A 13/14-36

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 9 July 2014 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers



Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
1.Fire Service (Installation Contractors) (Amendment) Regulation 2014103/2014
2.Fire Services Department (Reports and Certificates) (Amendment) Regulation 2014104/2014
3.Dangerous Goods (General) (Amendment) Regulation 2014105/2014
4.Timber Stores (Amendment) Regulation 2014106/2014
5.Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Amendment of First Schedule) Order 2014107/2014
6.Control of Chemicals Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 2) Order 2014108/2014
7.Declaration of Markets (Amendment) Notice 2014109/2014
8.Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Public Markets) (Amendment of Tenth Schedule) Order 2014110/2014

Other Papers

1.No. 119-Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board
Annual Report 2013-2014
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)

2.No. 120-Sir Robert Black Trust Fund
Report of the Trustee on the Administration of the Fund
for the year ended 31 March 2014
(to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)

3.No. 121-J.E. Joseph Trust Fund Report
for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)

4.No. 122-Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund Report
for the period 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2014
(to be presented by Secretary for Food and Health)

5.No. 123-Clothing Industry Training Authority
Annual Report 2013
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)

6.No. 124-Report of the Public Accounts Committee on Report No. 62
of the Director of Audit on the Results of Value for
Money Audits (July 2014 - P.A.C. Report No. 62)
(to be presented by Hon Abraham SHEK, Chairman of the Committee, who will address the Council)

7.Report of the Finance Committee on the examination of the Estimates of Expenditure 2014-2015
(to be presented by Hon NG Leung-sing, Chairman of the Finance Committee, who will address the Council)

8.Committee on Rules of Procedure Progress Report for the period October 2013 to June 2014
(to be presented by Hon TAM Yiu-chung, Chairman of the Committee, who will address the Council)

9.Report No. 22/13-14 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Andrew LEUNG, Chairman of the House Committee)

10.Report of the Bills Committee on Shipping Legislation (Control of Smoke Emission) (Amendment) Bill 2014
(to be presented by Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

11.Report of the Bills Committee on Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013
(to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

12.Report of the Bills Committee on Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014
(to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Bills Committee)

13.Report of the Panel on Development 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon LAU Wong-fat, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

14.Report of the Panel on Manpower 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon LEE Cheuk-yan, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

15.Report of the Panel on Welfare Services 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Yuen-han, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

16.Report of the Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon WONG Yuk-man, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

17.Report of the Panel on Financial Affairs 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon Starry LEE, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

18.Report of the Panel on Health Services 2013-2014
(to be presented by Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

19.Report of the Panel on Commerce and Industry 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon Vincent FANG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

20.Report of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene 2013-2014
(to be presented by Dr Hon Helena WONG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

21.Report of the Panel on Transport 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon CHAN Kam-lam, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

22.Report of the Panel on Housing 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon WONG Kwok-hing, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

23.Report of the Panel on Environmental Affairs 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon Cyd HO, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

24.Report of the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services 2013-2014
(to be presented by Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

25.Report of the Panel on Education 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon IP Kin-yuen, Deputy Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

26.Report of the Panel on Economic Development 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon James TIEN Pei-chun, Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

27.Report of the Panel on Public Service 2013-2014
(to be presented by Hon POON Siu-ping, Deputy Chairman of the Panel, who will address the Council)

28.Report of the Legislative Council Select Committee to Inquire into Matters Relating to Mr Timothy TONG's Duty Visits, Entertainment, and Bestowing and Receipt of Gifts during his Tenure as Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption
(to be presented by Hon IP Kwok-him, Chairman of the Select Committee, who will address the Council)

29.Report on Matters Relating to Mr Timothy TONG's Duty Visits, Entertainment, and Bestowing and Receipt of Gifts during his Tenure as Commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption
(to be presented by Hon Dennis KWOK, who will address the Council)

II. Questions



1. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)


Last month, the State Council published the White Paper on "The Practice of the 'One Country, Two Systems' Policy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" ("White Paper"). Section 3 in Part V of the White Paper points out that "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" means that "Hong Kong must be governed by the Hong Kong people with patriots as the mainstay", and those who administrate Hong Kong (including judges of the courts at different levels and other judicial personnel) "have on their shoulders the responsibility of correctly understanding and implementing the Basic Law, of safeguarding the country's sovereignty, security and development interests, and of ensuring the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong" ("political requirements"). Subsequently, the Secretary for Justice told the media that "as judges have to swear in when assuming office, this is already a manifestation of 'loving the country and Hong Kong' from a legal perspective". However, the judicial oath to be taken by judges upon assumption of office does not include the political requirements mentioned in the White Paper. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the existing political system in Hong Kong requires judges and other judicial personnel to love the country and Hong Kong; whether it has examined how the requirement for such personnel to love the country and Hong Kong manifests from a legal prospective, including what other requirements such personnel must comply with, apart from swearing in pursuant to Article 104 of the Basic Law when assuming office;

    (2)whether it has examined the impacts of the aforesaid political requirements for judges and other judicial personnel, as put forward in the White Paper, on their discharge of official duties; whether they are required, in handling cases, to consider how to comply with such political requirements; and

    (3)if it has examined where judges, in presiding over cases, have arrived at contradictory conclusions by interpreting the law according to the common law principles and by considering how to comply with the political requirements, whether they should deliver judgments on the basis of the former or the latter; whether judges are required to bear any consequence when their judgments delivered in accordance with the common law principles are regarded by the Central Government as jeopardizing the country's sovereignty, security or development interests?
Public Officer to reply : The Secretary for Justice

2. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)


The Government announced on the 3rd of last month the establishment of a Task Force on Promotion of Vocational Education ("Task Force") with immediate effect. The function of the Task Force is to advise the authorities on the strategy and concrete proposals for the promotion of vocational education in the community, so as to raise public awareness and recognition of vocational education. It is learnt that the composition of the Task Force comprises people from different sectors, except for representatives from the labour sector. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the criteria adopted by the Government for deciding the composition of the Task Force, and the reasons for not appointing representatives from the labour sector to the Task Force; when the Task Force commences its work and the expected time for it to put forward concrete proposals;

    (2)whether it will consider appointing representatives from the labour sector to the Task Force, so as to ensure that the work of the Task Force will not be reduced to a vanity project; if it will, when it will make such appointments; if not, the reasons for that and given the absence of representatives from the labour sector, how it ensures that the strategy and proposals put forward by the Task Force will be comprehensive, recognized and impartial, and be able to dovetail with the practical situations of various industries and the needs of front-line employees; and

    (3)whether it has formulated any measures that can be implemented before the Task Force submits its report, so as to reinforce and promote vocational education, such as immediately reviewing the Apprenticeship Ordinance, which has been in force since 1976, and extending and consolidating the apprenticeship schemes which fall outside the aforesaid ordinance, in order to perfect the apprenticeship system; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

3. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)


At present, a number of public housing and infrastructure works projects have encountered one after another problems of cost overrun or delays. Some members of the community have pointed out that manpower shortage in the construction industry is one of the causes of such problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will, by making reference to the arrangements made between 1990 and 1999 when the New Airport and Related Projects were being carried out, consider afresh the introduction of a special labour importation scheme for public housing and infrastructure works projects, so as to ensure that such works projects will be completed on schedule, thereby addressing the housing needs of the grassroots as early as possible and maintaining sustained development of Hong Kong's economy; if the Government will not consider introducing such a scheme, of the specific reasons for that, and whether it has assessed the specific impacts of labour shortage on such works projects?

Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Development
Secretary for Labour and Welfare

4. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)


The Airport Authority ("AA") has recently released an Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") Report on Expansion of the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") into a Three-Runway System ("3RS"). The EIA Report contains the results of a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impacts of the expansion project and the future operation of the 3RS in 12 different aspects, such as air quality, aircraft noise, marine ecology, the fisheries industry and human health, etc. and it recommends the adoption of more than 250 mitigation measures. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that while the EIA Report has pointed out that the expansion project will cause no more than a moderate degree of impact on the habitat of the Chinese white dolphins ("CWDs"), the Sha Chau egretry and the surrounding fisheries areas and recommended a number of mitigation measures (including the establishment of a new marine park and the avoidance of bored piling during the peak CWD calving season, etc.), the project will cause permanent damages to the surrounding waters, whether the authorities have conducted any assessment on the changes in the number of CWDs which inhabit in the surrounding waters before and after the construction of the airport; if they have, of the details; and the measures in place to ensure as far as possible that the CWDs living in the surrounding waters will not get hurt and will continue to survive while the construction works for the third runway are underway;

    (2)given that the EIA Report has pointed out that the expansion project will cause a permanent loss of 768 hectares of fishing ground and recommended the use of non-dredge deep cement mixing methods for land formation in order to minimize the impacts on the fisheries industry, whether the authorities have conducted any assessment on the impacts of the land formation works on the marine ecology of the affected waters and the extent of such impacts, as well as the specific impacts of the expansion project on members of the fisheries industry in the western waters of Hong Kong; of the measures in place to strike a balance between the protection of the marine ecology and the development of fisheries industry in Hong Kong, and the arrangements for compensating members of the affected industries and ensuring sustainable development of the fisheries industry; and

    (3)given that both AA and the Government have pointed out that failure to proceed with the expansion project would impair the status of Hong Kong as an international aviation hub and Hong Kong's overall competitiveness, whether the authorities have conducted assessments on when the airport is expected to reach its capacity in terms of flight movements, as well as such details, and the losses to be suffered by the aviation industry, the overall economy and the employment market of Hong Kong for each year of delay in the completion of the expansion project; and of the authorities' measures in place to ensure that there will be no project delay and overspending?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

5. Hon Michael TIEN to ask: (Translation)


At present, some public transport means have provided barrier-free facilities and designated certain seats for priority use by people in need (including the elderly, persons with disabilities ("PWD"), pregnant women and parents carrying young children). Nevertheless, quite a number of such people in need have relayed to me that such barrier-free facilities are still very inadequate, making it inconvenient for PWD to use public transport services. Furthermore, many passengers currently have little awareness of offering seats to people in need as they keep their heads down to use their mobile phones or pretend not noticing other passengers in greater need for a seat. Moreover, some passengers who look like senior people feel offended when other people offer seats to them, while the people offering the seats also feel embarrassed as their kind offers have been rejected and they therefore no longer take the initiative to offer seats to others. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it knows the current average proportion of the seats of each public transport means which are priority seats; whether the authorities have required public transport service operators to provide specified proportions of the seats on various means of public transport for priority use by people in need; if they have not, whether they will make such a requirement;

    (2)whether it knows the barrier-free facilities currently provided by each public transport means; of the new measures of the Government and public transport service operators to improve the existing barrier-free facilities on various public transport means; whether the Government has any plan to stipulate that all public transport means must provide barrier-free access and facilities; if it has such a plan, of the implementation timetable; and

    (3)whether the Government will discuss with public transport service operators, by making reference to the practice of the Southern Railway Limited in the United Kingdom, issuing "priority seating cards" to people in need, which grant holders the priority right in using priority seats; how the Government will raise public awareness of offering seats to people in need through civic education, and whether it knows the new measures of public transport service operators to encourage passengers to offer their seats to people in need?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)


In 2012-2013, the Independent Police Complaints Council ("IPCC") endorsed the results of investigations into 2 489 complaint cases handled by the Complaints Against Police Office. Those cases involved 4 884 allegations against police officers and 323 of them were allegations of assault. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the Police have provided training to frontline police officers to ensure that they will not use force abusively in discharging duties in order to avoid being complained; if they have, of the details; and the objective and independent monitoring measures and procedures that the authorities have put in place to prevent police officers from using force inappropriately in the process of law enforcement and handling arrestees;

    (2)in each of the past five years, of the respective numbers of police officers who were prosecuted in criminal proceedings and became the subjects of investigations in disciplinary hearings for alleged assaults or inappropriate use of force in discharging duties, as well as the respective numbers of police officers who were sanctioned in the form of warning, caution or admonition for such acts; and

    (3)whether the Police have installed closed circuit televisions ("CCTVs") in rooms in police stations for handling arrestees as well as in the compartments of police cars at present, so as to enhance the protection of the interests of arrestees and police officers; if they have, of the distribution and locations of such CCTVs and the criteria for using them; if not, whether they will consider such installations; if they will not consider, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*7. Hon WONG Kwok-hing to ask: (Translation)


Railway property development is a major source of housing supply in Hong Kong. However, the Secretary for Development pointed out early this year that the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") failed to tender out any property development project in the past three years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it knows the reasons for, and the relevant details of, MTRCL's failure to tender out any property development project in the past three financial years, and set out in a table the location, site area and number of residential units that can be provided in respect of each of such projects;

    (2)whether it knows the property development projects that MTRCL plans to tender out in the coming five financial years, and set out in a table the location, site area and number of residential units that can be provided in respect of each of such projects;

    (3)given that the tendering exercises for the property development project at Light Rail Tin Wing Station in Tin Shui Wai have failed twice, whether the Government has conducted any feasibility study on changing the use of the site concerned for the development of subsidized housing; if it has, of the details (including the expected number of residential units to be provided) and when the study will be completed; whether it will discuss the matter with MTRCL; if it will, of the details and the amount of payment involved for buying back from MTRCL the property development right concerned; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will in future request MTRCL to sell to the Government, for development of subsidized housing, the property development rights of those property development projects for which tendering exercises have failed for two or more times; if it will, of the details, and whether it will draw up the relevant criteria in this regard; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)whether it has requested MTRCL to improve the tendering arrangements so as to expedite the tendering out of property development projects; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (5)whether it will consider buying back from MTRCL the rights for development of certain property development projects; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it has conducted any study in this regard; if it has, of the details and the expected completion time for the study?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*8. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)


It is learnt that currently there is a serious shortage of nursing manpower in public healthcare services. As a result, quite a number of new and existing services have been affected. Regarding nursing manpower and training of nurses, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (1)the number of new healthcare services that the Hospital Authority ("HA") plans to launch in each of the coming five years, and set out the nursing manpower required for each service;

    (2)whether HA has projected the numbers of vacancies for enrolled nurses and registered nurses in various specialist services in each of the coming five years; if HA has projected, set out a tabulated breakdown of such vacancies by rank and number of service years required; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)why HA plans to close down the schools for training enrolled nurses under the United Christian Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital this year; the number of nurse training places and the amount of expenditure reduced as a result of such a plan;

    (4)in each of the coming five years, (i) the respective numbers of places of Bachelor of Nursing programmes and Higher Diploma in Nursing programmes to be offered by various publicly-funded tertiary institutions, (ii) the respective numbers of places of enrolled nurses and registered nurses training programmes to be offered by the nursing schools under public hospitals, and (iii) the respective numbers of nursing graduates that will be recruited by public general and psychiatric services; and

    (5)the respective current unit costs for public hospitals to train enrolled nurses and registered nurses?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*9. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)


On 17 March this year, the Police issued to their officers the Guidelines for handling abusive behavior by members of the public ("the Guidelines"). The Guidelines are applicable during the discharge of daily duties by police officers such as responding to requests for assistance from the public, conducting stop and search as well as taking traffic enforcement actions, etc. but not applicable during their handling of public order events. In explaining the background leading to the formulation of the Guidelines, the authorities pointed out that in the course of performing their duties, police officers might encounter individuals acting in an abusive, rude or uncooperative manner in an attempt to impede their discharge of duties or to humiliate them, and the Guidelines served to help police officers handle such situations effectively and standardize the principles and practices for tackling similar scenarios within the Police Force. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)as the Police have indicated that under certain circumstances, police officers may need to take enforcement actions if the person acting in an abusive manner has committed or is about to commit an offence, whether the enforcement actions concerned refer to the arrest and prosecution actions taken under section 23 (Resisting or obstructing a public officer or other person lawfully engaged in a public duty) of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228);

    (2)whether the Police have studied the circumstances under which members of the public acting in an abusive, rude or uncooperative manner towards police officers will impede their discharge of duties; if they have, of the outcome; and

    (3)whether, before formulating the Guidelines, the Police have studied how individual police officers being humiliated by the abusive acts of members of the public will affect the image of the Police Force; if they have, of the outcome; whether they have set quantifiable indicators to assess the impact of the police image on the efficiency of law enforcement by police officers; if they have, of the details; given that an incident of some members of the public querying police enforcement actions occurred in Sai Yeung Choi Street South, Mongkok, in August last year, whether the Guidelines are applicable to the handling of similar situations?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*10. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the crime and security situations at the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA"), will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number and the breakdown of the crimes which occurred within the precincts of HKIA in each of the past three years, and among such cases, the number of those that were detected as a result of the reports by members of the public; whether the authorities rewarded the informants; if they did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)as it has been reported recently that the negligent and perfunctory working attitude of some airport security guards has resulted in loopholes in the security inspection work at HKIA, whether the Government knows the number and the breakdown of the complaints about the working attitude of airport security guards received from visitors by the Airport Authority in the past three years; and

    (3)of the measures that the authorities will take to combat crimes at HKIA and improve the service performance of airport security guards, so as to maintain HKIA's reputation of having good security standard?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*11. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)


It was reported in the press on the 26th of last month that the City University of Hong Kong ("CityU") planned to sell the Community College of City University ("CCCU"), which it established in 2004 to provide self-financing associate degree programmes, and was now negotiating with two potential buyers. As CityU is one of the institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC-funded institutions"), and most of the other UGC-funded institutions also have similar self-financing departments, the sale plan affects not only the current nearly 7 000 students and 200 teaching staff members of CCCU, but also future students enrolling in programmes offered by such self-financing departments. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the authorities knew CityU's plan to sell CCCU prior to the aforesaid press report; if they did, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that; of the measures taken by the authorities to follow up the plan;

    (2)whether it knows if CityU has conducted any public consultation on its plan to sell CCCU;

    (3)given that the authorities provided interest-free loans of about $45 million and $600 million to CityU through the "Start-up Loan Scheme for Post-secondary Education Providers" in 2002 and 2005 respectively to subsidize its renting and renovation of commercial premises in Kowloon Bay and the construction of buildings in its Kowloon Tong main campus as the school premises of CCCU, whether the authorities had, in granting those loans, imposed conditions on the management and operation of CCCU, as well as on the right to use and the uses of the school premises concerned; if they had, of such conditions; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)of the authorities' role in monitoring the uses of the newly built school premises referred to in (3) after full repayment of the loans by CityU; whether they have studied which parties will own the school premises upon CityU's completion of the sale of CCCU, and which parties decide on the uses of the school premises;

    (5)whether it has studied which party owns the proceeds from the sale of CCCU by CityU;

    (6)of the authorities' measures to ensure that the programmes offered by CCCU after the sale will be of high quality and that the rights and interests of the teaching staff and students of CCCU will not be undermined because of the sale;

    (7)of the vetting and approval procedures for UGC-funded institutions to establish self-financing departments; which self-financing departments are registered under the Companies Ordinance (Cap. 622) at present; how the authorities monitor the management and operation of such self-financing departments; whether UGC-funded institutions are required to apply to the authorities for selling their self-financing departments; if such applications are required, of the vetting and approval procedures, how the authorities monitor the sale process, and whether the authorities will, in approving such applications, impose conditions on the buyers' future management and operation of the self-financing departments concerned; and

    (8)in cases where UGC-funded institutions have sold their self-financing departments, what requirements and procedures are currently in place to deal with matters relating to the programmes offered, academic qualifications awarded and employment contracts entered into by such self-financing departments prior to the sale?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*12. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)


It is learnt that the population of the Islands District (including Lantau Island, Lamma Island, Cheung Chau, Ping Chau, etc.) has been increasing in recent years, which has resulted in a shortfall of school places in the kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools in the District. As a result, quite a number of students residing in the Islands District have to travel to other districts to attend schools. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)in each of the past five years, of the respective numbers and rates of increase of students in the Islands District who were of the respective ages for attending kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, as well as the number and percentage of such students attending schools in the school net to which their places of residence belonged;

    (2)given that some students residing in the Islands District have to travel to the urban areas for attending schools every day, whether the authorities have assessed the impacts of leaving home early, coming home late and travelling long distance, on the learning and daily lives of these students; if they have assessed, of the outcome and relevant statistics, and whether they have taken any follow-up actions (including exploring improvement measures); if they have not made any assessment, the reasons for that; and

    (3)given that the former New Territories Heung Yee Kuk Southern District Secondary School situated in Mui Wo has ceased operation for a number of years, whether the authorities will re-allocate the school premises for school use; if they will, of the relevant plan and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*13. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)


According to the information of the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD"), the two wild pig hunting teams in Hong Kong formed by civilian volunteers ("the hunting teams") carried out an operation every three days and shot to death one wild pig in every two operations on the average in the past five years. Members of the hunting teams are issued arms licences by the Hong Kong Police Force and may therefore keep arms and ammunition at home. It was reported that in recent years, there had been blunders concerning the hunting process of the hunting teams and the possession of ammunition by their members. For example, the hunting teams carried out an operation in the presence of nearly 50 onlookers and without cordoning off the restricted area even though the wild pigs posed no immediate threat to the public; they were alleged to have violated the rule that prohibits hunting operations on Saturdays and public holidays; and a member of the hunting teams had eight Remington bullets stolen from his home, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)given that there were just a very few incidents of wild pigs injuring humans in the past several years and that due to the decline of agriculture in Hong Kong, crop damages caused by wild pigs are rare, whether it has examined the necessity of carrying out frequent operations by the hunting teams; of the reasons for the frequent operations; whether the authorities have kept detailed records and reports on each operation;

    (2)given the stringent control on the import, possession and use of arms and ammunition under the laws of Hong Kong, why the authorities issued arms licences to members of the civilian hunting teams;

    (3)of the improvement measures to be taken by the authorities to address the several blunders made by the hunting teams during their hunting operations; whether they will consider transferring the task of hunting wild pigs to AFCD and/or the Police (for example, the Police will fire dart guns to tranquilize the wild pigs and AFCD staff will take care of the remaining matters) to ensure that the hunting operations are carried out by public officers according to stringent, disciplined and safe procedures;

    (4)as I have learned that upon receipt of reports about sighting of wild pigs in the urban area, AFCD will send veterinarians to tranquilize the wild pigs with dart guns and then return them to country parks, whether the authorities will consider using the same method in dealing with wild pigs found near the community, and shooting wild pigs to death only when strictly necessary;

    (5)whether any casualties (including those inflicted on members of the hunting teams and members of the public) were caused by the operations of the hunting teams in the past three years; if so, of the details and who were held liable;

    (6)as it has been reported that the hunting operations of the hunting teams require prior approval of the relevant divisional police stations and preparation work takes about one week, whether the Police will, in order to ensure public safety, consider making public on their web site, at least 48 hours before the operation, (i) the date, time and location of the operation as well as the names, identification numbers and number of the hunting team members involved, (ii) details of the complaints lodged by the public, (iii) findings of field inspections, and (iv) justifications for carrying out the hunting operation (i.e. the case is referred to the hunting teams for following up upon the confirmation that no feasible guarding measures against the wild pigs are available), and making public the report on the operation (including the hunting process and the method used to dispose of the carcasses) for public inspection;

    (7)as there has been controversy about the necessity of the hunting teams shooting the wild pigs to death in several of their operations and for that reason AFCD has also been subjected to much criticism for lack of respect for animals' right to live, whether AFCD will consider formulating more concrete and clearer codes of operation, for example, to stipulate the degree of property damage or personal threat caused to people by wild pigs which warrants approval of hunting operations;

    (8)of the number of wild pigs shot to death by the hunting teams in the past five years, and the outcome of a comparison of such number with that of other wild animals shot to death by AFCD in the same period, together with the details of such cases (including the dates and districts of and reasons for the operations, the types of wild animals involved, and the method used to dispose of the carcasses);

    (9)as it is stipulated under the guidelines of AFCD that the hunting teams must dispose of the carcasses of wild pigs at the animal carcass collection points under the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), how FEHD handles the carcasses at present, and whether it has formulated guidelines and kept formal records in this respect; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will consider formulating such guidelines and keeping the records; and

    (10)whether anyone collected the carcasses of wild pigs from AFCD or FEHD in the past three years; if so, of the collection procedures and details of each case (including the date and quantity of collection and the identity of the collector)?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*14. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that at present, there are manufacturers in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Mainland who recover beverage cartons ("cartons") for recycling. The manufacturers concerned separate and recover pulped fibres (which constitute around 75% of the component materials of cartons), plastics and aluminum by shredding the cartons. While pulped fibres can be used for manufacturing recycled paper and other paper products or for generating electricity by combustion, plastics and aluminum can be used as secondary industrial raw materials. Nevertheless, as cartons are categorized as non-recyclable materials under the Programme on Source Separation of Waste of the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD"), huge quantities of cartons are disposed of at landfills each day. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has compiled statistics on the respective quantities of cartons that were manufactured locally and imported in each of the past three years; if it has, of such quantities;

    (2)whether it knows the current number of local manufacturers who recover cartons for recycling and the quantity of cartons recovered each year;

    (3)of the justifications and criteria of EPD for categorizing cartons as non-recyclable materials; and

    (4)whether it has studied the possibility of launching a programme on recovering cartons for recycling in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*15. Hon LEUNG Che-cheung to ask: (Translation)


In order to create a universally accessible environment, the Government has installed tactile guide paths ("guide paths"), formed by specially made tactile tiles, on footpaths and in other public transport facilities, to lead persons with visual impairment to the public facilities concerned. Some members of the public have relayed to me that they once slipped and fell on the guide paths in the rain, and were thus badly bruised and taken to the hospital for treatment. It has been noted that there have been reports of similar accidents from time to time in the past few years. According to my observation, the slip resistance of the surfaces of the tactile tiles is good when the tiles are dry but bad when wet. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the number of reports received by the authorities in the past three years about members of the public slipping and falling on the guide paths, and the number of persons injured as a result; the authorities' general handling procedure upon receipt of such reports;

    (2)of the standards on slip resistance to which the surfaces of the tactile tiles should conform, and the details of such standards;

    (3)of the materials of which the existing two types of tactile tiles, one in silver and the other in yellow, were made; the coefficients of friction between such materials in contact with water and different types of shoes; whether the authorities have tested the slip resistance of the tactile tiles under wet conditions; and

    (4)whether it will consider re-designing the guide paths, or switch to use tactile tiles made of materials with better slip resistance, so as to reduce the occurrence of accidents of members of the public slipping and falling; if it will, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Hon Tony TSE to ask: (Translation)


In order to improve the living environment, the Government has developed Greening Master Plans ("GMPs") for all urban areas in the territory and completed the related greening works, and it has been gradually developing GMPs for the New Territories since May 2011. In January this year, the Government completed the development of GMPs for the Southeast and Northwest New Territories, and sought a funding allocation of $350 million from this Council for priority greening works in such areas. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)which professional grades and government departments are involved in the Government's greening work (including work completed, in progress and pending) and the subsequent maintenance work for the plants, and of the number of posts involved, with a breakdown by district; the respective numbers of civil service posts, non-civil service contract posts and other posts (e.g. those created by outsourced contractors) among the professional grade posts; the number of civil servants responsible for the aforesaid work in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by department, grade and rank;

    (2)whether it has assessed if there is sufficient manpower to implement the GMPs across the territory at present; if it has not, of the reasons for that and whether it will conduct such an assessment; if it has, the results and whether it will increase the manpower; if it will, of the expected number of posts to be created in the next three years and the relevant timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)given that plant maintenance work is undertaken separately by a number of government departments at present, whether the Government will designate a department or set up a task force to centralize the handling of the maintenance work for the plants planted under the GMPs across the territory; if it will, of the details (including the manpower involved and the implementation timetable); if not, the reasons for that; and

    (4)of the Government's follow-up work, as well as whether it will extend the project, upon completion of the development of GMPs for urban areas and the New Territories and the progressive commencement of the related greening works; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*17. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the apprenticeship schemes implemented under the Apprenticeship Ordinance (Cap. 47) ("the Ordinance"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows, in each of the past five financial years:
  • (1)the respective numbers of apprentices registered under the 45 designated trades in accordance with the Ordinance, and set out by year and trade in a table of the same format as Table 1 (i) the periods of apprenticeship for the trades, (ii) the median wages of apprentices during the first year of their apprenticeships, (iii) the median wages of apprentices during the last year of their apprenticeships, and (iv) the current median market wages in the relevant trades; and

    Table 1 Year: ___________

    Designated trade Number of apprentices registered (i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
               
               

    (2)the respective numbers of apprentices registered under non-designated trades in accordance with the Ordinance, and set out by year and trade in a table of the same format as Table 2 (i) brief job descriptions of the trades, (ii) the periods of apprenticeship for the trades, (iii) the median wages of apprentices during the first year of their apprenticeships; (iv) the median wages of apprentices during the last year of their apprenticeships, and (v) the current median market wages in the relevant trades?

    Table 2 Year: ___________

    Non-designated trade Number of apprentices registered (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v)
                 
                 
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*18. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)


Some industrialists have relayed to me that with the northern migration of quite a number of factories one after another during the eighties of the last century, industries in Hong Kong have been unable to revive in the past 20-odd years. However, it has been reported that as the production costs on the Mainland have increased continuously in recent years, some manufacturers have planned to relocate their production bases back to Hong Kong. On the other hand, a group of local industrialists from the new generation are actively revitalizing Hong Kong industries at present. Regarding the industrial development of Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether it has compiled statistics in the past 10 years about the number of manufacturers who relocated their production bases back to Hong Kong and the number of factories newly set up by them in the territory; if it has, of a tabulated breakdown of such numbers by type of products; if not, the reasons for that;

    (2)whether the Government put in place specific policies in the past 10 years to assist manufacturers in their business development in Hong Kong; if it did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)whether it has put in place policies and measures to assist the local industrialists from the new generation in their business development in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)whether it has conducted any study on upgrading the existing industrial buildings so as to provide more factory premises that are suitable for modernized industries; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (5)given that subsequent to the decline of local industries, most industrial talents have changed their occupations, migrated northward or retired, giving rise to a succession problem of such talents, whether the Government has new policies and measures for training up more industrial talents; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (6)whether it has examined the implementation of new measures to further promote industrial development in Hong Kong, such as offering preferential measures to attract manufacturers to relocate their factories back to Hong Kong; if it has examined, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (7)as the Government advocates the diversification of industries (including the innovation and technology industries), whether the Government has plans to draw up new policies and measures to assist in training up local workers gearing to the development of high-end technology industries; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*19. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)


Some people from the ethnic minorities have relayed to me that non-Chinese speaking ethnic minority ("EM") students in Hong Kong have encountered great difficulties in learning due to their differences from mainstream local students in terms of cultures, languages and educational needs, coupled with the inadequate educational support provided by the authorities for such students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the respective numbers of EM students studying in secondary and primary schools and their percentages in the total numbers of students in the 2013-2014 school year, with a breakdown of such student numbers by District Council ("DC") district and school type, i.e. (i) mainstream public schools, (ii) Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and (iii) special education schools (set out the relevant figures in Table 1);

    Table 1

    DC district School type Secondary/Primary schools Number of EM students
    Central & Western (i) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    (ii) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    (iii) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    Wanchai (i) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    (ii) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    (iii) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    ...      

    (2)of the respective numbers of EM students studying in secondary and primary schools in which English is the main medium of instruction as well as their percentages in the total numbers of students in the 2013-2014 school year, with a breakdown of such student numbers by DC district and school type, i.e. (i) mainstream public schools and (ii) Direct Subsidy Scheme schools (set out the relevant figures in Table 2);

    Table 2

    DC district School type Secondary/Primary schools Number of EM students
    Central & Western (i) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    (ii) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    Wanchai (i) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    (ii) Secondary schools  
    Primary schools  
    ...      

    (3)of the number of students who have benefited from the educational support measures provided for EM students by the authorities in the 2013-2014 school year, with a breakdown by support measure;

    (4)of the respective numbers of EM students with special education needs ("SENs") and their percentages in the total numbers of students in the 2011-2012, 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 school years, with a breakdown of such student numbers by DC district, school type (i.e. (i) mainstream schools and (ii) special education schools) and type of SENs (i.e. physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech and language impairment, specific learning difficulties, and other impairment) (set out the relevant figures in tables of the same format as Table 3);

    Table 3

    DC district: ____________

      Number of EM Students with SENs
    School year 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014
    School type (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii)
    Physical disability            
    Hearing impairment            
    …            
    Other impairment            
    Total number of students            

    (5)of the names of the secondary and primary schools that currently provide special educational support services for EM students and which of such schools receive recurrent grants for provision of such services, grouped by DC district; the names of the organizations that currently provide special educational support services for EM students, grouped by DC district; the details and the current utilization situations of such services; whether the Government has any plan to provide tailor-made learning support for EM students with SENs; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (6)as it is learnt that the parents of some EM school girls hope that their daughters can study at girls' schools, or else they will send their daughters back to their home countries for schooling, whether the authorities have looked into this matter and offered assistance to such school girls?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*20. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)


It has been reported that the net asset value of the Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") schemes is estimated to be as high as $550 billion at present and the average fund expense ratio for the MPF constituent funds in this year was as high as 1.69%. As such, it is estimated that the fees and charges charged by MPF trustees and fund managers are as high as $9.2 billion per annum. The press report has cited an example of an employee and his employer making monthly contributions to an MPF scheme for 40 years, and it turns out that the fund management fees will account for as much as 39% to 52% of the employee's accrued benefits. The press report has also pointed out that four trustees are currently having a total market share of as high as 70% in the MPF market, thereby creating a quasi-monopolistic market situation, which is the main reason why the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority ("MPFA") has been ineffective in pushing forward a reduction of the MPF fund management fees. The public's lukewarm response to the "MPF Semi-Portability" (i.e. the "Employee Choice Arrangement") is also related to the trustees' refusal to enhance their efficiency and their levying of additional fees and charges. In addition, some members of the public have relayed that MPFA has, on the one hand, requested the trustees to lower their fund management fees with a view to reducing MPF expenses, and on the other hand, it uses public funds to rent office accommodation at high rentals and employ many staff members with high salaries. Regarding the issue of lowering MPF fund expenses and the expenditure of MPFA, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)of the policies put in place by the authorities to tackle the quasi-monopolistic market situation of MPF trustees, for the purpose of urging trustees and fund managers to lower their fund management fees and to enhance their efficiency;

    (2)given that some members of the public have pointed out that the MPF fund investment companies have performed unsatisfactorily and that employees' contributions have been eroded by the fund management fees charged by them, and a negative rate of return has been recorded for some MPF schemes after deduction of the management fees, whether the authorities will conduct a study on amending the relevant legislation to allow contributors to directly invest, without involving any trustee, their monthly contributions in an amount not less than that required by the law, in index funds of which the management fees are lower (e.g. the Tracker Fund of Hong Kong), with a view to lowering the fund expenses payable by the employees; if they will conduct such a study, of the details and the time required to complete it; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)whether the authorities have reviewed whether the decision, made by the former Chief Secretary for Administration, who is suspected of having an interest related to the majority owner of the International Finance Centre ("IFC"), to renew the tenancy of MPFA's office at IFC was appropriate at that time; if they have, of the results; if not, the reasons for that;

    (4)whether it knows the lease period and the monthly rental expenses of MPFA's existing office at the International Commerce Centre; of the actual needs for MPFA to rent space in a Grade A commercial building as its office; whether MPFA will relocate its office to office accommodation with a lower rental in order to reduce its expenditure;

    (5)given that it has been reported that while MPFA employs almost 700 employees (their average annual salary is $400,000 while the annual salaries of its five highest-ranking executives amount to over $3 million each) and rents a total of four offices, MPFA has indicated that it would not, on grounds of effectiveness concerns, operate the "core fund" (i.e. a standardized, low fee default fund under all MPF schemes) proposed by it, whether the authorities have assessed if the salary and rental expenditures of MPFA is good value for money; whether they will request the Audit Commission to conduct a value-for-money audit on MPFA to ensure that it has not misused public funds; if they will, when they will make such a request; if not, of the reasons for that; and

    (6)given that there are views that the existing MPF system is unreasonable because the system, which was proposed by the former Managing Director of MPFA who has the sobriquet of a resourceful man, can only "guarantee that banks and fund investment companies will make profits", but it "cannot force trustees to lower the fees and charges of funds which have recorded losses for ten consecutive years" nor can it protect the employees' interests, and that some academics have proposed that the Government should take the opportunity of the introduction of the core fund to require MPF trustees to offer funds with a guaranteed rate of return of at least 4% to 5% per annum for employees to choose, otherwise the employees can switch to other trustees, or that the Government should offer a core fund with a guaranteed rate of return of 4% to 5% per annum, and that some academics have also proposed that public consultation should be conducted on the aforesaid proposals to reform the MPF system, together with the report of the study on a universal retirement protection scheme to be submitted to the Government by an honorary professor of the University of Hong Kong, whether the Government will study these proposals seriously and implement them as soon as possible for the purpose of reforming the MPF system?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*21. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)


On the 15th of last month, various media reported that according to reliable sources, six bodies participated in the storming of the Legislative Council Complex on the 13th of last month. On the 19th of last month, a television station reported that the Government had commissioned external organizations to conduct opinion surveys on the action to occupy the Central District ("Occupy Central"), and the results of the surveys indicated that an increasing number of people are not in support of Occupy Central and consider that Occupy Central would stimulate incidents involving violence. On the 23rd and 24th of last month, some media reported that in view of the eventuality of Occupy Central, the Government was then making various deployments, which included vacating the Ma Hang Prison in Stanley for the purpose of detaining and temporarily holding arrestees. On the other hand, some members of the public have complained to me that the Government has recently disseminated information (e.g. survey results) to the media through anonymous sources from time to time. They have pointed out that such means of information dissemination makes it difficult for people to judge and verify the authenticity of the information, which not only results in the Government being alleged to have manipulated the media, but also has the effect of subjecting the organizations and bodies being named or criticized to the pressure from public comments and suppression, thus having treated them unfairly. Moreover, other media organizations and members of the public are unable to follow up with the reports concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)whether the information concerned in the aforesaid reports was disseminated by the Government to the media organizations concerned; if it was not, why the Government has not made any denials or clarifications; if it was, of (i) the identities of the government sources disseminating the information to the media organizations concerned, the government departments or policy bureaux to which they belong, and the facts based on which they disseminated the information; (ii) the details of the opinion surveys on Occupy Central conducted by external organizations commissioned by the Government, including the government departments or policy bureaux that requested for the conduct of the surveys; and (iii) the objectives of the Government disseminating the information concerned to the media selectively and anonymously; and

    (2)of the circumstances under which it anonymously disseminates information to the media; whether the authorities have established any standard and guidelines on this means of information dissemination; whether it has analyzed and assessed the effects of this means of information dissemination, including the Government being alleged to manipulate the media and unfairly treat the individuals or organizations named, etc.?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*22. Hon WU Chi-wai to ask: (Translation)


Under the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme ("MWIS"), the Buildings Department ("BD") selects 5 800 private buildings aged 10 years or above each year and serves statutory notices to the owners of such buildings, requiring them to carry out the prescribed inspection of the windows of such buildings and prescribed repair works found necessary after inspection. The owners concerned must appoint a Qualified Person ("QP") within three months from the date of the statutory notice and complete the inspection concerned and the necessary repair works within six months. Regarding the implementation of MWIS, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (1)as I have learnt that flat owners who have arranged for the installation of aluminum windows for their flats by registered minor works contractors may be exempted from mandatory window inspection within five years from completion of the works, of the number of owners exempted since the implementation of the Scheme;

    (2)why flat owners of buildings aged less than 10 years are not required to carry out mandatory window inspection whereas other flat owners may be required to carry out window inspection five years after they have installed new aluminum windows of their own accord; whether the Government will review the legislation concerned and amend the requirement to the effect that window inspections are required once every 10 years, so as to align the related requirements under the legislation; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (3)as the Government has indicated in its reply to a question raised by me regarding the estimates of expenditure for 2014-2015 that BD has received six reports on suspected irregularities involving registered minor works contractors since its implementation of MWIS up to the date of its reply to me, of the details and investigation progress of each case; how BD deals with reports not involving issues of building works (e.g. collusive price fixing); whether it has compiled statistics on the total number of reports received so far which involve window inspection but are not within the purview of BD and, among such reports, of the number of those referred to other government departments;

    (4)of the means adopted by BD to eliminate irregularities which involve window inspection and are within its purview (e.g. problems of minor works contractors exaggerating the repair works needed and the quotations, etc.), and the progress of the work concerned;

    (5)as some flat owners has relayed that as profits on window inspection and supervision of related works are not substantial, quite a number of those QPs who are also engineers are not interested in providing such service, and it is therefore difficult for the owners to engage QPs for carrying out such works, whether the Government will relax the qualifications and experience required of QPs, or even introduce a licensing system for window inspection works, so as to increase the number of personnel in the market who can provide such service; and

    (6)of the number of applications received so far by BD for extension of time for completion of window inspection and related repair works and, among such applications, the number of those approved; of the number of prosecutions instituted by BD for non-compliance of statutory notices for window inspection, as well as the penalties imposed by the court on the convicted persons?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

* For written reply

III. Bills



First Reading

1.Veterinary Surgeons Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014

2.Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2014

Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)

1.Veterinary Surgeons Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014

:Secretary for Food and Health

2.Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Bill 2014

:Secretary for Development

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

1.Supplementary Appropriation (2013-2014) Bill

:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2.Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2014

:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs to move
Committee stage amendments

(The amendments were issued on 26 June 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 757/13-14)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Electoral Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2014 (issued on 30 June 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 778/13-14(01))

3.Shipping Legislation (Control of Smoke Emission) (Amendment) Bill 2014

:Secretary for Transport and Housing

4.Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013

:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

(i)Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move Committee stage amendments

(The amendments were issued on 2 July 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 782/13-14)

(ii)Hon Tommy CHEUNG, Hon Abraham SHEK and Hon WU Chi-wai to move Committee stage amendments

(The amendments were issued on 3 July 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 794/13-14)

(iii)Hon James TO and Hon Charles Peter MOK to move Committee stage amendments

(The amendments were issued on 8 and 10 July 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 819/13-14 and CB(3) 836/13-14 respectively)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2013 (issued on 8 July 2014 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 824/13-14(01) and CB(3) 824/13-14(02))

5.Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014 :Secretary for Security

(i)Secretary for Security to move Committee stage amendments

(The amendments were issued on 30 June 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 775/13-14)

(ii)Hon Dennis KWOK and Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to move Committee stage amendments

(The amendments were issued on 8 July 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 825/13-14)

(Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage amendments to the Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014 (issued on 8 July 2014 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3) 827/13-14(01))

IV. Motions



1.Proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development to move the motion in Appendix I.

(The motion was also issued on 16 June 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 723/13-14)

Hon CHAN Chi-chuen and Hon Albert CHAN to move amendments
to the proposed resolution.

(The amendments were issued on 27 June 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 767/13-14)

(The voting arrangement for the proposed resolution was issued on 30 June 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 770/13-14)

2.Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

Secretary for Food and Health to move the following motion:

Resolved that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 16 June 2014, be approved —

(a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014; and

(b)the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014.

(The two Regulations are in Appendices II and III and were also issued
on 19 June 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 735/13-14)

V. Members' Motions



1.Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Dennis KWOK to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the District Court Equal Opportunities (Amendment) Rules 2014, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 86 of 2014, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 11 June 2014, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the first sitting (within the meaning of section 34(6) of that Ordinance) of the next session of the Legislative Council.

2.Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following motion:

Resolved that the Telecommunications (Method for Determining Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Administratively Assigned Spectrum in the 1.9–2.2 GHz Band) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 58 of 2014 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 21 May 2014, be amended as set out in the Schedule.

Schedule

Amendment to Telecommunications (Method for Determining Spectrum Utilization Fee) (Administratively Assigned Spectrum in the 1.9–2.2 GHz Band) Regulation

1.Section 3 amended (payment of spectrum utilization fee)
Section 3—
 Repeal
"in a lump sum and payable"
Substitute
"annually in fifteen instalments".

Public Officer to attend ： Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

3.Returning a happy childhood to students

Hon Michael TIEN to move the following motion: (Translation)

That the majority view of society has all along held that 'pressure leads to progress'; nowadays, there are many books and discussions available at the market about 'tiger moms and dads', 'helicopter parents' and 'monster parents', etc. for boosting children's learning, but excessive boosting may likely increase pressure on children and dampen their learning interests; the results of a survey conducted by the Programme for International Student Assessment show that some Hong Kong parents excessively intervene in children's learning and drill them by being over-anxious for results, rendering a decline of children's motivation to learn and a negative impact on their academic results; quite a number of media reports have also pointed out that some Hong Kong students have emotional problems because of heavy study pressure, and they become easily anxious and have symptoms such as insomnia, loss of appetite and irritability, etc.; all these problems are attributable to the education system which emphasizes solely on examination results; at the stage of kindergarten education, parents have already enrolled their children in many types of interest classes and request them to do dictation and spelling exercises, etc.; at the stage of primary education, students need to participate in the Territory-wide System Assessment, the Internal Assessments for Secondary School Places Allocation purpose that take place at the end of Primary Five and both in mid-year and at the end of Primary Six, and the Pre-Secondary One Hong Kong Attainment Test; at the stage of secondary education, students are faced with a shortage of university places and the 'die‍‍ or live' pressure from the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination; in contrast, the education systems and teaching modes in many advanced places are better able to provide students with room for exploring their interests to enhance their creativity development; in this connection, this Council urges the Administration to:

(1)assess afresh the pressure and psychological impact of the existing education system on students, and comprehensively review the examination system, the curriculum contents and the mechanism for progression in education;

(2)enhance parental education to avoid parents from excessively boosting children's learning; and

(3)enhance the support for school social workers and teachers to facilitate them to early identify whether or not students are under excessive pressure.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Dr Hon Helena WONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add "'joyful learning' is a learning guideline issued to schools by the Education Bureau, but" after "That"; to delete "and" after "excessively boosting children's learning;"; and to add "; and (4) review the assessment contents of the Territory-wide System Assessment to avoid the need for students to undergo mechanical drills on examination questions, and study whether the Territory-wide System Assessment should be abolished, so as to reduce students' study pressure" immediately before the full stop.

(ii)Hon Alice MAK to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", although" after "That"; to delete ";" after "'pressure leads to progress'" and substitute with ", and"; to delete "but" after "for boosting children's learning,"; to delete "and" after "excessively boosting children's learning;"; and to add "; (4) allocate additional resources to assist students with learning difficulties and those with special learning needs, including identifying such students as early as possible and providing them with training and support on all fronts, so as to reduce their study pressure; (5) streamline the existing curriculum contents of primary and secondary education, so that teachers and students will not come under pressure for catching up with the curricula, and students can use the spare lesson time to cultivate their personal learning interests; (6) encourage schools to invite experts from different industries to hold workshops and experience programmes, so as to broaden students' horizons and enable their understanding of potentials, thereby cultivating the relevant interests and developing their careers in the future; and (7) sort out the negative impacts of study pressure on students and give comprehensive care to students' physical and mental development, including increasing the support services provided by clinical psychologists and medical social workers in schools to offer emotional and psychological counselling to students, and expanding the school dental care service and the student health service to ensure that they have good physical health for learning" immediately before the full stop.

(iii)Hon IP Kin-yuen to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", under Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is the right of the child to rest and leisure, and the state parties to the convention should encourage the provision of appropriate and equal opportunities for cultural, artistic, recreational and leisure activity to children; the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF also calls on parents to provide children with at least one hour of free play a day; yet," after "That"; to add ", and even self-destruction behaviour" after "irritability, etc."; to add "(2) firmly uphold the policy of small-class education in primary schools, and expeditiously implement small-class teaching in secondary schools, so as to improve students' learning environment, enhance students' concentration and increase teacher-student interaction; (3) examine the impacts of the morbid and substantive change in education brought about by the Territory-wide System Assessment on schools and students, and expeditiously rectify the pitfalls; if rectification is not viable, the Administration should abolish the Territory-wide System Assessment, so as to bring school education back to the normal track and reduce students' study pressure; (4) provide more support to students with special education needs and non-Chinese speaking students, so as to eliminate the barriers in their learning and social life; (5) conduct studies on the impacts of the curricula of playgroups and interest classes available at the market on children's intellectual and psychological development, and introduce appropriate regulation, so as to avoid such curricula and activities having negative impacts on children's growth;" after "progression in education;"; to delete the original "(2)" and substitute with "(6)"; and to delete the original "(3)" and substitute with "(7)".

(iv)Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", as competition is keen in society," after "That"; to delete "society" after "majority view of" and substitute with "Hong Kong"; to delete "there are many books and discussions available at the market about 'tiger moms and dads', 'helicopter parents' and 'monster parents', etc." after "nowadays," and substitute with "many books are available at the market"; to delete "do dictation and spelling exercises, etc." after "request them to" and substitute with "learn 'by rote', thus greatly stifling their creativity"; to add "set true ideals for education," after "(1)"; to add "whether" after "and comprehensively review"; to add "can truly achieve the objectives of education" after "progression in education"; to add "and encourage parents to attach more importance to children's learning process, growth and interests, so as" after "parental education"; to add ", thus enabling children to grow up more happily; (3) enhance the education on building students' self-confidence and the promotion of diversified career pathways, so as to avoid taking examination results as the sole objective of learning by students" after "excessively boosting children's learning"; and to delete the original "(3)" and substitute with "(4)".

(v)Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "the majority view of society has all along held" after "That" and substitute with "some parents in Hong Kong hold"; to delete "and" after "excessively boosting children's learning;"; and to add "; (4) develop a diversified education system, including strengthening vocational education, arts education and physical education, so as to reduce the pressure of public examinations on students, and assist those students who are unable to adapt to conventional education in choosing study pathways according to their abilities and interests; and (5) increase the number of tertiary education places, especially the degree programme places offered by institutions funded by the University Grants Committee, so as to alleviate students' pressure arising from the need to compete for such places" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education

4.Reorganising the Government's structure to improve its policy implementation

Hon Kenneth LEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)

That the current-term Government has repeatedly committed blunders in its policy implementation, and the policies as implemented are not in place and unable to respond to people's demands, coupled with the situations where a number of officials successively committed scandals and serious dereliction of duty, resulting in serious doubts about the Government's ability to govern and implement policies; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to examine afresh its operating structure, and after consulting the Legislative Council and the public, to effect improvement, adjustment and division of labour in respect of the functions, objectives and policy portfolios of various policy bureaux, and to conduct structural reorganisation on a need basis for enhancing the quality and competence of various policy bureaux and the departments under their purview in policy formulation and execution, making the Government's policy implementation more open, closely follow public opinions, integrated and consistent.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Hon Emily LAU to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", as" after "That"; to add "the Chief Executive, Members of the Executive Council and" after "the situations where"; to add "had conflicts of interest and" after "successively"; to delete "; in this connection" after "implement policies"; and to add "to review and improve the system of declaration of interests by Members of the Executive Council and the Code for Officials under the Political Appointment System, to implement the various recommendations in the Report of the Independent Review Committee for the Prevention and Handling of Potential Conflicts of Interest," after "urges the Government".

(ii)Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "the current-term Government has repeatedly committed blunders in its policy implementation, and the policies as implemented are not in place and unable to respond to people's demands, coupled with the situations where a number of officials successively committed scandals and serious dereliction of duty, resulting in serious doubts about" after "That" and substitute with ", in the face of the complicated and volatile external environment and Hong Kong's development needs, the Government's governance structure should keep pace with the times for enhancing" and to add ", including expeditiously establishing an innovation and technology bureau," after "basis".

(iii)Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "," after "demands" and substitute with "; no thorough consideration is given to policies before they are launched, and an effective review mechanism is also lacking; in coping with the structural problems in Hong Kong's economic and social development, the Government often adopts short-term or interim measures, and delays the implementation of long-term planning;"; to add "also do not have the experience that corresponds to their functions and even" after "officials"; to add ", the functions of accountability officials and the relevant entry requirements, to appoint people whose experience corresponds to the relevant functions as principal officials of the Government, to clearly set out the criteria for holding principal officials accountable for their faults" after "structure"; to add ", to review the effectiveness of the accountability system for principal officials" after "portfolios of various policy bureaux"; to delete "for enhancing" after "basis" and substitute with "; the Government should also improve the policy review mechanism, so as to enhance"; and to add ", efficiency" after "quality".

Public Officer to attend : The Chief Secretary for Administration

5.Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the security arrangements adopted by the Legislative Council in respect of large-scale public events.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security

Clerk to the Legislative Council