Page 389 of 606
PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
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operators will be affected if the authority to hear appeals is handed over to the Government. Every person who has applied for a licence from Government departments should have experienced their bureaucratic ways. Their efficiency is low and has never been improved. Businessmen will not be affected because they can afford to employ lawyers. It is those who apply for hawker licences (for example, those who sell cooked rice and noodle to earn a living for their families and the elderly people who sell fruit on roadsides) that will encounter great difficulties because they cannot afford to employ lawyers. Mr. Chan Noi-yue will no longer be able to help them even if they request him to review their cases.
Regarding improvements to the licensing system, take liquor licensing for example, the Council has in recent years imposed restrictions on liquor selling and would impose additional licensing conditions when necessary. Besides, we may limit the number of hours in liquor selling in case of possible nuisance being caused to residential areas. The above policies have been developed through rational discussions in the public session in the light of the facts. Councillors have to be responsible to the community for what they say at all discussions, and the media also play a monitoring role at the meetings. However, upon dissolution of the Municipal Councils, there will no longer be any open debates and the wish of the officials will dictate policy development. As a responsible Councillor, I would like to point out that the Democratic party proposes the establishment of a single licensing authority with membership drawn from popularly elected councils to be responsible for the issue of all types of licences of the territory. This could avoid ridiculous measures such as involving the District Offices in the issue of certificate of compliance to clubs. If the Council was scrapped, there would be regression in the management of licensing matters. Actually, scrapping the Council would undermine the self-examination mechanism of the Government which has adopted a popular election system. The long-standing malpractice would not be reformed if bureaucracy was here to stay. Improvements in licensing matters and other areas like those we achieved between 1995 and 1999 would hardly be seen in the coming 5 years.
Now I would like to express my personal opinion. When I ran for the election of the Urban Council for the first time in 1995, my colleagues and I were prepared to be driven out of the Council in 1997. Now, a number of our colleagues in the Democratic Party have returned to the Legislative Council after forced expulsion, but unfortunately we have become the last Urban Councillors. I strongly believe that the well-being of the community was our primary concern when we began our political involvement in 1995 and to promote the democratic development of Hong Kong and China will always be our guiding principle. At the time we assumed our term of office, we did not worry about the threat of forced expulsion in 1997, and our stepping-down after another 2 years' stay would certainly cause no obstacle to attaining our
Page 389 of 606
Page 389 of 606
Page 389 of 606
PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
377
operators will be affected if the authority to hear appeals is handed over to the Government. Every person who has applied for a licence from Government departments should have experienced their bureaucratic ways. Their efficiency is low and has never been improved. Businessmen will not be affected because they can afford to employ lawyers. It is those who apply for hawker licences (for example, those who sell cooked rice and noodle to earn a living for their families and the elderly people who sell fruit on roadsides) that will encounter great difficulties because they cannot afford to employ lawyers. Mr. Chan Noi-yue will no longer be able to help them even if they request him to review their cases.
Regarding improvements to the licensing system, take liquor licensing for example, the Council has in recent years imposed restrictions on liquor selling and would impose additional licensing conditions when necessary. Besides, we may limit the number of hours in liquor selling in case of possible nuisance being caused to residential areas. The above policies have been developed through rational discussions in the public session in the light of the facts. Councillors have to be responsible to the community for what they say at all discussions, and the media also play a monitoring role at the meetings. However, upon dissolution of the Municipal Councils, there will no longer be any open debates and the wish of the officials will dictate policy development. As a responsible Councillor, I would like to point out that the Democratic party proposes the establishment of a single licensing authority with membership drawn from popularly elected councils to be responsible for the issue of all types of licences of the territory. This could avoid ridiculous measures such as involving the District Offices in the issue of certificate of compliance to clubs. If the Council was scrapped, there would be regression in the management of licensing matters. Actually, scrapping the Council would undermine the self-examination mechanism of the Government which has adopted a popular election system. The long-standing malpractice would not be reformed if bureaucracy was here to stay. Improvements in licensing matters and other areas like those we achieved between 1995 and 1999 would hardly be seen in the coming 5 years.
Now I would like to express my personal opinion. When I ran for the election of the Urban Council for the first time in 1995, my colleagues and 1 were prepared to be driven out of the Council in 1997. Now, a number of our colleagues in the Democratic Party have returned to the Legislative Council after forced expulsion, but unfortunately we have become the last Urban Councillors. I strongly believe that the well-being of the community was our primary concern when we began our political involvement in 1995 and to promote the democratic development of Hong Kong and China will always be our guiding principle. At the time we assumed our term of office, we did not worry about the threat of forced expulsion in 1997, and our stepping-down after another 2 years' stay would certainly cause no obstacle to attaining our
Page 389 of 606
Page 389 of 606
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