1 July 1992 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
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1 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -- 1 July 1992 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -- 1 July 1992 1 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Wednesday, 1 July 1992 The Council met at half past Two o'clock PRESENT HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR (PRESIDENT) LORD WILSON OF TILLYORN, G.C.M.G. THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE JOHN JOSEPH SWAINE, C.B.E., Q.C., J.P. THE CHIEF SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE SIR DAVID ROBERT FORD, K.B.E., L.V.O., J.P. THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE NATHANIEL WILLIAM HAMISH MACLEOD, C.B.E., J.P. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE HONOURABLE JEREMY FELL MATHEWS, C.M.G., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALLEN LEE PENG-FEI, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STEPHEN CHEONG KAM-CHUEN, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS SELINA CHOW LIANG SHUK-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS RITA FAN HSU LAI-TAI, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE HUI YIN-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LEE CHU-MING, Q.C., J.P. THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE NGAI SHIU-KIT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE PANG CHUN-HOI, M.B.E. THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAH THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WONG WANG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HO SING-TIN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE RONALD JOSEPH ARCULLI, J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN GILBERT BARROW, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS PEGGY LAM, M.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WAH-SUM, O.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LEONG CHE-HUNG, O.B.E. THE HONOURABLE JAMES DAVID McGREGOR, O.B.E., I.S.O., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS ELSIE TU, C.B.E. THE HONOURABLE PETER WONG HONG-YUEN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALBERT CHAN WAI-YIP PROF THE HONOURABLE EDWARD CHEN KWAN-YIU THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG HOI-CHUEN THE HONOURABLE MOSES CHENG MO-CHI THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG THE HONOURABLE CHIM PUI-CHUNG REV THE HONOURABLE FUNG CHI-WOOD THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY HA WING-HO, M.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL HO MUN-KA DR THE HONOURABLE HUANG CHEN-YA THE HONOURABLE SIMON IP SIK-ON, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LAM KUI-CHUN DR THE HONOURABLE CONRAD LAM KUI-SHING THE HONOURABLE LAU CHIN-SHEK THE HONOURABLE MISS EMILY LAU WAI-HING THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT THE HONOURABLE GILBERT LEUNG KAM-HO THE HONOURABLE ERIC LI KA-CHEUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING THE HONOURALBE MAN SAI-CHEONG THE HONOURABLE STEVEN POON KWOK-LIM THE HONOURABLE HENRY TANG YING-YEN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE TIK CHI-YUEN THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN DR THE HONOURABLE SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI, M.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG DR THE HONOURABLE YEUNG SUM THE HONOURABLE HOWARD YOUNG THE HONOURABLE ZACHARY WONG WAI-YIN ABSENT THE HONOURABLE MARVIN CHEUNG KIN-TUNG, J.P. PROF THE HONOURABLE FELICE LIEH MAK, O.B.E., J.P. IN ATTENDANCE THE CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MR LAW KAM-SANG Valedictory HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. It is nice to be here with you once again. Mr Deputy President, Honourable Members, the day after tomorrow I leave Hong Kong after five years as Governor and as President of this Council. I should not like to go without formally taking leave of the Members of this Council. These have been five eventful years. We have had crises to face anandd problems to solve. But we have come through the crises well. And we have achievements as well as problems to record. Achievements which have seen the people of Hong Kong better provided for with health care and social benefits; with better educational opportunities in an expanded programme of education; and living in an environment which is beginning, although only beginning, to be more cared for. We have a community which is more confident in itself and in its future; and we have an economy (much helped by the development of Southern China), which is the envy of many places in the world and the essential foundation of all our other achievements. One of the marked changes in these past five years has been in the composition of this Council itself. Of the Council's 60 Members with, very sadly, one vacant seat, only 16 (one of whom is the Chief Secretary) were Members when I first presided over a meeting of the Council on 6 May 1987. Then it was less than two years since the first elected Members had taken their seats. Now, a majority of the Members of the Council are elected by one form or another. There have been changes too in the way the Council carries out its business. It might perhaps interest you to recall that in the 1986-87 Session, the first of those over which I presided, the total number of questions asked of the Administration was precisely 153. So far during this Session, including later today, the number is 440. And even more striking, in the 1986-87 Session there were three motion debates. So far this Session the number is 33. But one thing has not changed. This Council, and all its Members, exist to serve the interests of the people of Hong Kong. That is true of the elected Members, however elected. It is true of the appointed Members. It is true of the Administration, whether members attending or being Members of this Council. And it is true, no less, of the Governor as the Council's President. That determination to serve the whole community of Hong Kong should remain at the forefront of our minds. There will be discussion and argument. It is right that there should be. There will be much explanation and answering of questions to be done by the Administration. It is right that they should. But argument and discussion; questioning and explanation should not take place for their own sakes. They are a means of getting to the objective -- the objective of doing what is right and what is best for the people of Hong Kong. I am sure that, as this Council moves forward to reorganize the way it conducts its own business, you will always wish to have this objective clearly in mind. We must not let discussions become the enemy of decisions. I should like to pay a special tribute to the work of Mr John SWAINE who has fulfilled the role of Deputy President since October last year. He has presided over the work of this Council with fairness, dignity and with patience. His role as a stepping stone in the historical evolution of the work of the Council should never be forgotten. I should like also to thank all of you, the Members of this Council, for the work you all do on behalf of the community. You work long hours; you have to master complex subjects and pieces of legislation; and you have to keep constantly in mind the interests and the needs of the community. Yours is an important role, now and for the future. In carrying it out you have my very best wishes. Although not here to see it, I shall read and learn with intense, and supportive interest about what you do. So very best wishes to you all. Thank you. DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Mr President, I am honoured to make this valedictory speech on the occasion of your retirement as Governor of Hong Kong and President of the Legislative Council. Today's Council is a very differendifferentlytly constituted body from that in 1987 when you first assumed office, with a preponderance then of official and appointed Members, and with no directly elected Members. There was of course no Deputy President. But I think it is true to say that the spirspiritit which motivates this Council is the same now as it was then. Every Member of this Council, irrespective of personal or political persuasion, is dedicated to making the system work, for the good of Hong Kong and its people. The past five years have bebeenen critical ones for Hong Kong and the burdens of your office must have been crushing at times. You have had to be Hong Kong's champion, sometimes against London, always within the confines of the Joint Declaration, recognizing China's legitimate expectations under that treaty. The job has required skill, infinite patience, and the ability to know where to draw the line against others in defence of Hong Kong's interests. You were truly Hong Kong's champion when you pleaded its cause in England in June 1989 for British passports; you had to say things in Hong Kong's interests that Britain did not always want to hear and ask for something it had always before refused to give. But I think it was the agreement with China on the new airport which truly testtesteded your skills and must have come close to exhausting your reservoir of patience. You knew where the line should be drawn, you drew it, and the line held. The new airport together with its associated works, which will have such an immense impact on Hong Kong, will be a lasting tribute to your governorship. We offer you and Lady WILSON our best wishes for the years ahead. I will not say in your retirement, because I know you will not really have retired.