in the various publicity materials of the Council. Such an idea enables us to fully utilize our existing resources and increase our revenue through bringing into play our role on the existing basis. As Mr. CHIANG mentioned just now, we should start with increasing revenue and reducing expenditure and making full use of the existing resources. I consider this to be very appropriate.
There is of course one point we must take heed of and that is, there must be some conditions attached. The contents of the advertisements to be placed must be carefully regulated or the types of products advertised must be restricted, because the advertisements of some commodities or services might not be appropriate for the Council's venues. I therefore recommend that the types of advertisements be determined according to the classification of the venues. For example, it would be questionable to advertise a certain sport commodity in a games hall. In particular, we should consider whether it would be appropriate to advertise cultural commodities in a cultural venue, so as to avoid violating the Council's spirit and marring its image implicitly.
Locations for display are of course another consideration. I therefore recommend that we examine the scope and feasibility and if situation permits, try out the idea in a few venues before extending it to the rest and formulating the policy.
I therefore consider that it is superfluous for the amended motion to recommend the formulation of a policy. It seems that the amendment is made for the sake of amending the motion. We should examine before policy formulation and try out the idea before further examining implementation.
I am therefore in favour of the original motion. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the original motion.
MR. ERIC WONG CHUNG-KI (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the Urban Council is a service provider, but regrettably, because of inadequate funding from the Central Government, we have to worry about the shortage of the resources required to maintain our services in the next few years. At the last monthly meeting, we also mentioned that we must make full use of our
Page 599 of 654
Page 599 of 654
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