A 10/11-21

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 16 March 2011 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Papers

1.No. 77-HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund
Financial statements together with the Director of Audit's report for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

2.No. 78-Research Endowment Fund
Financial statements together with the Director of Audit's report for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

3.No. 79-Report of changes made to the approved Estimates of Expenditure during the third quarter of 2010-11
Public Finance Ordinance: Section 8
(to be presented by the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury)

4.No. 80-Quality Education Fund
Financial statements together with the Director of Audit's report for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

5.No. 81-Education Development Fund
Financial statements together with the Director of Audit's report for the year ended 31 August 2010
(to be presented by the Secretary for Education)

6.Report No. 16/10-11 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
(to be presented by Hon Miriam LAU, Chairman of the House Committee)

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

1. Hon Alan LEONG to ask: (Translation)

Given that after the occurrence of the most serious earthquake ever recorded in Japan, there were successive explosions at the nuclear power plants in Fukushima, some members of the public in Hong Kong are worried that food products imported from Japan will be contaminated by radiation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the types of food products currently imported into Hong Kong which come from areas that may be exposed to radiation and the quantities imported each day;

    (b)given that the Secretary for Food and Health ("SFH") indicated on 14 March that the Centre for Food Safety had carried out tests on fresh food products imported from Japan, whether the authorities can clarify the criteria adopted at present in testing the level of radioactive contamination in Japanese food products, as well as the measures to be adopted by the authorities when some food products are found to have a level of radioactive contamination exceeding the normal standard; and

    (c)given that SFH indicated on 14 March that he would closely monitor food products imported from Japan, such as details of their places of origin, the time of departure from the farms, etc., regarding the importation procedures for the food products mentioned above, whether the authorities and the Japanese Government have established crisis management and reporting mechanisms, so as to obtain full information on the sources of food products imported into Hong Kong and prevent food products which have been contaminated by radiation from being imported into Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; if not, the channels through which the authorities will receive the relevant information?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

In view of the severity and urgency of the incident of radiation leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant ("Fukushima plant") in Japan, and the Central Government commencing its evacuation of Chinese nationals from certain areas of Japan, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it has made enquiries with the Japanese government on the situations of the various nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant and information relating to the leak of various types of radioactive materials and radiation; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether it has assessed the probability and possible extent of Hong Kong being affected by the radiation leak incident; if it has, of the details; what contingency measures it has at present to deal with the situation where Hong Kong is affected by the radiation leak incident; whether it has assessed the risk and probability of similar type of crises occurring at the Daya Bay nuclear plant; if it has, of the details and its contingency measures for that; and

    (c)whether it has assessed if Hong Kong has enough manpower, equipment, drugs and related resources to deal with incidents of Hong Kong being affected by a radiation leak, and whether relevant drills have been conducted; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it will arrange health check-ups for people who returned to Hong Kong from Japan recently; if it will, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and what plan it has to help Hong Kong people who are currently stranded in Japan to return to Hong Kong?
Public Officers to reply : Secretary for Security
Secretary for Food and Health

3. Hon Paul TSE to ask: (Translation)

Over the past two days, I have received requests for assistance from more than a hundred travellers who have booked tours to Japan or purchased their tour packages as well as from workers of the tourism industry. They expressed grave dissatisfaction with the Security Bureau's policy of not issuing a black travel alert for "the whole of Japan" even under the situation where tsunamis, aftershocks and radiation leak had occurred successively in the wake of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake in Japan. They also said that they kept calling the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong but their calls were unanswered as the lines were busy, and thus they had nowhere to turn to for assistance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the specific reasons for not yet issuing a black travel alert for "the whole of Japan" to date;

    (b)whether it has assessed how many Hong Kong tourist guides and travellers will go to Japan in the coming three months without coverage under the travel accident insurance and employees' compensation insurance policies (the travel insurance policies of many insurance companies are already rendered void under a red travel alert); and

    (c)in the light of the worsening radiation leak in Japan, whether it has assessed how many travellers will need to undergo a radiation contamination check when they return to Hong Kong from Japan, and whether there are sufficient manpower and resources in Hong Kong to cope with the large scale check-up exercise to be carried out on returning travellers who might have been contaminated by nuclear radiation; if it has, of the outcome of its assessment; if it has not, whether such an assessment can be conducted immediately?
Public Officers to reply : Secretary for Security
Secretary for Food and Health
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

IIA. Questions

1. Hon Audrey EU to ask: (Translation)

With regard to the updating of the air quality objectives ("AQOs"), will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that it had been stated in the Policy Address published in October 2009 (i.e. more than a year ago) that the Chief Secretary for Administration was coordinating the work on reviewing and updating the AQOs, of the latest progress of such work; and

    (b)since there have been comments that for almost 25 years the Government has never updated the AQOs which were promulgated in 1987, thus failing to respond to the long-standing aspiration of the community, whether the Government will consider requiring the politically appointed officials concerned to assume the political responsibility for this?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

2. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)

With regard to enhancing the competitiveness of Hong Kong enterprises, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)given that the revised estimate of the revenue from profits tax for 2010-2011 is $93.5 billion, which is $15 billion (i.e. 19.1%) more than the original estimate, yet the Government has neither reduced the profits tax rate nor introduced the arrangements of "group loss relief" and "loss carry-back", of the reasons for that; whether it has estimated the impact on tax revenue of reducing the profits tax rate for 2011-2012 to 15%;

    (b)given that the profits tax rates in the neighbouring regions (e.g. Singapore) are very close to that in Hong Kong, what new measures the Government has in place to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong enterprises in response to the calls from the commerce and industry sector over the years; and

    (c)how the authorities will dovetail with the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" formulated by the Central Government and assist the small and medium enterprises in Hong Kong in breaking into the domestic markets of the major cities, as well as the second and third tier ones, on the Mainland (e.g. whether the authorities will consider setting up funds or loan schemes for such purpose)?
Public Officers to reply :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

It has been reported that one of the reasons for the public outcry over the Financial Secretary's recent proposal in his 2011-2012 Budget of injecting $6,000 into each Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") account is that quite a number of members of the public consider the management fees and administration fees charged by MPF trustees to be very high. For example, there has been an MPF account with a contribution of $6,000 yielding a return of $1.07 only in two years but the management fee for the same period was as high as $140, or 140 times of the former. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of trustees in the market at present, whether it knows the highest and lowest amounts of management fees and administration fees charged by them; how the Government will further improve and regulate those fees; whether it has any plan to introduce legislation to regulate them; if it has, of the progress; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether the Employee Choice Arrangement ("ECA") for MPF schemes can be implemented within this year as scheduled; of the progress of the relevant efforts, the measures to be taken by the Government to ensure that following the implementation of ECA, the trustees will engage in healthy competition, prompting them to lower their management fees and administration fees, and how it will ensure that the trustees and the intermediaries will maintain good service quality; and

    (c)since it was reported that the Chairman of the MPF Authority had said that in view of Hong Kong's ageing population and difficulties in livelihood faced by some elderly people, the Government needed to assess if the livelihood protection provided to retirees was sufficient, whether the Government has commenced a study on the establishment of a universal retirement protection system; if it has, of the progress; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

4. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)

I have learnt that the problem of insufficient international school places has plagued Hong Kong for a long time. Although the authorities allocated four sites for international school development in 2009, I have recently received complaints from some members of the business sector that international school places are still insufficient, making the children of some employees of overseas companies unable to receive education in Hong Kong. Insufficient international school places will seriously affect the incentive of multinational companies in investing in Hong Kong and undermine the Government's plan to develop the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region into a regional education hub. The authorities leased the old school premises of St. Mark's School in Shau Kei Wan to Kellett School Association Limited and Carmel School Association under short-term tenancies in 2009, and the two school sponsoring bodies had only taken 20 weeks to convert the school premises into high-standard international schools. Although there are a number of vacant school premises in Hong Kong at present, the authorities have refused to approve applications for leasing by other school sponsoring bodies. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities will consider approving expeditiously applications by school sponsoring bodies for converting vacant school premises into international schools, so as to solve the pressing problem of insufficient international school places at present; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (b)of the number of vacant school premises at present; what plans the authorities have to make use of these valuable resources; and

    (c)of the respective numbers and percentages of local and non-local students in international schools at present, with a breakdown by name of school?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

5. Ir Dr Hon Raymond HO to ask: (Translation)

Some members of the trade have pointed out that the demand from members of the public for Chinese medicine consultation service has been keen in recent years. The Government has also indicated that it will promote the development of Chinese medicine, making Hong Kong a stage for promoting Chinese medicine to the world. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)apart from the additional public Chinese medicine clinics ("CMCs") to be established in the Southern District, Kowloon City District, Yau Tsim Mong District and Islands District, whether the authorities concerned will consider further increasing the number of public CMCs and expanding the service to other districts;

    (b)whether it knows the names of the public hospitals which provide Chinese medicine service at present; whether the authorities concerned will establish a Chinese medicine hospital in Hong Kong, so as to provide clinical training opportunities for Chinese medicine courses; and

    (c)apart from the contents relating to proprietary Chinese medicine as mentioned in paragraph 80 of the Policy Address for 2010-2011, whether the Government has a more specific plan in promoting the development of Chinese medicine?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

Some residents in Tin Shui Wai have relayed to me that at present, there is a big disparity in fares between MTR's domestic East Rail Line ("ERL") and West Rail Line ("WRL"). For example, the travelling time from ERL's Sheung Shui Station to Hunghom Station is about 38 minutes and the Octopus fare is $8.2 ($8.5 for a single journey ticket), whereas the travelling time from WRL's Tin Shui Wai Station to Hunghom Station is about 31 minutes only, but the fare is $17.2 ($18.5 for a single journey ticket), which is more than twice of the ERL's. These residents consider that MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") has been unfair in determining the fares of the two rail lines and thus has directly increased the burden on the livelihood of residents in West New Territories. Besides, the elderly in Hong Kong may enjoy free rides on the Shenzhen Metro, which MTRCL has participated in its construction and operation, but they are not offered similar concession in Hong Kong. Regarding MTR's fare structure and the fare concessions it offers, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows if MTRCL has, in determining the WRL's fares, given detailed consideration to the great disparity in fares between the domestic ERL and WRL as well as the affordability of residents in the districts; if it has, of the details; if not, the criteria adopted by MTRCL for setting the fares;

    (b)given that fares of the domestic ERL are lower because they are subsidized by revenues from the fares of the cross-boundary line to and from Lo Wu Station which are on the high side, whether the authorities will urge MTRCL to review if the present revenues from that cross-boundary line or the Lok Ma Chau cross-boundary line can be used to subsidize the WRL; and

    (c)whether it will consider discussing with MTRCL again the conducting of a comprehensive review on its fare concession arrangements, actively encourage MTRCL to offer permanent free rides to the elderly and provide more fare concessions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

Recently, quite a number of residents of Ma Wan (including Park Island) have relayed to me that, while the population in Ma Wan has continued to increase in recent years, apart from urban taxis (from 8 pm to 7 am only), buses of four routes and permitted vehicles, all other means of public transport are not permitted to access Ma Wan at present, the external transport service available in Ma Wan is therefore far from adequate to meet the demand. Meanwhile, Ma Wan residents travelling to the airport by taxis are now required to pay a double toll as much as $60 for using Lantau Link at present, which is twice the $30 toll payable for travelling from Kowloon to the airport by taxis. These residents have requested that urban taxis be permitted to access Ma Wan round-the-clock and the toll collection arrangement of Lantau Link be reviewed so that Ma Wan residents travelling to the airport by urban taxis will not be required to pay a double toll. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether it knows the average daily number of urban taxis accessing Ma Wan at present; and

    (b)whether the Transport Department has considered relaxing the time restriction on urban taxis accessing Ma Wan, and reviewing, on the basis of the special circumstances of Ma Wan, the toll collection arrangement of Lantau Link, so that Ma Wan residents travelling to the airport by urban taxis will not be required to pay a double toll; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*8. Hon CHIM Pui-chung to ask: (Translation)

An investor complained to me that on 18 January 2011 he had bought the equity call warrants known as DB-HSBC@EC1104B (stock code 25315), of which the trading volume was very large on that day and the traded price was around $0.14 each, but on the following day the liquidity provider of that warrant suddenly stopped providing bid and ask quotes for that warrant. Regarding the protection of warrant investors, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
    (a)the restrictions imposed by the regulatory authorities on the qualifications of warrant issuers, and whether their qualifications have been vetted;

    (b)whether the regulatory authorities regulate the responsibility of warrant liquidity providers to provide quotes on a daily basis and how large the permissible price range is; and

    (c)whether the regulatory authorities have assessed if the aforesaid incident involved an act of deceiving investors, and whether such an act has violated the policy and principles of investor protection?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*9. Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung to ask: (Translation)

In reply to a question asked by a Member of this Council in November 2010, the Government indicated that a survey on employees not employed under a "continuous contract" was expected to be completed by the end of 2010, and the Labour Department would review the relevant provisions of the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) upon completion of the survey. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the details of the findings of the aforesaid survey;

    (b)why the findings of the aforesaid survey have not yet been published;

    (c)when the authorities will review the meaning of "continuous contract" under the Employment Ordinance, and in what way they will consult members of the public; and

    (d)whether the authorities will make reference to those provisions in the 1997 Directive on Part-Time Work adopted and promulgated by the European Council on the protection of "part-time workers" against discrimination, and formulate measures to provide similar protection to Hong Kong employees not employed under a "continuous contract"; if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*10. Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask: (Translation)

An "Eligible Collective Investment Scheme" under the Permissible Investment Asset Classes of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme must be a collective investment scheme authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission for sale in Hong Kong to the public. The Government announced in June last year that investment-linked assurance scheme ("ILAS") products might be accepted as "Eligible Collective Investment Schemes". Insurance companies may apply to the Immigration Department for the inclusion of their ILAS products as permissible investment assets. Although a number of insurance companies have submitted applications, none of such applications have been approved so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the reasons why none of the ILAS products have so far been approved as permissible investment assets, and what solutions the authorities have for the problems concerned; and

    (b)when the authorities anticipate the first batch of ILAS products approved as permissible investment assets will come out?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*11. Hon Cyd HO to ask: (Translation)

A study in the United States indicates that medical inflation has long been two to three times higher than general inflation. The trends in the United States as well as other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also show that medical inflation has been on the rise. There have been comments that the plan of the Government of Hong Kong to allocate $50 billion for subsidizing members of the public to buy medical insurance will definitively push up the public's demand for private healthcare services, and both the public and private healthcare systems will also raise their expenditure on staff so as to increase manpower and to train and retain staff. As a result, the proposed medical reform measures will definitively aggravate medical inflation in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the inflation figures of Hong Kong's healthcare expenditure in the past three years, and the basis adopted by the authorities in arriving at such figures;

    (b)given that there have been comments that the Hospital Authority ("HA") can reduce the impact of new drugs on medical inflation by not including all the new drugs in its Drug Formulary, of the medical inflation in Hong Kong in the past three years as estimated by the authority if all the new drugs needed by patients had been included in the Drug Formulary;

    (c)given that there have been comments that the authorities' subsidizing members of the public to buy medical insurance will push up the demand for private healthcare services, thus aggravating brain drain from the public to the private healthcare system, how the authorities will tackle the problem of competition for talents between the public and private healthcare systems, and whether it knows HA's measures to ensure that public hospitals can retain talents;

    (d)whether it has assessed the anticipated market shares of the services provided by the public and private healthcare systems when the $50 billion is used up; whether it has assessed if patients will return to the public healthcare system from the private healthcare system when the Government ceases to subsidize members of the public to buy medical insurance; if the assessment result is that such situation will happen, how HA can increase its manpower within a short time to cope with the demand; and

    (e)whether it knows HA's expenditure on the payroll for healthcare staff in each of the past five years, with a breakdown of the expenditure and the payroll by rank and grade (i.e. consultants, doctors, registered nurses, enrolled nurses, chemists/laboratory technicians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, medical social workers, radiotherapists, other allied health professionals and healthcare supporting staff), and the authorities' plans to speed up staff training for various grades to ensure sufficient manpower supply?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

Recently, some residents in Tai Kok Tsui have complained to me that a developer has acquired around 30% of the flats in their building, but the developer has long been defaulting payment of management fee for those flats it owns, causing financial and operational difficulties to the owners' corporation ("OC") of the building. Furthermore, there are media reports from time to time about developers trying to acquire flats by means of harassment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of requests for assistance involving acquisition of flats allegedly by means of harassment received respectively by government departments such as the Home Affairs Department, Buildings Department and Hong Kong Police Force in each of the past three years, as well as the details of each case;

    (b)as the Estate Agents Authority ("EAA") issued a practice circular last year to regulate the practices of estate agents in the acquisition of flats in old buildings, whether it knows the total number of complaints involving acquisition of flats received by EAA in the past three years, and among such complaints, the number of substantiated cases, as well as the details of and the sanctions imposed in each case; whether the situation has improved after EAA issued the circular last year;

    (c)as the two pilot schemes introduced by the Development Bureau in January this year only target at owners who contemplate compulsory sale applications, of the Government's response to the proposal from some members of the public that the Government should regulate the procedures for acquiring flats in old buildings; whether the Government has studied ways to assist minority owners in situations similar to the aforesaid one;

    (d)as the Secretary for Home Affairs ("SHA") may apply, under the Building Management Ordinance (Cap. 344), to the Lands Tribunal for appointing an administrator for individual buildings, whether SHA had exercised such power in the past three years; if he had, of the details of each case, and whether such cases involved flats being acquired;

    (e)as the OC of the aforesaid building situated in Tai Kok Tsui intends to continue to manage the building itself, what assistance the Home Affairs Bureau will offer to the OC, and whether it will intervene for the purpose of mediation; and

    (f)targeting at the management disputes arising from the acquisition of flats at present, whether the Government will consider afresh establishing a building affairs tribunal or similar organization to provide a simple way for OCs to handle such disputes?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*13. Hon WONG Sing-chi to ask: (Translation)

To address the existing problems of family violence, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") has implemented various measures to prevent abusers from repeating abusive acts, as well as to protect the victims. However, some community groups said that these measures could not achieve the expected results. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of spouse battering cases received by SWD each year from 2009 to 2010;

    (b)of the number of cases handled by SWD's Anti-violence Programme ("AVP") (a psycho-educational programme designed for abusers who are ordered by the court to attend under the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance) (Cap. 189) each year from 2009 to 2010; the percentages of such numbers to the expected numbers; whether the Government will consider amending the legislation to compel abusers who are subjects of bind over orders issued by the court to attend AVP; if it will, of the implementation details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)among the spouse battering cases handled by SWD's Family and Child Protective Services Units in 2009 and 2010, of the number of cases in which non-molestation orders were issued by the court each year, as well as the number of applications for non-molestation orders yet to be heard by the court; whether the authorities will consider streamlining the application procedure for non-molestation orders; if they will, of the implementation details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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

In reply to my question at the Legislative Council meeting on 29 April 2009, the Government indicated that the Civil Aviation Department had, since October 1998, implemented a series of aircraft noise mitigating measures to minimize the impact of aircraft noise on the communities near the flight paths (e.g. to avoid aircraft overflying densely populated areas in the early hours, arrangements were made for flights departing Hong Kong between 11 pm and 7 am to use the southbound route via the West Lamma Channel as far as possible, while flights arriving in Hong Kong between midnight and 7 am were directed to land from the waters southwest of the airport, and aircraft approaching from the northeast had adopted the Continuous Descent Approach when landing in order to reduce aircraft noise impact). However, I have learnt that up till now aircraft noise during the aforesaid hours still often causes nuisance to residents of quite a number of housing estates, making it difficult for them to fall asleep. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the annual data recorded in 2009 and 2010 by various aircraft noise monitoring terminals on aircraft noise levels which reached 70 to 74, 75 to 79, and 80 decibels ("dB") or above during the aforesaid hours;

    (b)of the types of aircraft the noise levels of which reached 80 dB or above last year and the names of their operating airline companies; and

    (c)whether the existing aircraft noise mitigating measures will be further enhanced to reduce the nuisance caused to residents in the districts concerned; if so, of the details?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

It has been reported that the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") has recently announced that a number of mainland outlets of large supermarket chains ("supermarkets"), such as Carrefour and Wal-Mart, were found to have engaged in pricing frauds, including fabricating the original prices, luring customers with low prices but charging them higher prices at the checkout counters, failing to honour the claims on prices, and displaying misleading price labels (e.g. substantially raising the "original prices" of products before offering discounts so as to create a false impression of great price reductions), etc. It has also been reported that NDRC has ordered these supermarkets to make rectifications, confiscated their unlawful gains, and imposed fines which amounted to five times of their unlawful gains. In Hong Kong, the Consumer Council also released survey results in 2009, revealing that supermarkets in Hong Kong had engaged in similar pricing frauds, including the display of misleading price labels mentioned above. In some cases, the discounted prices of some items were even higher than the original prices. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints about supermarkets engaging in pricing frauds received by the authorities in each of the past two years, and the authorities' follow-up actions; whether the authorities have conducted any investigation; if they have, whether they have found any pricing frauds similar to those of the supermarkets on the Mainland; of the legislation and measures currently in place in Hong Kong to curb such pricing frauds of supermarkets; and

    (b)whether the authorities have studied how the mainland authorities combat pricing frauds of supermarkets; whether the authorities will follow the practices of the Mainland or overseas countries in vigorously curbing pricing frauds of supermarkets (e.g. making reference to the consumer protection laws in Australia and the United Kingdom which require the selling prices of discounted items to be lower than the prices throughout a continued long period of time in the past); if not, of the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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

I have received complaints from members of the public one after another concerning the ineffectiveness of the anti-property speculation measures introduced by the Financial Secretary ("FS") earlier. The continued rise in property prices in Hong Kong since the implementation of these measures has rendered many people unable to acquire their own homes. Moreover, quite a number of people also disagree with the Government's plan of replacing the resumption of the construction of Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats with the My Home Purchase Plan ("MHPP"). In this connection, will the Government honestly inform this Council of each of the following:
    (a)whether it has assessed if the anti-property speculation measures are inappropriate in that they have led to rising property prices in Hong Kong; if the outcome of the assessment is in the affirmative, whether FS will assume the responsibility for this and step down;

    (b)of the amount of public money that the Government spent in the public consultation exercise on subsidizing home ownership conducted from May to September 2010;

    (c)whether the Government has consulted Members of this Council of various political parties/groups or independent Members before introducing MHPP; if it has done so, which political parties/groups whose Members or which independent Members have, on behalf of their constituents, indicated support for the Government's implementation of MHPP, and have thus vetoed or opposed the resumption of the construction of HOS flats; if it has not done so, whether the Government has assessed if it is not necessary to listen to the views of Members of this Council, who represent the public opinion, before executing or implementing its policies;

    (d)whether the Government will put in place new measures in the next three months to effectively curb the continuous upsurge in property prices, in order to make it easy for members of the general public to acquire homes; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (e)given that recently FS has, in accordance with the wishes of the people, abolished his proposal in the 2011-2012 Budget of injecting funds into the Mandatory Provident Fund accounts, and that the majority of the members of the public who had expressed views on the subject concerned in the aforesaid public consultation exercise requested the resumption of the construction of HOS flats, whether the Government will act in accordance with the wishes of the people again by immediately abolishing MHPP and resuming the construction of HOS flats; if it will, when it will implement this new policy; if not, of the reasons for that, and whether the Government has assessed if this is tantamount to positioning itself as the enemy of the people as well as acting against the wishes of the people, and if it is a waste of public money to conduct these meaningless public consultation exercises; and

    (f)before the Chief Executive proposed MHPP, whether and when he considered that MHPP would receive more public support than the resumption of the construction of HOS flats; if not, which government official made the final decision regarding the introduction of MHPP?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

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

On 1 December last year, this Council passed a motion on "Comprehensively reviewing the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme". The proposal of the Government in the Budget announced last month that $24 billion be earmarked for making an injection of $6,000 into each Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") account has aroused widespread and strong opposition from the community. There have been comments that the incident has reflected a complete loss of confidence of the public in the MPF Scheme, and that although the Government's policy intention for implementing the MPF Scheme is to ensure a long-term commitment for retirement protection and to maintain social stability, the MPF Scheme has proved to be a great failure after implementation for over a decade which showed a high level of fees and low rate of return. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)since the implementation of the MPF Scheme, of the average return for each MPF account, and the respective amounts of fund management fees, administration fees and trustee fees earned by MPF service providers from each MPF account on average; and

    (b)whether it will examine and consider discontinuing the MPF Scheme so as to return wealth to the people and give them greater freedom of choice, as well as to uphold the governance principle of maintaining "a small government"; if it will, of the specific plans; if it will not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

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

It has been reported that on the first day of this month, a burst underground fresh water main at Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley had brought gush of fresh water from underground, and it took staff of the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") nearly six hours when they succeeded in turning off all relevant valves for isolation of the burst main, after which they carried out emergency repair works. Fresh water supply in the vicinity of Wan Chai and Causeway Bay was suspended for 15 hours, which affected hundreds of thousands of residents, thousands of eateries and several hospitals. Regarding the maintenance and repairs of fresh water mains, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the records and plans of the underground water mains in Hong Kong are comprehensive, accurate and readily accessible at present; if they are, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether WSD has adopted new technology for inspecting and maintaining underground fresh water mains as well as preventing sudden bursting of fresh water mains; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (c)whether abnormalities such as water seepage and decrease in water pressure will appear prior to the bursting of water mains; if so, whether WSD will conduct inspections and repairs on the basis of such abnormalities; if not, of the reasons for that;

    (d)given that replacement of aged water mains takes time, whether WSD has put in place corresponding procedure for emergency repair works, stepped up inspection of fresh water mains at risk and arranged for expedient replacement of such water mains; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (e)whether, in view of the aforesaid incident, WSD will adjust the priority of the various projects under the Replacement and Rehabilitation Programme of Water Mains and expedite their implementation; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

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

Given that activities of unauthorized display of commercial publicity materials on the streets, in particular those involving the use of easy-mount frames, are increasingly rampant, the Government briefed members of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene of this Council at its meeting on 9 December 2008 on the new enforcement and prosecution approach to tackle the unauthorized display of bills and posters in public places. The authorities indicated that paraphernalia such as easy-mount frames used for the display of bills and posters would be removed together with the bills and posters as evidence of contravention of section 104A of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) ("section 104A"). The new approach has already been adopted in nine District Council ("DC") districts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)of the number of complaints received by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") in 2010 about activities of display of publicity materials, the number of easy-mount frames seized, the number of summonses issued under section 104A, as well as the number of those who were the beneficiaries of publicity materials among the people who were prosecuted;

    (b)as it is stipulated in section 104A(1)(b) that, except with the written permission of the Authority, it is an offence to display or affix bills or posters on any Government land, whether the authorities have studied if it is difficult to invoke the provision to prosecute those persons displaying publicity materials who have not placed them directly on Government land; if they have studied, of the outcome;

    (c)whether the authorities have assessed if the existing enforcement and prosecution approach (including the prosecution rate) is effective in deterring activities of unauthorized display of publicity materials; if they have assessed, of the outcome;

    (d)given that FEHD may at present issued fixed penalty notices ("FPNs") to offenders who have caused obstruction in public places under section 4A of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) ("section 4A"), of the number of relevant complaints received by the authorities each year from 2009 to 2010 as well as the number of FPNs issued;

    (e)as the authorities have pointed out that there have been extensive public complaints of street obstruction caused by activities of display of publicity materials, of the justifications for FEHD to prosecute the people concerned by invoking the provision of "prohibition on display of bills or posters without permission" (i.e. section 104A) instead of the provision of "obstruction of public places" (i.e. section 4A); and

    (f)whether the law enforcement actions under section 104A and section 4A are at present undertaken by the same team of frontline staff of FEHD; if so, of the manpower responsible for law enforcement in each DC district; if not, the two types of manpower in each DC district at present?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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

At present, there is a dearth of lands for social welfare ("welfare") uses in Hong Kong. Many welfare facilities lack sufficient space, making them unable to meet the requirements of the net operational floor areas specified in the relevant Schedules of Accommodation and affecting their service quality. With regard to such situation, quite a number of stakeholders in the welfare sector (particularly the providers of elderly and rehabilitation services) as well as the service users have strongly demanded the authorities to ensure an adequate supply of lands for welfare uses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
    (a)whether the authorities had in the past stipulated specific floor area or percentages of floor area for use by welfare facilities in the Conditions of Sale for sites on the List of Sites for Sale by Application; if they have, of the average, maximum and minimum percentages of such floor area in the total floor area; if not, whether the authorities will include such specifications in the Conditions of Sale in the future;

    (b)of the respective percentages of floor area for use by welfare facilities in total floor area upon completion of the urban redevelopment projects commenced in the past five years; whether the authorities will specify a minimum percentage of floor area for use by welfare facilities when planning future redevelopment projects; if they will, of such percentage; if not, how the authorities ensure that there will be sufficient welfare facilities provided in the redevelopment projects to meet the needs for welfare services in the districts; and

    (c)whether the authorities have plans to amend various outline zoning plans in the next five years so as to adjust the areas of lands zoned for "Government, Institution or Community" uses; what policies or measures the authorities have in town planning for addressing the acute shortage of lands for welfare uses?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

* For written reply

III. Bills

Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading

Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2011 :Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

IV. Motions

1.Proposed resolution under the Public Finance Ordinance

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

(The motion was also issued on 10 March 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 568/10-11)

2.Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Secretary for the Environment to move the motion in Appendix II.

(The motion was also issued on 11 March 2011
under LC Paper No. CB(3) 567/10-11)

V. Members' Motions

  1. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon James TO to move the following motion:

    Resolved that in relation to the -

    (a)Securities and Futures Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 5) Notice 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 28 of 2011; and

    (b)Securities and Futures (Financial Resources) (Amendment) Rules 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 29 of 2011,

    and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 23 February 2011, 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 13 April 2011.

  2. Proposed resolution under the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

    Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

    Resolved that in relation to the -

    (a)Public Revenue Protection (Dutiable Commodities) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 32 of 2011; and

    (b)Public Revenue Protection (Motor Vehicles First Registration Tax) Order 2011, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 33 of 2011,

    and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 2 March 2011, 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 4 May 2011.

  3. Motion under Rule 49E(2) of the Rules of Procedure

    Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion:

    That this Council takes note of Report No. 16/10-11 of the House Committee laid on the Table of the Council on 16 March 2011 in relation to the subsidiary legislation and instrument(s) as listed below:

    Item NumberTitle of Subsidiary Legislation or Instrument

    (3)Antiquities and Monuments (Declaration of Proposed Monument) (Ho Tung Gardens) Notice (L.N. 26/2011).

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Development

  4. The development of self-financing post-secondary institutions

    Hon Starry LEE to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That since 2000, private education providers have multiplied in number, offering a great variety of self-financing post-secondary programmes; with the continuous expansion of self-financing institutions, there are quite a number of concerns in society, including the possibility of institutions running into financial difficulties, their development lacking co-ordination, unsatisfactory programme quality and tuition fees exceeding students' affordability, in addition to the Government's inadequate resource allocation in encouraging the development of self-financing institutions, resulting in the interests of the students concerned not being protected effectively; in order to ensure programme quality and safeguard students' interests, this Council urges the Government and the relevant authorities:

    (a)to reform the existing mode of regulating post-secondary education, so as to ensure that the non-publicly-funded segment of the post-secondary education system is effectively monitored and co-ordinated;

    (b)to provide matching grants for self-financing post-secondary institutions to build campuses, so as to alleviate the pressure of tuition fee increases exerted by campus construction costs;

    (c)to consider providing tuition fee subsidies for students enrolling in self-financing post-secondary programmes through various channels, including studying establishing a post-secondary education fund or by way of education vouchers, etc.;

    (d)to ensure the diversity of self-financing programmes, so as to provide programme options in different academic disciplines for students; and

    (e)to appropriately control the growth in the number of places of self-financing programmes, so as to avoid an excessive supply of self-financing post-secondary places.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon CHEUNG Man-kwong to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", given that" after "That"; to add "(b) to amend the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance and abolish outdated provisions to regulate the teaching facilities, qualifications of teaching staff, academic levels as well as financial capabilities, etc. of local self-financing post-secondary educational institutions, so as to ensure teaching quality and student interests;" after "co-ordinated;"; to delete the original "(b)" and substitute with "(c)"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete "and" after "academic disciplines for students;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to delete "to appropriately control the growth in the number of" before "places of self-financing programmes" and substitute with "to adopt quality as the means of gate-keeping for monitoring the"; and to add "and any impact on education quality; (g) to strengthen the monitoring mechanism to ensure that institutions must comply with admission requirements and exit performance standards, so as to avoid substandard programmes and doubts about academic qualifications; (h) to ensure that self-financing post-secondary institutions must be equipped with sufficient full-time teaching and non-teaching staff with long-term employment, so as to enable the sustainable and stable development of research and teaching work; and (i) to establish a fair and effective redress mechanism to safeguard academic freedom and protect the interests of teaching and non-teaching staff" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Hon WONG Kwok-hing to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", given that" after "That"; to add "(d) to consider lowering the interest rate under the Non-means-tested Loan Scheme to avoid a situation where the interest rate determined under the Scheme is higher than the interest rates of bank loans, and at the same time, changing the time to commence calculating interests from loan drawdown dates to after students' graduation, so as to alleviate young people's burden and enable them to expeditiously discharge their repayment obligations;" after "etc.;"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete "and" after "academic disciplines for students;"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; and to add "; and (g) to raise the tax allowance for expenses of self-education, so as to relieve the pressure on working persons in pursuing further studies" immediately before the full stop.

    (iii)Hon Tanya CHAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", but such educational institutions are of mixed standards and the programmes they offer vary in quality" after "variety of self-financing post-secondary programmes"; to add "and extend the repayment periods of interest-free loans incurred by the institutions" after "campuses"; to delete "ensure" after "(d) to" and substitute with "encourage"; to delete "and" after "academic disciplines for students;"; and to add "; (f) to review the existing approval and certification system for offering post-secondary education programmes, so as to ensure programme quality; (g) to review the various existing financial assistance, loan and scholarship schemes for post-secondary students to alleviate the financial burden of students who are pursuing self-financing post-secondary education programmes; and (h) to comprehensively review the existing academic accreditation system and study strengthening the monitoring of non-local post-secondary programmes jointly offered by local educational institutions and overseas post-secondary institutions" immediately before the full stop.

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Education

  5. Promoting a slow food culture

    Hon Mrs Sophie LEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That Hong Kong is a culinary capital, but the fast pace of life means that many Hong Kong people can only eat hastily and cannot enjoy food, and health problems have also developed as a result; the slow food culture emerging in Europe in recent years, which emphasizes slowing down the tempo, upholding a green and natural attitude of living, advocating the concepts of responsible consumption and respect for food, encouraging the use of local food materials to reduce carbon emissions caused by transportation, and conserving the traditional eating culture, is worth promoting in Hong Kong; as promoting a slow food culture needs to start with food supply, sales and promotion as well as education, this Council urges the Government to adopt the following measures in the three areas of agriculture and fisheries, the economy and education, so as to promote a slow food culture:

    Food supply -

    (a)to formulate a comprehensive agriculture and fisheries policy, including formulating a land policy for the New Territories that balances farming, conservation and development, protecting agricultural land and Hong Kong's water quality, providing support for reforming the relevant industries, and increasing the production of local food materials, with a view to raising the self-sufficiency rate of food provision in Hong Kong;

    (b)to enhance the support for organic farming and encourage agricultural land rehabilitation, so as to provide the local community with fresh and safe organic food;

    (c)to capitalize on the advantages of local natural resources and encourage mariculturists to rear quality fish;

    Sales and promotion -

    (d)to assist local industries in applying for certification, promote certification services among the public and in neighbouring places, assist the relevant industries in establishing sales networks and enhance the promotion of quality agricultural and fishery products, so as to enable consumers to easily identify such products and purchase them without any worry, and to build a distinctive and quality image of local food materials;

    (e)to promote the combination of eco-tourism and culinary tourism among the public and overseas visitors, such as organizing tour groups featured by Poon Choi feasts in walled villages, holiday farming and tours of organic produce markets, etc., so as to boost tourism and the catering industry and promote local economic growth;

    Education -

    (f)to step up public education and promote the concept and attitude of living of a slow food culture among the public, so that members of the public can, through dietary options, protect the environment, treasure nature and develop sustainable dietary habits;

    (g)to encourage the public to find out the sources, production and quality of food in the context of food supply chain, so that they are more able to relish and select food in the course of eating, and to provide food producers with incentives for producing quality organic food; and

    (h)to promote a slow food culture in primary and secondary schools, teach students to reduce their eating speed during lunch time, advocate the values of responsible consumption and avoiding food wastage, and supply fresh and quality food in schools as an alternative to fast food.

    Amendments to the motion
    (i)Hon IP Wai-ming to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", although" after "That"; to delete "but" after "a culinary capital,"; to delete "as well as education" after "sales and promotion" and substitute with ", education as well as work"; to delete "and" after "quality organic food;"; and to add "; Work - (i) to establish a measure on 'paid meal time' for all employees and encourage employers to provide employees with meal breaks of sufficient duration, so that employees can, after working hard, have an adequate and appropriate amount of time to enjoy food and, at the same time, do not have to eat hastily due to no-pay meal breaks and the need for rushing back to work after taking meals; and (j) to expeditiously set 'standard working hours' to enable all employees in Hong Kong to work, rest and eat according to schedule, so as to rectify the situation of Hong Kong people eating at irregular times and skipping sleep and meals due to work, and to enable people to have more opportunities to eat with their families, with a view to promoting a slow food culture" immediately before the full stop.

    (ii)Hon Audrey EU to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To delete "Hong Kong is a culinary capital, but the fast pace of life" after "That" and substitute with "as the viewpoint of Hong Kong economic development overriding everything prevails, which has given rise to structural problems and the fast pace of life, it"; and to delete "adopt" after "the Government to" and substitute with "study the objective of economic and labour conditions, etc. necessary for building a slow food culture, such as promoting standard working hours and lengthening lunch time, before adopting".

    (iii)Hon Fred LI to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", given that" after "That"; to add "and movement" after "the slow food culture"; to delete "emphasizes" after "recent years, which" and substitute with "emphasize"; to add "opposing genetically modified food, opposing the use of pesticides, educating the public on the hazards of fast food," after "caused by transportation,"; to delete "is" after "traditional eating culture," and substitute with "are"; to delete "in applying" after "to assist local industries" and substitute with ", including helping the organic farming and aquaculture industries to apply"; and to add "support the food certification industry to develop in this regard, explore how to formulate basic specifications, rules, conformity assessment procedures as well as unified standards and signs for organic food certification to prevent manufacturers from deceiving consumers by passing off the sham as the genuine," after "for certification,".

    (iv)Hon WONG Yung-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation)

    To add ", although" after "That"; to add "hailed as" after "Hong Kong is"; to delete "but" after "a culinary capital,"; to add "(c) to actively explore, on the premise of complying with modern management and public hygiene requirements, expanding the production scale of the local poultry and livestock industries;" after "safe organic food;"; to delete the original "(c)" and substitute with "(d)"; to delete "fish" after "rear quality" and substitute with "and organic fish and marine produce such as shellfish, and to create favourable conditions for preserving traditional capture fisheries"; to delete the original "(d)" and substitute with "(e)"; to delete the original "(e)" and substitute with "(f)"; to add "actively promote the development of leisure agriculture and fishery industries, and" before "promote the combination of eco-tourism"; to delete "and" after "holiday farming" and substitute with ","; to add "and fishing activities" after "organic produce markets"; to delete "and" after "the catering industry" and substitute with ","; to add "and assist the local agriculture and fisheries industries in their transformation" after "local economic growth"; to delete the original "(f)" and substitute with "(g)"; to delete the original "(g)" and substitute with "(h)"; and to delete the original "(h)" and substitute with "(i)".

    Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Food and Health

  6. Motion for the adjournment of the Council

    Hon Miriam LAU to move the following motion: (Translation)

    That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following two issues:

    (a)the impact on Hong Kong of the Fukushima nuclear plant explosion in Japan and its leakage of radiation as well as the Government's contingency measures (raised by Hon Miriam LAU); and

    (b)the refusal of Philippine government officials and rescue crew involved in the Manila hostage incident to come to Hong Kong to testify in the Coroner's Court (raised by Hon James TO).

    Public Officers to attend:Secretary for Security
    Secretary for Food and Health
Clerk to the Legislative Council