LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 2032/95-96
(These minutes have been seen by the Administration)
Ref : CB2/PL/RC

LegCo Panel on Recreation & Culture

Minutes of Meeting
held on Thursday, 27 June 1996 at 10:45 a.m.
in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building

Members Present :

    Hon Mrs Elizabeth WONG CHIEN Chi-lien, CBE, ISO, JP (Chairman)
    Hon Lawrence YUM Sin-ling (Deputy Chairman)
    Hon Mrs Selina CHOW LIANG Shuk-yee, OBE, JP
    Hon Andrew CHENG Kar-foo
    Hon CHEUNG Hon-chung
    Hon NGAN Kam-chuen
    Hon SIN Chung-kai

Members Absent :

    Dr Hon Philip WONG Yu-hong
    Hon Howard YOUNG, JP
    Hon Christine LOH Kung-wai
    Hon Paul CHENG Ming-fun
    Hon MOK Ying-fan

Public Officers Attending :

Item III
Mr CHAU Tak-hay
Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
Mrs Rita LAU
Deputy Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
(Broadcasting & Entertainment)
Mr Parrish NG
Principal Assistant Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
(Film & Entertainment)
Mr P T CHEUNG
Commissioner for Television & Entertainment Licensing
Mr Raymond W M LI
Assistant Commissioner of Customs and Excise (Investigation)
Mr S H Robins
Senior Superintendent (Support)
Royal Hong Kong Police Force

Item IV
Mr CHAU Tak-hay
Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
Mrs Rita LAU
Deputy Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
(Broadcasting & Entertainment)
Mr Parrish NG
Principal Assistant Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
(Film & Entertainment)

Item V
Mr B K B TANG
Deputy Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
(Culture & Sport)
Mr Raymond TAM
Principal Assistant Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture & Sport
(Culture)

Attendance by Invitation :

Item IV
Joint Conference for Film & Video Art
Mr Gordon CHAN
Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild
Mr Mathias WOO
Zuni Icosahedron
Mr Woody TSUNG
Hong Kong, Kowloon & New Territories Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA)

Staff in Attendance :

Mrs Anna LO
Chief Assistant Secretary (2) 2
Mr Raymond LAM
Senior Assistant Secretary (2) 6

I. Confirmation of minutes of meetings and matters arising

(LegCo Paper Nos. CB(2) 1480, 1525 & 1622/95-96)

The minutes of the meetings held on 25 April 1996, 9 May 1996 and 23 May 1996 were confirmed.

II. Date of next meeting and items for discussion

(Appendix A to LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1680/95-96)

2. Members agreed that the next meeting would be held on Thursday, 1 August 1996 at 10:45 a.m. to discuss the following :

  1. Funding of the Arts Development Council
  2. Treatment of antiques from China before and after 1997
  3. Broadcasting policy : Exclusive telecast right and the consumers’ right

(Post-meeting note : On the instruction of the Chairman, item 2(b) was deferred until the first Panel meeting of the next legislative session.)

3. Members noted that the name of Recreation and Culture Branch Branch had been changed to Broadcasting, Culture & Sport Branch. It was agreed that the Panel name should remain unchanged for the current legislative session.

4. The Chairman informed members that the Hong Kong Sports Development Board had invited Panel members to a luncheon on 9 July 1996. Members were suggested to reply the SDB individually, as the invitation letters were addressed to individual members.

III. Composition of the Obscene Articles Tribunal, implementation of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance (COIAO), and control of pornographic CD-ROMs

(Appendices B-D to LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1680/95-96)

Composition of the Obscene Articles Tribunal

5. Mrs Rita LAU presented the salient points of the paper provided by the Administration. She explained that the appointment of adjudicators, each for a period not exceeding three years, was an ongoing process.

Maintaining consistent adjudication standard

6. As regards maintenance of consistent adjudication standard, she explained that administrative guidelines and briefings on precedents were provided to new adjudicators. Mrs Selina CHOW commented that, with the enlargement of the panel of adjudicators, it was important to maintain consistency in adjudication standard. She stated that written guidelines for adjudicators should be promulgated, while flexibility should also be adopted by the adjudicators.

Representation of the panel of adjudicators

7. Members were generally of the view that the education and background of the panel of adjudicators should be representative of the community. They suggested that a higher percentage of adjudicators with lower education standard should be appointed to the panel. Mr Andrew CHENG commented that the percentage of male and female adjudicators should be the same. He stated that the appointment process was too long. Mr NGAN Kam-chuen added that the percentage of administrators/managers was too high. In reply, Mrs Rita LAU stated that the appointment of adjudicators was under the jurisdiction of the judiciary. As the adjudicators were serving on a roster basis, it was practically difficult for the membership of each adjudication to be fully representative of the community. She would, however, reflect members’ suggestions to the judiciary.

BCSB

Selection criteria

8. Mrs Selina CHOW commented that the criteria for selection of adjudicators should not be excessive. Mr Andrew CHENG suggested that the criteria should be provided to the Recreation and Culture Panel for consideration before putting to the judiciary. In response, Mrs Rita LAU agreed to review the criteria for assessing applications and the role of the Broadcasting, Culture and Sports Branch (BCSB) in the process. However, she reserved her position on providing the selection criteria to the Panel for discussion before putting to the judiciary.

Definition of "obscene" and "indecent"

9. Mr Andrew CHENG called for clear definitions of "obscene" and "indecent" in the COIAO. In reply, Mr CHAU Tak-hay stated that following a recent meeting with Mr Andrew CHENG, the Administration was looking into the issue. Mrs Rita LAU commented that the practical difficulties with trying to define "obscenity" and "indecency" were that the community standards adopted at one time would change over another. However comprehensive the coverage in the definitions could never be exhaustive.

Implementation of the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, and control of pornographic CD-ROMs

10. Members noted the papers provided by the Administration and Mrs Selina CHOW respectively.

Enforcement of COIAO

11. In response to members, Mr P T CHEUNG explained that the COIAO was enforced jointly by the Television & Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA), the Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF), and the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED). Operations were launched one to two weeks after detection of pornographic CD-ROMs. Mr CHAU Tak-hay added that the Administration had given high priority to the enforcement of COIAO. The fact that the CD-ROMs were imported had made enforcement more difficult. Nevertheless, the Administration would try its best to address the problem.

12. Mrs Selina CHOW was concerned that pornographic CD-ROMs could be easily purchased. She also expressed concern on the small number of prosecutions and convictions under sections 23 and 24 of the COIAO. She added that actions taken by the Administration should be prompt and a hot line should be established for the public to report on pornographic CD-ROMs.

13. Mr Andrew CHENG commented that the power conferred by COIAO on TELA was inadequate. More authority and resources should be provided to TELA and there should be more publicity for the proposed hot line. He strongly objected to the Administration’s view, in paragraph 3 of its paper, that the present enforcement role of various agencies should be maintained. Mr P T CHEUNG responded that the role and authority of TELA was determined after a series of thorough discussions. As TELA was a civilian department, tasks involving arrests and seizures had to be performed by disciplined forces.

Role of the Police

14. Members were of the view that the RHKPF had accorded a comparatively low priority for enforcing COIAO. They were concerned about the time lag between detection of pornographic CD-ROMs and the launching of operations. In response, Mr S H Robins stated that the district Special Duties Squads were giving high priority to the enforcement of COIAO. The RHKPF had always acted promptly on information provided by TELA. The main problem was that there were usually very few pornographic CD-ROMs kept at the selling spots. He undertook to reflect members’ views to the RHKPF.

RHKPF

Other suggestions

15. The Chairman suggested the Administration to consider legislative amendments to the COIAO. Mr SIN Chung-kai stated that as VCDs were increasingly popular, the Administration should consider preventive measures against pornographic VCDs before it became widespread. Mr YUM Sin-ling added that attention should also be given to indecent books, which could be easily purchased.

IV. Establishment of Film Commission

(Appendix E to LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1680/95-96)

16. Members considered the paper provided by the Administration and a submission tabled at the meeting (Appendix A to the minutes) from the Joint Conference for Film and Video Art (the Joint Conference).

17. At the invitation of the Chairman, representatives of the Joint Conference presented their submission and made the following points :

  1. The Joint Conference had suggested the establishment of a Film Commission to the Administration four years ago. Over the period, the Administration had done little to address the problems faced by the film industry, especially in location shooting. As a result, the production of the film industry had declined 40% over the past two years.
  2. While the Joint Conference welcomed the initiatives suggested in paragraph 15 of the Administration’s paper to further promote and support the film industry, it expressed concern about the source of funds and the time-frame for implementation of the suggested initiatives.
  3. A Film Commission should be established to address the problems of the film industry. As a first step, the Joint Conference recommended the formation of a working group, comprising representatives of the Administration, cultural groups and film industry, to examine ways and means of assisting the film industry in Hong Kong.
  4. The film industry had never requested the Administration to remove entertainment tax.

18. Mrs Rita LAU stated that the Administration was committed to providing a conducive environment for the development of the film industry. It would not object to a Film Commission funded by the film industry. The Administration had maintained close dialogue with the film industry and was fully aware of the concerns of the industry. She drew members’ attention to the existing services to the industry set out in the paper and remarked that they were in line with the proposed function of the Film Commission. Nevertheless, the Branch would be happy to review the existing arrangements with all other concerned departments for any improvements to be made. While the Administration fully understood the problems faced in location shooting, it had to be concerned with public safety and law and order at the same time as Hong Kong was a busy and crowded city.

BCSB

19. Mrs Selina CHOW commented that the Administration was providing much better support to overseas film industry in local location shooting. The Administration should not hinder the establishment of a Film Commission for financial reasons. She questioned the objection to a public funded Film Commission, when similar bodies like the Trade Development Council and Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) were financed by public funds. She suggested that the issue of copyright should also be included in the agenda of the working group proposed by the Joint Conference. Mr SIN Chung-kai suggested the Administration to consider a levy on films to finance the proposed Film Commission.

20. Members generally supported the Joint Conference’s suggestion of forming a working group, comprising representatives of the Administration, the cultural sector and the film industry, to examine ways and means of assisting the film industry in Hong Kong. They suggested that the working group might also include LegCo Members. Members’ views on the issue would be conveyed to the Administration.

CAS(2)2

(Post-meeting note : The letter to the Administration was issued on 22 July 1996)

V. Financial support for Hong Kong artists to participate in international cultural exchanges

(Appendix F to LegCo Paper No. CB(2) 1680/95-96)

21. Mr B K B TANG presented the salient points of the paper provided by the Administration. He stated that the Administration was in support of international cultural exchanges. Funding for Hong Kong artists’ participation in international cultural exchanges was provided through ADC. To his knowledge, the ADC had allocated $3.5 million for international cultural exchanges for 1996/97, and that for 1997/98 would be substantially increased to $9.6 million.

22. Members were of the view that the ADC should be more flexible in assessing applications and relax its policy of allowing only one grant to an applicant within a financial year. Mrs Selina CHOW stated that the Administration should provide full support to international cultural exchanges, as it also promoted the publicity of Hong Kong in overseas countries. She added that funding support should also be provided for cultural exchanges with China. In response, the Administration undertook to reflect members’ views to the ADC at its Strategic Development Board meeting on the following day, at which the subject would be discussed. Mr Andrew CHENG added that the Administration should monitor the fairness of the ADC in the allocation of funds for international cultural exchanges.

BCSB

23. The meeting ended at 12:55 p.m.

LegCo Secretariat
29 August 1996

Last Updated on 12 Aug, 1998