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continued existence of the Council. However, for overall benefit, I must consider to leave my own vested interest aside. We are now approaching the 21st century. As a modern city, Hong Kong has the environment of an international city. In the past decade or more, we saw advancement such as the operation of district boards and enhanced education standards. The general public has been able to monitor the work of the government at the district level and through participation in various fields, the public has become partners to the government. The Urban Council has its distinctive historical background. We may say that it has succeeded in some ways but also made mistakes in other ways. For the future development of modernisation, I personally do not think there is an absolute need for the Council to exist.
I have read today's original motion and its amendment. In both, there is the wording "Government exploits this as a pretext for dissolving the two Municipal Councils and taking back powers The Council express deep regret......" Personally, I do not agree to the statement. For sure, the problem with the avian flu incident lies in inappropriate handling by officials and there is much left to be desired. On the problem of financial crisis, government officials might have been at a loss to handle crisis management. I think people are very demanding on government officials of the SAR government. After Hong Kong's return to China, we have to be captain of our ship for 50 years. Under the "one country, two systems" mechanism, we have to ask ourselves how we can stand up and contribute. It should not be like some people pointed out for us to sit together and hope to get by safely. That should not be the attitude to adopt. At the same time, I hope members of the civil service can adopt a pragmatic attitude in serving the community. Today, I oppose the original and amendment motions in my personal capacity.
MR. JOSEPH Lai Chi-keong (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I read lately in the newspaper that the consultation document on the review of district organisations would not be up to standard or reach the pass mark if it were a PHD thesis submitted to a university professor. I read that report from a newspaper. In other words, it is a laughing stock for a bureau secretary to come up with such a consultation document. Academically speaking, it is a mix-up of different concepts and many scholars have pointed out its errors. We read from the consultation document about administrative division of work and administrative coordination leading to increased efficiency and enhanced quality of service. That is practical work and the responsibility of administrative officials. On the proposed dissolution of an elected council, everything is based on an instruction of a Chief Executive elected by a committee with 400 members. Dissolution of the Urban Council elected by more than 100,000 people upon one instruction from one man is nonsense in the eyes of overseas countries. For the head of the administration to dissolve an elected council is somewhat tantamount to the president of an overseas country dissolving its senate. How will the principle of independent administrative, legislative and judicial powers apply here? It seems to us that
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continued existence of the Council. However, for overall benefit, I must consider to leave my own vested interest aside. We are now approaching the 21st century. As a modern city, Hong Kong has the environment of an international city. In the past decade or more, we saw advancement such as the operation of district boards and enhanced education standards. The general public has been able to monitor the work of the government at the district level and through participation in various fields, the public has become partners to the government. The Urban Council has its distinctive historical background. We may say that it has succeeded in some ways but also made mistakes in other ways. For the future development of modernisation, I personally do not think there is an absolute need for the Council to exist.
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I have read today's original motion and its amendment. In both, there is the wording Government exploits this as a pretext for dissolving the two Municipal Councils and taking back powers The Council express deep regret...... Personally, I do not agree to the statement. For sure, the problem with the avian flu incident lies in inappropriate handling by officials and there is much left to be desired. On the problem of financial crisis, government officials might have been at a loss to handle crisis management. I think people are very demanding on government officials of the SAR government. After Hong Kong's return to China, we have to be captain of our ship for 50 years. Under the one country two systems mechanism, we have to ask ourselves how we can stand up and contribute. It should not be like some people pointed out for us to sit together and hope to get by safely. That should not be the attitude to adopt. At the same time, I hope members of the civil service can adopt a pragmatic attitude in serving the community. Today, I oppose the original and amendment motions in my personal capacity.
MR. JOSEPH Lai Chi-keong (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I read lately in the newspaper that the consultation document on the review of district organisations would not be up to standard or reach the pass mark if it were a PHD thesis submitted to a university professor. I read that report from a newspaper. In other words, it is a laughing stock for a bureau secretary to come up with such a consultation document. Academically speaking, it is a mix-up of different concepts and many scholars have pointed out its errors. We read from the consultation document about administrative division of work and administrative coordination leading to increased efficiency and enhanced quality of service. That is practical work and the responsibility of administrative officials. On the proposed dissolution of an elected council, everything is based on an instruction of a Chief Executive elected by a committee with 400 members. Dissolution of the Urban Council elected by more than 100 000 people upon one instruction from one man is nonsense in the eyes of overseas countries. For the head of the administration to dissolve an elected council is somewhat tantamount to the president of an overseas country dissolving its senate. How will the principle of independent administrative, legislative and judicial powers apply here? It seems to us that
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