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A 06/07-30
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 30 May 2007 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| Fugitive Offenders (Corruption) Order | 100/2007
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Other Paper| No.93 | - | Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the fourth quarter of 2006-2007 (Public Finance Ordinance : Section 8)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
I have learnt that more than one-third of the companies listed in Hong Kong are registered companies on the Mainland. As there are differences between the legal systems of Hong Kong and the Mainland, local monitoring authorities may encounter difficulties in monitoring such companies, thereby undermining the interests of local investors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows how the relevant authorities ensure that the contents of the prospectuses of Mainland companies to be listed in Hong Kong are accurate; whether they have considered strengthening the regulation of sponsors, including requiring sponsors to bear legal liability in respect of the contents of the prospectuses;
| | (b) | whether it knows how the relevant authorities in Hong Kong collect evidence and take enforcement actions in respect of cases in which the above companies are involved in illegal acts, such as disclosing false or misleading information, failing to disclose connected transactions and conducting insider dealings, and the offences concerned are partly or wholly committed on the Mainland; whether the Government will consider improving the regulatory framework in Hong Kong, such as by making some financial offences of a serious nature offences with extraterritorial effect, so that the persons concerned may also be convicted in Hong Kong for committing such financial crimes on the Mainland; and
| | (c) | given the discrepancies between the laws in Hong Kong and the Mainland on liquidation and receivership of companies, how the Government protects the interests of local investors when local receivers are unable to receive the assets of the above companies, which are mainly on the Mainland?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Security
(in the absence of Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
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2. Dr Hon LUI Ming-wah to ask: (Translation)
In its proposal to re-organize the policy bureaux of the Government Secretariat, the Government proposes to replace the existing Commerce, Industry and Technology Bureau by a new "Commerce and Economic Development Bureau". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if the exclusion of "Industry" in the name of the new policy bureau reflects a neglect by the Government of the contribution of industries to the society and their importance to the economy;
| | (b) | as many countries have ministries of industry or technology and their economic developments are very often driven by industries and technological innovations, whether it has assessed if the exclusion of "Industry" and "Technology" in the name of the new policy bureau will give people the impression that Hong Kong's economic policy is out of tune with this global trend, and that the Government does not attach importance to industries and technological innovations; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider retitling the new policy bureau as the "Commerce, Industry, Technology and Economy Bureau", so as to reflect the functions and importance of commerce, industries and technologies in economic development?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
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3. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that state leaders will visit Hong Kong during the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On the other hand, a number of people from the pro-democracy camp in Hong Kong (including 10 odd Members of this Council) have for years been denied issuance of the Home Visit Permits ("HVPs") by the mainland authorities, and hence are unable to go to the Mainland. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council whether:
| (a) | they have assessed if the Central Authorities' forbidding representatives of public opinion in Hong Kong to go to the Mainland and refusing to hold dialogues with them will hinder communication between China and Hong Kong and undermine the image of the Central Authorities in the heart of the people of Hong Kong; if they have and the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether they have reflected such situations to the Central Authorities;
| | (b) | they have proposed to the Central Authorities that the state leaders should meet with all Members of this Council during their visit to Hong Kong to discuss issues of mutual concern; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | they have urged the Central Authorities to expeditiously issue HVPs to those Chinese nationals who are currently denied issuance of HVPs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
4. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
At the Legislative Council meeting on 3 May this year, the Chief Executive ("CE") said that the most important objectives of the work in alleviating poverty were to increase employment opportunities, reduce unemployment rate and increase the income of people at grass-roots level. He did not rule out the possibility of continuing to take forward the work in alleviating poverty in the form of a committee and reorganizing the Commission on Poverty ("CoP") if necessary, and he would personally be involved in promoting the development of social enterprises. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the Government originally intended to publish the latest information on indicators of poverty in around March or April each year, but the information for both last year and this year was not published at the originally scheduled time, of the reasons for the delay in the publication for this year, how such an arrangement can be improved, the progress of updating the indicators of poverty, the exact date for the publication of the information for this year;
| | (b) | whether it will consider setting objectives in eradicating poverty with time limits, so that the latest indicators of poverty can better help CE achieve his objectives in alleviating poverty; and
| | (c) | given that the term of office of CoP will expire at the end of next month, and promoting the development of social enterprises has all along been its task, whether the Government will consider reorganizing CoP, with CE taking over its chairmanship, so as to enhance its powers and functions; if not, whether the Government will consider extending the term of office of CoP, or entrusting the Family Commission, which is being established, with the responsibility of coordinating the work in alleviating poverty in future, in order to ensure the continuation of the work in alleviating poverty?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
5. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
Although the New Territories is an extensive area with rich tourism resources, most local people and visitors to Hong Kong concentrate mostly on visiting the tourism sites around the Victoria Harbour or on a few outlying islands. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has conducted any systematic studies on the value of the cultural heritage in the New Territories, such as its built heritage, antiquities and monuments, in terms of promoting the development of tourism; if it has, if the results of the studies;
| | (b) | whether it has examined the reasons for the failure of the aforesaid cultural heritage to effectively attract tourists at present; and
| | (c) | whether it has conducted any studies on the formulation of an overall policy which will fully exploit such cultural heritage and incorporate local features in order to promote tourism development in the New Territories, thereby boosting the economy and employment in New Territories; if it has, of the results of the studies; if not, whether and when it will conduct the studies concerned?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
6. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
Regarding issues relating to injuries sustained by or death of local employees at work, or their suffering from occupational diseases, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in each of the past three years, of the number of cases in which employees had sustained injuries or died as a result of accidents arising out of and in the course of employment, or suffered from the occupational diseases specified in the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, and the employees themselves or their families had filed claims for compensation against the employers concerned, as well as the amounts of compensation involved, broken down by trade, and the percentage of the number of cases with compensation successfully claimed from the employers in the total number of the above cases, as well as the reasons for the unsuccessful claims in the other cases;
| | (b) | of the assistance rendered by the Government to the above unsuccessful claimants; and
| | (c) | whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the work in promoting occupational safety, and whether it will consider stepping up publicity so as to enhance the knowledge of office executives on occupational safety and health?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Economic Development and Labour)
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*7. Hon Daniel LAM Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
I have learnt that Discovery Bay is a place in which only specified vehicles (excluding taxis and private cars) are allowed to travel. The Commissioner for Transport has the power to issue permits to such vehicles to enter and leave the Discovery Bay Tunnel. Given the rising trend in the number of traffic accidents in Discovery Bay in recent years, will the Government inform this Council of the criteria adopted by the Transport Department for issuing the above permits, and whether it has set any limit on the number of such permits; if so, of the reasons for that?
| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*8. Hon Andrew CHENG to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the train services of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation ("KCRC"), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
| (a) | as the two monthly ticket schemes, namely West Rail One-Month Pass and the East Rail One-Month Pass, will expire on 30 June 2007 and 30 September 2007 respectively, whether KCRC has any plan to extend these two schemes, and whether KCRC will consider implementing them on a long-term basis; if so, of the relevant details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | the current respective maximum carrying capacity per hour of the East Rail, West Rail and Ma On Shan ("MOS") Rail; and
| | (c) | whether KCRC has plans to increase the number of train cars running on the East Rail, West Rail and MOS Rail upon the commissioning of Kowloon Southern Link, which connects the East Rail and West Rail; if so, of the details of its plan, including the resultant increase in the maximum carrying capacity per hour of each rail line?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*9. Hon Martin LEE to ask: (Translation)
I have learnt that an organization, which was formed by Obscene Articles Tribunal ("OAT") adjudicators and referred to as the "Association of Adjudicators for Obscene and Indecent Articles" by the media, had publicly expressed its views on the articles submitted to OAT for classification, and had publicly assessed the adjudication results before OAT made its adjudication. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has studied if the above expression of views and making of assessments by the organization may affect the fairness and justice of the judicial adjudication made by OAT; if it has studied the issue, of the results and whether it has followed up the issue; if it has not followed up the issue, the reasons for that; if it has not studied the issue, the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | it has formulated guidelines regarding OAT adjudicators' acts such as publicly commenting on articles submitted to OAT for classification, or publicly assessing the adjudication results; if so, of the details of the guidelines; if not, whether it will consider formulating relevant guidelines?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Home Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
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*10. Hon Audrey EU to ask:
Regarding information on certain classes of vehicles, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective current numbers of registered vehicles belonging to the following classes:
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Number of vehicles of any permitted gross vehicle weight |
Number of vehicles of permitted gross vehicle weight | | exceeding 15 but not exceeding 24 tonnes |
exceeding 24 tonnes | | (i) | buses in the fleets of franchised bus companies |
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| | (ii) | buses other than those in (i) above |
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| | (iii) | medium goods vehicles |
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| | (vi) | special purpose vehicles |
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| (b) | of the following in respect of each class of vehicles mentioned in item (a) above:
| | (i) | the estimated annual vehicle distance in kilometres travelled in 2005 and 2006,
| | (ii) | the emission factor per kilometre for each air pollutant, and
| | (iii) | the annual contributions, expressed in percentages, to total vehicle emissions in 2005 and 2006?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*11. Hon TAM Heung-man to ask: (Translation)
Some accountants who need to commute to and from the Mainland for work have told me that one of their major worries about working on the Mainland is the medical services provided there. They have pointed out that quite a number of mainland medical institutions regard Hong Kong people as foreigners and collect from them huge amounts of deposits, and provide medical services only after receiving the deposits. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of Hong Kong people who needed to seek help from the offices of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on the Mainland in the past three years because they could not afford the deposits collected by mainland medical institutions, and how such cases were followed-up; and
| | (b) | whether it will request the relevant mainland authorities to consider collecting medical service deposits from Hong Kong people holding Permits for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as "home return cards"), the Home Visit Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents or Hong Kong identity cards at the same level as that from mainland residents, and in case of emergency, providing Hong Kong people with medical services before collecting deposits from them?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*12. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)
Regarding end-of-life services (including cremation service) for animals and the setting up of animal cemeteries, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation (Cap. 132 sub. leg. BK) prohibits the placing of animal corpses in places such as any public place and the common parts of any building, but the placing of animal corpses in private premises is not regulated, how the Government addresses the hygiene problem arising from over-storage of animal corpses pending processing in premises where end-of-life services for animals are provided;
| | (b) | whether at present the relevant government departments are empowered to conduct inspection visits on their own initiatives to premises where end-of-life services for animals are provided; if they have such power, of the contents of the legislation concerned, and whether the inspection staff are empowered to inspect all facilities within the premises; whether the relevant departments have deployed their staff to conduct regular inspections; if they have; of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (c) | given that members of the Bills Committee on Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Amendment) Bill 2006 had requested the Administration to review the issues relating to the regulation of end-of-life services to animals, but the Administration indicated in its reply to a question raised by this Council in November last year that it considered the existing legislation adequate for controlling the air pollution problem caused by cremators, and had no plan to set up a licensing system to regulate the operation of pet cremators, whether the Government is currently studying the above regulatory issues; if it is, of the progress of the study; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (d) | whether it has plans to resume the provision of animal cremation service; and
| | (e) | whether it is an offence under the aforesaid Regulation for private organizations to set up animal cemeteries; if not, of the application procedure, and which government department is responsible for approving such applications and monitoring the operation of such cemeteries; whether it knows the current number of animal cemeteries, and whether the Government has plans to set up animal cemeteries?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
(in the absence of Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works)
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*13. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
The results of the oral health survey conducted by the Department of Health in 2001 revealed that 51% of 5-year old children and 97.5% of adults whose ages were between 35 and 44 had tooth decay problem, and 59.5% of 12-year old students were at the risk of developing gum disease. In addition, 8.6% of elderly aged above 65 who were non-institutionalized and 27.2% of those who were institutionalized were toothless. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has, after the publication of the above survey report, implemented any measures to improve the tooth decay problem of students and adults, as well as the situation of the elderly losing their teeth; if it has, of the amount of resources allocated and the number of people benefited; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | whether it will conduct the oral health survey again to assess the health conditions of Hong Kong people's teeth;
| | (c) | whether it will include oral health in the scope of the study of health care reform and grant subsidies to adults, especially the elderly, for comprehensive dental treatment, for example, following the Education Voucher System and issuing dental care vouchers; and
| | (d) | whether it had, in each of the past five financial years, allocated additional resources to the School Dental Care Service and government dental clinics to enhance student dental care service and increase the number of consultation slots in such clinics for patients who are not civil servants; if it had, of the amounts of relevant provision and additional provision, as well as the increase in the number of consultation slots for patients in each year; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*14. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
Internet platforms for members of the public to express their views have become very popular in the past few years. I have recently received complaints from some members of the public that defamatory remarks had been made against them. Moreover, a member of the public has been convicted recently of publishing on the Internet hyperlinks linking to web sites containing obscene photographs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it has assessed the public's recognition of the liabilities arising from publishing messages on the Internet; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | efforts are being made to enhance the public's recognition of the applicability of existing laws to the Internet; if so, of the details of such efforts; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | it will launch publicity and public education campaigns, such as setting up additional thematic web sites and including relevant topics in school curricula, so as to explain to the public and students the applicability of existing laws to the Internet; if it will, of the details and timetables of such campaigns; if not, the reasons for that?
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| Public Officer to reply | : | Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology)
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*15. Hon CHOY So-yuk to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of animal protection organizations accuse the animal management centres (including the Hong Kong Animal Management Centre, formerly known as the Victoria Road Government Kennels) under the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") of being unhygienic, negligent and inhumane in treating animals, resulting in animals in the centres being vulnerable to injuries, illnesses and even death. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective maximum capacity of animal accommodation for various management centres and the respective current numbers of animals accommodated therein;
| | (b) | of the number of organizations received, other than those visits for adoption purposes, by various management centres for inspecting their facilities last year;
| | (c) | whether it will enhance the transparency of the management centres, such as streamlining the application procedure for visits by organizations, or making such centres open for visit by the public at any time; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (d) | how it ensures that frontline staff will closely follow the established procedures so that animals in the management centres will be looked after properly; and
| | (e) | of the number of public complaints received by AFCD last year about the staff of management centres not treating the animals well, details of such complaints and the follow-up actions taken; of the number of staff being penalized in established cases, and details of the penalties imposed?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*16. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In recent years, I have incessantly received quite a number of complaints from residents in Tin Shui Wai that the cycling tracks in the district are not connected, and as some of them adjoin the exits of bus termini and pavements, cyclists may be endangered when buses enter and leave the termini, and cyclists are also forced to ride on the pavements, resulting in their violation of the law. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in each of the past three years, of the number of complaints received by the Government about the cycling tracks in Tin Shui Wai not being connected and the number of prosecutions instituted for illegal cycling in the district, as well as the details of the offences involved; and
| | (b) | whether it will consider expediting the connection of the cycling tracks in Tin Shui Wai, so that the residents there can ride bicycles more safely, instead of walking; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands
*17. Hon LAU Kong-wah to ask: (Translation)
Regarding crimes committed in public car parks, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the respective numbers of crimes committed in the past two years in the public car parks managed by private operators and in those managed by government departments, together with a breakdown by the types of crimes, and among the public car parks managed by government departments, of the three with the highest crime figures;
| | (b) | of the detection rate of crimes committed in public car parks over the past two years;
| | (c) | whether it has assessed the effectiveness of installing closed-circuit television systems at public car parks in combating crimes; and
| | (d) | whether the authorities have examined if crimes in public car parks are more often committed late at night or in the early hours of the morning, and whether more police officers will be deployed to patrol public car parks during those hours?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
*18. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that mounds of red fire ants were recently found near the Hong Kong Wetland Park. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the distance between the above location(s) where the mounds of red fire ants were found and the Hong Kong Wetland Park area; whether it has assessed the chance of the Wetland Park being infested with red fire ants and has taken measures to prevent their infestation; and
| | (b) | whether it has traced the source(s) of the red fire ants found in the above location(s); if so, how it will follow up the matter; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*19. Hon LI Kwok-ying to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | in each of the past three years, of the number of children who received the Child Assessment Service provided by the Government, and among them, the number of those who were assessed as having development disorder, broken down by their developmental problems;
| | (b) | of the average waiting time for new registrations at the Child Assessment Centres, the Centres' staff establishment, and the number of children they can assess each year; and
| | (c) | given that referral by a registered doctor or psychologist is required for receiving assessment services at the above Centres, of the current mechanism to assist parents in understanding childhood developmental problems, so that they can make early arrangements for their children with such needs to receive appropriate assessment and rehabilitation services, and whether the Government will provide initial assessment services in this respect at the Maternal and Child Health Centres for children below the age of 12?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food
*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
At present, persons taking the part-time self-financing bachelor's degree programmes run by publicly-funded tertiary institutions are ineligible to apply for grants or loans under the financial assistance schemes for post-secondary students ("FASPs"). They may only apply to the Continuing Education Fund for reimbursement of 80% of the tuition fees for the courses concerned, subject to a ceiling of $10,000. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | whether they will raise the ceiling for reimbursing tuition fees to persons taking the aforesaid courses; if not, of the reasons for that; and
| | (b) | whether they will allow these persons to apply for grants or loans under FASPs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education and Manpower
*For written reply.
III. Members' Bills
First Reading
The English Schools Foundation (Amendment) Bill 2007
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| | The English Schools Foundation (Amendment) Bill 2007 | : | Hon Abraham SHEK
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IV. Members' Motions
- Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance
Hon LAU Kong-wah to move the following motion:
RESOLVED that in relation to the -
| (a) | Road Traffic (Amendment: Extension of Permitted Area for New Territories Taxis to Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area) Regulation 2007, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 68 of 2007;
| | (b) | Closed Area (Hong Kong Section of the Shenzhen Bay Bridge and Deep Bay Link Portion) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 69 of 2007;
| | (c) | Immigration (Places of Detention) (Amendment: Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area) Order 2007, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 72 of 2007;
| | (d) | Immigration Service (Designated Places) (Amendment: Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area) Order 2007, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 73 of 2007; and
| | (e) | Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area (Permission to Enter) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 75 of 2007,
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and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 9 May 2007, 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 27 June 2007.
- Fostering the development of the tourism industry
Hon Jeffrey LAM Kin-fung: (Translation)
That, Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan city popular among tourists all over the world, and the SAR Government has all along supported the development of the local tourism industry, which being one of the four pillars of the local economy, should have had immense room for development; however, as most travel agencies in Hong Kong are small and medium enterprises operating on narrow profit margins and have recently been affected by some negative factors, coupled with the internal conflicts in the industry, the tourism industry is encountering difficulties in business operation; as such, this Council urges the Government to face up to the problems and discuss with the industry measures to enhance the level of professional services and promote the long-term development of the industry, which include:
| (a) | providing more training courses by the Government to upgrade the quality of professional services of the employees in the tourism industry, in particular that of the tourist guides; and
| | (b) | assisting in resolving internal conflicts in the industry, eliminating uneven distribution of interests and rationalizing the cooperative relationship among stakeholders in the industry.
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| Amendments to motion
| | (i) | Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)
To add "although" after "That,"; to delete "and" after "all over the world,"; to delete "has all along supported" after "the SAR Government" and substitute with "still needs to strengthen its support for"; to add "(a) in view of the difficult business situation of the industry, allocating more resources to promote monument sponsorship, green ecology and local customs, and setting a timetable for developing Hong Kong's cultural characteristics of the east meeting the west under 'one country, two systems', thereby improving the hardware and software of the industry's business environment on a broader level; (b) restructuring the Hong Kong Tourism Board and Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to enhance their representation and further include the participation of trade union representatives; (c) further promoting good labour relations in the industry, comprehensively perfecting the employment system and formulating reasonable employment conditions (including basic salaries, employees' compensation insurance, mandatory provident fund, medical benefits and holidays, etc), improving the employee-employer and staff-management communication mechanisms and promoting cooperation between the employees and employers in order to create a win-win situation for both sides, so that both sides can join hands in promoting the development of the industry; (d) through commending trustworthy shops and tourist guides and employees in the industry who are professional, sincere, friendly, hospitable and make tourists feel welcomed, establishing quality brand names and goodwill of local tour reception agencies to improve the image of the local tourism industry;" after "which include:"; to delete the original "(a)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete ", eliminating uneven distribution of interests" after "internal conflicts in the industry"; and to add ", so as to foster a sustainable and healthy development in the local tourism industry" immediately before the full stop.
| | (ii) | Hon Fred LI: (Translation)
To add "and the provinces and municipalities in the Mainland continue to introduce the 'Individual Visit Scheme' " after "all over the world,"; and to add "; feasible measures include expanding the representation of the Board of Directors of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong by adding to it lay members and representatives from tourist guides" immediately before the full stop.
| | (iii) | Hon TAM Heung-man: (Translation)
To delete "and" after "the level of professional services" and substitute with ", the quality of corporate governance and its regulatory mechanism, so as to"; to delete "and" after "tourist guides;"; and to add "; (c) considering further enhancing the operation efficiency and corporate governance of the Hong Kong Tourism Board; and (d) considering establishing a better regulatory mechanism for the tourism industry, including reviewing the composition of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, to avoid conflicts of interests in the tourism industry" immediately before the full stop.
Amendment to Hon TAM Heung-man's amendment
Hon Andrew LEUNG Kwan-yuen: (Translation)
To add "how (such as considering allocating more resources) to assist in" after "(c) considering"; to delete "establishing a better" after "(d) considering" and substitute with "perfecting the existing"; and to delete ", to avoid" after "composition of the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong" and substitute with "and strengthening its power and resources, so as to satisfy the community's expectation of its function to monitor the industry and at the same time avoid the possibility of".
| | (iv) | Hon CHAN Kam-lam: (Translation)
To delete "and" after "tourist guides;"; and to delete "assisting in resolving internal conflicts in the industry, eliminating uneven distribution of interests and rationalizing the cooperative relationship among stakeholders in the industry" after "(b)" and substitute with "consolidating the level playing field and free business environment for the tourism industry; (c) urging the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to expeditiously introduce an indemnity insurance system for the tourism industry in order to strengthen the protection for the industry and tourists; (d) communicating with the representatives of travel agencies and tourist guides to study the feasibility of introducing a basic salary system for tourist guides; and (e)rigorously combating unscrupulous shops and penalizing the non-compliant travel agencies so as to enhance the service standard of the tourism industry".
Amendment to Hon CHAN Kam-lam's amendment
Hon Howard YOUNG: (Translation)
To add "and considering extending the function of the Travel Industry Compensation Fund for such purpose" after "protection for the industry and tourists".
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| Public Officer to attend | : | Secretary for Constitutional Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Economic Development and Labour)
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- The 4 June incident
Hon Martin LEE: (Translation)
That this Council urges that: the 4 June incident be not forgotten, the 1989 pro-democracy movement be vindicated, the civil rights movement be supported, and a constitutional democracy be established.
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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