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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, the Fringe Club and the Arts Festival mentioned just now fall into one of categories under the policy. The second category covers those cultural and performing groups which the Council hires to give performances, such as the Hong Kong Ballet. The third category covers co-sponsored performances. Actually we do have a clear and comprehensive subsidy policy and therefore the only valid point left in Ms. WONG's remark is the need to conduct a review. I am sure I will do something in this respect.
Regarding the new criteria adopted for applications for recurrent subsidy by the Arts Development Council after the recent reform, I have studied them briefly and obtained the views of some applicants, whose names I consider it desirable to withhold. In their opinion, the amount of time and information required in completing the application form for subsidy has made it impossible for some non-professional bodies to complete the form. The smaller the bodies the more difficult it is to complete the form. They invariably require each applicant to submit a proposal for future development so that based on the proposal, they can work out the expenditure and job requirements. Of course it is not up to us to judge whether this arrangement is good or bad. But since Ms. WONG mentioned the new policy of the Arts Development Council, I might as well give Members a brief report. Such a practice might not suit the needs of the wide variety of organizations under the Council. Nevertheless, I believe it will be an opportune time to conduct a comprehensive review of the Council's subsidy policy in this financial year, especially when we are not certain about the cultural role of the Council in the long term, including the period beyond 2000. Accordingly, I hope we will, during our tenure, try our best to do something if they are of help to all cultural efforts and conducive to the promotion of the cultural temperament of the public. This will be the future direction for our work.
MR. LAM MAN-FAI (in Cantonese):—I have two follow-up questions to put to the Chairman of the Select Committee. Firstly, since we are subsidizing the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society with an enormous sum of taxpayers' money, does the Society have any plans for the development of local music, such as training of musical talents and the future direction for the development of music? This is the first follow-up question.
The second follow-up question. Recently a senior government official commented that we had spent a huge amount of public money in subsidizing orchestras and performing arts groups. But according to past information and what Mr. POo said just now, the total expenditure for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Dance Company and the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre is more or less the same as that of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, In this connection, will we conduct a review to assess re-allocation of resources, and in view of the tighter overall budget of the Council, consider seriously the
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Page 321 of 606
Page 320 of 606
ZU UI 606
312
PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, the Fringe Club and the Arts Festival mentioned just now fall into one of categories under the policy. The second category covers those cultural and performing groups which the Council hires to give performances, such as the Hong Kong Ballet. The third category covers co-sponsored performances. Actually we do have a clear and comprehensive subsidy policy and therefore the only valid point left in Ms. WONG's remark is the need to conduct a review. I am sure I will do something in this respect.
Regarding the new criteria adopted for applications for recurrent subsidy by the Arts Development Council after the recent reform, I have studied them briefly and obtained the views of some applicants, whose names I consider it desirable to withhold. In their opinion, the amount of time and information required in completing the application form for subsidy has made it impossible for some non-professional bodies to complete the form. The smaller the bodies the more difficult it is to complete the form. They invariably require each applicant to submit a proposal for future development so that based on the proposal, they can work out the expenditure and job requirements. Of course it is not up to us to judge whether this arrangement is good or bad. But since Ms. WONG mentioned the new policy of the Arts Development Council, I might as well give Members a brief report. Such a practice might not suit the needs of the wide variety of organizations under the Council. Nevertheless, I believe it will be an opportune time to conduct a comprehensive review of the Council's subsidy policy in this financial year, especially when we are not certain about the cultural role of the Council in the long term, including the period beyond 2000. Accordingly, I hope we will, during our tenure, try our best to do something if they are of help to all cultural efforts and conducive to the promotion of the cultural temperament of the public. This will be the future direction for our work.
MR. LAM MAN-FAI (in Cantonese):—I have two follow-up questions to pul to the Chairman of the Select Committee. Firstly, since we are subsidizing the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society with an enormous sum of taxpayers' money, does the Society have any plans for the development of local music, such as training of musical talents and the future direction for the development of music? This is the first follow-up question.
The second follow-up question. Recently a senior government official commented that we had spent a huge amount of public money in subsidizing orchestras and performing arts groups. But according to past information and what Mr. PɅo said just now, the total expenditure for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Dance Company and the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre is more or less the same as that of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, In this connection, will we conduct a review to assess re-allocation of resources, and in view of the tighter overall budget of the Council, consider seriously the
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