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A 09/10-24
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 28 April 2010 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| Subsidiary Legislation / Instruments | L.N. No.
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| Designation of Libraries (No. 2) Order 2010 | 42/2010
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Other Papers
| 1. | No. 89 | - | Audited statement of accounts of the Language Fund for the year ended 31 August 2009
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Education)
| | 2. | No. 90 | - | Annual Report and Financial Report 2008/2009 of the Vocational Training Council
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Education)
| | 3. | No. 91 | - | Securities and Futures Commission Approved Budget of Income and Expenditure for Financial Year 2010/2011
| (to be presented by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)
| | 4. | Report of the Bills Committee on Employment (Amendment) Bill 2009
| | (to be presented by Hon WONG Ting-kwong, Chairman of the Bills Committee)
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II. Questions
1. Hon Paul CHAN to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that quite a number of Hong Kong listed companies incorporated in other jurisdictions are currently exempted by the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited ("HKEx") from having their financial statements audited annually by certified public accountants (practising) in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the current number of Hong Kong listed companies which have been granted the aforesaid exemption, in which countries are they mostly incorporated, when they started engaging accountants who do not hold a practising certificate in Hong Kong to audit their financial statements, and the places where such accounting firms are registered; what criteria HKEx has adopted in exercising the aforesaid power of exemption; whether approval from other authorities or government departments is required before HKEx exercises such power, and the application procedure for such an exemption;
| | (b) | whether the Government, HKEx and the Securities and Futures Commission have consulted the trade and market stakeholders before making the aforesaid exemption arrangements; if so, of the details, including when consultation was conducted, names of the organizations consulted, contents of the responses received, when and how the outcome of consultation was announced, as well as the justifications for deciding to make the exemption arrangements; if consultation has not been conducted, of the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it knows how HKEx ensures that the practising standards of the accountants who do not hold a practising certificate in Hong Kong and the professional standards they adopt meet the Hong Kong requirements; how the authorities ensure that timely and effective investigations and disciplinary proceedings can be carried out by the regulatory authorities when irregularities have been uncovered in the accounts of such listed companies, and the details of the mechanism for carrying out such investigations and disciplinary proceedings?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
2. Dr Hon Samson TAM to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that recently a secondary school principal is very strict in shaking up school discipline, causing some students of the school to criticize him on social networking sites on the Internet which created a disturbance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | what measures and policies the authorities have in place to follow up this kind of incidents, so as to ease the tense relationship between students and schools;
| | (b) | whether it has looked into the roles of the Parent Teachers Association and Management Committee of the aforesaid school in this incident; if it has, of the details; and
| | (c) | given that in recent years, students voiced their discontent with school policies from time to time on the discussion platforms on the Internet, and also used strong words, whether the authorities have studied and assessed the impact of the situation on the relationship between students and schools; if they have, of the outcome; if not, whether they will expeditiously do so?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education
3. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that recently, the average price of the residential units in a new development in Yuen Long was as high as HK$6,000 per square foot, and the per-square-foot accommodation value of a site in Tseung Kwan O is already higher than the per-square-foot price of second-hand residential units in the same district, reflecting a huge increase in property prices and the property market being abnormally active. The supply of flats and the ability of members of the public to own homes have become the issues of the most concern to the community in Hong Kong. Moreover, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme ("CIES") has brought a total of over HK$42 billion in investment during the period between its introduction in October 2003 and the end of last year, with HK$12.3 billion (i.e. nearly 30%) of such investment on real estate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it has assessed if CIES is the main cause of the property market being abnormally active recently; if an assessment has been made, of the outcome;
| | (b) | whether it has considered revising the minimum value of investment required under CIES from HK$6.5 million at present gradually by phases to HK$10 million or above; and
| | (c) | given that the minimum value of investment of HK$6.5 million required under CIES has not been revised since it was set in October 2003, whether it will formulate a mechanism for reviewing the minimum value of investment regularly; if it will, of the details, including the data to be included for reference during the review; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security
4. Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to ask: (Translation)
Regarding the efforts to implement gender mainstreaming and promote gender equality, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | given that the information provided by the Home Affairs Bureau has indicated that the overall women's participation rate in advisory and statutory bodies ("ASBs") was 27.6% as at April 2009, of the current number of ASBs with less than 30% of their non-official members being women, together with a table setting out the numbers and percentages of such non-official members on each ASB; whether it has assessed the reasons for women's participation rate falling short of 30%; if it has, of the outcome;
| | (b) | whether at present the authorities have any plan to raise the work target of at least 25% for each gender for the purpose of appointing non-official members of ASBs; if they have such a plan, of the timeframe and details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that the Government has indicated that to encourage and promote women's participation in community affairs, the appointing authorities will continue to adopt various measures to identify and cultivate more women to participate in the work of ASBs, including conveying the message to professional bodies or institutions that the Government is making efforts in enhancing women's participation rate in ASBs, of the specific actions taken by the Government since June 2009, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such actions; if it has, of the assessment outcome?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
5. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
According to the latest information of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA"), the official foreign currency reserve assets amounted to US$258.8 billion as at the end of March 2010, which ranked seventh in the world. Yet, there have been comments that HKMA has always adopted a relatively conservative investment strategy and, as a result, the compounded annual return of the Exchange Fund from 1994 to 2008 was 6.1% only, which was in general lower than the investment return rate of sovereign wealth funds. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | given that it is clearly stated in the Articles of Association of the China Investment Corporation ("CIC"), the sovereign wealth fund of the Motherland, that the company's business objectives are to carry out an active and steady operation and endeavour to "maximize" the interests of the shareholders (i.e. the country and the people) within an acceptable scope of risks, of the measures adopted by the Hong Kong SAR Government to maximize the interests of Hong Kong people in respect of their assets (i.e. foreign exchange reserves);
| | (b) | given that there have been comments that the Government does not need to use all the foreign exchange reserves to maintain the Linked Exchange Rate System, plus the fact that Hong Kong may obtain short-term liquidity support through participation in the "Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization", whether the Government will reconsider allocating a small portion of the Exchange Fund (such as one-tenth or US$25 billion) to set up a sovereign wealth fund and establish a new company to manage the fund independently, so as to seek higher returns and make strategic investments which dovetail with those Hong Kong industries which enjoy competitive edge; and
| | (c) | given that when CIC was established in September 2007, the Ministry of Finance raised RMB1.55 trillion through the issuance of treasury bonds and acquired foreign exchange reserves equivalent to US$200 billion to form CIC's registered capital, whether the Government will consider raising funds in a similar manner?
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Public Officer to reply : The Financial Secretary
6. Hon Albert HO to ask: (Translation)
In 1999, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government submitted a report to the United Nations in the light of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Paragraph 461(b) of the report stated that "[the functional constituencies] are transitional. The ultimate aim, as provided for in Article 68 of the Basic Law, is the election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage". Moreover, on 29 December 2007, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ("NPCSC") adopted the Decision on Issues Relating to the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and for Forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Year 2012 and on Issues Relating to Universal Suffrage ("the Decision"). The Decision stated that "after the Chief Executive is selected by universal suffrage, the election of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may be implemented by the method of electing all the members by universal suffrage". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
| (a) | it still maintains the stance that the functional constituency system is transitional only; if so, whether it has assessed if social conflicts relating to the retention or otherwise of functional constituencies will deepen as the issue continues to be left to the next-term Government to deal with; and
| | (b) | it has assessed if the continued keeping of the functional constituency system in or after 2020 is a violation of Article 68 of the Basic Law and the Decision adopted by NPCSC in 2007?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs
*7. Prof Hon Patrick LAU to ask:
Will the Government inform this Council of the number of building management cases handled by the Lands Tribunal in each of the past four years, and among them, the respective numbers of those related to disputes between property owners and occupants within the same building on building management issues (such as water seepage and nuisance, etc.), and those which had been resolved by mediation before the formal proceedings conducted by the Lands Tribunal?
Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration
*8. Hon Abraham SHEK to ask: (Translation)
In January this year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority ("OLA") under the Home Affairs Department inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse at Castle Peak Road in Yuen Long. A man and a woman involved in the case were subsequently convicted of contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance (Cap. 349) and were fined $3,000 and $1,500 respectively. It has been learnt that similar prosecutions are instituted by the authorities almost every month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of inspections conducted by OLA officers on suspected unlicensed guesthouses in the past three years, as well as the respective numbers of reports made by members of the public, prosecutions instituted and convicted cases together with the penalties imposed;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed the deterrent effect of the existing prosecution policy and the penalties imposed by the court on the operation of unlicensed guesthouses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | given that the operation of unlicensed guesthouses may endanger the structural safety of buildings in which they are located as well as the personal safety of lodgers in such guesthouses, cause nuisances to other residents and give rise to many other problems, yet the situation has not improved over the years, whether the authorities will consider amending the legislation and increasing the penalties so as to enhance deterrent effect; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*9. Hon IP Wai-ming to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of:
| (a) | the number of preserved accounts in the Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") schemes and the amount of MPF accrued benefits in such accounts in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by age, gender and occupation of the MPF scheme members;
| | (b) | the number of MPF scheme members who took the initiative to make arrangements for the accrued benefits in their MPF accounts due to change of employment in each of the past five years, and the amount of such benefits involved, with a breakdown by the arrangement made (i.e. transferring the accrued benefits to a contribution account in the MPF scheme of the new employer or to a new preserved account opened by the member, or retaining them in a preserved account in the original MPF scheme); and
| | (c) | the number of MPF scheme members who did not make any arrangement for the accrued benefits upon change of employment in each of the past five years, and among such cases, the number of those involving accrued benefits being automatically transferred to preserved accounts in the original MPF schemes?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
*10. Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that Chevron Hong Kong Limited ("Chevron") has decided to gradually terminate the business of domestic liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG") supply in Hong Kong, including the supply of domestic central LPG, which is operated by its subsidiary, the Caltex, and it is estimated that quite a number of users in both public and private housing estates will be affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it knows the information on the housing estates affected by the aforesaid incident (set out in the table below);
| Name of housing estate (public housing/
Home Ownership Scheme/
private housing) | District | Number of households | Date on which the supply of domestic central LPG will be terminated |
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| | (b) | when the authorities received the notification from Chevron about the aforesaid termination of business; why they have not announced this immediately and taken the initiative to contact the affected housing estates;
| | (c) | whether it knows if any of the other LPG suppliers has expressed willingness to take over the supply of domestic central LPG to the affected housing estates; if so, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will request Chevron to continue to supply domestic LPG to its existing users until a new supplier has been identified; if they will not make such an arrangement, of the reasons for that, and how they assist the affected households;
| | (d) | whether it will consider entering into any agreement with the new supplier to ensure that the supplier will supply LPG at reasonable prices; and
| | (e) | of the authorities' contingency plan to ensure that when ultimately no other supplier is willing to take over the supply of LPG, there will be continuous supply of gas to the affected households; whether the authorities will consider inviting the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited to take over the supply of domestic gas; if they will, of the details (including details about the necessary conversion works, and which party will bear the costs of the works)?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*11. Hon CHEUNG Hok-ming to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that at present there are insufficient parking spaces for vehicles carrying cylinder liquefied petroleum gas ("LPG"). Moreover, some cylinder LPG distributors are unaware of the requirement that such vehicles must be parked at designated locations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of vehicles carrying cylinder LPG in Hong Kong at present, as well as the current total number of parking spaces for such vehicles and their distribution in various districts;
| | (b) | whether it has assessed and reviewed if the current parking facilities for vehicles carrying cylinder LPG are sufficient; if it has, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | what measures and promotional activities are in place to enhance the trade's awareness of the requirement for vehicles carrying cylinder LPG to be parked at designated locations?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*12. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
Some members of the hotel industry have recently relayed to me that they find it difficult to recruit hotel services workers who meet the required standards of qualifications, work experience and service attitudes, and that the locally trained staff often cannot provide services which are as hospitable and attentive as those provided by overseas staff from countries such as Thailand, the Philippines and Nepal, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the number of applications for importing workers received from employers in the hotel industry in each of the past three years and, among such applications, the number of those which were approved;
| | (b) | whether it can streamline the application procedure for importing workers, so as to shorten the application processing time and facilitate employers in the hotel industry who need to employ overseas workers to complete the application procedure more easily; and
| | (c) | of the total number of hotel services workers who were trained under the government training programmes and Government-subsidized training programmes in each of the past three years, and the resources involved; whether it has consulted the hotel industry on its level of satisfaction with the performance of the locally trained hotel services workers at present, so as to review such training programmes?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
*13. Hon KAM Nai-wai to ask: (Translation)
The Lands Department invited tenders by publication in the Gazette on March 26 this year for the sale of "Aberdeen Inland Lot No. 457", which is a government land designated for use as a petrol filling station ("Aberdeen petrol filling station") with a lease term of 21 years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the current number of government land which have been designated for use as petrol filling stations and, among such land, the respective numbers of those which are less than 10 metres, 50 metres and 100 metres away from residential housing, as well as their respective locations; whether the authorities have any plan to relocate such petrol filling stations which are close to residential housing; if they have such plans, of the specific timetable of the relocation; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (b) | given that the Aberdeen petrol filling station situated in a town centre has been set up for many years and is less than 10 metres away from the residential housing, whether the Planning Department needs to examine if the Aberdeen petrol filling station has met the current planning standards before re-inviting tenders; if an examination is not needed, of the reasons for that;
| | (c) | what ways various government departments will use to consult the local community's views on petrol filling stations and other facilities which are close to residential housing and controversial; given that I have learnt that the Southern District Council has neither been consulted nor learnt about the latest information before the re-invitation of tenders for the Aberdeen petrol filling station, whether the authorities will investigate if the incident involved errors in the consultation process; if such errors are involved, whether the authorities will consider terminating the current tendering process and consulting local organizations and residents afresh; how the authorities will handle the strong objection from the local community to this facility, and how they will balance local interests and ensure that the safety of the nearby residents will not be threatened by this facility; and
| | (d) | what new measures the authorities have in place to improve the current consultation system?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment
*14. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
Will the Government inform this Council of the respective numbers of service units under the Community Mental Health Intervention Project, Community Mental Health Care Services, Community Mental Health Link as well as Training and Activity Centre for Ex-mentally Ill Persons, together with the total amounts of funds allocated to such units in the 2009-2010 financial year (set out in the table below)?
| Name of programme | Number of service units | Total amount of funds allocated to the service units |
| Community Mental Health Intervention Project |
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| Community Mental Health Care Services |
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| Community Mental Health Link |
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| Training and Activity Centre for Ex-mentally Ill Persons |
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare
*15. Dr Hon LAM Tai-fai to ask: (Translation)
Since the Government implemented the registration system for proprietary Chinese medicines ("PCM") ("the registration system") in 2003, manufacturers and importers of PCM are required to submit applications to the Chinese Medicines Board of the Chinese Medicine Council ("the Medicines Board") for PCM registration. Moreover, under section 119 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance ("the Ordinance") (Cap. 549), except under exemptions given in the Ordinance, no person shall sell, import or possess any unregistered PCM. The provision has yet to come into operation at present. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the total number of Hong Kong-invested licensed PCM manufacturers and the number of registered PCM in Hong Kong at present, and whether it knows their respective market share;
| | (b) | of the annual number of licensed PCM manufacturers that have voluntarily reported on the problems of their registered PCM since the implementation of the registration system, together with the date and content of the reports submitted, as well as the authorities' follow-up actions, set out in table form;
| | (c) | given that at present, licensed PCM manufacturers are required to submit to the Medicines Board reports on the tests on safety, efficacy and quality, etc. of the medicine when making applications for PCM registration, whether the authorities know the average cost of each report on such tests and the time needed to complete each report;
| | (d) | whether there is any measure in place to assist Hong Kong-invested licensed PCM manufacturers in conducting safety tests on medicines and researches; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (e) | given that western medicines are required to comply with the standards of the "Good Manufacturing Practices" at present, whether the authorities have planned to require PCM to comply with such standards as well; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
| | (f) | whether the Department of Health has taken the initiative to conduct tests on the raw materials of PCM in the market, and inspect PCM manufacturing plants regularly; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (g) | when section 119 of the Ordinance will come into operation; before the provision comes into operation, what actions the authorities will take to ensure the safety of the PCM taken by members of the public?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*16. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") manages 14 museums in total, and the opening hours on weekdays of most of them are from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, which overlap with the working hours of the general public. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
| (a) | why the opening hours of the aforesaid museums differ from one another; what criteria LCSD has adopted for determining the opening hours of the museums; of the number of museums which are still open after 6:00 pm from Monday to Friday, together with a list of the name and opening hours of each of such museums, as well as their respective average hourly attendances before and after 6:00 pm from Mondays to Fridays last year;
| | (b) | whether in the past three years, reference had been made to the experience of overseas museums to facilitate a review of the opening hours of local museums; if so, of a list of the names of individual museums studied and the conclusions so obtained, as well as the proposals put forth by the Government in response to such conclusions; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether they will consider aligning and extending the opening hours of the museums under LCSD for the convenience of the public and to increase attendances; if they will, of the proposed opening hours and the timetable for implementing the new opening hours; if not, the reasons for that?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*17. Hon Frederick FUNG to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that the wholesale price for live pigs on the Mainland has been dropping continuously and has recently reached its lowest since May of last year. The said price and the price for pork on the Mainland have dropped continuously for twelve and eleven weeks, which are respectively 12.6% and 9.8% lower when compared with the prices of the same period last year. The National Development and Reform Commission further anticipates that the price for pork on the Mainland will drop continuously until after the Mid-Autumn Festival in September this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | of the average monthly wholesale, import and retail prices for fresh and chilled pork imported from the Mainland since January 2009, and the changes in these prices; of the difference in the retail prices for fresh and chilled pork; and
| | (b) | whether there has been a corresponding drop in the wholesale, import and retail prices for fresh and chilled pork imported from the Mainland as a result of the continuous drop in price for pigs on the Mainland since January 2009; if not, whether the authorities have looked into the reasons involved, and proactively investigated why the drop in the price for pigs on the Mainland has not been reflected in the local wholesale, import and retail prices for pork; whether they have uncovered situations of market practitioners boosting up prices; and what measures the authorities have taken to urge retailers, etc. to lower the price for pork expeditiously, and to prevent market practitioners from profiteering through price-boosting, so as to enable the public to buy pork at a reasonable price that reflects the cost?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health
*18. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
WONG Fuk-wing ("WONG"), a Hong Kong resident, sacrificed his life when trying to save others during the earthquake in Yushu County in Qinghai. He was participating in voluntary work in an orphanage in Yushu County when the quake struck. WONG had already escaped and could have survived the calamity, but after learning that some teachers and students did not escape in time and were trapped under the fallen rubble, he braved the danger and returned immediately to the orphanage to rescue them. Unfortunately, aftershocks followed and some of the shaky houses eventually collapsed. The teachers and students rescued from the orphanage by WONG suffered only minor injuries, but he was buried alive and lost his life. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether it will make special arrangements for WONG's funeral apart from the plan to posthumously award him the Medal for Bravery (Gold);
| | (b) | how it will advocate to the public WONG's spirit of selflessness, universal love, patriotism and self-sacrifice, e.g. whether consideration will be given to naming a building after WONG in his memory; and
| | (c) | whether it will consider setting up a volunteers' fund to encourage and support the services and work carried out on the Mainland by Hong Kong volunteers such as WONG?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs
*19. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
According to the findings of a survey published earlier by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 25.9% of the respondents agreed to the use of radical means in requesting the Government to respond to their demands, and based on the adult population in 2009, it was estimated that about 1.5 million people were in support of fierce confrontation, and the proportion of respondents finding Hong Kong a harmonious society dropped sharply from 37.5% in 2008 to 26.5% in 2010. The Head of the Central Policy Unit ("CPU") subsequently published an article in the newspapers, pointing out that Hong Kong is faced with mounting social conflicts, but there is a lack of consensus among the various sectors on the method to tackle the social conflicts, thus making people feel trapped in a helpless and frustrated city. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | whether the view expressed by the Head of CPU represents the Government's stance and viewpoint;
| | (b) | whether the authorities have assessed the impact of the aforesaid situation of about 1.5 million people agreeing to the use of radical means in requesting the Government to respond to their demands on the Government's promotion of harmonious society; whether they will commission other academic institutions to conduct further researches on this subject and whether they will adopt any immediate measures to relieve public discontent;
| | (c) | whether the Government will regard maintaining social harmony and reducing public discontent as the overriding principles in formulating new policies, so as to prevent the occurrence of fierce social confrontation similar to that triggered by the project to construct the Hong Kong Section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link; and
| | (d) | given that the Central Government has been continuously promoting the concept of social harmony on the Mainland in recent years, but the aforesaid survey has shown a rapid decrease in the proportion of members of the public who find Hong Kong a harmonious society, whether the SAR Government will implement measures in various aspects which are more effective and step up its efforts in promoting harmony in Hong Kong; if it will, of the details; if not, whether it will conduct a review in response to the aforesaid survey findings?
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Public Officer to reply : The Chief Secretary for Administration
*20. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)
It has been learnt that at present, when outbound travellers are dissatisfied with travel agencies' decisions on embarkation or itineraries of package tours, they can lodge complaints with the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong ("TIC") only. Yet, it has been reported recently that the management of TIC is alleged to be controlled by some TIC Board directors who have conflicts of interest, and favours the interests of the trade and ignores the safety and interests of travellers when handling travellers' complaints. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
| (a) | what effective and credible mechanism and measures are in place at present to monitor TIC's procedure for handling travellers' complaints and review its decisions made thereof;
| | (b) | whether it has set up a mechanism for handling travellers' dissatisfaction about TIC's handling of their complaints or its decisions; if not, of the reasons for that; if it has, the specific operation of the mechanism, and the names of the responsible bureau(x) and government department(s); whether it has announced and publicized the mechanism to the public; if it has, of the specific details; if not, the reasons for that; and
| | (c) | whether it has taken the initiative to conduct random checks on the travellers' complaints handled by TIC; if not, of the reasons for that; if it has, the number of such cases being randomly checked in each of the past three years and, among them, the number of cases in which the Government was required to take the initiative to contact the complainants and offer them assistance due to misconduct of TIC?
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Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
* For written reply
III. Bills
First Reading
Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Bill
Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
| | Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Bill | : | Secretary for the Environment
| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
| | Employment (Amendment) Bill 2009 | : | Secretary for Labour and Welfare
| Secretary for Labour and Welfare to move Committee stage amendments
(The amendments were issued on 21 April 2010
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 613/09-10)
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IV. Members' Motions
- Strengthening the regulation of the sale of residential properties
Hon James TO to move the following motion: (Translation)
That the sale of residential properties in Hong Kong has all along relied on advertising and publicity, sales brochures, visits to show flats, real estate agents and newspapers to provide information about properties and the property market to the public, and while the Government, The Real Estate Developers Association of Hong Kong ('REDA'), the Estate Agents Authority ('EAA') and the Consumer Council have repeatedly laid down guidelines, launched publicity and issued reminders, cases of advertisements with ambiguous content, sales brochures without clear and detailed information, discrepancies between show flats and actual flats for sale, confusing market information, etc. still continue to occur; as such, this Council urges the Government to adopt the following measures to enhance the transparency and fairness in property sales and protect the interests of home buyers:
| (a) | on the basis of the Sales Descriptions of Uncompleted Residential Properties Bill which was published as a White Bill in 2000, to introduce legislation to regulate the sale of uncompleted residential properties;
| | (b) | to revise the 'Consent Scheme' by incorporating into its conditions all the relevant guidelines drawn up by REDA, and prescribing more detailed requirements for compliance by developers, including strengthening the restrictions on the content of promotional materials and sales brochures as well as tightening the requirements on show flats, and requiring developers to publish on their web pages property sales information, including the full version of the sales brochure, the content of land leases and deeds of mutual covenant, every price list, records of sale and purchase agreements and completion of transactions, information on connected party transactions, information on related transactions, and details of internal and private sales, etc., with a view to providing clear and detailed information, and hence avoiding misunderstandings and preventing the public from being easily confused by rumours in the market; and
| | (c) | to step up inspections, remind estate agency practitioners to comply with the codes and circulars drawn up by EAA, and penalize the non-complying practitioners, so as to enhance the credibility of the estate agency trade.
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Amendment to the motion
Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as" after "That"; to add "first-hand" before "residential properties in Hong Kong"; to delete "as such," after "occur;"; to add "and put forward an implementation timetable" after "measures"; to delete "for" after "detailed requirements" and substitute with "to require"; to delete "publish" after "developers to" and substitute with "provide"; to add "and in their sales offices more detailed" after "web pages"; to delete "and" after "in the market;"; to add "to provide additional resources" after "(c)"; to add "real estate developers, estate agencies and" after "remind"; to delete "practitioners" after "non-complying" and substitute with "real estate developers, estate agencies and estate agency practitioners in accordance with the law"; to add "real estate developers and" after "credibility of"; and to add "and safeguard the interests of home buyers; and (d) to strengthen the power of the Consumer Council to monitor real estate developers and estate agencies, including considering the introduction of legislation on cross-trade business practices, so as to enable the Consumer Council to exercise the power vested by law to name and criticize the real estate developers and estate agencies engaging in unscrupulous sales practices, and to allow people to make reports for referral to law enforcement departments for prosecution, so that home buyers can obtain adequate consumer information and protection" immediately before the full stop.
Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Transport and Housing
- Eradicating plutocratic monopoly and promoting social harmony
Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following motion: (Translation)
That the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of The Chinese University of Hong Kong has earlier published the findings of an opinion poll, confirming that Hong Kong is not a harmonious society and estimating that there are 1.5 million people in favour of resorting to radical means to press the Government to respond to their demands, which tolls the death bell for the Government's credibility of its governance; this Council considers that the fundamental reasons contributing to social disharmony in Hong Kong are the plutocratic monopoly of political and economic powers and the Government's implementation of policies which are biased towards the interests of people who are powerful and wealthy, resulting in the aggravation of class conflicts and the worsening of confrontation between the Government and the people; in this connection, this Council urges that the Government should not continue to disregard social crises and leave the people to be trapped in a state of worries, and must change its course to make fundamental reforms, including abolishing the political privileges of functional bodies and formulating measures to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor, maintain social mobility and ensure fair competition, thereby alleviating the deep-rooted conflicts in Hong Kong and promoting social harmony.
| Amendments to the motion
| | (i) | Hon Ronny TONG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as" after "That"; to delete ";" after "governance" and substitute with ","; to delete "between" after "confrontation" and substitute with "among"; to add ", the business sector" before "and the people;"; to add ", changing the existing policies which are biased towards the business sector," after "functional bodies"; and to add "resolving the conflicts of interest between the business sector and the people," after "thereby".
| | (ii) | Hon Emily LAU to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "in recent years social conflicts have become daily occurrences, and" after "That"; and to add "; this Council also appeals to all Hong Kong people to demonstrate their power on 2 May to urge the Government to implement genuine universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council, so as to resolve social confrontation and avoid Hong Kong being driven towards a crisis of being ungovernable" after "competition".
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Public Officer to attend : The Chief Secretary for Administration
Clerk to the Legislative Council
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