Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

A 14/15-1

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 15 October 2014 at 11:00 am

IA. Presentation of Petitions

1.	Hon TAM Yiu-chung and Hon IP Kwok-him to present a petition (Appendix Ia)
2.	Hon SIN Chung-kai and Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to present a petition (Appendix Ib)

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments		L.N. No.
1.	Summary Disposal of Complaints (Solicitors) (Amendment) Rules 2014	116/2014
2.	Smoking (Public Health) (Designation of No Smoking Areas) (Amendment) Notice 2014	117/2014
3.	Prevention and Control of Disease (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014	118/2014

Other Papers

1.	No. 1	-	Competition Commission Annual Report 2013/2014
(to be presented by Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development)
2.	No. 2	-	Urban Renewal Authority Annual Report 2013-2014
(to be presented by The Financial Secretary)
3.	No. 3	-	Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board Annual Report 2013-14
(to be presented by Secretary for Labour and Welfare)
4.	No. 4	-	Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the first quarter of 2014-15 Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8
(to be presented by Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
5.	No. 5	-	West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Annual Report 2013/14
(to be presented by the Financial Secretary)

IIA. Questions under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure

1. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)

On the 28th of last month, the Police fired 87 canisters of tear gas at the protesters staying at Tim Mei Avenue and Connaught Road, Central/Harcourt Road, etc. The Police stressed after the incident that the firing of tear gas was consistent with international standards, and that they had no other options but to fire tear gas at the protesters who on that day violently charged at the Police cordon lines and ignored their advice and warnings. However, according to eyewitnesses' reports and television news footages, the Police had tear-gassed protesters repeatedly at various locations without giving any prior warning under the circumstances where they were not being charged at. For instance, when the first round of tear gas was fired, the Police aimed the tear gas at the students standing behind mills barriers outside the Central Government Offices at Tim Mei Avenue, but it was learnt that those students had all along not done anything to charge at the police cordon lines, and that the Police had not displayed any banner warning that tear gas would be fired before doing so. As members of the public are gravely concerned whether the Police's firing of tear gas met the relevant criteria and are worried that the Police would fire tear gas again in the near future to disperse the protesters, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the existing criteria adopted by the Police for firing tear gas, including the circumstances under which tear gas may be fired, whether prior warnings must be given to protesters and whether it may be fired under the circumstances where the Police are not being charged at or treated violently; the circumstances under which the Police may resort to more powerful weapons such as rubber bullets, etc.; as the Police has indicated that pepper spray and tear gas are of a similar level of force, whether police officers are also allowed to fire tear gas under the circumstances where the use of pepper spray is permitted;
(2)	as the protests are still going on at present, whether the avoidance of conflicts and dangerous situations is the prime consideration of the Police when maintaining public order, or whether there are other considerations, such as firing tear gas or even using more powerful weapons against peaceful protesters merely for enforcing the clearance instructions of senior government officials; and
(3)	given the allegation that, on the 28th of last month, police officers threw tear gas canisters at the students gathering peacefully at Tim Mei Avenue without giving any prior warning under the circumstances where they were not being charged at, whether the authorities will immediately conduct a thorough investigation into whether there was any misuse or indiscriminate use of tear gas so as to prevent recurrence of similar situation; if they will conduct such an investigation, whether they will temporarily suspend the use of tear gas until the completion of the investigation; if there will not be such temporary suspension, of the reasons for that; whether the authorities will look into if the officials concerned need to be held politically accountable for the decisions to clear the protest sites and fire tear gas at the protesters, so as to prevent them from making similar decisions again?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

2. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the repeated use of tear gas and pepper spray by the Police on the 28th of last month to suppress participants of a peaceful assembly has triggered fierce public resentment, and the use of violence by the Police against participants of the peaceful assembly has become the focus of international media. As there are still a lot of members of the public participating in that assembly and the crisis is not yet over, will the Government inform this Council of the decision-making mechanism currently adopted by the authorities concerning the use of lethal weapons such as tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse participants of peaceful assemblies, including the respective roles under the aforesaid mechanism played by the Chief Executive, the Commissioner of Police and the officials of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, as well as the rank(s) of the officials who are vested with the authority to make the decision of using such weapons; whether it has immediately reviewed the mechanism since the 28th of last month; if it has not, of the immediate measures that will be adopted by the authorities to prevent the Police from unreasonably using lethal weapons against participants of peaceful assemblies, thus leading to tragedies of bloodshed?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

3. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that on the 3rd and 4th of this month, some members of the public who participated in the Occupy Central movement and gathered in Mongkok, as well as journalists covering the activities, were assaulted and injured, posing a serious threat to their personal safety. In addition, some female participants of the assembly were allegedly indecently assaulted and sexually harassed. There were media reports that police officers at the scene had let go the assaulters. Furthermore, a reporter of the British Broadcasting Corporation said that based on the information obtained from the Police, the attacks obviously involved triad members. As the assembly is still going on, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(1)	whether the Police have immediately reviewed if their failure to prevent the occurrence of incidents in which assembly participants were attacked by a number of triad members was due to inadequacy in their efforts in collecting intelligence on triad activities or their sluggish deployment of police manpower, so as to take measures in the light of the review outcome in order to prevent recurrence of similar incidents; if they have conducted such a review, of the outcome;
(2)	as it has been reported that the Police did not forthwith arrest and detain those persons suspected of deliberately provoking, shoving, punching and kicking, as well as indecently assaulting assembly participants, whether the Police will immediately step up law enforcement efforts in order to curb the recurrence of such illegal acts; and
(3)	whether they have taken specific immediate measures and followed up on the procedures for making decisions on the handling of the incidents by the Police, in order to prevent assembly participants from being attacked again, and to protect the personal safety of assembly participants and journalists; if they have, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

4. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)

Prior to firing tear gas to disperse the participants of the assembly in areas around Admiralty on the 28th of last month, the Police displayed to them a number of times warning banners printed with the wording of "Warning tear gas" on one side and "Disperse or we fire" on the other side. The Chief Superintendent of the Police Public Relations Branch explained at a press conference held on 30 September that the wrong side of the banner might have been displayed possibly due to the chaotic situation at the scene, and that the Police had no intention to fire on the crowd. However, a number of photographs showed that the Police had displayed several banners of this type to the assembly participants, with both sides of the banners facing the participants. Given that the assembly is still going on, will the Government inform this Council whether the Police have immediately reviewed their mechanism for displaying various types of warning banners to protesters, including the rank(s) of the officers who decide what type of banners are to be displayed, the decision-making procedure, and whether the Police should cease using various types of warning banners with two sides printed with different wording when handling the aforesaid assembly in future, so as to avoid causing public panic again due to the conveyance of wrong messages; if they have reviewed, of the outcome; if not, whether they will conduct such a review immediately?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

5. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

It has been learnt that as the assemblies triggered by the Occupy Central movement have been going on for 10-odd days until now causing a number of major trunk roads on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon being blocked by assembly participants, services of over 200 public bus routes, over 20 green minibus routes and the trams have been affected. As the alternative roads in the affected districts have limited capacity, extensive traffic congestion is common in such districts with tailbacks once reaching over 20 kilometres, thus seriously affecting the daily lives of members of the public and business operation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	as the railway has now become the only mode of transport for the majority of the public, whether the authorities have forthwith formulated contingency plans to cope with the scenario in which train service of any railway line, particularly the Island Line, Tsuen Wan Line and Kwun Tong Line, is suspended due to occurrence of incidents, so as to prevent the traffic on Hong Kong Island and in Kowloon coming to a halt; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will formulate such contingency plans right away;
(2)	as quite a number of small business operators engaged in the transportation, retail, catering and tourism industries have relayed to me that their businesses have been hard hit by the road blockages and their employees have also suddenly lost their means of living, whether the authorities have forthwith assessed the losses suffered by these industries and introduced targeted emergency relief measures for such industries on the basis of the assessment outcome; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will conduct such an assessment right away; and
(3)	whether it has formulated contingency plans to ensure that, in the event of occurrence of major traffic accidents, fires or industrial accidents, etc., emergency service vehicles (including police vehicles, fire engines and ambulances) and their personnel can arrive at the scene in the shortest possible time; if it has, of the details; if not, whether it will formulate such contingency plans right away?

Public Officers to reply

Secretary for Security
Secretary for Transport and Housing
Secretary for Home Affairs
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

II. Questions

1. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)

Article 7 of Annex I and Article III of Annex II to the Basic Law provide respectively that if there is a need to amend the method for selecting the Chief Executives and that for forming the Legislative Council ("LegCo") for the terms subsequent to the year 2007, such amendments must be made "with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the LegCo". Regarding the interpretation of "all the members of the LegCo", the former Chief Secretary for Administration said in his statement on the "Package of Proposals for the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2012" delivered at the LegCo meeting on 14 April 2010 that after detailed study by the Department of Justice and careful consideration from different angles, the Government considered that the entire authorized membership of the LegCo, i.e., the 60 LegCo Members stipulated in Article 1(1) of Annex II to the Basic Law, rather than the number of the LegCo Members in office, should be taken as the basis for calculating "a two-thirds majority of all the members of the LegCo" ("the interpretation in 2010"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether the interpretation of "all the members of the LegCo" by the Government of the current term is consistent with the interpretation in 2010; if it is not, of the interpretation by the Government of the current term and the circumstances under which such interpretation applies;
(2)	whether it has studied if the absence of Members due to involuntary reasons (such as being detained by law enforcement agencies) when the motions to amend the methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 and for forming the LegCo in 2016 are being voted on in the LegCo will affect the number of Members actually meant by "all the members of the LegCo" and may thus affect the voting result of such motions; if it has, of the outcome; and
(3)	how the authorities will deal with the situation in which the Government and the President have different understanding of "all the members of the LegCo" and whether the Government will take the understanding of the President as the correct one; if they will, of the reasons; if not, the justifications for that, and whether the Government will take any measures, such as seeking an interpretation of "all the members of the LegCo" from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

2. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)

According to the Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") of Article 7 of Annex I to the Basic Law adopted on 6 April 2004 ("the 2004 Interpretation"), the Chief Executive ("CE") of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("SAR") shall make a report to NPCSC as regards whether there is a need to amend the method for selecting CE; and then NPCSC shall make a determination. The bills on the amendments to the method for selecting CE shall be introduced by the SAR Government into the Legislative Council ("LegCo"). However, after considering the relevant report submitted by CE, NPCSC made a decision on 31 August of this year, which includes that, when the selection of CE is implemented by the method of universal suffrage, the provisions for the composition of the nominating committee shall be made in accordance with the composition of the existing Election Committee; the nominating committee shall nominate two to three candidates; and each candidate must have the endorsement of more than half of all the members of the nominating committee ("the decision on the nominating committee"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that the 2004 Interpretation mentions only that NPCSC shall make a determination as regards whether there is a need to amend the method for selecting CE, but not that NPCSC has the power to decide how the method for selecting CE shall be amended, whether it has studied if NPCSC's decision on the nominating committee is legally binding; if the study outcome is in the affirmative, of the Basic Law provisions based on which the decision was made;
(2)	given the stipulation in the 2004 Interpretation that the bills on the amendments to the method for selecting CE shall be introduced by the SAR Government into LegCo, whether it has studied if NPCSC's decision on the nominating committee has contravened the principles of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" and "a high degree of autonomy", and whether the decision has contravened Annex I to the Basic Law and the 2004 Interpretation; if it has, of the outcome; and
(3)	whether it has studied if NPCSC's decision on the nominating committee complies with Articles 25, 26 and 39 of the Basic Law; if it has, of the outcome?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

3. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that earlier on, a 19-year-old teenager, suspected to be aggrieved by the continued demand for fee payment by the i-Cable Communications Limited ("i-Cable") even after his family member had terminated the telecommunications service contract ("the contract") with the company, stormed into the Cable TV Tower with knives and demanded to meet the company's management. A security guard and two staff members of i-Cable were injured in the incident. Subsequent to that, there have been a spate of media reports about disputes over termination of service contracts with the company. Some editorials even criticized the company and other telecommunications service operators ("TSOs") for "abusing their power to bully customers" and "behaving like street bullies", and the Office of the Communications Authority ("OFCA") for "harbouring network operators and thus being the biggest accomplice". I have also repeatedly received from members of the public complaints and requests for assistance in relation to termination of contracts with i-Cable. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has studied the reasons why many members of the public have complained about and the media have one after another criticized the arrangements for contract termination by TSOs; if it has, of the study outcome and the improvement measures; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it knows if OFCA has reviewed whether the existing policy and the Industry Code of Practice for Telecommunications Service Contracts can effectively prevent TSOs from deliberately adopting complicated and time-consuming procedures to make it difficult for customers to terminate their contracts, thereby forcibly seizing their market shares; if it has reviewed, of the details and the improvement measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	as TSOs which have strong financial backing can engage legal professionals to prepare telecommunications service contracts which are favourable to them and, owing to the costly litigation fees, members of the public often can only give up settling their disputes with TSOs over contract termination through legal means, what measures the authorities have in place to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of members of the public, especially those who are not eligible for legal assistance?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

4. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that earlier on, a number of newspapers in Hong Kong received e-mails which alleged that the chairman of a local media group had made huge amounts of political donations to a number of former and incumbent Members of the Legislative Council ("LegCo"), well-known political figures and former government officials. It has also been reported that the person has close ties with senior government officials and military personages of a certain country. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	given that politically appointed officials or civil servants are currently regulated by the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance or the relevant internal codes of the Government during service, and are strictly prohibited from accepting advantages, whether any legislation or code is currently in place to regulate the acceptance of advantages directly or indirectly from local or foreign sources by such personnel after retirement; if so, of the details;
(2)	whether any legislation is currently in place to prohibit any foreign government or political organization from providing pecuniary, non-pecuniary or deferred benefits to Hong Kong's political organizations or political figures through intermediaries such as local enterprises or people, in an attempt to interfere with Hong Kong's internal affairs; if such legislation is not in place, whether the Government has plans to enact legislation to impose such regulation; if it does, of the timetable; and
(3)	as it has been reported that certain foreign forces have attempted to recruit, through making donations, local political figures or LegCo Members to be the spokespersons for their interests in Hong Kong or to influence the discussions on Hong Kong's constitutional development, whether the Government will take the initiative to request the Central People's Government or the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong to provide assistance in the diplomatic aspect to guard against foreign forces from indirectly interfering with the internal affairs of Hong Kong; if it will, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

5. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

In 2008, CITIC Pacific Limited (currently known as CITIC Limited and hereafter referred to as "CITIC") suffered massive losses incurred by its investment in leveraged foreign exchange contracts. It has been six years since the Securities and Futures Commission ("SFC") and other relevant agencies commenced various investigations into CITIC's disclosure of its financial position at that time and related matters ("the CITIC incident"). SFC recently announced on the 11th of last month that it had instituted proceedings in both the Court of First Instance ("CFI") and the Market Misconduct Tribunal ("MMT") against CITIC and five of its former executive directors. SFC alleges that CITIC and the directors concerned had engaged in market misconduct involving disclosure of false or misleading information on the company's financial position. SFC is seeking orders from CFI to restore or compensate 4 500 investors who purchased CITIC shares between the date on which CITIC announced such information and the date the true financial position was disclosed ("the specified period"). SFC is also seeking that CITIC and the directors concerned be sanctioned by MMT. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	apart from the aforesaid investors, whether the authorities have plans to assist other investors who suffered losses due to the CITIC incident (including those investors who had already held CITIC shares prior to the specified period, as well as those who had purchased CITIC-related warrants or options during the specified period or had held such items prior to that period) in seeking compensations; if they have such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it knows the respective scopes of the investigations carried out by agencies such as SFC, the Police and the Financial Reporting Council; when SFC submitted its investigation results to the Department of Justice ("DoJ") and the Financial Secretary, and when the Financial Secretary gave his consent to instituting proceedings; the latest progress of the investigations carried out by the various agencies concerned; as well as the expected time when decisions will be made as to whether the persons concerned will be prosecuted or penalized; and
(3)	given that the authorities indicated in their replies to questions raised by Members of this Council in 2010 that in general, it was only after DoJ had ruled out criminal prosecution would SFC consider instituting proceedings in MMT, and that the Securities and Futures Ordinance also provides that if proceedings have been instituted against any person, no criminal prosecution may be instituted against that person in respect of the same conduct, whether the authorities have assessed if the current proceedings instituted in MMT by SFC have undermined the power of DoJ in instituting criminal prosecutions in respect of the CITIC incident; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, of the extent; if in the negative, of the justifications and how the authorities safeguard the rights and interests of minority shareholders and uphold Hong Kong's reputation as an international financial centre?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

6. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)

On 14 August this year, a big tree collapsed from a slope inside a private residential estate at Robinson Road and fell onto a footpath, crushing a passing pregnant woman to death. Subsequently, quite a number of tree experts urged the Government to expeditiously enact legislation on trees and improve its tree management policy. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	apart from reminding property owners and management companies of private residential estates of their responsibility for proper maintenance of the trees within their estates and disseminating relevant information to them by issuing letters and organizing seminars, whether the authorities have specific measures at present to help them carry out tree maintenance work; if they do, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider formulating such measures immediately; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it has improved tree management work in the light of the aforesaid tree collapse incident; if it has, of the latest progress and details; if not, whether the authorities will consider taking follow-up actions; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	given that the former Secretary for Development indicated in June 2011 that she would seriously consider commencing studies on enacting legislation on trees, of the latest progress of such initiative, as well as the work plan and timetable for the legislative work; if it does not have such work plan and timetable, of the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*7. Dr Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the University of Hong Kong ("HKU") has made huge amount of advanced payments for the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital ("Shenzhen Hospital") since its establishment, which it operates in collaboration with the Shenzhen Municipal Government, and such payments are unlikely to be recovered in the near future. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it knows if the University Grants Committee ("UGC") has required tertiary institutions funded by UGC ("UGC-funded institutions") to notify UGC when they set up self-financing organizations outside Hong Kong to be operated collaboratively or independently, so as to ensure that such institutions do not use public funds to subsidize their self-financing projects;
(2)	as HKU has indicated that the operation of Shenzhen Hospital has all along been in compliance with the policy of no cross-subsidization set out in the UGC Notes on Procedures, whether it knows if UGC has carried out any verification to address public concern; and
(3)	given the allocation of matching grants by the Government to UGC-funded institutions under the Matching Grant Scheme launched for the tertiary education sector, whether the authorities will investigate if HKU has used the matching grants allocated to it by the Government to meet any expenses in relation to Shenzhen Hospital (including set-up costs and advanced payments)?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

*8. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females in Hong Kong, and ranks the third among cancers causing deaths of females in Hong Kong. In the Prevention and Screening for Breast Cancer published in April 2014, the Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening ("Working Group") of the Department of Health pointed out that breast cancer screening was proven to be beneficial for women with a higher risk of developing breast cancer. The Working Group therefore recommended that such women "should seek advice from doctors about whether they should receive breast cancer screening". On the other hand, as revealed by the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Registry Report No. 5 published in 2013 by the Hong Kong Breast Cancer Foundation ("the Foundation"), among more than 9 800 breast cancer patients covered by the Report, only 14.5% had a family history of breast cancer. The Foundation also pointed out that breast cancer screening for women currently implemented on the Mainland and in Taiwan and many Western countries had helped to reduce the mortality rates of breast cancer patients. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has compiled statistics on the current population of those women in Hong Kong belonging to groups with a higher risk of developing breast cancer;
(2)	whether it will, in response to the recommendation by the Working Group, provide the needed medical consultation and breast cancer screening services for women with a higher risk of developing breast cancer; if it will, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; of the public healthcare institutions in Hong Kong currently offering breast cancer screening services to such women;
(3)	given that the Report of the Foundation indicated that most breast cancer patients had no family history of breast cancer, of the measures put in place by the Government to help this category of women to detect breast cancer and receive treatments as early as possible;
(4)	given that some women have relayed that the waiting time for mammography and breast ultrasound scanning at public hospitals is too long, which might result in delay in their receiving diagnoses and treatments, whether the Government has measures in place to shorten the waiting time; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5)	whether the Government will consider following the practices of the Mainland, Taiwan and other countries in implementing a breast cancer screening programme for women, and providing breast cancer screening services for women in need through public-private partnership or collaboration with non-profit-making women health centres in the community?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*9. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the authorities world-wide are increasingly concerned about the practice of conducting animal testing in the research and development ("R&D") of cosmetic products. The European Union ("EU") has promulgated a ban on animal testing for cosmetic products which prohibits, from March last year, the sale in EU of newly manufactured cosmetic products and their ingredients which had been tested on animals. Countries like Japan, India and Brazil have also started to introduce related bans. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the current number of locally registered manufacturers of cosmetic products; whether it knows the number of such manufacturers who have conducted animal testing during the R&D of cosmetic products; whether the authorities will consider introducing legislation to ban such animal testing so as to prohibit cruelty to animals; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it will encourage manufacturers and importers of cosmetic products to sign the charter for "cruelty-free cosmetics" and pledge not to sell cosmetic products that have been tested on animals during the R&D process;
(3)	whether it will consider introducing a labelling system to require that cosmetic products for sale in Hong Kong must show clearly whether they have been tested on animals during the R&D process, so as to help consumers choose cosmetic products that are animal test free;
(4)	whether it will consider introducing legislation to ban the import of cosmetic products that have been tested on animals during the R&D process; if it will, of the legislative timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5)	whether it has plans to promote the message of "cruelty-free cosmetics", such as that animal testing during the R&D process of cosmetic products is unnecessary, and to encourage the public to purchase cosmetic products that are animal test free; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*10. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)

A report on Policy Development Proposals on the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement ("CEPA"), published by the Financial Services Development Council last month, has pointed out that under the current CEPA framework, there is still considerable room for development in various areas of the financial services industry, and put forward nine specific policy recommendations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether a communication mechanism between the Government and the mainland authorities is currently in place for regular review of the implementation situation and progress of CEPA in the financial services industry; if so, of the details and the findings of the latest review; if not, the reasons for that; and
(2)	whether it has conducted any assessment on the feasibility of the nine recommendations of the report; if it has, of the assessment outcome and its plan for implementing such recommendations; if not, whether it will do so expeditiously?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*11. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)

According to sections 74 and 78 of the Education Ordinance (Cap. 279), where it appears to the Permanent Secretary of the Education Bureau ("EDB") that a child is not attending primary school or secondary school without any reasonable excuse, the Permanent Secretary may, after making such inquiries as he considers necessary, serve upon a parent of the child an attendance order requiring him to cause the child to attend regularly as a pupil the primary school or secondary school named in the attendance order; and any parent who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with an attendance order shall be guilty of an offence. The Ordinance has not specified how parents may lawfully home-school their children and the related application procedure. However, it is learnt that legislation to regulate home-schooling for children has been enacted in developed places like Taiwan and Singapore. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the current number of school-age children who have been approved by EDB to be home-schooled, and the details of the relevant vetting and approval procedures; whether it has any plan to upload such statistics as well as such vetting and approval procedures onto EDB's web site, and to promote the learning mode of home-schooling; and

(2)

since some members from the education sector have pointed out that as Hong Kong's current education system is very rigid, holding examination results as the teaching goal, and coupled with teachers being overloaded, students tend to learn by rote and the needs of individual students cannot be met, whether EDB will consider putting in place a home-schooling system for children and setting up a task force to formulate the relevant policies so as to provide an additional option on learning mode for students to choose; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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

In April 2012, the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council approved an allocation of $150 million to the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") for implementing a scheme to provide a one-off subsidy to vehicle owners for replacement of the catalytic converters and oxygen sensors of their taxis and light buses fuelled by petrol and liquefied petroleum gas ("the replacement scheme"), which was launched late last year. Recently, I have received complaints from some members of the transport industry who pointed out that the relevant catalytic converters were of problematic quality. The poor performance of these catalytic converters when compared with the previous ones has resulted in frequent engine stalling in some of the vehicles soon after installation of the catalytic converters. Such persons are also dissatisfied with EPD's refusal to make public the performance test report of the relevant catalytic converters. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the number of complaints received by EPD about the catalytic converters since the launch of the replacement scheme, and the follow-up actions taken on such complaints;
(2)	of the tender conditions in respect of the catalytic converters; the respective weightings of bidding price and other considerations in EPD's selection of suppliers and whether the suppliers were required to provide guarantees for the service life and quality of the catalytic converters; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	as EPD has indicated that the failures of the catalytic converters were related to poor vehicle maintenance and repair, whether EPD has ascertained from those drivers of vehicles having problems with catalytic converters if they have changed the maintenance and repair procedures for their vehicles since they used the newly installed catalytic converters; if EPD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)	whether EPD has conducted any longitudinal study on the quality of the catalytic converters selected in the tender, in order to gauge their long-term performance; if EPD has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*13. Hon POON Siu-ping to ask: (Translation)

Regarding Hong Kong's occupational safety and industrial accidents, will the Government inform this Council of:

(1)	the casualties caused by industrial accidents since January this year, and their breakdowns by industry;
(2)	the annual number of cases since 2012 in which the authorities instituted prosecutions against employers by invoking the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance (Cap. 509) and the Factories and Industrial Undertakings Ordinance (Cap. 59), including their subsidiary regulations, as well as the average and highest fines/terms of imprisonment imposed on the convicted employers; and
(3)	the respective numbers of cases since 2012 in which the authorities instituted, by invoking the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), prosecutions against employers for failing to give notices of work accidents of employees as required or for providing false or misleading information when giving notice of work accidents, as well as the average and highest fines/terms of imprisonment imposed on the convicted employers?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*14. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported recently that quite a number of flights have been delayed in taking off from or landing at the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") due to the implementation of air traffic flow control by the mainland authorities. There have also been press comments pointing out that the People's Liberation Army Air Force requires that an aircraft departing from Hong Kong must reach an altitude of over 15 700 feet before it enters the mainland airspace (such altitude restriction is commonly known as the "sky wall"). The sky wall has lengthened flight times and prevented the existing two-runway system of HKIA from optimizing its operation efficiency, thus affecting air traffic movements. Besides, some concern groups have recently pointed out that the northbound routes recommended in the 1992 New Airport Master Plan have still not been opened. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of times the Airport Authority or the Civil Aviation Department was notified by the mainland authorities of the implementation of air traffic flow control (broken down by mainland airspace over which air traffic flow control is implemented) and the total number of hours of delay in aircraft arrivals and departures caused by such control since 2010;

(2)

of the number of flights which were delayed in taking off from or landing in Hong Kong due to the implementation of air traffic flow control by the mainland authorities, with a breakdown of the number by flight destinations and its percentage in the total number of aircraft movements, in each year since 2010, set out in the following table;

Year	Number of flights	Flight destinations							Percentage in the total number of aircraft movements of the year
Year	Number of flights	Mainland	Middle East	Europe	Americas	South-east Asia	North-east Asia	Africa
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 (up to September)

(3)

whether it conducted any study in the past three years on the effects of the "sky wall" on the number of aircraft movements; if so, of the details; if not, whether the authorities can undertake to conduct the study and publish the results; and

(4)

of the reasons why the northbound air routes have still not been opened?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

In October last year, the Chief Executive in Council approved in principle the applications of two organizations for a domestic free television programme service licence. It has been reported that one of these organizations indicated in August this year that it was still discussing with the Communications Authority the conditions and detailed provisions of the licence, but the progress was unsatisfactory. The organization also criticized that "the regulatory framework required new operators to be subject to regulation which was far more stringent than that faced by existing licensees, in total disregard of the unparalleled advantages enjoyed by existing operators", thus rendering it difficult for the objective of opening up the free television market to be achieved. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the latest progress of the authorities' issuance of formal licences to the aforesaid two organizations and the formulation of relevant codes of practice;
(2)	given the fact that an existing free television broadcaster is currently dominating the market, whether the authorities will, when formulating the regulatory framework, consider implementing measures or arrangements that will provide a less stringent operating environment for the new operators at the initial stage; if they will not, of the reasons for that, and whether they have considered if this would make it impossible for the new operators to compete fairly with that existing television broadcaster in the short term; and
(3)	of the earliest time the authorities expect under the present situation when the two organizations whose applications were granted approval-in-principle can start broadcasting?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*16. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)

Digital terrestrial television services were launched at the end of 2007. The authorities have indicated their intention to switch off analogue television services at the end of 2015, subject to the outcome of further market and technical studies. The authorities are considering the applications of the two free-to-air television stations for renewal of domestic free television programme service licences ("free TV licences"), the result of which may affect the future allocation of spectrum. Furthermore, at the end of last year, some free-to-air television stations were fined for contravening the requirement on sharing equally the transmission capacity in the Multiple Frequency Network. Regarding the optimal use and fair allocation of precious spectrum resources, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has considered deferring the date of analogue television services switch-off ("ASO"); if it has, whether it will adjust the relevant considerations; if it will, of the details; what measures the authorities will take to expeditiously achieve the ASO target;
(2)	of the respective transmission capacities of analogue television services spectrum which are in use and left idle; of the transmission capacity of the spectrum to be released following ASO; whether it has estimated the utilization rate of the released spectrum in the first three years;
(3)	how it ensures the efficient use of the spectrum to be released following ASO, and that more competition will be introduced into the free-to-air television market; whether it will consider allocating spectrum rights by auction; if it will, of the details; whether it will consider amending the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap 562) and the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap 106) to improve the auction mechanism concerned; and
(4)	of the current allocation ratios and utilization situations of spectrum among various television stations, and whether it knows if there is any television station which has not fully utilized the transmission capacity of the spectrum allocated to it; if there is, of the details; whether the authorities have any mechanism in place to recover the transmission capacity of spectrum which is left idle by television stations; if so, of the details?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

According to the Transparency Report published biannually by Google, an Internet search-engine service provider, the number of requests made by the Government to the company for disclosure of its users' information has increased from 50 in the first half of 2010 to 359 in the first half of 2014, representing an over six-fold increase. It is learned that there are no standardized procedural guidelines for government departments to make requests for information of Internet users, nor are there provisions requiring government departments to obtain a court order before making requests to the service providers concerned for disclosure or removal of users' information. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the details of the requests made since February 2014 by each government department to various Internet service providers (including Google, Yahoo)/Internet platforms/web sites (collectively referred to as "service providers") for disclosure of their users' information, including (i) names of service providers, (ii) whether the service providers are local or foreign companies, (iii) types of requests made and the number in respect of each type, (iv) reasons for making the requests, (v) whether the requests were made under court orders, (vi) details of the information requested, (vii) whether the service providers had acceded to the requests and (viii) reasons given by the service providers for not acceding to the requests;
(2)	of the details of the requests made since February 2014 by each government department to service providers for removal of their users' information, including (i) names of service providers, (ii) whether the service providers are local or foreign companies, (iii) types of requests made and the number in respect of each type, (iv) reasons for making the requests, (v) whether the requests were made under court orders, (vi) details of the information requested for removal, (vii) whether the service providers had acceded to the requests and (viii) reasons given by the service providers for not acceding to the requests;
(3)	whether the authorities will consider publishing reports periodically (such as biannually) in respect of the information mentioned in (1) and (2) so as to enhance transparency;
(4)	of the discrepancies in the procedural guidelines or contents of the forms used by various government departments for making requests to service providers for disclosure or removal of information of their users; whether the authorities have consulted the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") on such guidelines and forms; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will consider consulting PCPD; whether they will reconsider standardizing such guidelines and forms; if they will, whether a timetable has been set; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(5)	whether the authorities will consider reviewing the existing legislation with a view to requiring that a government department must obtain a court order before it may make a request to a service provider for disclosure or removal of its users' information, so as to prevent abuse of personal information and to safeguard the privacy of the members of the public?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Before the berthing for the first time of two cruise vessels at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal ("KTCT") on the same day, i.e. the 29th of last month, the media had once again reported on the inadequacy of the ancillary transport facilities in KTCT. The media were afraid that the situation of passengers overcrowding the taxi stands inside KTCT might recur. Taxi associations, dissatisfied with the arrangement adopted by KTCT operator and for fear that taxis might "enter and leave KTCT without passengers on board" due to insufficient passengers, have threatened to call on its members to take boycott actions by refusing to enter KTCT. It has also been reported that both tourists and members of the public are dissatisfied with the signage inside KTCT, the routes to eateries and shops and the attractiveness of the shops, etc. Some tourists have even described KTCT as "very boring," pointing out that its supporting facilities are much inferior to those in the cruise terminals in places such as Japan, Korea and Australia, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	whether it has reviewed the situation in which the taxis that enter KTCT to carry passengers would "enter and leave KTCT without passengers on board" as claimed by the taxi associations, and the reasons why taxi drivers refuse to enter KTCT to carry passengers; given that the second berth of KTCT was commissioned at the end of last month and the number of tourists entering the territory through KTCT will increase instead of decreasing, of the means to be adopted to prevent the recurrence of the scenario in which public transport operators refuse to enter KTCT to carry passengers in future;
(2)	given the comments that, at present, the vehicles entering and leaving KTCT must route through Kowloon Bay, and the route is rather indirect, time-consuming and inefficient, whether the Government will consider adopting the proposals recommended by a think tank of linking Kwun Tong and KTCT by constructing a floating bridge or a movable air-bridge, using kaito ferry service (i.e., water taxis), or adding a cruise terminal interchange under the current Kwun Tong to Sai Wan Ho ferry service, or even implement the proposal put forth by the Kwun Tong District Council to the Government on many occasions for building a transportation link to KTCT to improve KTCT's transport arrangements;
(3)	given that some reporters, tourists and members of the public have pointed out the problems of the shops inside KTCT being not attractive, unclear signage, small number of eateries, tourists patronizing retail shops being inconvenienced by the way lifts are operated, tourists having no idea about the location of shuttle bus stops, and few visitors visiting KTCT on weekdays other than weekends at which relatively more local tour groups and members of the public visit KTCT, etc., of the way by which the Government will improve the situation; and
(4)	given that in the past, the Ocean Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui relied on discos, bars and restaurants to boost the visitor flow of its nighttime business, whether the Government has assessed the visitor flow that can be brought to KTCT by establishing a street of bars there; as I have learnt that a bar business group has submitted an application to KTCT operator for running an open street of bars on the podium of KTCT, whether it knows the latest progress of the vetting and approval of such application; whether the authorities can further study if the visitor flow to be brought by the street of bars can motivate public transport modes such as taxis and light buses to carry passengers to and from KTCT?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

The 2014 Policy Address proposes that the Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities ("the Scheme") be extended in phases to include green minibuses ("GMBs") starting from the first quarter of next year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the respective numbers of GMB routes currently serving on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories, as well as across districts the operators of which have applied for joining the Scheme, together with a breakdown by the aforesaid categories of the respective numbers of those routes the applications of which have been approved, are pending approval and have been rejected;
(2)	when it will announce the GMB routes that have been included in the Scheme and the details; of the expected number of GMB routes which will be able to commence the fare concessions in the first quarter of next year; and
(3)	whether it will, when granting operating rights to GMBs in future, consider imposing conditions to require operators to join the Scheme and comply with the relevant technical, operational, accounting and auditing arrangements, with a view to eventually extending the Scheme to cover all the GMB routes?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*20. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the irrigation of plants in venues under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	of the quantity of water used for irrigation by LCSD each year since 2010-2011;
(2)	whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the existing irrigation methods and explored which of them is the most effective; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)	whether LCSD found, in the past three years, cases of its staff members or contractors using excessive amount of water for irrigation; if it did, of the details; of the content of the irrigation guidelines provided by LCSD to them; and
(4)	whether, when constructing parks, it has considered making reference to the practice of using water from natural sources for the irrigation of plants as adopted by the Mainland or overseas countries, so that such parks can be self-sufficient in water use?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*21. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)

Quite a number of people from the ethnic minorities have relayed to me that when seeking treatments at public hospitals or clinics, they are often not given appropriate treatments as they encounter communication difficulties due to language barriers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

(1)	whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") has reviewed the interpretation services currently provided for people from the ethnic minorities;
(2)	the number of complaints received by HA in the past three years lodged by people from the ethnic minorities about not being given appropriate treatments due to language barriers, and whether HA has followed up and dealt with such complaints; if HA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)	whether HA will allocate additional resources to employ more people from the ethnic minorities to work in public hospitals or clinics, so that they may also perform interpretation work as needed; if HA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*22. Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask: (Translation)

The Government's successful offering of its inaugural US$1 billion five-year sukuk, i.e. Islamic bonds, in early September this year has enabled Hong Kong to become a platform for sukuk issuances. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)	as the legal, taxation and regulatory framework of Hong Kong can support the issuance of sukuk, of the authorities' specific plans to encourage more public and private institutions to issue sukuk using Hong Kong's platform; if there is no such plan, the reasons for that;
(2)	whether it has analyzed the uniqueness and major competitive edges of Hong Kong as a platform for issuing sukuk as compared with other international competitors, particularly neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore; if so, of the outcome;
(3)	of the collaboration plans between the authorities and Bank Negara Malaysia (such as borrowing the latter's experience in regulating the Islamic capital market and training financial talents) to enable Hong Kong to more effectively grasp the opportunities of the rapidly growing Islamic financial market; the objectives and timetables of such plans;
(4)	given that among the investors of the inaugural sukuk issued in Hong Kong, almost half of them are from Asia, more than one third from the Middle East and the remaining 17% from Europe and the United States, whether the authorities have any plan to attract more global investors, including those from the Middle East and other Islamic areas, to participate in the bond market of Hong Kong; if so, of the details; and
(5)	whether the Government has any plan to set specific targets on the scale of sukuk issuance for the next three years; if so, of the target issue amount each year?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

* For written reply

III. Bills

First Reading District Cooling Services Bill Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
District Cooling Services Bill	:	Secretary for the Environment

IIIA. Motion for the adjournment of the Council

Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Hon Alan LEONG to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the handling of people's assemblies by the SAR Government and the Hong Kong Police since 26 September this year.

Public Officers to attend

：

Secretary for Security
Under Secretary for Security

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014	:	Secretary for Security
(i) Secretary for Security to move a Committee stage amendment
(The amendment was issued on 3 October 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3)19/14-15)
(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 3 October 2014 under LC Paper Nos. CB(3)19/14-15(01))

IV. Motions

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 and 30 September 2014 under LC Papers Nos. CB(3)770/13-14 and CB(3)13/14-15)

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

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

Hon Alice MAK to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 90 of 2014, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 18 June 2014, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) and deemed to be extended under section 34(3) of that Ordinance, be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 12 November 2014.

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 -

(a)	Rules of the High Court (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2014, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 99 of 2014; and
(b)	Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 2014, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 100 of 2014,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 July 2014, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) and deemed to be extended under section 34(3) of that Ordinance, be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 12 November 2014.

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

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 102 of 2014, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 July 2014, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) and deemed to be extended under section 34(3) of that Ordinance, be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 12 November 2014.

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

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

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