A 13/14-20
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 19 March 2014 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Public Revenue Protection (Dutiable Commodities) Order 2014 | 25/2014 |
| 2. | Rating (Exemption) Order 2014 | 26/2014 |
Other Papers
II. Questions
1. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
According to a paper submitted by the Transport and Housing Bureau to the Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways under the Panel on Transport of this Council, the busy sections of the Tseung Kwan O Line, East Rail Line ("ERL"), West Rail Line ("WRL"), Tsuen Wan Line, Island Line and Kwun Tong Line have been loaded with passengers to capacity or are close to that during the morning peak hours, based on the actual passenger density level of 4 persons (standing) per square metre. Regarding alleviation of the crowdedness in MTR train compartments, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the authorities will take measures (such as requesting the MTR Corporation Limited to modify its fare structure, making use of other modes of public transport for diversion of passengers and setting up shopping areas near the boundary) to alleviate the passenger loading of the railways; if they will, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as ERL has already been loaded with passengers to capacity during peak hours but the project of North East New Territories New Development Areas ("NDA") will increase the population to be served by ERL, and the carrying capacity of ERL will be reduced by the replacement of the current 12-car trains by 9-car trains upon the full commissioning of the Shatin to Central Link ("SCL"), of the plans of the authorities to alleviate the crowdedness in the train compartments of ERL; and (3) whether it has assessed the impact of the commissioning of SCL, the South Island Line and the West Island Line on the patronage of MTR, as well as the number of ERL passengers to be generated by the additional population upon the completion of the relevant items of the NDA project; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it has plans to accelerate the development of the Northern Link so as to divert some ERL passengers to WRL; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
2. Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It is learnt that children with special educational needs ("SEN") such as those with mild intellectual disability may be admitted to small group homes ("SGHs") under the Social Welfare Department, but the age limit for living in SGHs is 18 years old. Some persons with SEN who moved out of SGHs upon reaching the age of 18 but had not yet completed their senior secondary school education have encountered adjustment difficulties in daily life due to the drastic changes in their living environment, and their study progress has also adversely been affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of persons with SEN who moved out of SGHs as they had reached the age of 18 in each school year since 2009-2010, with a tabulated breakdown by their characteristics and circumstances as follows: genders, types of schools attended (i.e. mainstream or special schools), types of SEN (i.e. specific learning difficulties, intellectual disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, autism spectrum disorders, physical disability, speech impairment, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder), and their accommodation arrangements after leaving SGHs (e.g. living with parents or relatives, admitted to private residential homes or those homes with vocational training for adults, etc.); and (2) with regard to persons with SEN who have not yet completed their senior secondary school education, whether the authorities will raise their age limit for living in SGHs; if so, of the procedures and guidelines for such upward adjustment; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Dr Hon LAU Wong-fat to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that train services were disrupted for several times last year due to malfunctioning, and quite a number of passengers were late for school or work due to delay in their journeys. Recently, such failure incidents have occurred more frequently. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it has considered appointing an independent committee or rail transport consultant to conduct a comprehensive study on the operational problems of the railways in Hong Kong, including:
(1) whether the transfer of the operation of the railways (including the East Rail, West Rail, Light Rail, etc.) operated by the then Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation to the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") by the Government, which has resulted in MTRCL having to concurrently manage a number of railways, has exerted excessive pressure on the operation of MTRCL; and (2) whether the operation of railways outside the territory by MTRCL has distracted its attention away from the local operations, resulting in its neglect of operational problems of the railways in Hong Kong?
4. Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that recently, the expenditures of several public works projects have substantially exceeded the approved project estimates due to rising commodity prices and shortfalls of construction workers, etc. In this connection, will the Government:
(1) set out in table form the title, estimated costs and date for submission of each public works project which the authorities have planned to submit to the Finance Committee ("FC") of this Council for approval within the next two years; and among the projects which have commenced or are yet to commence, the title and approved project estimate of each of the projects for which the authorities have envisaged that application for supplementary provisions to FC will be required within the next two years, as well as the amount of supplementary provision to be applied for; (2) set out in table form the estimated number of public and private construction works projects which will commence within the next four years, as well as the respective numbers and shortfalls of workers and management personnel of various trades of the construction industry in the period; and (3) inform this Council, as it has happened from time to time that the authorities had to apply to FC for supplementary provisions because of cost overrun in public works projects, whether the authorities have reviewed the existing process for calculating the project estimates of public works projects, with a view to narrowing the gap between the estimated and the actual expenditures so that the projects can be completed on time without the need to apply for supplementary provisions; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
5. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance stipulates that the fire safety of composite and domestic buildings constructed on or before 1 March 1987 must be enhanced to better meet the requirements of the day. The Fire Services Department and the Buildings Department issue Fire Safety Directions ("Directions") to owners and/or occupiers with regard to fire service installations and fire safety constructions in those buildings, with a view to enhancing the basic fire protection measures in those buildings. Quite a number of owners and residents of old buildings in Mong Kok (including Fa Yuen Street) have relayed to me that they have recently received one after another the Directions issued by the authorities. However, as the buildings in which they live do not have owners' corporations ("OCs") or any other residents' organisations and are not managed by property management companies (i.e. the so-called "three-nil buildings"), and coupled with most of the residents being the indigent elderly, they have the will but lack the ability to co-ordinate the improvement works required for complying with the Directions. Some owners and residents have been fined $700 per household for failing to comply with the Directions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that as they are unable to form OCs despite the co-ordination efforts of the authorities, the owners of some three-nil buildings have all along not complied with the Directions, and they have been fined repeatedly for this, whether the authorities will consider exercising discretion in handling such cases, including suspending the Directions concerned as well as allowing them more time and providing them with appropriate assistance to facilitate their compliance with the Directions; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as the authorities have indicated that they will consider accepting alternative proposals made by owners when there are technical difficulties for individual buildings to comply with the Directions, whether such a flexible approach is applicable to three-nil buildings; if it is, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether the authorities will consider assisting, through other means, the owners of three-nil buildings, who have all along been unable to form their OCs, in complying with the Directions, e.g. by the authorities co-ordinating the required improvement works and afterwards recovering the advanced payments for such works from the owners concerned; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
6. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that as at March 2013, the authorities issued 1 001 money lender licences and were handling 2 556 licence applications. Regarding the regulation of the businesses of licensed money lenders, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints against licensed money lenders received by the Police and the number of licensed money lenders prosecuted in the past three years; (2) whether it has considered cancelling the arrangement of the Registrar of Companies serving concurrently as the Registrar of Money Lenders; if it has, of the details and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that no institution is now responsible for regulating the businesses of licensed money lenders, and the Police will only conduct investigations into their illegal practices, such as charging a lending rate above the statutory ceiling or employing illegal debt collection tactics, whether the authorities have considered putting the businesses of licensed money lenders under the regulation of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and setting requirements such as maximum loan-to-value ratio, minimum registered capital and capital buffer, etc. in respect of such businesses; if they have, of the details and implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)
Under the existing arrangements of the Fire Services Department ("FSD"), ambulancemen work 12 hours per shift. On each shift, ambulancemen may take turns to have meals for 30 minutes within a designated meal break of two to three hours ("designated break"). If an ambulanceman cannot have a continuous meal break of 30 minutes due to attending service calls during the designated break, he/she may be compensated with another meal break of 30 minutes afterwards. FSD has advised that about 90% of day shift ambulancemen can have a continuous meal break of 30 minutes during the designated break. However, the Hong Kong Fire Services Department Ambulancemen's Union has earlier relayed to me that this figure does not reflect the actual situation, which is that the meal breaks of ambulancemen are often interrupted by service calls. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of a breakdown of the following statistics on ambulance day and night shifts in various divisions under the Ambulance Command last year, and provide the statistics using tables of the same format as the table below: (i) Average number of ambulances on-call per shift; (ii) Total number of ambulance shifts; (iii) Total number of ambulance calls (including hospital transfer calls and emergency calls); (iv) Number of emergency ambulance calls; (v) Average number of calls per ambulance per shift; (vi) Average number of emergency calls per ambulance per shift; (vii) Percentage of ambulancemen having a continuous and uninterrupted meal break of 30 minutes for their first meals during the designated break per shift; (viii) Percentage of ambulancemen whose meal breaks during the designated break were interrupted but subsequently had another continuous and uninterrupted meal break of 30 minutes within the designated break per shift; (ix) Daily quota for compensatory meal breaks; and (x) Average number of applications for compensatory meal breaks per day; Ambulance shift: day shift/night shift Division under the Ambulance Command (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) (vii) (viii) (ix) (x) Hong Kong Division Kowloon East Division Kowloon West Division New Territories South Division New Territories North Division Overall
(2) whether it will continuously improve the meal arrangements for ambulancemen to ensure that they can have a continuous meal break of one hour during the designated break when no major incident occurs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed the impact of having meals in a hasty manner and at irregular hours or even skipping meals on the occupational safety and health of ambulancemen; if it has; of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask: (Translation)
The Rehabus operated by the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation ("HKSR") provides point-to-point transport service for people with impaired mobility. Recently, some members of the public have complained to me that their bookings for Rehabus service to transport their elderly family members with chronic illnesses to and from their residences and homes for the aged had been rejected repeatedly, which caused much inconvenience to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the respective numbers of telephone bookings for Rehabus service which were received and rejected by HKSR in each month of the past five years; (2) whether it knows if those people who are unsuccessful in booking Rehabus service will be given priority when they book the service the next time; if they have priority, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it knows the number of complaints about booking for Rehabus service received by HKSR in each month of the past five years; whether HKSR has followed up those complaints; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it has monitored how HKSR will improve the situation of people with impaired mobility having difficulties in booking Rehabus service; whether the Government plans to provide additional funding for HKSR to procure more buses with a view to improving Rehabus service; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*9. Hon YIU Si-wing to ask: (Translation)
According to the Assessment Report on Hong Kong's Capacity to Receive Tourists released by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau in December last year, shopping accounted for 76% of the spending of Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") visitors in 2012. Some members of the public have pointed out that, in the districts along the MTR East Rail Line, quite a number of shops serving local residents have been replaced by shops targeting at mainland visitors, thus affecting the daily lives of local residents. The conflicts between Hong Kong and mainland residents are deepening, which has resulted in the recent harassment of mainland visitors by some local residents in the vicinity of Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, thus tarnishing the image of Hong Kong as a civilized metropolis. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has conducted any assessment to identify the major shopping districts frequented by those mainland visitors coming to Hong Kong to buy daily necessities or carry out parallel trading activities; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has assessed the positive and negative impacts on the economy, employment situation and people's livelihood of the districts mentioned in (1) brought about by mainlanders visiting Hong Kong for shopping; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has compiled statistics on the current numbers of mainland visitors and Hong Kong residents engaged in parallel trading activities; whether it has formulated long-term measures to divert mainland visitors to shop in more districts and mitigate the impacts of parallel trading activities on the daily lives of Hong Kong residents; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*10. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Some non-civil service contract ("NCSC") staff employed by the Security Bureau ("SB") have relayed to me that SB has been renewing their employment yearly on one-year contracts for a period as long as nine years. Notwithstanding that their job duties include handling of sensitive information as well as the provision of engineering and technology related support, which are similar to those of civil servants of comparable ranks, their remunerations are less than the starting salaries of those civil servants by one third to 50%, resulting in low morale among them and a brain drain as well as a prolonged manpower shortage of SB. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of NCSC staff members currently employed by SB; among them, the number of staff members who have been employed for five consecutive years or more, with a breakdown by job position; (2) whether SB has specific plans to assist those NCSC staff who have relatively long service years and whose positions are related to long-term service needs to be appointed as civil servants; and (3) of the specific solutions of SB to resolve the aforesaid problems relayed by NCSC staff, including different pay for the same work, brain drain and prolonged manpower shortage?
*11. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the standards of the school premises and learning environment of the public-sector primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council of:
(1) the respective standards of the school premises of public-sector primary and secondary schools in different periods (including the requirements on gross floor area, equipment, number of classrooms and space per student), the number of premises built in each period, as well as the number of premises which have been decommissioned and the reasons therefor; (2) the respective current numbers of public-sector primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong with school premises not meeting the latest standards for school premises; and set out the (i) names, (ii) types (government or aided), (iii) districts, (iv) addresses, (v) gross floor areas, and (vi) causes of not meeting the standards, of such schools by the year in which the construction of the school premises commenced, and use tables of the same format as the table below to set out the respective information of primary and secondary schools;
Primary schools/Secondary schoolsYear in which the construction commenced (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi)
(3) the measures in place to improve the learning environment of the schools mentioned in (2), including whether priority will be accorded to redeveloping those school premises which are obsolete or grossly substandard, or whether the schools concerned will be reprovisioned; (4) the procedure, assessment criteria and scoring scheme adopted by the School Allocation Committee under the Education Bureau ("the Committee") for vetting and approving applications for school sites/premises, as well as how the Committee handles those school premises which are obsolete or grossly substandard; and (5) the respective numbers of applications for school sites/premises which were (i) received, (ii) approved and (iii) considered but not approved by the Committee in the past five years, as well as (iv) the reasons for granting approval to the successful cases and details of such approvals, setting out such information by school type and school sponsoring body?
*12. Hon WONG Yuk-man to ask: (Translation)
It has recently been reported by the media that the Information Coordinator ("the Coordinator") of the Chief Executive's Office has published an article in a newspaper under a pen-name, criticizing some Members of this Council by name for their stance on the Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2012. Subsequently, in response to enquiries by the media, the Coordinator did not deny his authorship of the article and said that he strongly concurred with the viewpoints therein. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the Coordinator's specific duties in formulating public relations strategies regarding the aforesaid Bill; and (2) of the specific indicators adopted by the Chief Executive's Office for evaluating the Coordinator's performance?
*13. Hon MA Fung-kwok to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that some participants of the Hong Kong Marathon pointed out that members of the public had been unable to cheer the participants of the races on both sides of the race routes because they had had difficulties in accessing the routes, most sections of which being on expressways. In addition, as a result of the short duration of road closure approved by the authorities, the starting times for the races were set at an hour far too early and the quota for participants in the races could not be increased to meet the demand. These participants opined that in future, the authorities should consider extending the duration of road closure for the races, and allowing more sections of the race routes to traverse the city centre. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of road closure applications from sports organizations for holding sports events which were received, approved and rejected by the authorities last year; the mechanism and considerations which the authorities currently adopt for vetting and approving such applications; whether they will take measures to support, as far as possible, the organizers in holding those events for which road closure has been approved; if they will, of the details; and (2) whether the organizer of the Hong Kong Marathon, when making preparation for the event of this year, had made any request to the authorities for implementing road closure for a duration longer than those of previous years, or for more sections of the race routes traversing the city centre; if it had, of the authorities' responses to such requests and their justifications?
*14. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
I have learnt that some residents affected by unauthorized private columbaria held a meeting with officials of the Food and Health Bureau ("FHB") in October last year. As the authorities had removed the illegal graves on the slope north of Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery and delivered the human remains and cremains to Sandy Ridge Cemetery for burial, those residents requested the Government to remove the urns at the unauthorized columbarium built on illegally occupied government land by Gig Lok Temple in Tuen Mun. The Lands Department stated that assistance of FHB was needed for temporary deposition of such urns at public columbaria while FHB indicated that it had to seek legal advice on the matter. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether FHB has sought legal advice on the aforesaid matter; if so, of the advice obtained; if not, the reasons for that; and (2) of the legal basis for removing the illegal graves in the vicinity of Diamond Hill Urn Cemetery and delivering the human remains and cremains to Sandy Ridge Cemetery for burial?
*15. Hon TAM Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)
According to section 2(1) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 297) ("ROO"), where an individual has been convicted for the first time of an offence in respect of which he was not sentenced to imprisonment exceeding three months or to a fine exceeding $10,000, and has not been convicted of an offence again within three years, the conviction record may generally be withheld in applying for jobs. I have learnt that an applicant for a post in the rank-and-file grades of disciplined services, who has a conviction record that may be withheld under ROO, was requested by the recruiting department to submit a confirmation of no criminal conviction provided by the Hong Kong Police Force as supplementary information after passing the recruitment examination. As a result, the department was aware of his conviction record and his application was subsequently rejected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of persons with conviction records which may be withheld under ROO recruited as government employees in the past three years; among them, of the number of persons employed by the disciplined services and the number of such persons employed in the rank-and-file grades; and (2) whether it will remove the requirement for persons applying for posts in the rank-and-file grades of disciplined services to submit confirmation of no criminal conviction to the recruiting departments as supplementary information after passing the recruitment examinations; if it will not, of the reasons for that?
*16. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
According to the statistics published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority in January this year, the US dollar loan-to-deposit ratio of banks in Hong Kong rose continuously from about 30% at the end of 2009 to about 85% at the end of 2013. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it has assessed:
(1) the causes of the aforesaid upward trend and whether this trend will continue in the next few years; (2) whether there is a mismatch between the supply of and demand for US dollars in the current financial system; if so, the causes of that; and (3) the impact of a high US dollar loan-to-deposit ratio on the status of Hong Kong as an international financial centre?
*17. Hon James TIEN to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that concealing his official capacity, the Information Co-ordinator recently published an article in a newspaper in a pen-name, in which he criticized certain persons and political parties whose stances were different from that of the Government. In response to media enquiries, the Office of the Chief Executive indicated that in interpreting and explaining government policies, officials would expound in their official capacity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether any government officials (including the Chief Executive, politically appointed officials and civil servants) or departments have published articles in newspapers or magazines in pen-names in the past three years; if so, provide the details in the table below; if it will not provide such information, of the reasons for that; Date Post title Pen-name Name of newspaper/magazine Article title
(2) whether it has assessed the implications of government officials or departments publishing articles in pen-names; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether there is currently any code governing the publication of articles in newspapers or magazines by officials or departments in pen-names; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will formulate such a code; (4) under what circumstances government officials are not required to disclose their official capacity when publishing articles in newspapers or magazines; and (5) why the Office of the Chief Executive did not reply to the media directly as to whether the Information Coordinator had actually published the aforesaid article?
*18. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask: (Translation)
The Standard Employment Contract ("SEC") for foreign domestic helpers ("FDHs") drawn up by the Government stipulates that FDHs shall work and reside in the residences at the employers' residential addresses written on such contracts. However, it has been reported earlier that some employers have failed to provide FDHs with suitable accommodation, e.g. some FDHs having to sleep on the floor in the kitchen or bathroom or sleep beneath a table, and quite a number of FDHs having to rent accommodation elsewhere. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in the past three years about alleged breaches of SEC by employers; among such complaints, of the number of cases which were related to the lodging arrangements for FDHs and the number of substantiated ones in those cases; and (2) whether the authorities will review the policy concerning SEC and its implementation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)
Earlier, some property owners living in old and dilapidated buildings sought my assistance, saying they had recently received statutory orders ("Orders") issued by the Buildings Department ("BD") and the Fire Services Department, requiring them to carry out specified works on repairs and enhancement of fire protection measures for their buildings. However, despite the assistance provided by the Home Affairs Department and a number of owners' meetings having been convened, no owners' corporation ("OC") had been formed for the buildings concerned to co-ordinate the works and collect funds for such works. These owners are worried that they may be prosecuted for not complying with the Orders. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the specific measures taken to assist the aforesaid owners in forming OCs before the expiry of the time limits set for the works concerned; the measures taken to assist individual owners of such buildings in complying with the Orders in the event that OCs cannot be formed all along; (2) given that at present, BD will make advance payments and carry out necessary repair works on behalf of the owners only in those cases of emergency, owners' default of an Order or serious nuisance on hygiene, whether the authorities will examine establishing a mechanism whereby individual owners can apply to BD for the department to carry out the works for their buildings as set out in the relevant Orders and afterwards recover the costs from the various owners; and (3) whether, in the past five years, the authorities took mandatory building management measures under sections 40B or 40C of the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344) for those buildings with serious management problems which posed a danger or risk of danger to their occupiers or owners; if so, of the details of such cases, including how the authorities determined if "there is a danger or risk of danger" to the occupiers or owners?
*20. Hon Claudia MO to ask: (Translation)
The Policy Address of this year states that from the 2014-2015 school year onwards, the Government will implement a "Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework" ("Learning Framework") for ethnic minority ("EM") students in primary and secondary schools. However, the authorities are yet to make public the details of the Learning Framework. Regarding learning Chinese as a second language by EM students, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the authorities' specific policy objectives, monitoring mechanism and effectiveness evaluation indicators in respect of learning Chinese as a second language by EM students; the differences between the Learning Framework and the "Chinese language as the second language" curriculum, which the Chief Executive undertook in his election manifesto to develop; the specific justifications of the authorities for adopting the former rather than the latter for assisting EM students in learning Chinese language; (2) how it will formulate the Learning Framework; whether it will invite the community at large and professionals to participate in the relevant work; (3) whether it has drawn up a timetable for a regular review on the effectiveness of the Learning Framework and its enhancement; (4) given that Cantonese is the main form of spoken Chinese used in listening and speaking by students in mainstream schools, whereas modern Chinese is the standard written form for writing and reading, and there are many differences between the two forms, of the measures put in place by the authorities to ensure that EM students can overcome the barriers arising from such differences when they learn Chinese as a second language; (5) whether it has conducted any study on setting up specialized schools providing courses on Chinese as the second language for EM students to take after school, so that they only need to take subjects other than Chinese language in the mainstream schools; if it has, of the outcome of the study; if not, the reasons for that; (6) whether it will consider setting up a research centre for teaching and learning Chinese as a second language, in which experts, academics and frontline teachers who are acquainted with the subject of EM education conduct joint studies and assess the effectiveness of different teaching modes by adopting an evidence-based approach; and (7) as some members of the education sector have pointed out that the Chinese Language curriculum of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination ("HKDSEE") is too difficult for EM students, while the level of the General Certificate of Secondary Education (Chinese) Examination is so low that it is not conducive to EM students pursuing further education or employment locally, whether the authorities will make reference to the previous practice of the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination, in which English language examination papers of two levels were set, and provide additionally an examination paper with a slightly lower level for the Chinese language subject in the HKDSEE?
*21. Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to ask: (Translation)
Last month, an athlete representing Hong Kong to participate in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games ("OWG") held in Sochi, Russia said that he had requested the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China ("SFOC") to arrange for a team doctor to accompany him, but the request was turned down. The incident has received extensive media coverage. It has been reported that no medical official was included in the Hong Kong delegations to the OWG in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Regarding the composition and expenditure of Hong Kong delegations participating in mega international sports events, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows if SFOC took the initiative to ask the Hong Kong Skating Union as well as the coach and the athlete concerned whether they needed the company of a team doctor; if it did, when it made the enquiry; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it knows, in the previous four OWGs, (i) the reasons for SFOC not arranging for any accompanying medical official to provide support for the athletes representing Hong Kong, and (ii) if SFOC received any requests for the company of a team doctor from the national sports associations, coaches or athletes concerned; if it did, of the reasons for SFOC not acceding to such requests; (3) of the amounts of funding provided by the authorities to support the Hong Kong delegations to the previous four OWGs, the amounts of various expenditure items (including air tickets, meals, accommodation, local transportation, uniforms and related medical and health assessments) of each of the delegations, and whether the authorities know the itineraries of various members of each of the delegations in the host cities; (4) given that when the authorities granted funding for the 2014 OWG to SFOC, one medical official was specifically included in the proposed 13-member Hong Kong delegation, whether they know the reasons for SFOC not arranging for any accompanying medical official in the end; whether the authorities will take follow-up actions in respect of this situation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) whether the authorities will, in the light of the aforesaid incident, request SFOC to conduct a comprehensive review of the mechanism for determining the compositions of Hong Kong delegations to mega international events as well as the operation of such a mechanism, so as to ensure that participating athletes are provided with comprehensive support and that public funds are properly used; if they will, of the details of the review; if not, the reasons for that?
*22. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
At its meeting in January this year, the Endangered Species Advisory Committee agreed in principle to the proposal of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") to dispose of the confiscated ivory in the government stockpile by incineration. AFCD has indicated that apart from retaining a small amount of ivory for uses permitted under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, it will dispose of the ivory in batches starting from the first half of this year and all the ivory is expected to be disposed of within one to two years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the specific method and procedure for the incineration of the ivory, as well as the date of and the disposal quantity for each incineration operation; (2) whether it has plans to, prior to the disposal of the ivory, employ genetic analysis technology to identify the grades, elephant species and places of origin of such ivory, and publish the results of the identification tests, so that Hong Kong will set an example for Mainland China and the Southeast Asian region in combating illegal ivory trade; if it has such plans, of the work schedule; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether AFCD had conducted studies on the most appropriate method for ivory disposal before proposing to dispose of the ivory by incineration; if it had, of the results; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it has plans to make (i) the disposal of smuggled ivory all by incineration and (ii) the conduct of identification tests on the ivory prior to disposal, the standard procedure for handling confiscated ivory; if it has such plans, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| First Reading | |||
| 1. | Shipping Legislation (Control of Smoke Emission) (Amendment) Bill 2014
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| 2. | Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014
| ||
| 3. | Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2014
| ||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| |||
| 1. | Shipping Legislation (Control of Smoke Emission) (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Transport and Housing
|
| 2. | Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Security
|
| 3. | Dutiable Commodities (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Food and Health
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| 1. | Inland Revenue (Amendment) (No. 3) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| 2. | Product Eco-responsibility (Amendment) Bill 2013 | : | Secretary for the Environment
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Secretary for the Environment to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 12 March 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3)469/13-14) | |||
IV. Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion: Resolved that the Road Traffic (Construction and Maintenance of Vehicles) (Amendment) Regulation 2014, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 4 of 2014 and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 22 January 2014, be amended as set out in the Schedule. | |||||||||
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| 2. | Proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in Appendix I. | |||||||||
| (The motion was also issued on 27 February 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 439/13-14) | ||||||||||
| 3. | Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Spain) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 22 October 2013, be approved. | |||||||||
| (The Order is in Appendix II and was also issued on
7 March 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3)454/13-14) | ||||||||||
| 4. | Proposed resolution under the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance
Secretary for Security to move the following motion: Resolved that the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Czech Republic) Order, made by the Chief Executive in Council on 22 October 2013, be approved. | |||||||||
| (The Order is in Appendix III and was also issued on
7 March 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3)454/13-14) | ||||||||||
| 5. | 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 14 February 2014, be approved — (a) the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2014; and (b) the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2014. | |||||||||
| (The two Regulations are in Appendices IV and V and were also issued
on 26 February 2014 under LC Paper No. CB(3)436/13-14) | ||||||||||
V. Members' Motions
| 1. | Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following motion: Resolved that in relation to the — | |||||
| (a) | Toys and Children's Products Safety (Additional Safety Standards or Requirements) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 17 of 2014;
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| (b) | Toys and Children's Products Safety Regulation (Repeal) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 18 of 2014; and
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| (c) | Toys and Children's Products Safety (Amendment) Ordinance 2013 (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 19 of 2014,
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| and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 19 February 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 meeting of 9 April 2014.
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| 2. | Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion: That this Council takes note of Report No. 13/13-14 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 19 March 2014 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:
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| 3. | Proposed resolution under Article 75 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
Hon TAM Yiu-chung to move the motion in Appendix VI. | |||||
| (The motion was also issued on 7 March 2014
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 453/13-14) | ||||||
| 4. | Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance
Hon Claudia MO to move the following motion: That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into the immediate termination of the contract of Ms LI Wei-ling, a radio host of Hong Kong Commercial Broadcasting Company Limited ("Commercial Radio"), and the alleged political interference by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government with the editorial independence of Commercial Radio; and that in the performance of its duties the committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development | |||||
| 5. | The incident of attack on Mr Kevin LAU Chun-to, the former chief editor of Ming Pao Daily News
Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council is deeply shocked and outraged about the incident of attack on Mr Kevin LAU Chun-to, the former chief editor of Ming Pao Daily News, strongly condemns the violent acts of the assailants, and requests the Police to spare no effort to arrest the assailants so as to expeditiously bring them to justice. | |||||
| Amendments to the motion | ||||||
| (i) | Hon Claudia MO to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "acts of violence targeted on journalists and media organizations have been increasingly serious in recent years;" after "That"; and to add "undertakes to make every endeavour to help safeguard freedom of the press and protect the personal safety of journalists and members of the industry," after "of the assailants,". | |||||
| (ii) | Hon Emily LAU to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", over the past 10-odd years, Hong Kong journalists, media and publishing organizations were attacked successively or under arbitrary detention, posing ever-increasing threat to freedom of the press;" after "That"; and to add "; the authorities must also give a detailed account of the reasons for the following cases involving Hong Kong journalists, media and publishing organizations which have yet to be detected after a long time, and explain how to assist in handling an incident of arbitrary detention outside Hong Kong involving the person in charge of a publishing organization in the following: (1) the severing of the arm of Mr LEUNG Tin-wai, former publisher of Surprise Weekly, by two assailants on 14 May 1996; (2) the attack on Mr Albert CHENG Jing-han, a former programme host of Commercial Radio, by two knifemen on 19 August 1998; (3) the parcel bomb and the intimidation letter received by the editorial office of Ming Pao Daily News on 7 November 2005, which caused blast injuries to a staff member unpacking the parcel; (4) the criminal damage done to the printing factory of The Epoch Times Hong Kong on 28 February 2006, 23 February and 30 May 2013 respectively; (5) the damage done to the office of Hong Kong In-media on 8 August 2012; (6) the savage beating of Mr CHEN Ping, founder of iSun Affairs, on street on 3 June 2013; (7) the criminal damage done to the residence of Mr Jimmy LAI Chee-ying, founder of Apple Daily, on 19 June 2013; (8) the burning of large numbers of Apple Daily newspapers in an arson attack on 26 June 2013; (9) the criminal damage done to the car of Mr SHIH Wing-ching, founder of am730, on 30 July 2013; (10) the attack on Mr SUM Tak-keung, distributor of Apply Daily, by two biker knifemen on 5 September 2013; (11) the hacker attack on Housenews on 6 September 2013; and (12) the arbitrary detention of Mr YAO Wen-tian, the person in charge of Morning Bell Press, in Shenzhen in October 2013; this Council considers that the Administration has the responsibility to protect journalists to enable them to work in an environment free from fear, so as to manifest freedom of the press" immediately before the full stop. | |||||
| (iii) | Hon Gary FAN to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "; moreover, the Secretary for Security and the Commissioner of Police must openly set a detection deadline for the incident," after "arrest the assailants"; and to delete "them to justice" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "the mastermind and assailants to justice, and undertake to submit an investigation report to the Legislative Council before the expiry of the detection deadline, in order to be accountable for this matter, hence demonstrating the SAR Government's determination to protect Hong Kong's freedom of the press and of speech from the interference of violence as well as its commitment to protecting members of the media from intimidation". | |||||
| (iv) | Hon Cyd HO to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", and demonstrate the authorities' determination to protect the personal safety of journalists" immediately before the full stop. | |||||
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| (Members' motions originally scheduled to be dealt with at the Council meeting of 19 February 2014)
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| 6. | Evaluating the effectiveness of the policy on ‘promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and developing Hong Kong into a prime destination for hosting major international sports events' and formulating a long-term sports policy
Hon MA Fung-kwok to move the following motion: (Translation) That, as the Government has not conducted any reviews of the sports policy since the publication of the Report of the Sports Policy Review Team in 2002, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously review and evaluate the effectiveness of the policy on ‘promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and developing Hong Kong into a prime destination for hosting major international sports events', and deepen and step up the promotion of local sports affairs to dovetail with social needs, thereby achieving the important functions of sports to train the body and the mind, give full play to individual potential and strengthen cohesion in society, etc.; the relevant proposals include: | |||||
| Sports policy and structure－
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| (1) | to formulate a long-term sports policy, increase resources and establish a sports commissioner to oversee and co-ordinate various government departments to promote sports development;
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| (2) | to review the overall management structure and system, and perfect activity organization and the mechanism for resource deployment and co-ordination among the Government, sports organizations and institutions, so as to enhance operational efficiency and transparency, and strengthen the nurturing of sports administrative and management personnel;
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| (3) | to encourage academic institutions and community organizations to conduct sports-related studies, so as to provide data and theoretical bases and increase efficiency of the sports policy;
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| (4) | to develop sports-related industries, including training, supply of sports goods and equipment, venue operation and management, media promotion, insurance and sports medicine, etc., for providing athletes and young people with diversified career pathways, and encourage the business sector to sponsor sports activities;
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| Sports venues and facilities－
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| (5) | to increase easily accessible sports venues, enhance the standard and management of existing facilities, and effectively deploy venue resources, so as to meet the needs of the industry, schools and the public;
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| (6) | to enhance transparency and sustainability in the planning for the Multi-purpose Sports Complex at Kai Tak, including establishing a clear consultation mechanism, providing venue support for more sports items, adopting a ‘sports come first' operational mode to support diversified and sustained development of sports, and designing venue in a flexible manner, so as to support elite sports and sports for all and meet the needs of major competitions, the industry and the public;
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| (7) | to review the existing policies on land and industrial buildings, so as to release space for more private organizations to develop sports venues;
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| Public participation in sports－
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| (8) | to strengthen the support in sports for schools, including establishing dedicated funding for sports, strengthening training for sports teachers and cultivating students' interests in sports, so as to manifest the spirit of ‘one sports/arts in life', and to encourage schools to open their sports venues to sports organizations outside school hours;
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| (9) | to deepen the support for specific population groups (such as the elderly, poor people, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities, etc.), so that they have more opportunities to participate in sports;
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| (10) | to further develop inter-district sports competitions, so as to enhance the sports atmosphere in districts and strengthen cohesion in the community;
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| (11) | to strive to host more mega sports events and cross-boundary games, so as to raise people's interest of participation and drive the development of sports tourism;
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| (12) | to strengthen the publicity of various sports to enhance people's understanding of the relevant sports, thereby enhancing their interest and ability in sports appreciation;
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| Support for athletes－
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| (13) | to further expand the coverage of elite sports, introduce development plans for non-elite sports, strengthen sports support for persons with disabilities, and enhance the overall standard of sports training and level of athletic skills in Hong Kong; and
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| (14) | to raise the professional and social status of athletes, and strengthen the support for current and retired athletes in respect of present education, further studies, employment and post-retirement prospects, so as to encourage more young people with potentials to join the ranks of full-time athletes.
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| Amendments to the motion | ||||||
| (i) | Dr Hon Kenneth CHAN to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "Hong Kong has all along lacked a long-term and comprehensive sports policy;"; to add "through tax concessions and other financial incentives," after "career pathways, and"; to add "(5) to review the governance, funding mechanism and operation of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and various national sports associations, so as to enhance their governance level and operation transparency, and use the governance level, fairness of funding distribution and operation transparency of the various national sports associations as the criteria for continued funding and determining funding levels; (6) to set up an independent mechanism for handling complaints targeted at the various national sports associations or disputes involving the various national sports associations;" after "sports activities;"; to delete the original "(5)" and substitute with "(7)"; to delete the original "(6)" and substitute with "(8)"; to delete the original "(7)" and substitute with "(9)"; to delete the original "(8)" and substitute with "(10)"; to delete the original "(9)" and substitute with "(11)"; to delete the original "(10)" and substitute with "(12)"; to delete the original "(11)" and substitute with "(13)"; to delete the original "(12)" and substitute with "(14)"; to add "(15) to allocate additional resources to private sports institutions other than the various national sports associations for subsidizing their organization of sports activities; (16) to establish an inter-departmental mechanism under the co-ordination of the Home Affairs Bureau to assist schools, non-governmental organizations and sports clubs in borrowing sports venues and facilities;" after "sports appreciation;"; to delete the original "(13)" and substitute with "(17)"; to delete "and" after "in Hong Kong;"; to delete the original "(14)" and substitute with "(18)"; and to add "; and (19) to review the incentive award system for disabled athletes who win awards in major international competitions, so as to bring the levels of incentive awards for them on a par with those for able-bodied athletes" immediately before the full stop. | |||||
| (ii) | Dr Hon Helena WONG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "recently Hong Kong athletes have achieved good results in a number of international competitions, which is commended by society, and this has to be complemented by good governance of the sports sector;" after "That,"; to add "particularly strengthening the monitoring of the administrative and financial structure of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China and various national sports associations," after "sports organizations and institutions,"; and to add "arrange for professionals to accompany and offer support to athletes participating in international competitions," after "non-elite sports,". | |||||
| (iii) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", and provide a barrier-free environment to facilitate persons with disabilities and the public to participate in sports" after "schools and the public"; to delete "and" after "in Hong Kong;" and substitute with "(14) to accord the same treatment to disabled and non-disabled elite athletes, so that disabled elite athletes may participate in sports on a full-time basis; and"; and to delete the original "(14)" and substitute with "(15)". | |||||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs
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| 7. | Encouraging the return of the industrial sector for development to make Hong Kong's industries more diversified
Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to move the following motion: (Translation) That in recent years, the industrial sector has intended to return to Hong Kong for development, and quite a number of enterprises wish to relocate their core departments and high value-added industries back to Hong Kong, which can in fact help rebuild the brand effect of ‘Made in Hong Kong', thereby increasing the export of quality Hong Kong products to the Mainland and overseas places; yet, at present, the development of Hong Kong's industries is homogeneous and stagnant, and not only does the Government not introduce any policy on supporting the development of new industries, it even plans to convert quite a number of industrial sites to residential uses, which dampen the desire of the industrial sector to return for development, and make it difficult to enhance the brand effect of ‘Made in Hong Kong'; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to introduce concrete measures and support polices to encourage the return of the industrial sector for development, so as to make Hong Kong's industries more diversified. | |||||
| Amendments to the motion | ||||||
| (i) | Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To delete "in recent years, the industrial sector has intended to return to Hong Kong for development, and quite a number of enterprises wish to relocate their core departments and high value-added industries back to Hong Kong, which can in fact help rebuild the brand effect of ‘Made in Hong Kong', thereby increasing the export of quality Hong Kong products to the Mainland and overseas places; yet, at present, the development of Hong Kong's industries is homogeneous and stagnant, and not only does the Government not introduce any policy on supporting the development of new industries, it even plans to convert quite a number of industrial sites to residential uses, which dampen the desire of the industrial sector to return for development, and make it difficult to enhance the brand effect of ‘Made in Hong Kong'; in this connection" after "That" and substitute with ", in order to maintain Hong Kong's long-term competitive advantages"; and to delete "for development, so as to make Hong Kong's industries more diversified" immediately before the full stop and substitute with ", promote the development of innovation and technology as well as industries, enhance the design and technological standards of local products, strengthen the relevant manpower training, support high value-added industries, and assist enterprises in promoting Hong Kong brand names". | |||||
| (ii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add "in 2011, the manufacturing industry only accounted for around 1.6% of the Gross Domestic Product;" after "That"; to add "also" after "a number of enterprises"; to delete "; yet," after "overseas places" and substitute with ", but"; and to add "; the relevant policies and measures should include: (1) to revitalize the various industrial estates, so as to induce the return of the industrial sector for development; (2) to expand the uses of the existing Innovation and Technology Fund and inject capital into the fund, so as to support the development of the innovation and technology industries; (3) to reserve more lands for developing data centres and develop Hong Kong into a technology and data hub of cloud computing in Asia; and (4) by making reference to the practices under the New Producer Responsibility Scheme on Glass Beverage Bottles, to provide market values for recyclable waste with low market values (e.g. plastics), and establish a government-funded body corporate for operating the waste recycling industry on its own, thereby promoting the development of green industries" immediately before the full stop. | |||||
| (iii) | Hon Kenneth LEUNG to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", given that" after "That"; to delete "which can in fact help" after "back to Hong Kong," and substitute with "the Government should take this opportunity to"; and to delete ", and make it difficult to enhance the brand effect of ‘Made in Hong Kong'" after "return for development" and substitute with "; the Government should plan afresh industrial sites in suitable districts and provide relevant infrastructural facilities to support industrial development; at the same time, due to the geographical environment and economic pattern of Hong Kong, the Government should motivate the sector to develop industries with emphasis on research and development, high technology, high value-adding, low pollution and lower requirement for site area, such as pharmaceutical production as well as fashion design and manufacturing". | |||||
| (iv) | Hon CHAN Yuen-han to move the following amendment:
(Translation)
To add ", including offering vocational and skills courses for training relevant talents, planning for adequate and suitable provision of industrial sites, and building additional industrial estates, etc.," after "support polices". | |||||
| Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
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