A 12/13-20

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 20 February 2013 at 11:00 am

I. Tabling of Paper



Subsidiary Legislation / InstrumentL.N. No.
Dumping at Sea (Exemption) (Amendment) Order 201315/2013

II. Questions



1. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)


According to the judgment on the Chong Fung-yuen case handed down by the Court of Final Appeal in 2001, children born in Hong Kong to mainland women whose spouses are not Hong Kong permanent residents (these women being commonly known as "doubly non-permanent resident pregnant ("DNRP") women, and these children known as "doubly non-permanent resident ("DNR") children") are entitled to the right of abode in Hong Kong. Since then, the number of cases of DNRP women giving birth in Hong Kong has been increasing year after year. As a result, Hong Kong's healthcare services are under great pressure, and problems such as insufficient school places have also surfaced one after another. It has been reported that although the Government has stepped up its administrative measures, quite a number of DNRP women are still looking for ways to give birth in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)in each year since 2001, of the respective numbers of DNR children born in public and private hospitals in Hong Kong and their respective percentages in the total numbers of live births in Hong Kong, the respective figures on the use of public healthcare services (including the numbers of in-patient attendances and patient days, as well as the numbers of attendances for general out-patient services, paediatric specialist services and the "health and developmental surveillance" and "immunization" services at Maternal and Child Health Centres) by DNR children, and the respective percentages of these figures in the overall figures on the use of such services by children; whether the authorities have assessed the demand for the various aforesaid healthcare services by DNR children in the next five years, and its impact on the use of these services by local children; if they have not assessed, whether the authorities will conduct assessments on a regular basis;

    (b)of the respective numbers of DNR children admitted by kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong for each grade in the past five years, their respective percentages in the total numbers of students, and the estimated figures in the next five years; and

    (c)as it has been reported that notwithstanding a significant decrease in the number of cases of DNRP women giving birth in Hong Kong following the implementation of the zero quota policy by the Government in 2013, some intermediaries still arrange for DNRP women to give birth in Hong Kong through various means, and some mainland web sites claim that they can make advance booking of beds for DNRP women to give birth in private hospitals in Hong Kong this year, whether the Government will further step up the relevant administrative measures to address the problem?
Public Officers to reply:Secretary for Food and Health
Secretary for Education

2. Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask: (Translation)


Regarding the promotion of e-learning, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)whether it has plan to grant additional subsidies to schools for purchasing electronic teaching materials as well as computer software and hardware, gearing for the needs in implementing e-learning; whether it has assessed the effectiveness of the Education Bureau One-Stop Portal for Learning and Teaching Resources specially designed for teachers since its launch in May 2012; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether the Government has plan to set up funds to encourage all sectors in the community to develop "Creative Commons contents" and to make such materials available in the public domain on the Internet for teachers and students to use free of charge as they wish; if it has such plan, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether the authorities will allocate additional resources to schools for procuring of computer and wireless network equipment of more advanced models, and for upgrading the bandwidth of Internet access services, so as to cope with the massive data traffic when a large number of students go online at the same time, gearing to the promotion of e-learning; if they will, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)given some comments that the digital divide created by some students not having e-learning equipment will make such students unable to enjoy equal learning opportunities with other students, and that there are also "one computer per student" programmes in foreign countries to provide financial support to students in need, whether the Government has plan to subsidize students from grass-roots and poor families to buy notebook or tablet computers; if so, of the details and implementation timetable of the plan; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

3. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)


After consolidating information from various press reports and the dozens of requests for assistance I have received from members of the public, I have learnt that some organizations conducted pyramid selling under the guise of recruitment of marketing staff by marketing companies, and even persuaded job seekers to apply for no-income-proof loans with interest rates as high as 47% per annum to buy products. As some of the appointees, being students and young people aged below 25 who lacked economic means, were unable to repay loans amounting to several tens of thousand dollars, their families had to help them repay the loans in the end, and they also reported the cases to the Police for assistance. Some of the victims have indicated that they had lowered their guard because the jobs were recommended by their friends, and the frequent broadcast of brainwashing advertisements in the media had misled them into believing that the "instantly approved" no-income-proof loans could really be "borrowed and repaid easily", and coupled with the fact that they did not understand the content of the documents that they had signed, they had eventually run into debts with exorbitant interest rates which they could hardly repay. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)whether any appropriate regulation of advertisements promoting no-income-proof loans is currently in place, or whether lending institutions are required to set upper limits on the amounts of no-income-proof loans provided for students or young people aged below 25; if so, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will consider enacting relevant legislation to prevent students or young people from inadvertently falling into such recruitment and lending traps;

    (b)whether the authorities have compiled statistics on the number of cases of students and young people aged below 25 borrowing no-income-proof loans from finance companies in the past five years, the total amount of loans involved and the average interest rate of such loans; if they have compiled such statistics, of the details; if not, whether the authorities will compile relevant statistics to evaluate the severity of the problem; if they will not, of the reasons for that; whether the authorities can list the number of complaints similar to the aforesaid cases received from such students and young people in the past five years, the total amount of loans involved and the average interest rate of such loans, broken down by the lending institutions involved; and

    (c)whether there are measures in place to ensure that lending institutions will explain clearly to borrowers the interest rates of loans and the various repayment details, and that the loans will be considered as confirmed only after both parties have signed the documents; if there are, of the details of the measures; if not, whether the authorities will formulate such measures?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

4. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)


The number of applicants on the Waiting List ("WL") for public rental housing ("PRH") has risen sharply in recent years, with the current number exceeding 210 000. Some PRH applicants have pointed out that the living environment of quite a number of grass-roots people waiting for PRH is deteriorating, and rental expenditure is also an onerous burden on those people. Yet, the media have reported that the household incomes of some PRH tenants have far exceeded the Waiting List Income Limit ("WLIL") but they have not vacated and surrendered their PRH flats, and they even leave their flats unoccupied or sub-let the flats for gain. For example, some PRH tenants who have been earning a monthly income of more than $70,000 to $80,000 over the years may continue to occupy their PRH flats under the current Housing Subsidy Policy because their assets have not exceeded 84 times of WLIL. There have been comments that such a situation is unfair to the large number of people waiting desperately for PRH and has already aroused their concerns and dissatisfaction. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the respective numbers of cases of making false declarations of household income and assets, leaving PRH flats vacant, illegal sub-letting of flats and other kinds of abuse of PRH resources in the past three years;

    (b)given that the 2013 Policy Address has mentioned that the "Housing Department will step up its efforts to combat the abuse of PRH resources", whether the Government has formulated tougher measures to combat the abuse of PRH resources; if it has, of the anticipated effectiveness of such measures; and

    (c)regarding those PRH tenants whose household incomes have far exceeded WLIL and therefore can afford to rent private housing, whether the authorities will consider demanding them to vacate and surrender their PRH flats, so as to expedite the allocation of PRH flats to people who are currently on WL, thereby ensuring a rational allocation of PRH resources?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

5. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)


I have recently received a complaint from a nurse who said that two years ago, there was an incident of a mentally-ill male patient in a strait jacket being sexually assaulted by another patient in a ward of the public hospital in which the nurse worked, and that after receiving the report on the incident by the nurse, the management of the hospital neither alerted its supervisor nor reported the case to the Police, but found fault with the nurse's work. Recently, it has been reported in the press that there was another incident of a mentally-ill patient being sexually assaulted in that hospital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
  • (a)the number of incidents of patients being sexually assaulted which occurred in the general wards and psychiatric wards of each public hospital in each of the past five years (set out in table form); whether public hospitals have guidelines and mechanism for handling incidents of patients being sexually assaulted; if they have, of the contents; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)whether the Hospital Authority ("HA") has reviewed the management, operation, monitoring facilities and staffing arrangements of the wards of public hospitals, so as to prevent the recurrence of sexual assault incidents within hospitals as well as to protect the rights and dignity of patients; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)HA's procedures for handling complaints lodged by hospital staff about hospital matters and whether such complaints are merely referred back to the staff's serving hospitals eventually for handling by themselves; if so, of the reasons for that; and whether there is any mechanism to ensure that hospitals will not find fault with the staff who have lodged complaints; if there is such a mechanism, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

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


To alleviate the overcrowding in train compartments and reduce passengers' waiting time, the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") last year increased the train trips of a number of railway lines, except for East Rail Line and Ma On Shan Line. On the other hand, while the overall patronage of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited ("KMB") has reportedly been dropping in the past 10 years, the patronage of bus routes for the North District in the same period has increased by 20%. Quite a number of residents of New Territories East ("NTE"), particularly those from the North District, have relayed to me that the aforesaid situation may be attributed to over-loading of the East Rail Line and Ma On Shan Line, resulting in some NTE residents switching to travelling by bus. These residents have also pointed out that at present the bus services between the North District and urban areas are seriously inadequate, causing great inconvenience to them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the respective patronage of the East Rail Line and Ma On Shan Line and, among such figures, the respective numbers of passengers travelling to and those not travelling to Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau Control Points, in the past five years; whether it knows why MTRCL did not increase the train trips of the two railway lines last year, as well as whether MTRCL has assessed if the train compartments of the two railway lines are overcrowded during peak hours and if the existing train trips can meet the demand; if MTRCL has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)of the respective patronage of KMB throughout the territory and in the North District in the past five years; the 10 most patronized bus routes in the North District and the respective average patronage of these routes; apart from the trial run of restructuring the bus routes in the North District, the other specific plans of KMB (such as increasing bus trips and adding bus routes) to ameliorate the inadequacy of bus services between the North District and urban areas; and

    (c)of the existing mechanisms which the Transport Department ("TD") has in place for co-ordinating the services provided by the various public transport operators for residents in NTE (particularly the North District); whether TD has plans to conduct in this year passengers' satisfaction surveys on the services provided by public transport operators; given NTE's rising population, whether the authorities will request the public transport operators to provide the residents with more convenient and diversified services according to the actual situations?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*7. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)


It was reported that as parallel traders (quite a number of them being Individual Visit Scheme ("IVS") travellers) had recently snapped up infant milk formulas in Hong Kong and transported them to the Mainland, there was an inadequate supply of infant milk formulas. There were also reports that some 30% of Shenzhen residents visited Hong Kong at least once a month for shopping and the goods they bought included daily necessities such as infant milk formulas, personal care items, pharmaceuticals, and even Lunar New Year gifts, resulting in a tight supply of such goods. On the other hand, the Chief Executive stated in his election manifesto that he would request the Central Government to extend the "Multiple Entries per Year" (i.e. "multiple-entry permits") arrangement currently available to Shenzhen residents under IVS to cover other cities in the Pearl River Delta ("PRD"). He said he would enhance clearance efficiency at our boundary checkpoints to facilitate PRD residents progressively changing the nature of their visits from occasional tourism to frequent visits for daily consumption spending. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)given the reports that some shop operators hoarded goods and sold them at higher prices to visitors from the Mainland, rendering local residents unable to buy daily necessities at normal prices, of the authorities' measures to combat such trade practices;

    (b)whether it has assessed the impact on the livelihood of Hong Kong residents brought about by the change in the pattern of PRD residents spending in Hong Kong from occasional tourism to frequent visits for daily consumption spending, as proposed by the Chief Executive; whether the Government is implementing the proposal; and

    (c)given that some members of the public have relayed that the current situation has deviated from the policy intent of the "multiple-entry permits", but the Secretary for Security has said that it is not feasible to cancel the policy across the board, of his specific justifications; whether the authorities will consider discussing with the mainland authorities concerned to revise the policy on "multiple-entry permits" in order to alleviate the problems of nuisance and imbalance in the supply of and demand for daily necessities caused by parallel traders' shopping in Hong Kong?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*8. Hon Steven HO to ask: (Translation)


In the morning of 19th January this year, several fishing vessels caught fire one after another at the typhoon shelter opposite Sam Shing Estate in Tuen Mun ("the blaze"). Not until eight hours later was the blaze put out. A total of four "hang trawlers" were ravaged and one of them even capsized and sank. Moreover, a number of vessel fires have occurred within the waters of Hong Kong in recent years, and in a vessel fire in Castle Peak Bay last June, the vessel owner even died in the raging flame. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the general response time for the eight fireboats and speed boats currently in Hong Kong to arrive at various typhoon shelters, sea bays and water areas from their respective berths (set out in the table below, and put a mark "/" for areas beyond their service area);

    Typhoon shelter/sea bayFireboatSpeed boat
    12345678
    Aberdeen West Typhoon Shelter








    Aberdeen South Typhoon Shelter








    Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter








    Cheung Chau Typhoon Shelter








    Kwun Tong Typhoon Shelter








    New Yau Ma Tei Typhoon Shelter








    Sam Ka Tsuen Typhoon Shelter








    Shaukeiwan Typhoon Shelter








    To Kwa Wan Typhoon Shelter








    Tuen Mun Typhoon Shelter








    Yim Tin Tsai Typhoon Shelter








    Tai O








    River Trade Terminal (Tuen Mun)








    Sea bay near godown in Chai Wan








    Tuen Mun Cafeteria Beach









    (b)given that in the blaze it took as long as about 20 and 40 minutes respectively for the first speed boat and fireboat to arrive at the fire scene after the call, whether it has assessed if this situation was one of the reasons for the ravaging or sinking of the vessels; if the assessment outcome is in the affirmative, whether it will conduct any review and what are the details of such review; if it has not, of the reasons for that;

    (c)given that some fishermen have relayed that in the blaze the water pressure of the fire hoses on the speed boats was even weaker than that from the hoses of water supply vessels, rendering it difficult to put out the fires expeditiously, and electronic system failure has happened in some fireboats in the past, whether the Fire Services Department ("FSD") will conduct a comprehensive review on the equipment of the fireboats and speed boats; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (d)given the increased fire hazards during the fishing moratorium in the South China Sea and some festivities (e.g. the Lunar New Year, Tin Hau Festival as well as the Spring and Autumn Ancestral Offerings Ceremonies) when a large number of fishing vessels return to berth at the typhoon shelters, whether FSD will put in place fire-fighting measures which are more effective (e.g. deploying fireboats to station at various typhoon shelters and sea bays round-the-clock) or other measures before the next peak season when fishing vessels return to berth, with a view to preventing the spread of vessel fires at typhoon shelters; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (e)given that some fishermen have relayed that fireboats are not stationed at typhoon shelters at present, save for the Aberdeen and Cheung Chau typhoon shelters, and Fireboat 5 berthed at Tuen Mun River Trade Terminal even has to service the water areas of the entire New Territory West, rendering some sea bays and typhoon shelters beyond the reach of fireboats, thus jeopardizing the safety of the vessels, whether the authorities will purchase more fireboats of newer models and set up a "fireboat fire station" at each sea bay and typhoon shelter and deploy at least one fireboat to station at each sea bay and typhoon shelter; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

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


At present, there are nightly fireworks displays at the Hong Kong Disneyland and it has been the practice of the Government to arrange for fireworks displays on major festivals and celebration ceremonies. Some academics have pointed out that the discharge of fireworks can cause serious air pollution. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the chemical substances emitted from the discharge of fireworks; which of them are air pollutants;

    (b)of the impact of such pollutants on public health;

    (c)how it measures the quantity of pollutants emitted from the discharge of fireworks; of the respective quantities of pollutants emitted from the National Day Fireworks Display held on 1 October 2012 (which lasted for about 23 minutes) and the New Year's Eve Countdown Pyrotechnic Show held on 31 December 2012; and whether it has calculated the total quantity of pollutants emitted from the discharge of fireworks at the Hong Kong Disneyland in 2012; if it has, of the results; and

    (d)whether the authorities will consider reducing the frequency of fireworks displays and stepping up regulation of such activities, so as to reduce the emission of pollutants; if they will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Environment

*10. Hon Alice MAK to ask: (Translation)


In 2009, the authorities launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme ("Pilot Scheme") to encourage the elderly people to select the private primary care services in the community that most suit their needs, with a view to alleviating the pressure on public healthcare services. Some members of the public have pointed out that although the authorities have already enhanced the Pilot Scheme for a number of times, with the number of elderly persons in Hong Kong increasing every year, the effectiveness of the Pilot Scheme is still dubious. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the respective current numbers of elderly persons belonging to the age groups of 65 to 69 and 70 or above, broken down by the 18 District Council districts ("18 districts"); the respective projected numbers of elderly persons belonging to these age groups in each of the coming five years;

    (b)of the annual numbers of elderly persons who used Health Care Vouchers since the Pilot Scheme was launched, broken down by 18 districts, as well as their percentages in the total number of eligible elderly persons in the respective years;

    (c)of the current number of healthcare service providers enrolled in the Pilot Scheme, with a breakdown of the number of practices of such healthcare service providers by 18 districts and the 10 healthcare professions participating in the Pilot Scheme (set out in the table below);

    District
    Council
    district    		Number of practices of the healthcare professions participating
    in the Pilot Scheme
    Western medical
    practitioner    		Chinese medicine
    practitioner    		…OptometristTotal
    Central
    &
    Western




    Eastern




    …




    Yuen Long





    (d)of the number of healthcare service providers who have withdrawn from the Pilot Scheme, and whether it knows the reasons for their withdrawal;

    (e)whether it has compiled statistics on the number of elderly persons who used up all the Health Care Vouchers in one go in each year since the Pilot Scheme was launched; if it has, of the figures; if not, the reasons for that;

    (f)whether it has put in place any mechanism for compiling statistics on the average service charges of the various healthcare professions concerned, so as to assess whether the value of the Health Care Vouchers is sufficient for paying the relevant service charges; if it has, of the details of the mechanism and the respective average service charges of the healthcare professions concerned; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (g)as the authorities indicated at the meeting of this Council's Panel on Health Services held on 19 November 2012 that "the authorities would continue to review the effectiveness of the Health Care Voucher Scheme including the eligible age", when the review will be completed and the results published; of the major factors to be taken into account by the authorities, apart from the financial implications, when they consider whether the eligible age will be lowered?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Food and Health

*11. Dr Hon LEUNG Ka-lau to ask: (Translation)


At the meeting of the Panel on Manpower of this Council held on 23 May 2012, some members expressed the concern that the rehabilitation service providers appointed by insurers might not be able to give an objective assessment on injured employees, as they might protect the interest of the insurers, and members therefore suggested that insurers should provide financial assistance to the Hospital Authority ("HA") to strengthen HA's rehabilitation services for injured employees instead. The Commissioner for Labour responded that "LD [the Labour Department] had secured the agreement of HA and the insurance industry to put on trial in December 2006 an arrangement whereby the Voluntary Rehabilitation Programme insurers could refer injured workers to receive medical and rehabilitation services at the three occupational medicine/care service clinics of Tuen Mun Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital" ("the trial arrangement"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the specific length of the cooperation period under the trial arrangement, the target number of referrals, the number of injured employees receiving the services in each year since 2006, the specific details of the services (e.g. medical assessment and diagnosis, medical rehabilitation treatment, occupational rehabilitation service, case management and coordination for employees' return to work), the fees involved, and whether LD has interviewed the injured employees to understand their views on the services, etc.;

    (b)whether all injured employees may receive medical and rehabilitation services at the aforesaid three occupational medicine/care service clinics at present, without the need to wait for such services alongside other members of the public; and

    (c)whether the Government will consider following the practice of overseas countries and collecting levies on the premium of employees' compensation insurance policies for setting up several occupational medicine/care service clinics to provide medical treatment, medical rehabilitation, occupational rehabilitation and rehabilitation case management services for injured employees, so as to help them receive proper treatment and return to work as soon as practicable?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

*12. Hon CHUNG Kwok-pan to ask: (Translation)


At the Legislative Council meeting on 17 October last year, the Chief Executive ("CE") said that "[o]ur industrial, commercial and professional sectors have great potential for development in Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas countries, but they may come across some obstacles in the course of development that cannot be removed without government assistance. For example, the difficulties encountered in making use of the preferential arrangements offered under CEPA [the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement] and other schemes can only be resolved through collaboration between the HKSAR Government and the central or local authorities. This is the 'G2G' (Government to Government) approach that I advocate". However, some members of the industrial and commercial sectors have pointed out that in the 2013 Policy Address, CE only stressed the need to enhance "internal diplomacy" and did not mention how small and medium enterprises will be assisted in liaising with foreign governments and facing competition. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)whether the Government will strengthen the functions and business role of the overseas Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices ("ETOs"), including negotiating with foreign governments under the G2G approach in promoting business development, so as to more proactively assist Hong Kong businessmen in tapping business opportunities abroad;

    (b)whether the authorities will regularly review the need to set up new ETOs in regions with potential for tapping business opportunities in emerging markets; if they will, of the specific ideas, as well as when they will conduct such a review; and

    (c)facing the speedy development of the surrounding economies, how the Government will assist Hong Kong businessmen in facing competition and developing new strengths?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

*13. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)


There are five major short-term sources of land supply for private housing, namely land sold by the Government, property development projects of the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), redevelopment projects of the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA"), projects subject to lease modification/land exchange and private redevelopment projects not subject to lease modification/land exchange. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:
  • (a)the number of residential flats that have been/can be provided from each of the aforesaid sources each year since 2009-2010 (set out in the table below);

    Source of land supply
    for private housing    		Number of residential flats
    that have been/can be provided
    2009-20102010-20112011-20122012-2013
    Land sold by the Government



    Property development projects of MTRCL (including government projects and MTRCL projects)



    Redevelopment projects of URA



    Projects subject to lease modification/land exchange



    Private redevelopment projects not subject to lease modification/land exchange




    (b)the number of development projects involved in the land for private housing supplied from each of the aforesaid sources each year since 2009-2010; among these development projects, the respective numbers of those which have been completed, are in progress, and have not yet commenced works; the completion date/anticipated completion date of each development project and the number of residential flats that have been/can be provided; and

    (c)the measures taken by the authorities to make the development projects mentioned in (b) which have not yet commenced works to commence works expeditiously and make developers put up the flats for sale in the market as soon as possible?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Development

*14. Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:


Since December 2009, the Government has implemented the "enhanced screening mechanism", a non-statutory and administrative scheme, for handling torture claims made under Article 3 of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which provides that a person should not be expelled, returned or extradited to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. Under the mechanism, claimants may submit detailed grounds to establish their torture claims through a questionnaire with supporting documents or evidence ("questionnaire stage"). They will then be invited to attend a screening interview with immigration officers to further provide information or answer questions ("interview stage"). If they are aggrieved by the authorities' decisions on their claims, they may lodge petitions ("petition stage"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)among the torture claims received in each of the past three years, of the respective numbers of those which (i) had been processed, (ii) are currently outstanding, and (iii) had been withdrawn, with a breakdown by country of origin of the claimants, set out in the table below;

    Country
    of origin    		Year in
    which the
    torture
    claims were
    received    		Number of torture claims which
    (i)
    had been
    processed    		(ii)
    are
    currently
    outstanding    		(iii)
    had been
    withdrawn    		Total
    Republic of
    Congo    		 2010



    2011



    2012



    Democratic
    Republic of
    the Congo    		 2010



    2011



    2012



    Somalia 2010



    2011



    2012



    Pakistan 2010



    2011



    2012



    Sri Lanka 2010



    2011



    2012



    Ghana 2010



    2011



    2012



    Uganda 2010



    2011



    2012



    Rwanda 2010



    2011



    2012



    Republic of
    Southern
    Sudan     		2010



    2011



    2012



    Sudan 2010



    2011



    2012



    Eritrea 2010



    2011



    2012



    Ethiopia 2010



    2011



    2012



    India 2010



    2011



    2012



    Bangladesh 2010



    2011



    2012



    Cameroon 2010



    2011



    2012



    Indonesia 2010



    2011



    2012



    Côte d'lvoire 2010



    2011



    2012



    Central
    African
    Republic     		2010



    2011



    2012



    Sierra Leone 2010



    2011



    2012



    Togo 2010



    2011



    2012



    Philippines 2010



    2011



    2012



    Nepal 2010



    2011



    2012



    Myanmar/
    Burma     		2010



    2011



    2012



    Others 2010



    2011



    2012



    Total 2010



    2011



    2012




    (b)in each of the past three years, of the respective numbers of claimants (i) who had submitted the aforesaid questionnaire, (ii) whose claims had been rejected after the questionnaire stage, (iii) who had proceeded to the interview stage, (iv) whose claims had been rejected after the interview stage, (v) who had lodged petitions, and (vi) whose petitions had been rejected;

    Stage of the screening processNumber of claimants involved
    201020112012
    (i) Claimants who had submitted a questionnaire


    (ii) Claimants whose claims had been rejected after the questionnaire stage


    (iii) Claimants who had proceeded to the interview stage


    (iv) Claimants whose claims had been rejected after the interview stage


    (v) Claimants who had lodged petitions


    (vi) Claimants whose petitions had been rejected



    (c)of a breakdown of the torture claims which were rejected in the past three years by reason for rejection; and

    (d)among the claimants who had submitted torture claims in each of the past three years, of (i) the number of claimants who had departed from Hong Kong voluntarily, and (ii) the number of claimants who were deported, with a breakdown by country of origin (same as those set out in the table in (a) above) of the claimants, set out in the table below?

    Country
    of origin    		YearNumber of claimants who
    (i)
    departed from
    Hong Kong voluntarily    		(ii)
    were deported    		Total

    		2010



    		2011



    		2012



    		2010



    		2011



    		2012



    		2010



    		2011



    		2012


Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*15. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)


Under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Cap. 485), an employer may use the accrued benefits derived from the employer's contributions he made to a Mandatory Provident Fund ("MPF") scheme for the employee to offset long service payments ("LSP") or severance payments ("SP") payable to the employee under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57) ("the offsetting arrangement"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
  • (a)the respective numbers and percentages of MPF accounts from which accrued benefits were withdrawn for different reasons in each year from 2001 to 2012, and the amounts of money involved (set out in tables of the same format as Table 1);

    (Table 1)

    Year: ____

    Reason for
    withdrawal of
    accrued benefits    		Reaching the retirement age of 65Early retirementPermanent departure from Hong KongTotal incapacitySmall balance accountDeath of account holderTotal
    Number of accounts (percentage in the total number of accounts)






    Total amount of money







    (b)the number of MPF accounts from which accrued benefits were withdrawn for the offsetting arrangement (i.e. to offset SP or LSP) in each year from 2001 to 2012 (set out in tables of the same format as Table 2);

    (Table 2)

    Year: ____

    Withdrawal of accrued benefits for the
    offsetting arrangement    		To offset SPTo offset LSPTotal
    Number of accounts


    Total amount of money



    (c)a breakdown on the number of employees by the total number of times that the accrued benefits in the various MPF accounts held under the name of an employee were withdrawn for the offsetting arrangement from 2001 to 2012 (set out in Table 3);

    (Table 3)

    Number of times of withdrawal of
    accrued benefits for the offsetting
    arrangement    		12345Over 5
    Number of employees






    (d)a breakdown on the number of employees whose MPF accounts' accrued benefits were withdrawn for the offsetting arrangement in each year from 2001 to 2012, by (i) the age group to which the employees belong, (ii) the income range of employees, (iii) the industry sector to which the employees belong, and (iv) the amount of the balance of the accrued benefits derived from employer's contributions in the MPF account after the offsetting arrangement (set out separately in Tables 4 to 7); if the above information is unavailable, whether the authorities will consider setting up such database;

    (Table 4)

    Number of employeesAge group to which the employees belong
    15 - 3435 - 5455 - 6465
    2001



    .
    .
    .



    Total




    (Table 5)

    Number of employeesIncome range of employees ($)
    8,000 or less8,001 - 12,00012,001 - 20,00020,001 or above
    2001



    .
    .
    .



    Total




    (Table 6)


    		Industry sector to which the employees belong
    Number of employees Mining and quarrying Manufacturing Electricity and gas supply and waste management Construction (construction sites only) Import/export, wholesale and retail trades Transportation, storage, postal and courier services Accommodation and food service Information and communications Finance and insurance Real estate Professional, scientific and technical services Others
    2001











    .
    .
    .











    Total














    (Table 7)


    		Balance of accrued benefits derived from
    employer's contributions in MPF accounts ($)
    Number of employees01 - 5,0005,001 -
    10,000    		10,001 -
    20,000    		 20,001 -
    30,000    		30,001 -
    40,000    		40,001 -
    50,000    		50,001
    or more
    2001







    .
    .
    .







    Total








    (e)the number of MPF accounts of government employees from which accrued benefits were withdrawn for the offsetting arrangement from 2001 to 2012, the number of employees involved, as well as the total amount of money and the government departments involved; and

    (f)given that the Chief Executive has indicated in the 2013 Policy Address that "to further increase employees' autonomy in selecting their MPF schemes, the MPFA [Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority] is studying the necessary measures for the implementation of Full Portability, such as studies on establishing a central database and arrangements for 'one-member-two-accounts'", whether the authorities have considered abolishing the offsetting arrangement as early as possible to tie in with the implementation of Full Portability; if they have, of the details and the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

*16. Hon IP Kin-yuen to ask: (Translation)


Some parents of students have relayed to me that some of the tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee ("UGC-funded institutions") have admitted local students holding results of overseas public examinations to certain extremely popular undergraduate programmes through the non-Joint University Programmes Admissions System ("non-JUPAS"). Yet, some local students whose school examination results were generally better than those of the aforesaid students, and who had applied for such programmes using their results from the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education ("HKDSE") Examination or the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination ("HKALE") through the Joint University Programmes Admissions System ("JUPAS"), were not admitted. These parents query that the admission of local non-JUPAS students by the UGC-funded institutions is unfair to JUPAS students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
  • (a)the respective numbers and percentages of non-JUPAS students among the first year students of undergraduate programmes admitted by the eight UGC-funded institutions in each of the past three years; and among the non-JUPAS students, the respective numbers and percentages of local students and those who came from Mainland China, other regions in Asia and regions outside Asia;

    (b)among the students admitted in the 2012-2013 academic year to the undergraduate programmes, (i) the average and lowest scores attained in overseas public examinations by local non-JUPAS students, and (ii) the average and lowest scores attained in HKDSE Examination and HKALE by local JUPAS students, broken down by UGC-funded institution and by faculty; how the UGC-funded institutions compare the academic attainments of these two categories of students; and

    (c)the justifications for UGC-funded institutions allowing local students to apply for their programmes using results from overseas public examinations; whether the local non-JUPAS students are categorized as international students; whether the authorities will review if the criteria of this admission scheme are fair and if such admission scheme should continue to be used?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

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


To ensure rational allocation of public rental housing ("PRH") resources, it is stipulated under the Housing Subsidy Policy of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") that tenants who have been living in PRH flats for 10 years or more are required to declare their household income biennially. Tenants with a household income exceeding the Waiting List Income Limit ("WLIL") by two times and those with a household income exceeding WLIL by three times (or who opt not to declare their income) are required to pay 1.5 times and three times net rent respectively, plus rates. If the assets of the latter have exceeded 84 times of the WLIL (or who opt not to declare their assets) in the next cycle of declaration, they have to vacate and surrender their PRH flats within 12 months, during which they are required to pay a licence fee equivalent to double net rent plus rates or market rent (whichever is the higher) for temporary stay at their flats. According to the statistics provided by the Housing Department ("HD"), the number of PRH tenants who are required to pay additional rent (commonly known as "well-off tenants") has been increasing in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the number of well-off tenants and its percentage in the total number of PRH tenants as at end of January 2013, together with a breakdown by the rent payable by them, namely the 1.5 times rent, double rent and market rent;

    (b)of the respective numbers of cases in which flat visits were conducted by HD to inspect if PRH flats were misused in each of the past five years, and among them, the number of cases referred to a Central Team for in-depth investigation and the number of cases in which the flats were recovered ultimately;

    (c)of the respective numbers of PRH tenants who purchased Home Ownership Scheme ("HOS") flats from HA in each of the past five years; during the same period, the number of PRH tenants who purchased HOS flats in the HOS Secondary Market and the percentage of such transactions in the total number of transactions in that market; and

    (d)whether the Government will review the existing policy and provide incentives to encourage those PRH tenants who no longer need subsidized housing to vacate and surrender their flats, with a view to expediting the turnover of PRH flats and ensuring rational allocation of PRH resources?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport and Housing

*18. Hon Christopher CHUNG to ask: (Translation)


Since July 2011, all major fixed and mobile network operators and one major external telecommunications service operator in Hong Kong have adopted the Industry Code of Practice for Telecommunications Service Contracts ("the Code"). The Code aims to protect the consumer rights of personal or residential users who enter into or renew telecommunications service contracts. However, there are comments that disputes and complaints relating to telecommunications service contracts are still not uncommon. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the number of complaints received by the authorities concerned from members of the public relating to telecommunications service contracts in each of the past five years, and the top five types of telecommunications services with the highest numbers of complaints received as well as the number of complaints for each of the services;

    (b)of the procedures of the authorities concerned for handling complaints relating to telecommunications service contracts; whether the telecommunications service operators who have been found after investigation to be in breach of the Code will be punished; if so, of the punishment imposed on them since the implementation of the Code;

    (c)whether the authorities have assessed the effectiveness of the Code; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether they will conduct a comprehensive review of the Code, including extending the coverage of the cooling-off period (no less than seven days) provision required to be specified in unsolicited contracts, so as to further protect consumers of their rights; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (d)as there are comments that, at present, the procedures drawn up by telecommunications service operators for entering into service contracts are very simple and convenient (e.g. the procedures can be completed by telephone), but the procedures for termination of contracts are very cumbersome (e.g. termination of contracts must be in writing), whether the authorities will consider formulating policies concerning such situation of "being easy to enter into contracts, but difficult to terminate them", so as to protect consumers of their rights; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development

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


The Government indicated in 2011 that there were not enough justifications for medical certificates (commonly known as "sick leave certificates") issued by chiropractors to be recognized under labour legislation, but it would conduct a more comprehensive survey to gauge the prevalence of chiropractic treatments in Hong Kong. The Government also indicated that the Hospital Authority ("HA") had no plan to introduce chiropractor service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)of the details and current progress of the aforesaid survey, as well as the expected time for publishing the survey findings; whether the authorities will, upon completion of the survey, examine afresh the recognition of sick leave certificates issued by chiropractors under labour legislation; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

    (b)as the Government has indicated that "HA will consider new services and facilities in response to the demand of the public for different healthcare services", whether it knows if HA has clear criteria and indicators for determining what new public healthcare services are to be introduced; if so, of the details, and whether HA has assessed if public demand for chiropractor service is on the rise; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, whether HA will consider afresh the introduction of public chiropractor service; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (c)whether the authorities have actively promoted the recognition of sick leave certificates issued by chiropractors under labour legislation (e.g. helping or encouraging the Chiropractors Council to expeditiously implement a system for maintaining medical records and to draw up guidelines for issuance of sick leave certificates, etc.), so that patients in need of chiropractic treatments will not be deterred from seeking such treatments by the non-recognition of sick leave certificates issued by chiropractors, and so as to promote the development of chiropractor service; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

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


It has been reported that from this year onwards, a total of about 500 sub-degree graduates from nine tertiary institutions in Hong Kong may articulate to study in Year 3 of the undergraduate programmes of over 70 specified universities in Taiwan. However, some members of the public have pointed out that holders of Taiwanese educational qualifications have all along encountered difficulties in seeking assessment of their educational qualifications by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications ("HKCAAVQ"). Regarding the assessment of the educational qualifications obtained by Hong Kong people in the Mainland or Taiwan and their employment, will the Government inform this Council:
  • (a)whether it knows the number of assessment applications received by HKCAAVQ from holders of Taiwanese educational qualifications each year between 2008 and 2012; among such applications, the number and percentage of cases in which the educational qualifications concerned had been assessed as comparable to the level of their counterparts in Hong Kong; of the respective numbers of applications for review of HKCAAVQ's determinations and unsuccessful reviews (set out in the table below);

    Educational qualification assessment20122011201020092008
    Number of applications




    Number of cases in which the educational qualifications concerned had been assessed as comparable to the level of their counterparts in Hong Kong (percentage)




    Number of applications for review




    Number of unsuccessful reviews





    (b)whether it knows which Mainland and Taiwanese universities and their programmes the educational qualifications awarded by which to Hong Kong graduates have been assessed by HKCAAVQ as comparable to the level of their counterparts in Hong Kong;

    (c)given that quite a number of Hong Kong students planning to study in the Mainland or Taiwan wish to know, before deciding on their further studies, if the universities and programmes in which they are inclined to study are recognized in Hong Kong, whether the authorities will demand HKCAAVQ to regularly publish the information in (b); if they will, of the time and channels for publishing such information, and whether they will take the initiative to relay such information to the students from Hong Kong who are studying at the universities and in the programmes concerned; if such information will not be published, of the reasons for that;

    (d)given that some Members of this Council have questioned the need for HKCAAVQ to independently assess each case of educational qualification assessment according to the individual circumstances of the educational qualification holder, whether the authorities will require HKCAAVQ to change such arrangement to directly conduct accreditation of the educational qualifications awarded by the universities in the Mainland and Taiwan; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

    (e)as some holders of Taiwanese educational qualifications have relayed that they have found it difficult to secure employment after returning to Hong Kong as their educational qualifications are not generally recognized here, whether the authorities will strive for approval and assistance from the Taiwanese authorities concerned for Hong Kong people to stay after graduation from Taiwanese universities and take up employment there for a period of time, so as to accumulate relevant working experience; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Education

* For written reply

III. Bills



First Reading

1. Trust Law (Amendment) Bill 2013

2. District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2013

Second Reading (Debates to be adjourned)

1.Trust Law (Amendment) Bill 2013:Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury

2.District Councils (Amendment) Bill 2013:Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs


IV. Motion



Proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance

Secretary for Food and Health to move the following motion:

Resolved that the following Regulations, made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on 24 January 2013, be approved -

(a)the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) Regulation 2013; and

(b)the Poisons List (Amendment) Regulation 2013.

(The two Regulations are in Appendices I and II
and were also issued on 30 January 2013 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 335/12-13)

V. Members' Motions



1.Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 5 of 2013, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 30 January 2013, 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 20 March 2013.

2.Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the -

(a)Companies (Words and Expressions in Company Names) Order, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 7 of 2013;

(b)Companies (Disclosure of Company Name and Liability Status) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 8 of 2013;

(c)Companies (Accounting Standards (Prescribed Body)) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 9 of 2013;

(d)Companies (Directors' Report) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 10 of 2013; and

(e)Companies (Summary Financial Reports) Regulation, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 11 of 2013,

and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 6 February 2013, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 27 March 2013.

3.Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Securities and Futures (Contracts Limits and Reportable Positions) (Amendment) Rules 2013, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 13 of 2013, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 6 February 2013, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 27 March 2013.

4.Proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance

Hon Andrew LEUNG to move the following motion:

Resolved that in relation to the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance (Commencement) Notice, published in the Gazette as Legal Notice No. 14 of 2013, and laid on the table of the Legislative Council on 6 February 2013, the period for amending subsidiary legislation referred to in section 34(2) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 1) be extended under section 34(4) of that Ordinance to the meeting of 27 March 2013.

5.Motion under the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance

Hon Cyd HO to move the following motion:

That this Council appoints a select committee to inquire into whether the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Mr‍ LEUNG Chun-ying's claim that three professionals had provided advice on the unauthorized building works in his House Nos. 4 and 5 at No. 4 Peel Rise on the Peak involves false statement or misrepresentation; and whether Mr LEUNG had given any improper undertaking in exchange for the support of members of the Election Committee when he stood for the 2012 Chief Executive Election; and that in the performance of its duties the select committee be authorized under section 9(2) of the Legislative Council (Powers and Privileges) Ordinance (Cap. 382) to exercise the powers conferred by section 9(1) of that Ordinance.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

6.Implementing dual universal suffrage

Hon Ronny TONG to move the following motion: (Translation)

That this Council urges the SAR Government to expeditiously commence extensive consultation on implementing dual universal suffrage and, before the submission by the Chief Executive of a report on constitutional reform to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, to allow sufficient time for the general public to discuss the contents of the report.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", as the timetable for implementing universal suffrage has not come by easily," after "That"; to delete "expeditiously commence" after "the SAR Government to" and substitute with ", in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law and the relevant decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress ('NPCSC'), reserve sufficient time to conduct"; to delete "implementing dual universal suffrage and, before the submission by the Chief Executive of a" after "extensive consultation on" and substitute with "the methods for the election of the Chief Executive by universal suffrage in 2017 and the election of the Legislative Council in 2016, so as to allow sufficient time for the general public to discuss the contents of the consultation document; and, in the"; and to delete "to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, to allow sufficient time for the general public to discuss the contents of the report" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "to be submitted by the Chief Executive to NPCSC, to truthfully and fully reflect the views of the general public; this Council appeals to the various social sectors and political parties, with a rational and accommodating attitude of seeking common ground while reserving differences, strive to forge social consensus in the process, and join hands to promote and achieve the aim of dual universal suffrage".

(ii)Hon Gary FAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", as Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law provide for the selection of the Chief Executive and the election of the Legislative Council of HKSAR by universal suffrage as the ultimate aim," after "That"; and to add "; the contents of the report on constitutional reform should include: (1) to completely abolish the functional constituency seats in the Legislative Council in 2016, allowing Hong Kong people to elect all Legislative Council Members by the method of 'one person, one vote'; (2) on the election of the Chief Executive in 2017, to adopt a low nomination threshold, and allow Hong Kong people to elect the Chief Executive by the method of 'one person, one vote'; and (3) to ensure that the proposal on constitutional reform complies with the principles of universality and equality under Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations, i.e. Hong Kong people should have the right and the opportunity to vote and to be elected in fair, impartial and open elections of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council" immediately before the full stop.

(iii)Hon Emily LAU to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add ", as the general public longs for expeditious implementation of dual universal suffrage," after "That"; to delete "and" after "dual universal suffrage"; and to add "the contents of which should include: (1) to reduce the number of functional constituency seats, increase the number of seats returned by geographical constituencies and abolish separate voting in the Legislative Council in 2016; and abolish all functional constituency seats no later than 2020, so as to achieve the aim of conducting elections based on universality and equality; (2) on the election of the Chief Executive in 2017, to directly elect the Chief Executive on a 'one person, one vote' basis; the procedure for nominating candidates must be democratic and fair; the nominating committee should not screen or pre-select candidates and should not use the nomination threshold to exclude people with different political views; the nomination threshold should not be higher than the current requirement of one-eighth of the nominating committee members, an upper limit should be set on the number of subscribers obtained by a candidate, and the nomination mechanism should be opened up, so that people with nominations of a certain percentage (e.g. 3%) of the registered voters can be nominated as candidates; and (3) with the mode of 'legislating in one go, implementation in phases', to formulate methods for the election of the Chief Executive in 2017 and the elections of the Legislative Council in 2016 and 2020, and to ensure compliance of the methods with the definitions of universality and equality under international covenants on human rights; and" before "before the submission".

(iv)Hon WONG Yuk-man to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "expeditiously commence extensive consultation on implementing dual universal suffrage and, before the submission by the Chief Executive of a report on constitutional reform to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, to allow sufficient time for the general public to discuss the contents of the report" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "convene a constitutional amendments convention composed mainly of public opinion representatives and constitutional experts to study amendments to the Basic Law and propose using the methods of 'one person, one vote' and 'no screening of nominations' for electing the Chief Executive ("CE") and Legislative Council Members, to be followed by the SAR Government's proposal of bills for amendments to the relevant parts of the Basic Law and the conduct of a referendum on such amendment proposals; after passage of the referendum but before implementing dual universal suffrage, Legislative Council Members to resign en masse, and CE to also resign, with civil servants maintaining the daily operation of the SAR Government; following the election of CE by universal suffrage on a 'one person, one vote' basis and the appointment of a new team of accountability officials, the election of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage must be implemented immediately".

(v)Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To add "; the relevant contents should include: (1) to respect public opinions: before initiating the five-step mechanism for constitutional reform, sufficient time must be allowed for discussion by the public and the Legislative Council; and the Government should conduct public consultation lasting no less than six months within 2013; (2) to conduct public consultation on reforming the methods for the elections of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council respectively, so as to make the arrangements for the election of the Legislative Council in 2016 as early as possible; (3) to completely abolish functional constituency seats in the Legislative Council; (4) to lower the nomination threshold for standing for the election of the Chief Executive, allowing people to elect the Chief Executive by the method of 'one person, one vote'; and (5) to ensure compliance of the methods for the elections of the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive with Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations, i.e. every citizen 'shall have the right and the opportunity ...... without unreasonable restrictions: To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage ...... guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors'" immediately before the full stop.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs

7.Ensuring occupational safety

Hon POON Siu-ping to move the following motion: (Translation)

That, as more large-scale works projects will commence in Hong Kong in the future, but the number of fatal industrial accidents in the construction industry remains high, this Council urges the Government to expeditiously adopt effective measures to ensure occupational safety.

Amendments to the motion
(i)Hon LEE Cheuk-yan to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete ", as" after "That"; to add "; in this connection" after "remains high"; and to add "; the relevant measures should include: (1) to raise the level of work safety in construction design management, including studying the enactment of legislation to require sufficient regard for safety of construction and subsequent maintenance during the design stage, and the formulation of corresponding proposals on eliminating hazards and risks; (2) to set a reasonable duration of construction to reduce industrial accidents caused by working against the clock; (3) to enact legislation to require principal contractors to take out workmen's compensation insurance for all workers engaged in construction works (including employees of subcontractors and other self-employed workers), and to shoulder jointly with subcontractors the legal responsibility of reporting work injury accidents; (4) to enhance the Labour Department's inspections and prosecutions, and impose heavier penalties on law-breaking employers; and (5) to enhance occupational safety and health training for workers, and raise their awareness of occupational safety and health" immediately before the full stop.

(ii)Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete ", as" after "That"; to add "; the traffic and transportation industry also indicates that the rate of occupational injuries of the industry remains high, with the annual number of deaths reaching double digits, but owing to the lack of a clear employer-employee relationship, the industry is not covered by the protection under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, whereas the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance also does not cover the driver's seat of a vehicle, rendering the regulation of professional drivers' occupational safety and health not comprehensive enough; in addition, quite a number of occupations (such as tour escorts and tourist guides in the tourism industry) also lack protection under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance due to an unclear employer-employee relationship; in this connection" after "remains high"; and to add ", including: (1) to comprehensively review the policy on occupational safety and health to reverse the existing policy of relying on the trades to self-regulate in respect of occupational safety and health; (2) to step up regular monitoring and inspection of industrial establishments, impose severe penalties on law-breaking employers, and make public the items in respect of which prosecutions have been instituted by the Labour Department during inspection; (3) to enact dedicated legislation to provide for the work procedures, safety measures and criminal liabilities, etc. for work-at-height activities, so as to reduce the occurrence of accidents involving fall of workers from height, which constitute the largest number of fatal cases in the construction industry; (4) to motivate employers to dutifully shoulder the responsibility for ensuring employees' occupational safety and health, allocate resources for employees' training, and provide facilities and a work environment that ensure employees' occupational safety and health; (5) to stipulate that in the event of occurrence of accidents and occupational diseases in workplaces, including those involving subcontractors and self-employed persons, employers, contractors or persons in charge of the construction sites, etc. have to report such cases to the Government, so as to improve the reporting system for work injuries and occupational diseases, thereby enabling the authorities to obtain more accurate statistics on work injuries and occupational diseases; (6) to comprehensively review the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, including the inclusion of mental impairment in the category of injury under Schedule 1 and the classification of repetitive strain injury and heat stroke as prescribed occupational diseases under Schedule 2, so as to provide more comprehensive protection for employees who suffer work-related mental disorders, physical injuries or heat stroke; and in addition to providing employees with financial compensation, improve the mechanisms for prevention of work injuries and occupational diseases as well as rehabilitation to assist injured employees in recovering and rejoining society; and (7) to set up a 'central employees' compensation fund' or compensation funds for employees by industry (such as a central employees' compensation fund for professional drivers), so as to provide comprehensive compensation protection to employees for all injuries and deaths or occupational diseases arising from work irrespective of the employer-employee relationship" immediately before the full stop.

(iii)Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)

To delete "," after "That" and substitute with "the working class at large in Hong Kong has all along not been provided with comprehensive protection for their rights and interests (including occupational safety), and its aspiration for enacting legislation on setting standard working hours to ensure occupational safety, among others, has persistently been disregarded and stalled by the Government;"; and to delete "to ensure" after "effective measures" and substitute with ", such as enacting legislation on setting standard weekly working hours and working hour limits for the construction industry and other industries, and enacting legislation to require employers, except in the case of emergency services, to allow employees to enjoy a rest of at least 20 minutes after five hours of continuous work, so as to ensure that employees have a healthy state of mind and maintain a high level of vigilance while working, with a view to reducing the possibility of industrial accidents and ensuring employees' physical and mental health as well as".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Labour and Welfare

Clerk to the Legislative Council