A 15/16-14
Legislative Council
Agenda
Wednesday 20 January 2016 at 11:00 am
I. Tabling of Papers
| No. 60 | - | Legal Aid Services Council
Annual Report 2014-2015 | |
| (to be presented by Secretary for Home Affairs)
| |||
II. Questions
1. Hon KWOK Wai-keung to ask: (Translation)
At present, when a winding-up or bankruptcy petition has been filed with the Court against an employer, the employee(s) concerned may apply for ex-gratia payments from the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund ("PWIF") to cover the outstanding wages, the pay for untaken annual leave, the pay for untaken statutory holidays, wages in lieu of notice, severance payments, etc. PWIF is administered by the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board ("the Board") and the Labour Department is responsible for handling and vetting the relevant applications. In August last year, a furniture and electrical appliance chain store suddenly closed down, rendering around 400 employees being owed wages, wages in lieu of notice and severance payments. Although such employees were granted ex-gratia payments by PWIF in the end, some of them have pointed out that they have encountered numerous obstacles in applying for ex-gratia payments, there are problems about the application procedures and calculation methods of ex-gratia payments, and the coverage of PWIF is inadequate. These problems have undermined the level of protection available to employees under PWIF. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that when there are disputes between the employees and the companies in liquidation over the amounts owed to the employees, the amounts have to be determined by the Labour Tribunal ("LT"), but PWIF does not always calculate the amounts of ex-gratia payments payable to the employees concerned according to LT's determination, whether the authorities will review if the procedure requiring LT to determine the amounts owed to employees is necessary; (2) given that the payment ceilings of a number of ex-gratia payment items under PWIF have not been adjusted for years (for example, it has been over 20 years since the ceiling of wages in lieu of notice was increased to $22,500 in 1996 but no further adjustment has been made), whether it knows why the Board has not reviewed the levels of the payment ceilings for years, and whether the Board will conduct a review and put forward relevant adjustment proposals expeditiously; if the Board will not, of the reasons for that; and (3) given that when this Council scrutinized the Protection of Wages on Insolvency (Amendment) Bill 2011, the authorities indicated that the Board had undertaken to review the coverage of PWIF, of the details and progress of the review, and when the authorities will submit the relevant review report to the Labour Advisory Board and the Panel on Manpower of this Council?
2. Hon SIN Chung-kai to ask: (Translation)
The Stamp Duty Ordinance provides that for each transfer of stocks, both the buyer and the seller must pay a stamp duty at a rate of 0.1% on the value of the transaction. However, transactions of specified derivatives, including derivative warrants (commonly known as "warrants") and callable bull/bear contracts, are exempted from the payment of stamp duty. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the detailed justifications for the authorities' granting stamp duty exemption for the transactions of specified derivatives; (2) of the respective percentages of the turnovers of derivative warrants, callable bull/bear contracts and other various specified derivatives in the total turnover of the securities market in each of the past three years; and (3) whether it will, for the sake of complying with the principle of fairness, consider revoking the stamp duty exemption for the transactions of specified derivatives, so that investors are required to pay stamp duty for all types of securities transactions; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
3. Hon Christopher CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
The United States ("US") Federal Open Market Committee established in December 2008 the target range of zero to 1/4 percent for the federal funds rate, and it was only last month that the target range was raised to 1/4 to 1/2 percent, which ended a seven-year era of near-zero interest rates and set off a cycle of rising US dollar interest rates. As Hong Kong maintains a Linked Exchange Rate System with the Hong Kong dollar pegged to the US dollar, the Hong Kong dollar interest rates will definitely climb along with the US dollar interest rates in the long run. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given the slowdown of the economic growth on the Mainland in recent months and the contraction in local industries such as retailing and tourism, etc., whether the Government has assessed if the Hong Kong economy can withstand the impact of persisted interest rate hikes, and the maximum magnitude of interest rate hikes Hong Kong can withstand in light of the prevailing market conditions; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) given that while the Government launched a number of measures to stabilize the property market one after another in recent years so as to combat speculative activities in the property market and curb external demands, a cycle of rising Hong Kong dollar interest rates has been set off and property transactions have shown clear signs of decline both in volume and prices in recent months, whether the Government has drawn up plans for abolishing some of the property market-stabilization measures; if it has, of the objective criteria for deciding whether or not to abolish some of the measures, the implementation timetable, and other details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has assessed the impact of rising interest rates on Hong Kong's non-property asset markets and capital flow; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
4. Hon CHAN Chi-chuen to ask: (Translation)
Earlier on, the Chief Executive's Office ("CE's Office") uploaded onto CE's Facebook page a video clip featuring CE himself and some other people singing together a karaoke song when attending a banquet, as well as photos of two types of buns and cakes of a cartoon character design, recently bought by CE when he visited the Hong Kong Brands and Products Expo. Some netizens have queried that the acts of uploading the video clip and photos may have constituted an infringement of copyright. It has been reported that CE's Office subsequently admitted that the prompt uploading of the video clip was undesirable, and indicated that it had made retrospective payment of royalties to and obtained the relevant licence from the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong ("CASH"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that some creators have pointed out that the uploading of video clips featuring acoustic covers of karaoke songs onto the Internet may involve six different copyrights, whether CE's Office has made payments of royalties in relation to the aforesaid video clip to copyright owners other than CASH; if it has, of the respective amounts of such payments; of the amount of royalties paid retrospectively by CE's Office to CASH; (2) given that CE's Office paid royalties to and obtained the relevant licence from CASH only after it had uploaded the video clip, whether the authorities have assessed if that uploading act has incurred any criminal or civil liabilities for infringement of copyright; given that the Director of Intellectual Property has remarked that since CE is a public figure, the fair dealing exception for "commenting on current events" provided under the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 ("Amendment Bill") may be applicable to the uploading act in question, but CE's Facebook page is not a news web site and the video clip lasting one minute and nine seconds contains no contents commenting on any subject of current events, of the specific justifications for the Director's making the remark; given that some netizens have queried that even the Director has a problematic understanding of the Amendment Bill, of the measures adopted by the authorities to publicize the contents of the Amendment Bill so as to prevent members of the public from breaching the law inadvertently; and (3) whether CE's Office had obtained authorization from the copyright owner(s) of the relevant cartoon character before it uploaded the aforesaid photos of buns and cakes; if it had, of the details; if not, whether the authorities have assessed if that uploading act has incurred any criminal or civil liabilities for infringement of copyright?
5. Hon Emily LAU to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that five Hong Kong people who are shareholders or employees of the Causeway Bay Books went missing one after another during the period from mid-October last year to the thirtieth of last month. The first person, the subsequent three and the last one were last seen in Thailand, the Mainland and Hong Kong respectively before they went missing. Moreover, it has been reported that the wife of Mr LEE Po, the last missing person, received two calls from Mr LEE to assure her of his safety and the displayed caller number was a Shenzhen phone number. Subsequently, an associate of the bookstore also received a handwritten fax purportedly issued by Mr LEE, saying that "I have returned to the Mainland using my own way to work with the authorities concerned in an investigation". On the sixth of this month, the editorial of the Global Times, a state-run newspaper of the Mainland, stated that "powerful agencies across the world generally have their own ways to circumvent the law and make a person under investigation to work with them, so that they can proceed with their work without crossing the bottom line of the system". The string of incidents of people reported missing have aroused grave concern among people from various sectors of society. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(1) of the actions (to be set out in detail) taken by the authorities since the first reported missing incident happened three-odd months ago to locate the whereabouts of those five missing persons and ensure their personal safety; (2) given that the mainland public security authorities and the Hong Kong Police ("HKP") have established a reciprocal notification mechanism regarding the detainment, arrest or unnatural deaths of their residents in the territory of the other party, whether HKP have taken action under that mechanism in respect of the aforesaid missing cases; if HKP have, of the details, and whether, apart from the information announced by the public security authorities and official media on the Mainland, HKP have received any other information on the five missing persons as notified by the mainland public security authorities; if HKP have received such information, of the details; and (3) whether they have verified if the five missing persons were taken to the Mainland by a powerful agency using means circumventing the law to make these persons work with it in an investigation, as mentioned by the aforesaid editorial of the Global Times; if they have verified and the result is in the affirmative, whether they have assessed if the action taken by the agency has contravened the principle of "one country, two systems" and Article 28 of the Basic Law, which stipulates that "[n]o Hong Kong resident shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful arrest, detention or imprisonment. Arbitrary or unlawful ... deprivation or restriction of the freedom of the person shall be prohibited"?
6. Hon Frankie YICK to ask: (Translation)
The Government is studying the introduction of quality taxi service to be operated under a franchise model, with a view to improving the current situation that taxi service varies in quality, which is caused by the highly scattered ownerships of taxi licences and management responsibilities of taxis. Some members of the taxi trade have conducted surveys on taxi service, with findings showing that respondents generally hope for improvements in the ways of hailing taxis and the service attitude of drivers, and they are in general willing to pay up to 30% more in fares for better taxi service. Those members of the trade are worried that the direction of the Government's study deviates from public expectations. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the considerations based on which the authorities will decide whether or not to introduce quality taxi service, and the criteria to be adopted for determining the relevant details (including the number of franchises, vehicle types, compartment facilities and restriction on vehicle age); whether they have studied if the introduction of quality taxi service is the only solution to the current problem that taxi service varies in quality; if they have studied and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the relevant justifications; (2) as the authorities suggest that any company holding a quality taxi service franchise be required to maintain an employer-employee relationship with its drivers, and the drivers concerned will hence be covered by the protection of the current legislation related to labour rights, such as the Employment Ordinance, the Minimum Wage Ordinance, etc., of the reasons why the authorities have proposed to add a franchise term to additionally require the franchised company to properly handle matters on drivers' remuneration, so as to ensure reasonable protection of drivers' benefits and interests; whether they have assessed if such a proposal constitutes over-regulation and violates the principle of free market operation; and (3) as some taxi groups have now formed their own fleets to operate taxi service, and have set the standards of service level, drivers' work attitude, reward and punishment system as well as vehicle quality for fleet members to follow, whether the authorities will consider first keeping the situation in view for a period of time to ascertain if such an operation model can address the public calls for improvement in the quality of taxi service before deciding whether or not to implement quality taxi service; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*7. Hon Martin LIAO to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of reports published recently by authoritative organizations have pointed out that alarm has been sounded for Hong Kong's competitiveness. For instance, the Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 published by the World Economic Forum ("the Forum Report") has showed that, among the 140 economies covered by this Report, although Hong Kong's overall ranking in 2015-2016 in the Global Competitiveness Index has maintained its 7th place attained in the previous year, her ranking in innovation is only 27th, which is clearly on the low side and shows a downward trend. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's ranking in financial market development has dropped from the first to the third place. The World Bank Group's "Doing Business 2016" report has also indicated that Hong Kong's ranking in ease of doing business has dropped from the third to the fifth place. On the other hand, the Blue Book of Urban Competitiveness: Annual Report on China's Urban Competitiveness No.13 published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences ("the Academy Report") has pointed out that, among the 294 cities in China, Hong Kong's latest ranking in overall economic competitiveness has dropped, for the first time in 12 years, from the first to the second place, being surpassed by Shenzhen. Also, in respect of several competitiveness indices, Hong Kong has been caught up by a number of mainland cities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as the Forum Report has indicated that Hong Kong's ranking is lower than those of the Four Asian Tigers in three indices, namely (i) capacity for innovation, (ii) availability of scientists and engineers, and (iii) university-industry collaboration in research and development, whether the authorities will introduce targeted measures, such as provision of tax concessions, to boost Hong Kong's competitiveness in the aforesaid three areas; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) as some members of the financial sector have pointed out that the main reason for the drop of Hong Kong's ranking of competitiveness in financial market development, as indicated in the Forum Report, is the insufficient innovation in Hong Kong's financial industry, in particular it is still at an early stage of development in respect of innovative online financial services, whereas Internet shopping and payment, micro-credit, peer-to-peer lending, crowd funding, online banking services, etc. are developing quickly on the Mainland, of the new measures the Government has put in place to strengthen the competitiveness of Hong Kong's financial industry; and (3) as the Academy Report has pointed out that since Hong Kong has put too much emphasis on five major industries, namely trading, finance, shipping, tourism and professional services, but paid insufficient attention to quite a number of small-scale emerging industries which have immense potential, resulting in a lack of new industries to support long-term economic development, and coupled with the narrowed gap between Hong Kong and mainland cities, Hong Kong is facing the risk of being marginalized, whether the authorities will formulate more new measures to promote diversification of the economy and ease of doing business in Hong Kong, so as to enhance Hong Kong's overall competitiveness; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*8. Hon CHAN Kam-lam to ask: (Translation)
Some property owners have relayed to me that each year they have to pay both rates and government rent at 5% and 3% respectively of the rateable value of their properties. In recent years, following the continuous rise in rent levels, the relevant amounts payable by them have been on the rise even after taking into account the rates concessions granted by the Government, causing increasingly heavy burdens on them. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective amounts of total revenues collected by the Government from rates and government rent in each of the past five years and the year-on-year rates of increase of such amounts, together with the cumulative rates of increase in the past five years; (2) of the (i) number of units and (ii) respective annual total amounts of rates (before concessions) and government rent payable (set out in tables of the same format as the table below), in respect of each type of buildings (i.e. private residential building, public rental housing estates, commercial buildings and industrial buildings) in each of the past five years, broken down by the groups to which the annual amounts payable for each unit belong, as set out in the table below); and
Type of building: _____________
Year: _____________Rates Government rent Amount of rates payable for the year (i) (ii)
($)Amount of government rent payable for the year (i) (ii)
($)Below $2,500 Below $2,500 $2,500 to $5,000 $2,500 to $5,000 $5,001 to $7,500 $5,001 to $7,500 $7,501 to $10,000 $7,501 to $10,000 $10,001 to $15,000 $10,001 to $15,000 $15,001 to $20,000 $15,001 to $20,000 $20,001 to $30,000 $20,001 to $30,000 Above $30,000 Above $30,000 Total: Total: (3) given that the current overall property prices in Hong Kong have soared by more than 77% as compared with those at the peak in 1997, whether the authorities will consider lowering the rates percentage charge, for instance, from the existing 5% to 3%, so as to alleviate the financial burden on members of the public (in particular property owners residing in properties owned by themselves)?
*9. Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Recently, some members of the public have sought my assistance, saying that their children are studying medical programmes in Ireland and Australia, and that as places for internship training in such countries are in short supply in recent years, the relevant authorities cannot guarantee internship arrangements for international students. Given that the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") has stipulated that medical graduates applying for taking its Licensing Examination must have obtained qualifications acceptable to MCHK and completed recognized medical training, including a period of internship training as approved by MCHK, these members of the public are worried that their children will be disallowed to take the Licensing Examination for the reason of not having completed the internship training period. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has liaised with the consuls of advanced countries in Hong Kong and related agencies to find out if it has become a common practice in the countries concerned not to guarantee internship training arrangements for international medical graduates; if it has liaised with them and found that it is the case, whether it has assessed the impacts of such a practice on those Hong Kong people currently studying medical programmes abroad, and its long-term impact on the supply of medical practitioners in Hong Kong; if it has not made such liaison or assessment, whether it will do so; (2) of the number of Hong Kong people who had graduated from overseas medical programmes passing MCHK's Licensing Examination in each of the past five years; (3) whether it has discussed with MCHK about allowing medical graduates who graduated from recognized overseas medical programmes but have not completed internship training there, to take MCHK's Licensing Examination and to complete the internship training in Hong Kong afterwards, for registration as medical practitioners; if such an arrangement will be implemented, of the implementation date; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether the Steering Committee on Strategic Review on Healthcare Manpower Planning and Professional Development has studied the formulation of measures to encourage Hong Kong people who graduated from recognized overseas medical programmes to return to and practise in Hong Kong; if the Committee has, of the details of the study; if not, whether the Committee will conduct such a study?
*10. Hon Andrew LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Since 2000, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD") has organized the One Person, One Flower Scheme annually with the aim of promoting a green culture among students from kindergartens, primary, secondary and special schools, and cultivating their interest in growing plants and concern for the community. Under the Scheme, each year LCSD chooses one particular species of flower as the theme flower, organizes talks on the techniques for growing the theme flower and gives each participating student a seedling of the theme flower for him to plant either at home or in schools. The schools and students concerned may subsequently present the potted plants nurtured by them to nearby centres for the elderly or organizations alike to show care and concern for the community. Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as Periwinkle, is the theme flower for this year's One Person, One Flower Scheme. However, some kindergartens have found that the latex exuding from the broken stem of Periwinkle may cause skin allergy in some students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has assessed (i) the effectiveness of the One Person, One Flower Scheme since its implementation, and (ii) if the objectives set have been achieved; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) of the organizations from which LCSD bought the flower seedlings that were distributed to schools in the past five years, and the amount of expenditure incurred; (3) given that it has been set out in the implementation procedures in the prospectus of this year's One Person, One Flower Scheme that the latex exuding from Periwinkle may cause skin allergy, why LCSD has still chosen that species as the theme flower for this year; and (4) given that quite a number of parents have relayed to me that because LCSD had for several times chosen non-hardy flowers as the theme flowers for the One Person, One Flower Scheme and distributed the seedlings to students in winter, a large number of these seedlings withered and some parents time and again purchased flowers at their own expense because their children had to submit them as homework, whether LCSD will consider changing its practice to implement the Scheme during the summer holidays; if LCSD will, of the implementation timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
*11. Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask: (Translation)
Some estate agents have told me that with the uncertain economic outlook of Hong Kong and the onset of a cycle of rising interest rates, the transactions of private residential units have continued to shrink recently. Moreover, in order to promote the sale of their stock, some real estate developers ("developers") have one after another brought down the prices of the units for sale but at the same time requested estate agents to reduce their commissions so as to make up for some of the losses. Amid the double blows of low transaction volume and reduction of commissions, the incomes of estate agents have been substantially reduced and very unstable, and the living of estate agents has therefore become more and more difficult. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it has collected information on the various types of commissions received by estate agents expressed as percentages of property prices; if it has, of the respective average percentages in each of the past three years, and how such percentages compare to the relevant figures of overseas countries; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it has looked into the situation of developers requesting estate agents to reduce their commissions; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether it has plans to impose regulation on the practice of developers requesting estate agents to reduce their commissions; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (4) whether it will, by making reference to the practices of some countries (e.g. the United States and Canada), legislate to stipulate the levels of the various types of commissions to be received by estate agents, so as to ensure a reasonable return for the work of estate agents; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and the means through which the authorities can ensure a reasonable return for the work of estate agents?
*12. Dr Hon Helena WONG to ask: (Translation)
The Government indicated in December last year that it would provide medical support for persons affected by the incidents of excessive lead content in drinking water and found to have borderline raised blood lead levels. For instance, the Department of Health ("DH") would conduct lead exposure assessments for all of those persons who had been tested to have borderline raised blood lead levels, and would perform preliminary developmental assessments for children aged under 12 among such persons ("preliminary developmental assessments"). DH would then take follow-up actions according to the assessment results. In addition, the Hospital Authority would arrange health evaluations for children aged 12 or above, adults, pregnant women and lactating women with borderline raised blood lead levels ("health evaluations"), and would take follow-up actions according to the evaluation results. Nonetheless, some persons affected by the incidents have relayed to me that the Government has yet to give a detailed account of such medical support. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the details of the aforesaid preliminary developmental assessments, including the assessment tools used; the results of the assessments conducted, including the respective numbers of children assessed as having no developmental problems at the present stage and those showing symptoms of developmental delay; the details of the medical support provided by DH for those children who have shown symptoms of developmental delay; and (2) of the details of the aforesaid health evaluations; the details of the results of the evaluations conducted as well as the follow-up work undertaken?
*13. Hon Starry LEE to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that currently, half of the antibiotics across the world are used in agriculture, and the relevant ratio in the United States even stands at 80%. This situation has aroused the concern that long-term consumption of food containing antibiotics may increase the opportunities of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Earlier on, the Consumer Council has written to nine local fast food chains to enquire about their policies on procuring and using food ingredients containing antibiotics, and urge them to devise plans to phase out the procurement of food ingredients containing antibiotics and release the relevant information to the public in a timely manner. Nevertheless, no concrete responses have been received so far. On the other hand, three major fast food chains in the United States have pledged that they will gradually stop using food ingredients containing antibiotics, and feeding of antibiotics to food animals in Denmark is permitted only for treatment of diseases. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it conducted, in the past five years, any study on the health risks of consuming food containing antibiotics; if it did, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (2) whether it will consider encouraging local fast food chains to make public their policies on using food ingredients containing antibiotics, so as to enable consumers to make informed choices; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) given that the Public Health (Animals and Birds) (Chemical Residues) Regulation (Cap. 139, sub. leg. N) has listed two types of antibiotics as prohibited chemicals, and specified the maximum residue limits of 37 types of antibiotics and antibacterial compounds in meat and animal tissues, whether the authorities will review the Regulation and bring the relevant regulations on the limits of antibiotics in food animals in line with those in force in advanced countries/regions (e.g. the European Union), so as to enhance food safety; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*14. Hon NG Leung-sing to ask: (Translation)
It was reported that in a speech delivered early last month, a former permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal strongly criticized the abuse of the judicial review ("JR") system by some people in recent years and stressed that JR should not be employed as a means to challenge government policies. He also pointed out that some JR cases in recent years were apparently groundless and an abuse of procedure, while some others had brought significant economic losses to society. For instance, a JR case resulted in substantial cost increases and delay in work commencement of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge project. Moreover, some commentaries pointed out that some people had lodged JRs for the purpose of paralysing the implementation of government policies and had been easily granted legal aid by the Legal Aid Department ("LAD"). As a result, a large amount of public money was wasted and economic development was impeded. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of applications for leave for JR received and granted by the Court, as well as the number of cases of applicants lodging appeal against the judgment that no leave was to be granted, in the past five years; (2) of the public expenditure incurred for JR cases in each of the past five years, whether it has assessed the economic losses brought to society by such cases; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the number of legal aid applications involving JR approved by LAD, and the total amount of litigation costs and other expenses incurred by LAD in such cases, in the past five years; and (4) whether it has plans to review the legal aid system to formulate measures to prevent the abuse of the system; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*15. Hon WONG Kwok-kin to ask: (Translation)
Earlier, some members of the public have relayed to me that the long-standing shortfall of parking spaces in East Kowloon has annoyed drivers, and some drivers have thus parked their vehicles by the roadside, thereby posing road safety hazards. Regarding the problems of shortage of parking space and illegal parking, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of public parking spaces currently available for use by the following types of vehicles, as well as their respective day-time and night-time average usage rates: (i) private cars and taxis, (ii) light goods vehicles, (iii) medium/heavy goods vehicles, (iv) container vehicles, (v) coaches and buses, and (vi) light buses, together with a breakdown by District Council ("DC") district and type of parking spaces (i.e. on-street parking spaces, parking spaces in government car parks and those in private car parks); (2) of the number of parking spaces cancelled due to change in land use and the number of parking spaces newly added, in the past five years, broken down by DC district; (3) of the current number of Traffic Wardens on the establishment performing duties in each DC district; (4) of the number of fixed penalty tickets ("tickets") issued by the authorities for illegal parking in the past five years, together with a breakdown by DC district; given that the authorities conducted in early 2014 a trial of Electronic Fixed Penalty Tickets which made use of personal digital assistants and portable printers to issue tickets, of the number and percentage of the tickets issued this way among those issued since 2014; and (5) given that the acute increase in the number of private cars in recent years is one of the causes for the problem of illegal parking, whether the Government will consider introducing measures to reduce the number of private cars; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and the new measures in place to slow down the increase in the number of private cars?
*16. Hon Albert CHAN to ask: (Translation)
In reply to my oral question raised on 7 January last year, the authorities indicated that the air quality in Tung Chung had been improving progressively in the past five years from 2010 to 2014. However, quite a number of Tung Chung residents have relayed to me that the air pollution problem in Tung Chung has not been alleviated in recent years and has shown signs of deterioration instead, with the problem being more acute in summer time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of times, as recorded by the air quality monitoring station in Tung Chung last year, in which the concentrations of fine suspended particulates (i.e. PM 2.5), ozone, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide exceeded the Air Quality Objectives or other relevant objectives, and the details of the exceedance of each type of pollutants, including the respective average and maximum extent of exceedance and concentrations; (2) whether the authorities analysed the major sources of air pollutants in Tung Chung last year; if they did, of the outcome, including the percentage of aircraft emissions in the pollutants; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) whether it has formulated targeted measures to improve the air quality in Tung Chung; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*17. Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask: (Translation)
Some instant messaging applications ("IMAs") for smart phones (such as WhatsApp) which require registration by mobile phone numbers before use allow users to set up messaging groups without any proof that consent of data subjects has been obtained before they are added to such groups. Some members of the public have lodged complaints with me that upon joining a tour group, the tour escort set up a messaging group which included all tour group members, resulting in disclosure of their mobile phone numbers to other tour group members without their consent and thus infringement on their privacy. Moreover, some members of the public have, from time to time, been included in messaging groups set up by strangers for sending promotional messages (e.g. information about tutorial services and property developments), thus suffering great nuisances. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each year since 2012 about disclosure of personal data of data subjects without their prior consent to a third party via IMAs, and the follow-up actions taken for such complaints; among those complaints, the number of those substantiated; (2) of the number of complaints received by the authorities in each year since 2012 about unsolicited electronic messages being sent through IMAs, and the follow-up actions taken for such complaints; among those complaints, the number of those substantiated, and the number of Hong Kong telephone numbers involved; (3) whether it will review if the existing provisions of the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (Cap. 593) are adequate for regulating the sending of unsolicited electronic messages through new messaging channels; and (4) whether it has issued guidelines to civil servants as well as staff of public organizations, and carried out publicity and public education work, in order to raise awareness about the privacy issues relating to IMAs; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*18. Hon Jeffrey LAM to ask: (Translation)
The Government has been providing "Government Wi-Fi Programme" ("GovWiFi") service since 2008 by installing wireless local area networks (i.e. "Wi-Fi") at designated government premises to provide free Internet access to the public, aiming at building Hong Kong into a wireless city. It has been reported that members of the public using GovWiFi service found that the service had a low connection speed and they experienced service disconnection. The download speed of GovWiFi is particularly slow in the Hong Kong Central Library. For example, it takes more than four minutes to open a picture file which is five megabytes in size. Furthermore, GovWiFi service is still not yet available at a number of government premises at present. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number and percentage of government buildings and premises providing GovWiFi service; (2) of the details of the plan to extend the coverage of GovWiFi service; (3) of the details of the plan to enhance the data transmission speed of GovWiFi service; and (4) as some specialists in electronics have pointed out that since GovWiFi service currently only operates in the 2.4 GHz band, and quite a number of radio apparatuses also operate in such band to transmit data, resulting in the data transmission speed of GovWiFi service being lowered due to interference, whether the Government has plans to enhance GovWiFi service so that the service can operate in the 5 GHz band at the same time, so as to enhance data transmission speed; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*19. Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that a number of cross-boundary syndicates have made use of social networking web sites to recruit Hong Kong residents to participate in illegal activities relating to bogus marriages with mainlanders. Many Hong Kong residents have participated in such activities to make quick money and recommended their friends to participate so as to earn referral fees. According to some estimations, among the marriages between mainlanders and Hong Kong residents registered in Hong Kong each year, about 25% may be bogus marriages, involving nearly 7 000 Hong Kong residents. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in each of the past 10 years, of the number of bogus marriages uncovered by the authorities, the number of persons suspected of contracting bogus marriages (with a breakdown by gender and age group) and the number of intermediaries involved, the respective numbers of persons prosecuted and convicted, as well as the penalties generally imposed by the Court on those convicted; the top five countries/places where most people who entered Hong Kong through bogus marriages had come from, and the respective numbers of people from such countries/places, with a breakdown by gender and age group; (2) as there are reports that in the past few years, the percentage of convicted cases of offences relating to bogus marriages in the suspected cases remained low (e.g. less than 10% in 2014), whether the authorities will allocate additional resources to the Immigration Department to step up efforts in combating bogus marriages and related intermediary activities; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) whether the authorities will, when handling cross-boundary marriage registrations, step up scrutiny work with a view to identifying any suspicious situation, and strengthen information exchange with mainland authorities and other countries; (4) as there are comments that the penalties currently imposed by the Court on persons who committed offences relating to bogus marriages are generally far below the maximum penalties for such offences (e.g. offenders making false representation to Immigration Officers are liable to a maximum fine of $150,000 and imprisonment of 14 years), whether the authorities will enact specific offence provision against acts of bogus marriages and specify a minimum term of imprisonment in such provision, so as to enhance the deterrent effect; and (5) whether the authorities will step up publicity efforts on social networking web sites and other channels to remind members of the public (in particular young people) not to defy the law and participate in illegal activities relating to bogus marriages for making quick money; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
*20. Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to ask: (Translation)
Interim housing ("IH") mainly provides interim accommodation for persons affected by natural disasters or government clearance operations while waiting for public rental housing ("PRH") allocation, after they have stayed in the transit centre for three months, passed the "homeless test" and fulfilled the eligibility criteria for PRH. Regarding IH, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it reviewed the policies and regulations (including the construction of new IH or otherwise, the locations for the construction of IH, the eligibility criteria for IH, the accommodation arrangements for occupants after they have moved out of IH) relating to IH in the past five years; if it did, of the details; if not, how the authorities ensure that such policies and regulations are kept abreast of the times; (2) of the following figures in the past five years: (i) the number of occupants of IH, broken down by the causes for their becoming homeless and thus having the need to move into IH, (ii) the number of occupants who moved out of IH, and among such occupants, the number of those who moved into PRH units, and (iii) whether the authorities followed up the moving-out cases properly to ensure that the occupants concerned were provided with appropriate housing after moving out; (3) whether it knows, in the past five years, (i) the number of residential units affected by the redevelopment projects implemented by the Urban Renewal Authority in collaboration with various developers, (ii) the number of sub-divisions of flat units (commonly known as "sub-divided units") for domestic use in industrial buildings eradicated by the authorities, and (iii) the number of residents affected by redevelopment projects or operations to eradicate sub-divided units, and among such residents, the number of those who moved into IH; whether the authorities have followed up such cases properly to ensure that the affected residents could find appropriate housing; and (4) as it was reported in October last year that the Housing Department was examining the construction of PRH buildings on Shek Lei IH site and a site nearby, and some 800 households of occupants would thus be affected, whether the authorities have drawn up a timetable for demolishing Shek Lei IH; if they have, of the details; whether the authorities have fully consulted the affected occupants on the removal arrangements, and how the authorities will rehouse them; whether the authorities will construct IH in the same district so as to rehouse the affected occupants in the same district?
*21. Hon CHEUNG Kwok-che to ask: (Translation)
The Government is conducting a public consultation exercise on the future retirement protection system. The fourth pillar of the retirement protection framework, put forward by the World Bank and mentioned in the consultation document, comprises items like "personal assets" (e.g. owner-occupied properties) and "family support" (e.g. financial support from descendants). Regarding statistics on these two items, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of elderly singletons aged 65 or above in each of the past three financial years, broken down by the value of assets (excluding owner-occupied properties) they held (set out in Table 1);
(Table 1)Financial year No. of elderly singletons holding assets with a value
within the following range (thousand dollars)80 or below Over 80 to 100 Over 100 to 120 Over 120 to 150 Over 150 to 180 Over 180 to 210 Over 210 to 1,000 Over 1,000 to 2,000 Over 2,000 to 3,000 Over 3,000 to 4,000 Over 4,000 to 5,000 Over 5,000 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 (2) of the number of elderly couples aged 65 or above in each of the past three financial years, broken down by the value of assets (excluding owner-occupied properties) they held (set out in Table 2);
(Table 2)Financial year No. of elderly couples holding assets with a value
within the following range (thousand dollars)125 or below Over 125 to 150 Over 150 to 210 Over 210 to 240 Over 240 to 270 Over 270 to 318 Over 318 to 1,000 Over 1,000 to 2,000 Over 2,000 to 3,000 Over 3,000 to 4,000 Over 4,000 to 5,000 Over 5,000 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 (3) of the number of elderly households with all members aged 65 or above and holding owner-occupied properties in each of the past three financial years, broken down by household size and appraised property value (set out in Table 3); and
(Table 3)Financial year Household size Appraised value of owner-occupied properties
(thousand dollars)2,000 or below Over 2,000 to 3,000 Over 3,000 to 4,000 Over 4,000 to 5,000 Over 5,000 2012-2013 One-person Two-person Three-person or above 2013-2014 One-person Two-person Three-person or above 2014-2015 One-person Two-person Three-person or above (4) of the number of persons required to pay salaries tax who made claims for allowances for maintaining parents or grandparents aged 65 or above in each of the past three years of assessment, as well as the total amount of allowances granted (and set out a breakdown in Tables 4 and 5 by number of dependents involved)?
(Table 4)Year of assessment No. of dependent parents 1 2 3 4 2012-2013 No. of claimants Total amount of allowances granted 2013-2014 No. of claimants Total amount of allowances granted 2014-2015 No. of claimants Total amount of allowances granted
(Table 5)Year of assessment No. of dependent grandparents 1 2 3 4 2012-2013 No. of claimants Total amount of allowances granted 2013-2014 No. of claimants Total amount of allowances granted 2014-2015 No. of claimants Total amount of allowances granted
*22. Hon TANG Ka-piu to ask: (Translation)
It has been reported that massive quantity of dead fish has been recently found on the surface of a number of inshore waters and watercourses (including the waters off the mariculture rafts in Sam Mun Tsai in Tai Po, Kam Tin River in Yuen Long, and Shing Mun River in Sha Tin). Last month, the authorities collected 15 tonnes of refuse which contained a large quantity of dead fish in Shing Mun River. The stench of such refuse had caused nuisance to the residents and picnickers in the vicinity of Shing Mun River. Some fish farmers also worried that the flow of polluted river water into Tolo Harbour would have long-term impact on the ecological environment of the fish culture zones there. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) regarding incidents in which massive quantity of dead fish was found in the following watercourses in each of the past five years, of the respective (i) numbers of such incidents and (ii) quantities of dead fish found (set out in the table below); Watercourse 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii) (i) (ii) Shing Mun River Lam Tsuen River Tung Chung River Shan Pui River Kam Tin River Tuen Mun River (2) whether it has investigated the causes of the recent incident of massive quantity of dead fish being found in Shing Mun River, and whether the ecological environment of the watercourse has been adversely affected as a result; if the watercourse has been affected, whether it has taken remedial measures; if it has, of the details and the latest situation; (3) of the details of the cleaning work undertaken at Shing Mun River at present and the staff establishment involved; whether it has plans to strengthen such work; (4) whether inter-departmental meetings are held in respect of the environmental hygiene of various watercourses on a regular basis and in the light of incidents of massive quantity of dead fish found in those watercourses, for the purpose of discussing and co-ordinating the relevant cleaning work of the watercourses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and (5) given that in reply to my written question raised in November last year, the authorities indicated that a consultancy study would be conducted on the works to revitalize nullahs and watercourses and they would explore specific proposals for revitalizing water bodies, of the progress of the revitalization works at present with a list of the names of nullahs and watercourses involved as well as the implementation timetable for the revitalization works?
* For written reply
III. Bills
| First Reading
Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2016 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned)
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| Inland Revenue (Amendment) Bill 2016 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Second Reading (Debate to resume), Committee Stage and Third Reading
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| 1. | Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 | : | Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development | ||||||||||||||||||
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| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2014 (issued on 8 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 227/15-16(01)))
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| 2. | Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 | : | Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
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| Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury to move
Committee stage amendments (The amendments were issued on 9 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 230/15-16) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| (Debate and voting arrangements for Committee stage of the Bankruptcy (Amendment) Bill 2015 (issued on 15 December 2015 under LC Paper No. CB(3) 252/15-16(01)))
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IV. Motion
Proposed resolution under the Road Traffic Ordinance
Secretary for Transport and Housing to move the following motion:
Resolved that the period extended to 20 June 2016 by Legal Notice No. 54 of 2011, and for which there remains in force the limit on the number of vehicles which may be registered as public light buses specified in the Public Light Buses (Limitation on Number) Notice (Cap. 374 sub. leg. K), be further extended to 20 June 2021.
V. Members' Motions on Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments
VI. Member's Bill
| First Reading
Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill Second Reading (Debate to be adjourned) | |||
| Bank of Communications (Hong Kong) Limited (Merger) Bill | : | Hon NG Leung-sing
| |
VII. Members' Motions
| 1. | Actively studying the establishment of a middle class commission
Hon Tommy CHEUNG to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council requests the Government to actively study the establishment of a middle class commission. | ||||
| Amendments to the motion | |||||
| (i) | Hon Frankie YICK to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the middle class has always been an important force for maintaining social stability and promoting economic development, but in recent years, the long-standing concerns in the external economic environment, the seriously lopsided development of Hong Kong's industries, the short supply of housing, the polarization between the rich and the poor, and the never-ending political wrangling have caused the middle class to face problems of housing, taxation, education and healthcare, etc., and created a trend of downward mobility of the middle class; the Government's support for the middle class has all along been limited to one-off relief measures such as providing tax rebates, increasing tax allowances, exempting rates or offering electricity charge subsidies, etc., but these measures are just utterly inadequate for the middle class and have not practically alleviated their plight; in addition, as currently there is no precise definition of the middle class, and the Government does not regularly provide statistics and information specific to the middle class, if the authorities or community organizations use such information to formulate policies or measures to support the middle class, such policies or measures will very often be out of focus, biased and superficial; in this connection," after "That"; and to add "to comprehensively review the policies or measures relating to the middle class from a focused and higher-level perspective, so as to alleviate the various problems faced by the middle class and consolidate the strength of the middle class, thereby promoting afresh economic development and strengthening the momentum of upward mobility of the community as a whole; the relevant measures should include: Definition (1) to lay down a clear and precise definition of the middle class, and regularly publish relevant statistics in respect of the definition; Development of industries (2) to adopt a multi-pronged approach to promote diversified development of industries in Hong Kong, so as to create more jobs at the middle and senior levels as well as business start-up opportunities in various industries and professions; (3) to further strengthen regional economic development for integration with the economic development circles of different regions on the Mainland, so as to provide more and better career development opportunities for middle-class professionals within or outside the territory; Housing (4) to expedite the identification of land for developing new development areas, optimize the use of rock caverns and carry out reclamation on an appropriate scale outside Victoria Harbour, so as to increase the supply of residential land on all fronts; and to increase the transparency of the housing plans as well as the supply of and demand for residential land for the next 10 years, and conduct an interim strategic review of and make corresponding adjustment to the relevant plans every five years; (5) to actively study the exploitation of green belt areas and 'brownfield sites' for the purpose of residential development; (6) to introduce a tax allowance for rentals for the marginal middle class; Taxation (7) to adjust salaries tax downwards, in particular widening tax bands for salaries tax and lowering the marginal rate, so as to vigorously alleviate the burden of the marginal middle class; (8) to relax the restrictions on the dependent parent or dependent grandparent allowance by relaxing the eligibility requirement from living in the same unit to living in the same housing estate; Education (9) to introduce a tax allowance for children's education to alleviate the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (10) to substantially increase the salaries tax deduction for self-education expenses and the subsidy under the Continuing Education Fund; Healthcare (11) to provide tax deduction for medical insurance contributions; and (12) to provide tax deduction for medical examinations to encourage the middle class to undergo such examinations on a regular basis" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as the Government has disregarded the needs of the middle class over the years," after "That"; to delete "establishment of a" after "study the" and substitute with "concerns of the"; and to delete "commission" immediately before the full stop and substitute with ", which include: (1) raising the various tax allowances, including the basic allowance for individuals, married person's allowance as well as dependent parent allowance, and widening the tax bands for salaries tax and abolishing the standard rate for salaries tax, so that members of the public pay their salaries tax according to the marginal tax rate, thereby alleviating the tax burden on the middle class; (2) reintroducing the Sandwich Class Housing Scheme to increase the opportunities for the middle class to acquire homes; (3) increasing the numbers of days of paid maternity leave and paternity leave and introducing flexible working hours to perfect family-friendly policies and promote a culture of work-life balance; (4) reviewing the teaching quality of government and subsidized schools, and allocating additional resources for such schools to adopt the teaching mode of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and the merits of International Baccalaureate programmes, so that children of middle-class families can enjoy quality education; (5) upholding local core values and combating corruption to rebuild a society with integrity and fairness, thereby providing the middle class with an environment with fair competition; and (6) formulating proposals for electing the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council by universal suffrage with equal rights to make nomination, to vote and to stand for election in an open, fair and impartial manner, with a view to forging a consensus on promoting democracy, thereby strengthening the middle class's sense of belonging to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Christopher CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the middle class, despite being the mainstay of Hong Kong society, has to bear increasingly heavy livelihood and financial burdens and face pressures of downward mobility; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "to formulate permanent and focused policies and measures, with a view to alleviating the livelihood and financial burdens of the middle class and providing them with more opportunities for upward mobility and room for development" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (iv) | Dr Hon KWOK Ka-ki to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "as the Government's measures to assist the middle class in recent years have no merit worth mentioning, the middle class has been unable to resolve their livelihood difficulties; in this connection," after "That"; to delete "actively study the establishment of" after "Government to" and substitute with "expeditiously establish"; and to add "whose functions include studying the following matters: (1) immediately constructing subsidized housing on idle Government land and increasing the number of subsidized sale flats to provide the middle class with a home acquisition ladder, and to enable the middle class to purchase flats for self-occupation at reasonable prices; (2) expeditiously implementing 15-year free education and stepping up the regulation of Direct Subsidy Scheme schools to ensure that the tuition fees of such schools are set at a reasonable level, thereby alleviating the burden of children education expenses on middle-class families; (3) refraining from using a salary-based approach to define the scope of application of standard working hours to ensure that the middle class has more leisure time to enjoy life; and (4) stepping up the regulation of private hospitals, enhancing the service quality of public hospitals, allocating additional land for constructing private hospitals, and immediately abolishing the Drug Formulary system, so as to alleviate the healthcare burden on the middle class" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (v) | Hon Starry LEE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as the middle class is the mainstay of society," after "That"; and to add "to cater for the interests of the middle class and respond to their different demands, as well as to create more opportunities for upward mobility to expand the ratio of the middle-class population, thereby enabling the society to develop in a sustainable, stable and harmonious manner" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
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| 2. | Reconstructing the image of Hong Kong's tourism industry
Hon YIU Si-wing to move the following motion: (Translation) That according to the Third Quarter Economic Report 2015 published by the Government in November 2015, inbound tourism slackened further in the third quarter of 2015, and overall visitor arrivals to Hong Kong fell by 6.4% as compared to the same period last year, the first decline since the third quarter of 2009; the Report also points out that exports of travel services (covering visitors' spending on shopping, food and beverages, accommodation and entertainment, etc.) fell by 5.6% in real terms in the third quarter, and the average achieved hotel room rate also dropped by 13.1% as compared to the same period last year; as the share of tourists' shopping expenditure in retail sales value has been substantial (around 42% in 2014), the further slackening of inbound tourism has led to a decline in Hong Kong's total retail sales value for seven consecutive months this year, recording the longest downward trend over the past six years; this will also further affect Hong Kong's economy and employment; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to seriously review the reasons for the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong, formulate corresponding measures and allocate additional resources to reconstruct the positive image of the tourism industry, with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development. | ||||
| Amendments to the motion | |||||
| (i) | Hon TANG Ka-piu to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", the tourism industry has all along brought a large number of middle-level and elementary job opportunities to the hotel, catering and transport sectors, etc.; however," after "That"; to add "to reverse the present development trend of the Hong Kong tourism industry, which emphasizes quantity rather than quality, so as" after "resources"; to delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect" after "tourism industry" and substitute with "and enable healthy development of the tourism industry, with a view to creating more job opportunities and promoting"; and to add "; the relevant measures should include: (1) to expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to centrally monitor travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides; (2) to adopt decisive measures to combat the use of unscrupulous operation practices in the tourism sector such as 'zero/negative/low-fare' tours and coerced shopping, etc., and step up publicity among visitors to Hong Kong on the need for vigilance against those unscrupulous operation practices and on the channels for lodging complaints; and to examine regulating the proportion and duration of 'arranged shopping' in the daily itinerary of inbound tours from the Mainland; (3) to formulate an overall development strategy for the tourism industry, which should not only facilitate visitors in retail consumption, but also strengthen the development of exploration tourism, including local in-depth tourism, cultural tourism and eco-tourism, so as to attract visitors of different types (including visitors who are with high spending power, young or stay overnight) to Hong Kong; (4) to promote the development of tourism supporting facilities and scenic spots, such as home-stay lodgings, creativity bazaars and night markets, etc., and to amend existing legislation to support and dovetail with such development; (5) to improve the infrastructural facilities (including water and power supply facilities) and transport links on some outlying islands, such as Po Toi Island and Tung Ping Chau, etc., so as to make good use of their rich tourism resources for developing these places as new tourist spots and benefit the economic development of local residents; (6) to improve the hardware ancillary facilities at existing scenic spots and step up the promotion of a 'hospitable culture' among the tourism sector and the public, with a view to upgrading the tourism quality of Hong Kong; and (7) to closely keep in view changes in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong and activities of visitors carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as 'parallel trading activities'), and to join hands with the Mainland authorities to continuously combat parallel trading activities and formulate timely and appropriate measures, so as to deal with the problem at root and reduce unnecessary conflicts between Mainland visitors and local people" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (ii) | Hon POON Siu-ping to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add ", as the Hong Kong tourism industry and related industries employ over 200 000 employees, which is around 7.6% of the overall employment population in Hong Kong, the livelihood of the 200 000-odd employees will directly be affected if the tourism industry development continues to shrink; yet," after "That"; to add "effective" after "formulate"; and to add "enhance the binding effect of the industry directives issued by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong to ensure protection of the rights and interests of front-line staff in the tourism industry, expeditiously establish a tourism industry authority to balance the rights and interests of the operators and practitioners in the tourism industry, and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (iii) | Hon Gary FAN to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "the Government has proposed in the 2015-16 Budget that an additional $80 million will be allocated to the Hong Kong Tourism Board to step up its promotion of the tourism industry; however," after "That"; and to add "to develop a greater variety of tourism, including cultural tourism and eco-tourism with local characteristics, etc., to welcome tourists from around the world, and to step up efforts to combat rip-offs such as 'zero/negative-fare' tours and 'shadow tour group members', etc., adopted by Mainland travel agencies, so as" after "resources". | ||||
| (iv) | Hon Paul TSE to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "tourism and related industries are of utmost importance to the economy of Hong Kong, but" after "That"; to add "establish a tourism bureau to consolidate the various tourism-related departments and institutions, and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to delete "and allocate additional resources" after "measures" and substitute with "to conduct studies on effective use of resources and overall planning, execution and regulation". | ||||
| (v) | Hon CHAN Hak-kan to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "Hong Kong's tourism industry is now facing challenges;" after "That"; and to add "; when formulating measures on promoting the development of the tourism industry, the Government should focus on enhancing the visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong society, including increasing the number of tourist spots and improving transportation and other ancillary facilities, etc., and take full account of the actual situations in Hong Kong, so as to avoid any adverse impacts on people's daily lives; at the same time, the Government should expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to enhance the regulatory regime for the tourism industry, and step up law enforcement to combat unscrupulous shop operators who rip off visitors" immediately before the full stop. | ||||
| (vi) | Hon Charles Peter MOK to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "coupled with the fact that Hong Kong lags behind other Asian competitors due to its shortage of large-scale convention facilities," after "past six years;"; and to add "and expedite the expansion of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and the planning of new convention facilities to enhance Hong Kong's capacity to hold conventions and attract more high value-added business travellers," after "tourism industry,". | ||||
| (vii) | Hon SIN Chung-kai to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "expeditiously establish a travel industry authority to strengthen the monitoring of local travel agents, tour escorts and tourist guides," after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; and to add "step up promotion in the international market and" after "resources to". | ||||
| (viii) | Hon Jeffrey LAM to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To add "and" after "the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong,"; to delete "and allocate additional resources to" after "measures" and substitute with ", including giving consideration to examining afresh the entry arrangements and policy for Mainland visitors and relieving Mainland visitors' sentiments, with a view to reversing the decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong in the short run; in the long run, the Government should also formulate a comprehensive development strategy and blueprint for the tourism industry, and make stronger efforts to develop different tourism facilities and scenic spots, so as to"; and to delete "continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong" after "preventing the" and substitute with "persistent shrinkage of visitor arrivals to Hong Kong". | ||||
| (ix) | Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to move the following amendment: (Translation)
To delete ", with a view to preventing the continued decline in visitor arrivals to Hong Kong which will affect Hong Kong's economic development" immediately before the full stop and substitute with "; the relevant measures include: monitoring visitor arrivals to Hong Kong based on the actual visitor receiving capacity of Hong Kong, so as to attract visitors from different countries to Hong Kong with planning and promote the sustainable development of the tourism industry; and regulating activities of carrying duty-free commodities into the Mainland for sale (commonly known as 'parallel trading activities') to avoid the impacts of massive parallel trading activities on Hong Kong people's quality of life". | ||||
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| 3. | Motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure
Hon Claudia MO to move the following motion: (Translation) That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the successive 'forced disappearance' of the shareholders and managers of Causeway Bay Books. Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Security | ||||