A 08/09-22

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 18 March 2009 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentsL.N. No.
Independent Police Complaints Council Ordinance (Commencement) (No. 2) Notice 200936/2009

Other Papers

1.No. 74-Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Audited Financial Statements and Report on Activities for the year ended 31 August 2008
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

2.No. 75-The Lord Wilson Heritage Trust Annual Report 2007-2008
(to be presented by the Secretary for Home Affairs)

3.No. 76-Report of changes to the approved Estimates of Expenditure approved during the third quarter of 2008-09 Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8
(to be presented by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

II. Questions

1. Hon LEUNG Kwok-hung to ask: (Translation)

Some elderly people and organizations have complained to me that the current acute shortfall of subsidized nursing home ("NH") places has resulted in rather long waiting time for such places. Moreover, due to the lack of necessary ancillary facilities, the care and attention homes and private homes for the elderly which have participated in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme are unable to take proper care of elderly people who need intensive care, and the current subsidized Integrated Home Care Services ("IHCS") have also failed to provide proper care for such elderly people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the current respective numbers of elderly people waiting for subsidized NH places who live in the community and private homes for the elderly, together with a breakdown of the average waiting time for such places by District Council districts (excluding cases of the elderly people concerned choosing to wait for admission to specified homes and those cases which were given priority allocation on grounds of special circumstances);

    (b)the number of elderly people in each of the past five years who died while waiting for NH places, and whether the Government will substantially increase such places to ease the current situation of supply falling short of demand; if so, when it will be implemented; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)the details of IHCS currently provided by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") for singleton elderly people who live in the community and are waiting for subsidized NH places, the average waiting time for such services, and the daily number of hours of such services which can be provided to the elderly people; whether SWD has assessed if such services can meet their needs; if assessment has been conducted, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

Given that Veterinary Officers play an important role in public health and food safety, but the number of registered veterinary surgeons in Hong Kong is small and the Government has also encountered difficulties in recruiting and retaining Veterinary Officers, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows which local universities currently intend to offer undergraduate degree programmes in veterinary science and the latest progress of the relevant preparatory work; and whether the University Grants Committee has any plan to provide funding for institutions to offer such programmes; if it has such a plan, of the relevant details, such as in which year such programmes will be offered as well as the number of institutions and places to be funded; if it has no plan, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

3. Hon IP Kwok-him to ask: (Translation)

It is learnt that a number of proposals made over a decade ago by District Councils ("DCs") (including Sham Shui Po and Tai Po DCs) to build community halls or civic centres in their districts have so far not been implemented, and many incumbent Members of such DCs have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the matter. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
    (a)the current utilization rates of various types of venues in community halls and civic centres, and the respective percentages of users of such venues who are not residents of the districts concerned;

    (b)the locations and other details of the community halls and civic centres planned to be built in the coming five years, and on what considerations the authorities' decisions to build were based; and

    (c)the locations and other details of the community halls and civic centres which have been proposed by DCs but have yet to be endorsed by the authorities, and the reasons why the authorities have not yet endorsed the construction of such facilities?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

4. Hon James TO to ask: (Translation)

In the past three months, there were a number of accidents of passengers falling onto rail tracks while waiting for trains on the station platforms of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), and the stations involved have not been fitted with platform screen doors ("PSDs") or automatic platform gates ("APGs"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)the Government has assessed if the safety of the aforesaid passengers having been endangered, because some stations currently do not have PSDs or APGs fitted, constitutes an act of default under franchise as described in section 16(1)(a)(iii) of the Mass Transit Railway Ordinance (Cap. 556); if it has made the assessment; of the details; if it has not, the reasons for that; and whether the authorities will request, under section 28 of that Ordinance, MTRCL to immediately retrofit PSDs or APGs in interest of safety at those stations which do not have such facilities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)the government representatives on the Board of MTRCL had raised at last year's Board meetings the immediate retrofitting of APGs so as to safeguard passenger safety; if they did, of the circumstances under which the requests were made; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the government representatives had requested MTRCL to stop collecting from passengers or reduce the surcharge of $0.1 per journey before the retrofitting works were completed; if so, of the details; and

    (c)the Government has deployed in-house staff or engaged overseas experts to review if the timetable for the APG retrofitting works submitted by MTRCL and its explanation that at present APGs cannot be retrofitted at the stations of the East Rail Line and Ma On Shan Line (including the difficulties in such areas as retrofitting works and implementation) are reasonable; if it has, of the details; if not, the grounds for the Government to accept the MTRCL's explanation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

5. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that as there are problems with the design of quite a number of roads in Hong Kong, coupled with the factors of terrain and immediate surroundings, traffic accidents are prone to occur on those roads. For example, professional drivers have relayed to me that because of the sharp bend and steep decline at the Kowloon-bound section of Waterloo Road outside the Lion Rock Tunnel, vehicles often need to stop abruptly after the bend, or else they may hit the other vehicles waiting at the traffic lights not far away from the bend. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of traffic accidents which occurred at the road section in question and the resultant casualties in the past three years;

    (b)whether proper facilities will be provided at suitable locations at the road section in question (e.g. at the bend) so that drivers will be able to know the road condition behind the bend as early as possible; and

    (c)of the number of road sections in Hong Kong with traffic lights not far off from sharp bends, and how many of them have been listed as traffic accident black spots; whether the authorities will review and improve the criteria for installing traffic lights at such road sections to enhance road safety?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

6. Hon Tanya CHAN to ask: (Translation)

In response to a Member's question on 7 November 2007, the Government advised that it had been encouraging schools to reduce the use of disposable lunch boxes through adopting a series of measures. In connection with the implementation of such measures and the target to promote further reduction in, and even completely stop, the use of disposable lunch boxes and cutlery in schools, will the Government inform this Council whether:
    (a)it has reviewed the effectiveness of the various measures to promote green lunch in all primary schools in Hong Kong; if it has, of the details of the review outcome and follow-up actions; if it has not, whether it has any plan at present to conduct such a review; if it has plans, of the details; if it has no plan, the reasons for that;

    (b)it has set an ultimate target for all aided schools (in particular primary schools) to completely stop using disposable lunch boxes and cutlery; if it has, of the specific plan and timetable for implementing such a target; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)it will expeditiously take new concrete measures to encourage schools to reduce the use of disposable lunch boxes and cutlery immediately, such as allocating more resources to schools, so that schools can use reusable cutlery or adopt the practice of centralized lunch distribution, or requiring schools to take into account green considerations in choosing meal suppliers; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*7. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)

On 14 December 2008, a total of six hikers were injured in accidents at Mai Fan Teng and Tung Wan Shan in Sai Kung, and the Government Flying Service had to send helicopters to rescue and transport them to hospital for treatment. In September of the same year, a man tripped and fell to his death from a cliff at Lion Rock, and his body had to be removed from the scene by a helicopter. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective person-times of firemen, ambulancemen, police officers and Civil Aid Service members being deployed to rescue hikers, as well as the number of runs and the total flying hours of helicopters deployed, in each of the past three years;

    (b)given the spate of hiking accidents in recent years, whether the Government has considered taking measures to enhance efforts in imparting to the public knowledge about safe hiking, with a view to reducing such accidents; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given that hikers often find themselves in danger because of inadequate experience, lack of safety knowledge or overexertion of their physical limits, whether the Government will consider issuing danger warnings to hikers by the Hong Kong Observatory during inclement weather, and erecting warning signs at hiking trails in remote areas which are considered dangerous, so as to remind hikers that they should act according to their ability; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*8. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)

I have received a number of complaints alleging that there is role conflict in the Hong Kong Trade Development Council ("TDC") being the manager of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre ("HKCEC") and an organizer of trade fairs ("fair organizer"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has assessed if there is conflict of interest between TDC's role as the manager of HKCEC and as a fair organizer at the same time;

    (b)whether it knows how TDC deals with situations where both TDC and private fair organizers want to hire HKCEC's venues for similar dates, including which party has priority;

    (c)whether it knows the current channels for exhibitors of TDC's trade fairs and fair organizers hiring HKCEC's venues to seek redress against TDC's decisions and regulatory measures;

    (d)given that TDC provides a subsidy of HK$2,000 to each local exhibitor participating in its trade fairs held in 2009, whether the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau has assessed if such an initiative will result in private fair organizers losing their clients, and whether this violates the principle of fair competition and gives rise to monopoly;

    (e)whether it knows the current number of private fair organizers; and of the respective numbers and percentages of trade fairs organized last year by TDC and private fair organizers;

    (f)whether it knows the numbers of private fair organizers in cities such as Singapore and Shanghai as well as their aggregate market share; if the number or market share of private fair organizers in Hong Kong compares unfavourably with those in these cities, whether it has assessed the reasons for that and whether it is related to the anti-competitive conduct of TDC; and

    (g)whether it will consider bringing the operation of TDC within the ambit of the fair competition law being drafted, to prevent monopolization in Hong Kong's trade fair industry and uphold the principle of free market operation of Hong Kong's economy?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*9. Hon WONG Yung-kan to ask: (Translation)

Regarding the implementation of the scheme to supply water to remote villages in the New Territories, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number of villages in the New Territories which still do not have supply of treated water, and when the Government plans to complete the entire water supply scheme for remote villages;

    (b)whether it has any plan to carry out water supply projects in Tung Lung Chau; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)of the existing measures to ensure that villagers of remote villages have, before the water supply scheme is completed, access to potable water which meets hygienic standards?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*10. Hon WONG Ting-kwong to ask: (Translation)

Under the Copyright Ordinance (Cap 528), it is a criminal offence to deal in, or to import, otherwise than for private and domestic use, any parallel-imported copyright work into Hong Kong if the work has been published anywhere in the world for 15 months or less. It has been reported that in recent months, optical discs of films which are suspected to be illegal parallel-imported copies from the Mainland, and also optical discs of films sold as parallel-imported copies which are in fact high-quality pirated copies, are prevalent in the market. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the respective quantities and total values of optical discs of films seized by the Customs and Excise Department ("C&ED") since the aforesaid provision came into operation in July 2007, which were pirated copies and illegal parallel-imported copies, and how these figures compare with those before the provision came into operation;

    (b)of the quantity, total value and places of origin of the optical discs of films seized by C&ED last year, which were pirated copies sold as parallel-imported copies; and

    (c)whether it has formulated measures to tackle the problem of illegal parallel-imported optical discs being prevalent in the market recently; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

Earlier on, several travellers of Hong Kong who intended to travel to Palau by air via transit in the Philippines were refused by the airline ground crew to check in for them, for the reason that the entry requirements of Palau had been changed. In this regard, I wrote to the Immigration Department ("ImmD") to enquire. The ImmD replied that travellers who wished to go to Palau should enquire with the embassies/consulates of the Republic of Palau on their own. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has assessed if the ImmD has the responsibility to collect and make public the entry requirements imposed on holders of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region passports by various countries/regions worldwide; if no assessment has been made, whether it will expeditiously conduct such an assessment;

    (b)whether it has assessed if the ImmD has the responsibility to clearly inform travellers of Hong Kong who wish to go to Palau or any other place of the details of their latest entry requirements and changes; if no assessment has been made, whether it will expeditiously conduct such an assessment; and

    (c)whether it knows if the general policies and measures, adopted by the immigration authorities of the governments of European and American countries concerning clearly informing their nationals of the entry requirements imposed on them by other countries/regions, are the same as the ImmD's aforesaid style of work (i.e. asking its nationals to make enquiries with the relevant embassies and consulates on their own)?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Security)

*12. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)

I have recently received complaints from quite a number of public light bus drivers that they received many counterfeit $10 coins and therefore suffered huge economic loss. It is learnt that such counterfeit coins are of a very high degree of resemblance to genuine ones, making it difficult for the general public to tell if they are counterfeit coins. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of counterfeit $10 coins seized last year;

    (b)of the existing measures to prevent such coins from circulation; and

    (c)whether it will reconsider the suggestion to stop issuing and progressively recalling $10 coins and replace them with $10 banknotes, in order to resolve the problem of counterfeit coins; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*13. Hon LEE Wing-tat to ask: (Translation)

Under the Lands Resumption Ordinance (Cap. 124), whenever the Chief Executive in Council ("the Authority") decides that the resumption of any land is required for a public purpose, the Chief Executive may order the resumption thereof. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the Authority made any decision under the aforesaid provision in the past 10 years to resume for a public purpose any private land which is within the precincts of country parks, designated special areas or marine parks, or on the list of priority sites identified for enhanced conservation by the Government, or of natural conservation value; if it had, of the details of each case;

    (b)of the details of each case of resumption of land in those categories in (a) which the Lands Department had considered proposing to the Authority in the past 10 years, including the factors considered in eventually putting forward the proposal or otherwise; and

    (c)whether it had uncovered in the past five years any case of people causing damage to a piece of land, which was not included in any outline zoning plan or development permission area plan but was of natural conservation value (e.g. long abandoned agricultural land), as a means to urge the Authority to resume the land under the aforesaid provision; if it had, of the details of each case; if not, what measures the Government will take to prevent such a situation?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*14. Dr Hon Joseph LEE to ask: (Translation)

In reply to my question on 2 February 2005, the Government said that the Hospital Authority ("HA"), through professional judgement and selection, considered that some medical instruments/consumables ("MICs") which were labelled by their manufacturers for single use could be reused, after sterilization, safely in a limited manner. Moreover, it is learnt that to ensure the safety of patients, some countries have enacted legislation to regulate the procedure for the reuse of MICs for single use. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
    (a)in respect of each year since 2005, the types of MICs reused in public hospitals and the respective times of reuse by their clinical departments (including the Anaesthesia, Medicine and Geriatrics, Neurosurgery, Oncology and Surgery departments);

    (b)the criteria adopted at present by HA for selecting, among the various types of MICs labelled for single use by their manufacturers, the types of MICs which can be reused; and whether HA had updated the criteria since 2005; and

    (c)how HA ensures that the guidelines and procedure for the reuse of MICs labelled for single use can safeguard the safety of patients?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*15. Hon KAM Nai-wai to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that in recent months, quite a number of green minibus ("GMB") operators, which operate routes on Hong Kong Island, had applied to the Transport Department ("TD") for fare increases and some had applied for increase of more than 10%; the procedure adopted by TD for vetting and approving fare increase applications by GMB operators has long been criticized by people as lacking in transparency. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether TD had reviewed in the past two years the criteria for vetting and approving fare increase applications by GMB operators and its consultation mechanism;

    (b)whether it has assessed if the fare adjustment mechanism for franchised bus companies, which allows fare to go upward and downward, is also applicable to GMBs;

    (c)whether TD had requested GMB operators to lower their fares in the past five years; if so, of the details of the GMB routes involved and the justifications for putting forward such requests; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)given that a validity period is specified in the passenger service licences issued by TD to GMB operators in respect of the routes concerned, whether TD will approve applications by the operators for fare adjustments before the expiry of the validity periods; if so, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*16. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)

It has been reported that the findings of a survey conducted by two agencies which are specialised in helping students rehabilitate from drug addiction reveal that in almost a quarter of the 500 secondary schools in Hong Kong, there are students who have used drugs. In addition to those admitting mainly Band Three students, the schools involved include prestigious Anglo-Chinese secondary schools and girls' schools. There are also students who used and trafficked drugs in schools. The aforesaid are merely data of confirmed drug abusers, and it is believed that there are many more abusers who have not been exposed. Moreover, according to the data up to the end of 2007 from the Central Registry of Drug Abuse of the Narcotics Division, the number of reported abusers aged below 21 had continued to rise for four consecutive years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the following in each of the past three years:
    (a)the total number of cases of abusing and using drugs by students in schools handled by the Police; and whether it knows the number of such cases handled by social welfare organizations;

    (b)the respective numbers of students who were prosecuted and convicted for drug trafficking in schools, and the penalty imposed on the convicted students; and

    (c)the Government's total expenditure on tackling drug abuse problems in schools, together with a breakdown of the figure?
Public Officer to reply :Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
(in the absence of Secretary for Security)

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

Regarding the implementation of energy-saving measures in government buildings, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)as the Government has indicated that it will endeavour to make the new Central Government Complex ("CGC") at Tamar, which is under construction, "one of the Government's greenest complexes", whether the Government will set specific energy-saving targets for CGC; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)given that the authorities have indicated that they will use various energy-saving facilities in CGC, but CGC will not be completed until 2011, whether the authorities will, in the light of the latest developments in energy efficient technologies, review from time to time the types of energy-saving facilities to be used in CGC before its completion;

    (c)whether it has assessed if the overall electricity consumption of the relevant offices of various policy bureaux and departments will be reduced after they move to CGC; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the rate of reduction; if the assessment result is in the negative, the reasons for that; and

    (d)given that various policy bureaux and departments had implemented energy-saving programmes and set specific electricity saving targets during the financial years from 2003-2004 to 2006-2007, whether at present the Government will consider launching similar programmes; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration

*18. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)

Regarding people with autism, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the current number and age distribution of people with autism, and the morbidity rate of autism among new born babies;

    (b)whether there is any existing mechanism for early identification of toddlers with autism; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will set up such a mechanism;

    (c)of the details of the existing services specifically provided for people with autism by government departments and non-governmental organizations, and whether improvements will be made to such services; and

    (d)as the United Nations designated last year the 2nd of April of every year as the "World Autism Awareness Day", whether the Government will organize related activities on that day, so as to enhance public awareness of autism?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

It has been reported that both the United Nations Environment Programme 2008 Annual Report and the World Bank's overview of the Latin America region released early this year pointed out that global climate would approach its critical point for climate change in the coming few years, and that the speed for global climate change would be faster than what had been expected in the 2007 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ("IPCC"). Moreover, the Carnegie Institution for Science of the United States also advised that the increase in emissions of carbon dioxide had reached a rate of 3.5% each year since 2000, which was 0.9 percentage point higher than the emissions of the 1990s, and that the speed of increase was also faster than what had been expected by IPCC. It is learnt that the Hong Kong Observatory recorded a mean temperature of 20.5°C in February this year in Hong Kong, which was the warmest February in 125 years, reflecting a long-term warming trend in Hong Kong, and extreme weather conditions (such as strong winds, heavy rains, high temperature and low temperature) would be more frequent. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the work achievement of the Inter-departmental Working Group on Climate Change ("IWGCC") led by the Environmental Protection Department since its establishment; of the latest work progress of the Consultancy Study on Climate Change which was steered by IWGCC and commenced work in 2008; and

    (b)whether it will, in response to the aforesaid circumstances, review afresh the various greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures which are being implemented and adopt more ambitious emission reduction measures (including setting a target for reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a target proportion of the electricity to be generated from renewable energy); if it will not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*20. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

In a programme broadcast in November last year by the Columbia Broadcast System of the United States ("US"), it was reported that each year toxic electronic wastes were smuggled in containers by thousands of vessels from US to Hong Kong to be stored and transported subsequently to the town of Guiyu in Shantou City, where local residents used primitive methods to extract metals contained in such wastes. Regarding the authorities' reply to my question on 10 December last year concerning the above situation, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)as the authorities advised that the storage sites for the electronic wastes mentioned in the said programme were clustered mainly in the remote areas in northern New Territories, whether they know if the electronic wastes stored in those sites have been transported to the town of Guiyu for unlawful processing, and whether they have traced the whereabouts of the electronic wastes in question, apart from deploying staff to conduct inspections of those sites; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)as the authorities advised that the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") had completed 197 prosecution cases in the past three years from 2006 to October 2008, of the types of electronic wastes, countries to which such wastes were exported, trial results and penalties imposed on the convicted person(s) in respect of each case;

    (c)as the authorities replied that EPD was then instituting prosecution against the offender related to the containers mentioned in the said programme, of the latest progress and details of this case; and

    (d)of the number of containers returned to the countries of export in the past three years because they carried electronic wastes which had been imported illegally, and the countries of export involved?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

* For written reply

III. Motions

1.Proposed resolution under the Matrimonial Causes Ordinance

The Chief Secretary for Administration to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Matrimonial Causes (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2009, made by the Chief Judge on 24 February 2009, be approved.

(The Matrimonial Causes (Fees) (Amendment) Rules 2009
was issued on 27 February 2009 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 403/08-09)

2.Proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the motion in the Appendix.

3.Proposed resolution under the Motor Vehicles (First Registration Tax) Ordinance

Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move the following motion:

RESOLVED that the Resolution made and passed by the Legislative Council on 14 May 1997 and published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 237 of 1997, as amended -

(a)by section 3 of the Revenue (No. 2) Ordinance 2000 (27 of 2000);

(b)by the Resolution made and passed by the Legislative Council on 19 March 2003 and published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 77 of 2003; and

(c)by the Resolution made and passed by the Legislative Council on 8 March 2006 and published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 53 of 2006,

be amended by repealing "2009" and substituting "2014".

IV. Members' Motions

  1. Comprehensively reviewing the role and functions of the University Grants Committee

    Prof Hon Patrick LAU: (Translation)

    That, as the international trend is that more and more countries, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Singapore, etc, have abolished their university grants committee mechanism, this Council urges the Government to comprehensively review the role and functions of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong, with a view to optimizing the academic quality of local universities as well as the quality of their scientific researches, including:

    (a)complementing the switch to the '334' academic structure, fostering the interface between local universities and the top universities in the world, and strengthening mutual academic exchange and co-operation in scientific researches;

    (b)improving the mechanism for approving research funding, abandoning the vetting criterion of giving emphasis to quantity rather than quality, ensuring academic freedom, and promoting research studies which meet the needs of the local community;

    (c)allocating more funds to provide subsidized undergraduate places and for the universities to determine the intake of associate degree graduates and the number of undergraduate places that need to be substantially increased after the academic structure reform; and

    (d)promoting the development and construction of campuses under the principle of university autonomy, and developing Hong Kong into the education hub of Asia.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon Paul CHAN: (Translation)

    To delete "as" after "That," and substitute with "following"; to delete "is" after "the international trend"; to add "establishing a Fifth Matching Grant Scheme, continuing to encourage universities to raise funds from the community and their alumni, strengthening the link between universities and the community, and cultivating within the community a philanthropic culture in support of the development of university education; (d)" after "(c)"; and to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)".

    (ii)Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong: (Translation)

    To delete ", as" after "That" and substitute with "the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong has all along failed to play its role to be neutral and as a 'buffer' between the universities and the Government, and"; to delete "and" after "the Government to comprehensively review the role" and substitute with ","; to add "and abolition or otherwise" after "functions"; to add "effectively promoting and" after "with a view to"; to add "and development" after "optimizing the academic quality"; to add "and development" after "as well as the quality"; to add "raising the Government's target ceiling of providing 14 500 first-year undergraduate places annually, and" after "(c)"; to delete "associate degree" after "determine the intake of" and substitute with "sub-degree"; to delete "and" after "academic structure reform;"; and to add "; (e) there must be participation of teacher and student representatives from the institution in the decision-making process of promoting the institution's development and allocating resources; and (f) establishing a mechanism independent of the Government to impartially handle disputes over the allocation of resources among institutions as well as complaints from teaching and non-teaching staff of the institutions, so as to ensure that the spirit of institutional autonomy and academic freedom can be realized" immediately before the full stop.

    (iii)Hon Starry LEE: (Translation)

    To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "promoting outstanding development in higher education is in line with Hong Kong's need to nurture talents, and"; to delete "and" after "academic structure reform;"; and to add "; and (e) supporting Hong Kong's universities to operate higher education institutions in the Pearl River Delta Region and collaborate with mainland education institutions in the area of scientific research, thereby enhancing the quality of these universities' scientific researches, so as to complement the development of Hong Kong into an education hub and nurture talents for the Pearl River Delta Region" immediately before the full stop.

    (iv)Hon Tanya CHAN: (Translation)

    To delete ", as the" after "That" and substitute with "university education is an important human capital investment of the Hong Kong community; as the current"; to add "the need for the existence as well as" after "comprehensively review"; to add "and comprehensively review the overall policy and funding system for university education," after "functions of the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong,"; to delete ", including" after "quality of their scientific researches" and substitute with "; the specific measures include"; to add "expeditiously reviewing the effectiveness of the work of the University Grants Committee and, based on the review results, examining the Committee's composition, structure, statutory status, mode of connection with the Government, powers and responsibilities, as well as its mode of regulation over various education institutions; (b)" after "(a)"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to delete "and" after "ensuring academic freedom,"; to add ", and in vetting research funding applications, the University Grants Committee or the various education institutions should arrange for the vetting work to be carried out by persons with research experience in the academic fields for which the funding is applied" after "local community"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete "; and" after "academic structure reform" and substitute with ", and reviewing the existing target that 18% of the relevant age cohort may enrol in publicly-funded undergraduate programmes; (e) through various feasible ways, striving to enhance the corporate governance standard of publicly-funded education institutions and improve their administration, financial and human resources management systems, so as to strengthen the protection of academic freedom and enhance the transparency of the operation of the universities; and"; and to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(f)".

    (v)Hon WONG Yuk-man: (Translation)

    To add ", as well as the abolition or otherwise," after "role and functions"; to delete "complementing the switch to the '334' academic structure, fostering the interface between local universities and the top universities in the world, and strengthening mutual academic exchange and co-operation in scientific researches" after "(a)" and substitute with "abolishing the existing university funding mechanism and replacing it with a university funding body which is independent of the Government, transparent, open, widely represented and comprises community representatives and stakeholders, including the management of universities and representatives of university teaching and non-teaching staff as well as students, etc"; to delete "improving" after "(b)"; to delete ", abandoning" after "research funding" and substitute with "should abandon"; to delete "ensuring academic freedom, and promoting" after "giving emphasis to quantity rather than quality," and substitute with "promote"; to add ", particularly researches in humanities education, and also ensure that there will not be uneven distribution of resources among universities, and at the same time can impartially handle complaints from teaching and non-teaching staff, so that the spirit of academic freedom can be realized" after "local community"; to add ", and increasing the number of undergraduate places in universities" after "subsidized undergraduate places"; to add " '334' " after "substantially increased after the"; to add "emphasizing the principle of autonomy for all university teaching staff and students," after "(d)"; and to delete "under the principle of university autonomy, and developing Hong Kong into the education hub of Asia" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "with the participation of representatives of the relevant university's teaching staff and students, making the provision of training for local university students its primary objective, and enhancing student exchange and academic exchange and co-operation between local universities and universities in the world under the premise of not jeopardizing education for local university students".

    (vi)Hon Mrs Regina IP: (Translation)

    To add "and ensuring that universities will not, as enterprises do, set increasing income as their objective," after "quality of their scientific researches,"; to add "knowledge creation, new and high technology as well as" after "ensuring academic freedom, and promoting"; to add "and economic development" after "local community"; to add "improving the teaching quality and curricula as well as" after "(d)"; to add "and giving priority consideration to nurturing local students" after "principle of university autonomy"; and to add ", so as to broaden the international perspective of Hong Kong students" immediately before the full stop.

    (vii)Dr Hon PAN Pey-chyou: (Translation)

    To add "teaching and" after "co-operation in"; to delete "research" after "mechanism for approving"; to add "for academic researches" before ", abandoning the vetting criterion"; to delete "promoting" after "academic freedom, and" and substitute with "handling research funding applications from various disciplines in a fair manner, so as to promote"; to delete "and" after "academic structure reform;"; and to add "; (e) adjusting Hong Kong's current development strategy on higher education which has all along emphasized the scientific, commercial and professional disciplines, and giving greater weight to humanities to enable university students to have a more all-rounded perspective and scholastic achievement; and (f) assisting the various local universities in exploring other sources of income in addition to government funding, and encouraging various sectors of the community to donate funds to the universities, so that the universities can have more sufficient resources to develop their teaching and research work" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education

  2. Promoting the development of leisure agriculture and fishery trades

    Hon WONG Yung-kan: (Translation)

    That, being affected by the policies implemented by the SAR Government, the room for survival of the trades which rely on the production of agricultural and fishery products has been shrinking; at the same time, with changes in people's travel patterns, many places have put emphasis on upgrading their traditional agriculture and fishery industries and developing them into leisure tourism industry, which enriches the tourism resources of these places, and creates a way out for the agriculture and fishery industries to transform; yet, the SAR Government does not attach importance to the need of the agriculture and fishery industries in Hong Kong to transform, and there is a lack of a comprehensive development policy in this regard, resulting in the development of the local leisure agriculture and fishery trades still lagging far behind; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to formulate a comprehensive policy on the development of leisure agriculture and fishery trades to develop the trades into a tourism project with local characteristics; the relevant measures should include:

    (a)under the principle of sustainable development and through appropriate tourism regulation and ecological management as well as the provision of resources, conserving natural landscape with ecological values as well as rural areas and fishing villages with traditional cultural characteristics, so as to balance the needs for conservation and tourism development;

    (b)reviewing the current restrictions relating to the transformation of the agriculture and fishery industries to engage in tourism business, so as to give the industries more room for transformation and development;

    (c)drawing on overseas experiences, enhancing the facilities of local live and fresh food wholesale markets and typhoon shelters, injecting tourism elements into such facilities to provide more diversified leisure agriculture and fishery projects; and

    (d)allocating more resources to training talents and stepping up the promotion of local leisure agriculture and fishery trades, so as to attract more tourists.

    Amendment to the motion
    Hon WONG Kwok-hing: (Translation)

    To delete "being affected by the policies implemented by the SAR Government," after "That," and substitute with "as the SAR Government lacks an appropriate and sustainable policy on agriculture and fishery industries, the operation of traditional agriculture and fishery industries has fallen into decline, and"; to add "local" after "survival of the"; to add "and strong resources support" after "development policy"; to add "and step up its support" after "the development of leisure agriculture and fishery trades"; to delete "and" after "projects;"; and to add "; (e) considering formulating a licensing system for 'water taxis', and abolishing unnecessary regulations and restrictions on the transformation of fishing vessels, so as to provide opportunities for suitable fishing vessels to engage in the leisure fishery trade; (f) formulating policies to encourage organic farming, thereby developing related leisure organic farming activities; (g) flexibly utilizing parks and open areas, etc to develop weekend and holiday bazaars for organic agriculture and fishery products, so as to attract the public and tourists and provide additional sales channels for such products; and (h) formulating policies on revitalization and greening of agricultural lands, fish ponds and woodlands to ensure that abandoned agricultural lands will not be illegally turned into waste dumping grounds or container yards, fish ponds will not be filled up and hills will not turn bare, so as to nurture a pleasant environment and atmosphere for the development of leisure agriculture and fishery trades" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

Clerk to the Legislative Council