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A 18/19-33

Legislative Council

Agenda

Wednesday 29 May 2019 at 11:00 am

I.
Questions

Members to ask 22 questions (6 for oral replies and 16 for written replies)
Questions for oral replies to be asked by
Public officers to reply
1.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
2.
Secretary for Transport and Housing
3.
Secretary for the Environment
4.
Secretary for Education
5.
Hon Holden CHOW
Secretary for Food and Health
6.
Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG
Secretary for Food and Health
Contents of the 22 questions, the Members to ask such questions and the public officers to reply are set out in Appendix 1

II.
Member's Motion on Subsidiary Legislation/Instrument

Proposed resolution to extend the period for amending subsidiary legislation
Hon WONG Ting-kwong to move the motion in Appendix 2

III.
Members' Motions

1.
Motion on "Vote of no confidence in the Chief Executive"
Hon Andrew WAN to move the motion in Appendix 3
Hon Claudia MO to move an amendment as set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 616/18-19 issued on 17 May 2019
Public officer to attend
:
Chief Secretary for Administration
2.
Motion on "Supporting elderly persons aged between 60 and 64 on all fronts"
Hon KWOK Wai-keung to move the motion in Appendix 4
5 Members (Prof Hon Joseph LEE, Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG, Hon KWONG Chun-yu, Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG and Hon LEUNG Che-cheung) to move amendments as set out in LC Paper No. CB(3) 619/18-19 issued on 17 May 2019
Public officers to attend
:
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare



Clerk to the Legislative Council




Appendix 1

22 questions to be asked at the Council meeting of 29 May 2019

Subject matters
Public officers to reply
Questions for oral replies
1
Hon SHIU Ka-chun
(Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask on his behalf)
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
2
Hon Wilson OR
Secretary for Transport and Housing
3
Hon CHU Hoi-dick
Secretary for the Environment
4
Hon AU Nok-hin
Secretary for Education
5
Hon Holden CHOW
Secretary for Food and Health
6
Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG
Secretary for Food and Health
Questions for written replies
7
Hon CHAN Kin-por
Secretary for Transport and Housing
8
Hon Mrs Regina IP
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
9
Hon Dennis KWOK
Secretary for the Environment
10
Hon Tony TSE
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
11
Hon WU Chi-wai
Secretary for Development
12
Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT
Secretary for Food and Health
13
Hon Kenneth LEUNG
Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury
14
Hon Andrew WAN
Secretary for Home Affairs
15
Hon Charles Peter MOK
Secretary for Innovation and Technology
16
Hon Paul TSE
Secretary for Justice
17
Hon Jimmy NG
Secretary for Education
18
Hon CHAN Hak-kan
Secretary for Food and Health
19
Hon LUK Chung-hung
Secretary for Labour and Welfare
20
Hon SHIU Ka-fai
Secretary for Food and Health
21
Hon Holden CHOW
Secretary for Transport and Housing
22
Hon Wilson OR
Secretary for Transport and Housing




Question 1
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Protecting the labour rights and interests of employees
who work long hours or under high pressure

Hon SHIU Ka-chun to ask (Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask on his behalf):
It has been learnt that employees who are older in age generally work longer hours, and there are relatively more cases in which such employees died in the course of work not as a result of accidents. It has been heard from time to time in recent years about press reports and study findings that employees fell ill or even died as a result of long working hours or high work pressure. Regarding protection of the labour rights and interests of such kind of employees, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will regard mental, emotional or physical illnesses triggered by long working hours or work pressure as occupational diseases covered by the Employees' Compensation Ordinance ("the Ordinance"), so that the employees concerned will be entitled to compensations by their employers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it will expeditiously set up an independent committee comprising representatives from trade unions, employers' organizations, civic bodies and the Government to conduct studies on formulating under the Ordinance a legal definition for "death from overexertion" and the relevant obligations of employers in respect of compensations; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
given that the Government will roll out a total of 11 sets of sector-specific working hours guidelines in this year and the coming year, and that it will, three years from then, assess their effectiveness and further explore feasible ways for improving the working hours policy, whether the Government will commence preparatory work for establishing a statutory standard working hours regime so that the related legislative exercise could be launched immediately when those guidelines have been assessed as ineffective; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 2
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Regulation of the sale of residential units by way of tender

Hon Wilson OR to ask:
It has been reported that recently, some units of a residential development were offered for sale by way of tender. According to the tender results, a certain unit was sold unexpectedly at a price of $470,000 higher than that of another unit with the same orientation and size but 12 storeys higher, which was sold on the same day, and five other units with the same size and orientation but on different floors were sold surprisingly at the same price. There are comments that the sale of units by way of tender has resulted in a lack of information transparency, thereby placing prospective purchasers in an unfavourable position. Besides, as the payment terms drawn up by developers are multifarious, it is difficult to calculate their cash equivalents, rendering the "transaction prices" shown on the registers of transactions ("RT") unable to reflect the actual prices at which the units were sold. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will consider, by making amendments to the Residential Properties (First-hand Sales) Ordinance, stepping up the regulation of the sale of residential units by way of tender, e.g. requiring that only units larger than a certain size may be sold by way of tender, and no more than a certain proportion of the units of a development may be sold by way of tender; and
(2)
given that although developers are required to set out, in the RT of developments, the payment terms for the units sold (including any discount on the price as well as any gift, financial advantage or benefit offered to the purchaser), it is difficult for ordinary prospective purchasers to compare the payment terms across different developments and different units, whether the Government will require developers to make public in the RT the cash equivalents of the payment terms calculated in accordance with a prescribed formula, so as to make it easier for prospective purchasers to grasp the actual prices at which the various units were sold?
 



Question 3
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Addressing climate change and protecting biodiversity

Hon CHU Hoi-dick to ask:
Last month, a socio-political movement called "Extinction Rebellion" staged a large-scale demonstration in London, putting forward the following three demands to the Government of the United Kingdom ("UK"): (1) the Government must tell the truth about the climate and wider ecological emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and work alongside with the media to communicate with citizens; (2) the Government must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels; and (3) a national Citizens' Assembly should be set up to oversee the changes, as part of creating a democracy fit for the purpose. On the other hand, a global environmental assessment report published early this month by an organization under the United Nations ("UN") has pointed out that a million species are threatened with extinction due to the destruction inflicted by human beings on the natural environment, and thus only "transformative changes" across the globe on various aspects may reverse this situation. Some environmentalists have pointed out that if the Hong Kong Government does not make transformative changes to its current policies for addressing climate change and protecting biodiversity, it can hardly satisfy the three aforesaid demands nor meet the UN Aichi Biodiversity Targets. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will pledge to the public that it will devote all its efforts to satisfying the three demands of the Extinction Rebellion movement; if so, of the transformative changes to be made in respect of its policies for addressing climate change; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
given that the Parliament and dozens of local councils of cities and towns in UK have declared a climate emergency, whether the Hong Kong Government will make such declaration; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it will study what transformative changes to the policies on protecting biodiversity are needed in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 4
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Curriculum Development Council

Hon AU Nok-hin to ask:
The Curriculum Development Council ("CDC") is mainly responsible for advising the Government on matters relating to the curriculum development of kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. Its tasks include reviewing the existing curriculum policies, compiling curriculum guides and syllabuses, and putting forward recommendations on reform of curriculum development. Some initiatives of CDC in recent years, such as the setting of a long-term vision that "Putonghua be used as the medium of instruction for teaching the Chinese Language Subject" and the compilation of the Moral and National Education Curriculum Guide, have given rise to controversies. CDC operates under a two-tier structure: the first tier being CDC and its Standing Committees, and the second tier being the Key Learning Area/Subject Committees and Functional Committees. All members of CDC and its committees are appointed by the Government, and their meetings are all held in camera. Some members of the education sector have pointed out that CDC lacks democratic elements in its composition and transparency in its operation, resulting in its decisions being prone to be questioned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the criteria adopted by the Chief Executive for appointing members to the first-tier structure of CDC; why none of the 22 incumbent members of CDC are frontline teachers but several of them are members of the business sector; whether it will, by making reference to the method of formation of the Council on Professional Conduct in Education, let practitioners of the education sector nominate candidates from teachers and elect among them CDC members;
(2)
among the current members of the various committees in the second-tier structure of CDC, of the respective numbers and percentages of those who are teachers nominated by principals; and
(3)
whether it will request CDC to allow the public to observe the proceedings of CDC's meetings, publish detailed minutes of meetings as soon as possible after the meetings, and increase the channels for gauging public opinion; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 5
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Public dental services

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:
Currently, among the dental clinics under the Department of Health, 11 of them provide the public with free emergency dental treatment (commonly known as "general public dental session" ("GP dental session")). The service includes pain relief and teeth extraction only but not other dental treatment. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the consultation quota and attendance of the GP dental sessions provided by each of the 11 aforesaid dental clinics in the last financial year;
(2)
whether it will consider afresh expanding the scope of the GP dental session to cover fillings and dentures; and
(3)
given that Tung Chung Dental Clinic currently provides dental treatment to civil servants or their dependants only, and ordinary residents in Tung Chung need to travel a long distance to Tsuen Wan Dental Clinic in order to attend the GP dental sessions, whether the Government will consider making arrangements for Tung Chung Dental Clinic to set aside time slots for providing GP dental sessions for ordinary residents in Tung Chung?
 



Question 6
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Terminally-ill patients

Dr Hon Fernando CHEUNG to ask:
Regarding the provision of palliative care to terminally-ill patients, as well as their giving advance directives and seeking euthanasia, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1)
the details of the palliative care provided by public hospitals in each of the past five years, including the number of hospital beds, the attendance of the service, the manpower of healthcare workers and social workers involved, as well as the support received by the patients and their family members; whether the Hospital Authority conducted last year any study on improving this type of service;
(2)
the number of public hospital patients making enquiries about advance directives in each of the past five years; whether the Government has drawn up a legislative timetable in respect of advance directives; and
(3)
the number of public hospital patients seeking euthanasia in each of the past five years, with a breakdown by the disease suffered by the patients and the age group to which they belonged; whether the Government will study enacting legislation to permit the administration of euthanasia?
 



Question 7
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Use of mobile phones by motorists while driving

Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask:
It is not uncommon to see traffic accidents which were caused by drivers of vehicles for hire via telephone getting distracted as a result of their communicating with customers on mobile phones while driving. In 2017, traffic accidents caused by inattentive driving resulted in 5 735 casualties. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the number of fixed penalty notices issued since January last year by the Police to motorists who used a mobile phone by holding it in his hand or between his head and shoulder while the motor vehicle being driven by him was in motion;
(2)
whether the Police have reviewed the effectiveness of the law enforcement operations mentioned in (1); whether they will step up efforts in promoting the importance of attentive driving among motorists in the coming year; and
(3)
as the Government indicated in May last year that, in respect of whether further restrictions should be imposed on motorists' use of smart phones/devices, it was conducting a study on the impacts of such restrictions on motorists and other road users as well as the regulation, enforcement and other related details, of the progress of the study?
 



Question 8
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Provision of government canteens at boundary control points

Hon Mrs Regina IP to ask:
Quite a number of staff members of the various disciplined services have relayed to me that only a Hong Kong style café, a convenience store and a takeaway shop selling Japanese rice balls, but no government canteen, are provided in the Passenger Clearance Building at the Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. As many types of the food items provided at the Hong Kong style café are expensive and often sold out, and the lunch break is not long enough for disciplined services staff members working there to travel by car to other places for lunch, they often skip their meals, thus affecting both their health and work performance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the names of the boundary control points (covering air, land and sea travel) currently provided with government canteens; and
(2)
of the considerations and criteria adopted for determining the provision or otherwise of government canteens at boundary control points; whether it will consider providing a government canteen in the aforesaid Passenger Clearance Building; if so, of the anticipated commissioning date; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 9
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Promoting the popularization of electric vehicles

Hon Dennis KWOK to ask:
On promoting the popularization of electric vehicles ("EVs"), will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the respective numbers of (i) parking spaces and (ii) standard, medium and quick chargers for EVs ("chargers"), at each of the car parks managed by the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") and the Hong Kong Housing Society ("HKHS");
(2)
whether HA and HKHS have plans to (i) install more chargers and (ii) replace all the existing standard chargers with medium or quick chargers, at their car parks; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
whether it knows the respective numbers of (i) parking spaces and (ii) standard, medium and quick chargers, at each of the car parks managed by the Hospital Authority, the Urban Renewal Authority, the Airport Authority Hong Kong, the MTR Corporation Limited, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited;
(4)
whether it will issue guidelines or provide subsidies to the organizations mentioned in (3) to encourage them to install more chargers at their car parks; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(5)
whether it will incorporate provisions into the new leases of petrol filling station ("PFS") sites or adopt other measures to make oil companies retrofit quick chargers at their PFSs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(6)
given that currently quite a number of car parks in aged private buildings, due to deficiency in power supply capacity and other infrastructure facilities, have difficulties in installing medium chargers, thus deterring vehicle owners from switching to the use of EVs, whether the Government will take the initiative to assist the owners' organizations of those buildings in overcoming the difficulties; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(7)
of the details of the seminars/workshops on installation of charging facilities at private car parks organized in the past three years by the relevant government departments, including the (i) dates, (ii) venues, (iii) target participants and (iv) numbers of participants; whether the Government will set a target on the number of such activities to be held each year; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(8)
whether it will carry out, in collaboration with the 18 District Councils, more promotional work relating to the popularization of EVs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 10
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Quarters provided for civil servants

Hon Tony TSE to ask:
In his Reports No. 51 and 62 published in October 2008 and April 2014 respectively, the Director of Audit conducted reviews one after another on the Government's work of managing its quarters provided for eligible civil servants, and he recommended that the relevant government departments should expedite their actions of putting surplus quarters and their sites into gainful use through various means, such as disposal or conversion of uses. There are views that such actions have become increasingly pressing amid the current acute shortage of land and housing supply in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the respective (i) numbers and (ii) vacancy rates of the units of the various types of quarters (including non-departmental quarters ("NDQs"), departmental quarters and operational quarters, excluding surplus quarters) at present;
(2)
whether it has adopted any mechanisms and criteria (e.g. period of vacancy) for determining whether certain quarters should be classified as surplus; if so, of the details;
(3)
of the current number of government-owned surplus quarters, as well as the following details of such quarters: (i) managing departments, (ii) whether they are located on government sites or in private developments, (iii) since when they were classified as surplus, and (iv) their current and future uses;
(4)
of its plans to put surplus quarters and the sites concerned into further gainful use;
(5)
of the current usage of the 498 surplus quarters under the management of five government departments (namely, the Water Supplies Department, the Correctional Services Department, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department) referred to in Chapter 1 of Report No. 62 of the Director of Audit;
(6)
apart from the two sites at Mansfield Road, the Peak and 135 Tai Hang Road which have been included in the Land Sale Programme, whether it has plans to sell other existing or former quarters sites;
(7)
whether it has adopted the proposal of selling nine NDQ sites as put forward by the Working Group on Long-Term Fiscal Planning in 2015; if so, of the progress of land sale work; if not, the reasons for that, as well as the usage of these nine sites and the quarters concerned at present; and
(8)
of the current number of NDQ units that are owned by the Financial Secretary Incorporated and located in private developments; the number of such type of units sold in the past five years, and whether it has plans to dispose of such units in a progressive manner?
 



Question 11
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Work of the Urban Renewal Authority

Hon WU Chi-wai to ask:
The Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") commenced in May 2017 a district planning study for Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok to explore effective modes of urban renewal for old districts with limited redevelopment potential (i.e. currently having a high development density or not much residual developable plot ratio). On the other hand, the residential units under the Starter Homes Pilot Project for Hong Kong Residents offered for sale by URA early this year received very good response. Regarding the work of URA, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows the following details about each of the redevelopment projects expected to be completed by URA in the coming five years: (i) the address, (ii) the total floor area, (iii) the number of units (and among such units, the number of those with an area of 400 square feet or above), and (iv) the expected completion date;
(2)
whether it will request URA to allocate some of the units under the redevelopment projects mentioned in (1) for the purpose of subsidized sale housing; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it knows the latest progress of and expected completion date for the aforesaid study; whether URA will conduct similar studies for the various old districts in Kowloon East (e.g. San Po Kong and Ngau Tau Kok), and expedite the urban renewal work for such districts, so as to tie in with the development plans under the Energizing Kowloon East initiative; if URA will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 12
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Administration of human papillomavirus vaccines

Dr Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:
It has been reported that recently, some private healthcare institutions administered to their clients a type of human papillomavirus ("HPV") vaccines which were unregistered in Hong Kong and suspected to be parallelly imported. Some people who were administered such vaccines said that they had developed symptoms such as rash. There are comments that this incident may affect public health and tarnish Hong Kong's reputation. Regarding the administration of HPV vaccines, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the current procedure for handling reports of private healthcare institutions administering to their clients parallel-imported vaccines;
(2)
of the number and names of the healthcare institutions involved in the incident; whether it knows the number of people who were administered such vaccines and the total amount of money they paid;
(3)
whether the Department of Health ("DH") has conducted laboratory tests on the vaccines concerned; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; of the expected dates for completion of the investigation and announcement of the outcome;
(4)
of the measures in place to assist those who were administered such vaccines;
(5)
whether, following the occurrence of the incident, it has stepped up inspections of healthcare institutions to combat the administration of vaccines unregistered in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(6)
whether it will request the pharmaceutical company which is the sole manufacturer of the type of HPV vaccines concerned to publish a list of healthcare institutions to which it has supplied the vaccines; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(7)
of the measures in place to prevent similar incidents from occurring in future;
(8)
given that starting from the next two school years respectively, DH will send its staff to schools to administer, free of charge, the first dose of HPV vaccines to Primary Five female students and the second dose of the vaccines to Primary Six female students, how DH ensures that there will be an adequate stock of HPV vaccines for use; and
(9)
whether it will, by drawing reference from the practices in overseas countries, launch a catch-up HPV vaccination programme to administer HPV vaccines to women aged 26 or below who have passed the optimal ages for, but have never been administered, such vaccination; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 13
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Manpower situation of the accounting profession

Hon Kenneth LEUNG to ask:
Quite a number of the persons-in-charge of accounting firms have relayed to me that in recent years, they have continuously encountered difficulties in recruiting accounting professionals. In respect of the manpower situation of the accounting profession, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it knows the respective numbers of (i) graduates of post-secondary programmes in accounting and finance-related disciplines offered by the various tertiary institutions, and (ii) persons who obtained professional qualifications in accountancy through other routes, in each of the past five years in Hong Kong;
(2)
whether it knows the number of private organizations providing accounting, auditing, book-keeping or tax consulting services in Hong Kong, and the number of accounting professionals they hired, in each of the past five years;
(3)
whether it conducted, in the past five years, any comprehensive study on the future development as well as the manpower demand and supply situation of the accounting profession; if so, of the outcome; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)
whether it has plans, in the coming year, to gain an understanding from the various stakeholders of the accounting profession (including the persons-in-charge of accounting firms, the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and other professional bodies in the sector) about the current manpower demand and supply situation of the profession, so as to plan for the medium and long term human resources of the accounting profession, as well as promote the profession's healthy development in the long run; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 14
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Determining the English names for
public places and facilities, streets and government buildings

Hon Andrew WAN to ask:
The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority ("WKCDA") has earlier determined the English name for the newly completed "戲曲中心" which is situated in the West Kowloon Cultural District as "Xiqu Centre". Instead of adopting the commonly used term "opera" to refer to "戲曲", the term "Xiqu" (Hanyu Pinyin for "戲曲") is used in that English name. However, quite a number of visitors to Hong Kong, as well as local people who are ethnic Chinese and those who are not non-ethnic Chinese, have relayed to me that they have no idea of what "Xiqu Centre" means. Some members of the public have pointed out that the naming of "Xiqu Centre" has deviated from the Government's established practice for determining the English names for streets and buildings in Hong Kong, i.e. using the Cantonese transliterations of their Chinese names or English terms with the same meaning. Besides, the term "中國戲曲" has been invariably translated as "Chinese Opera" on a number of webpages of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and on the printed materials for activities and exhibitions held by it. On the other hand, the term "opera" is widely used in the Chinese communities. For instances, the term "戲曲" is translated as "opera" by the relevant organizations in places such as Beijing and Singapore. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that it is uncommon to see English names of local buildings comprising Hanyu Pinyin, whether it knows the specific reasons for WKCDA to adopt "Xiqu Centre" as the English name for "戲曲中心";
(2)
whether it will request WKCDA to consider changing the English name for "戲曲中心" to "Chinese Opera Centre", or adding "Chinese Opera Centre" to its English name by way of a note, so that people from different sectors can have a clearer idea about the functions of the venue;
(3)
of the existing policies on as well as criteria and procedure for determining the English names for public places and facilities and government buildings; the public places and facilities as well as government buildings whose English names comprise Hanyu Pinyin; and
(4)
whether it will adopt Hanyu Pinyin in determining the English names for public places and facilities, streets and government buildings in future; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and whether the fact that the English name for "戲曲中心" has given rise to controversies is one of the reasons?
 



Question 15
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Application of blockchain technology

Hon Charles Peter MOK to ask:
In the "Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint", the Government has proposed promoting Fintech initiatives and exploring the application of distributed ledger technology ("DLT") in different areas, such as trade financing and cross-boundary remittances. Blockchain technology ("BCT") is a type of DLT. In October last year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority ("HKMA") launched, in collaboration with 12 local banks, the eTradeConnect, which uses BCT as the backbone to facilitate trade settlement and financing. Furthermore, the application of BCT in supervisory and regulatory technology and other industries (e.g. Smart Contracts of the insurance industry and information authentication system) has gained increasing popularity. It has been reported that the governments of a number of places are currently examining and allocating resources to the application of BCT in public services, in areas including identity authentication, anti-counterfeiting, and enhancement of the security of information system and data, with a view to improving the transparency in the processing of information and the efficiency of public administration, as well as saving in public expenditure. On the other hand, the application of BCT is not yet subject to regulation under the existing legislation. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the operation of eTradeConnect since its launch, including (i) a breakdown of the registered local banks and enterprises (set out by enterprise scale), and (ii) the number of cases in which trade transactions have been completed successfully through eTradeConnect and the amount of money involved; the follow-up actions taken after HKMA and the Monetary Authority of Singapore exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding, and the work progress achieved in connecting with the relevant platform in Singapore;
(2)
whether it will, by drawing reference from the relevant studies and trial schemes of other advanced places, assess the potential of BCT in enhancing the efficiency of public services, as well as launch BCT trial schemes in areas such as handling of tax returns, land registration, voting and issuance of various types of identification documents;
(3)
whether it will formulate strategies aiming at promoting a keen interest of applying BCT within the Government (e.g. requesting government departments to submit plans, objectives and timetables for trial uses of such technology, as well as formulating performance indicators); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)
whether it will allocate more funding for scientific research projects relating to BCT, formulate measures to encourage the application of such technology by commercial organizations, and draw up in the near future strategies for training BCT-related talents; if so, of the details and the timetable;
(5)
whether it has examined regulating the application of BCT; if so, of the details; and
(6)
of the respective details (including the numbers of participants) of the seminars, workshops, talks and training courses in relation to BCT organized last year by the Innovation and Technology Commission, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, the Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, the Hong Kong Productivity Council as well as other relevant government departments and organizations?
 



Question 16
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Monitoring the administration of estates for charitable purposes

Hon Paul TSE to ask:
The estate of the late Mrs Nina WANG comprises the Chinachem Group with a net asset value of as high as HK$137 billion as at August last year. The Court of Final Appeal handed down a judgement in 2015, which held that the Chinachem Charitable Foundation (the "Foundation") was to hold the estate as a trustee rather than as a beneficiary which had received it as an unconditional absolute gift, and requested the Department of Justice to establish a supervisory managing organization to ensure that the Foundation would operate in accordance with the testamentary intention of Mrs WANG and use the estate for charitable purposes. So far, the incumbent Secretary for Justice ("SJ") and her predecessors have not submitted to the court any plan for establishing the supervisory managing organization. Furthermore, recently, SJ has been alleged to have failed to fulfill her duty as the protector of charities for having mishandled the over HK$10 billion estate for charitable purposes of the late "tycoon of hourly-rated hotels", and a lawsuit has been filed against SJ in a bid to holding her accountable. On the other hand, it has been reported that the Executive Committee of the Chinachem Group ("ECCG"), which is under the direction of the interim administrator ("the administrator") of the estate of Mrs WANG, recently relieved the duties of one of the members of the trustee on grounds that the person in question was allegedly involved in false investment projects on the Mainland and had allegedly divulged papers on ECCG making "abnormal termination payment" to the former chief executive officer of the Group. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it has inquired into the various acts, in which the trustee and the administrator were alleged to have been involved, of improper use of the assets of the Foundation; if so, of the outcome, if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether, in view of the concerns of the media and the community regarding whether the estate of Mrs WANG has been misappropriated, it will make public the expenditures of the Foundation; if it will not, of any credible means in place to convince members of the public that the Government can effectively monitor the operation of the Foundation;
(3)
of the reasons why the incumbent SJ and her predecessors have so far not formulated any plan for establishing a supervisory managing organization for the Foundation; when the aforesaid estate can formally be used for charitable purposes;
(4)
as it has been reported that an estate management fee of as high as HK$60 million per annum is being charged by the administrator, and that over HK$200 million have been charged since 2015, whether the Government has assessed the aggregated amount of management fees to be charged by the administrator before the estate can formally be used for charitable purposes;
(5)
as it has been reported that SJ is considering a request of the Foundation for replacing the administrator, of the outcome of SJ's consideration;
(6)
given that SJ has been criticized for the repeated delays and impropriety in handling sizeable estates for charitable purposes and thus causing unduly long delays in putting the relevant assets to charitable uses, whether the Government has assessed if such incidents will affect public confidence in SJ assuming the role as the protector of charities;
(7)
as it is estimated that the sizeable estates to be used for charitable purposes in just the aforesaid two cases amount to HK$150 billion, whether the Government has assessed the negative impact on social welfare as a whole brought about by the unduly long delays in putting the relevant assets to charitable uses; and
(8)
of the difficulties of and constraints on SJ's handling of her work as the protector of charities; the strategies in place to prevent problems such as mishandling of sizeable estates and unduly long delays in putting sizeable estates to charitable uses?
 



Question 17
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Preventing sexual harassment at universities

Hon Jimmy NG to ask:
The findings of a study conducted last year by the Equal Opportunities Commission revealed that, among the university students surveyed, 15.6% (i.e. 2 259 persons) indicated that they had been sexually harassed on campus, and among them, 4.4% (i.e. 98 persons) indicated that the perpetrators were tutors, lecturers or professors. In addition, among the university students who had been sexually harassed on campus, off campus by fellow students or teaching staff, or online, only 2.5% (i.e. 84 persons) said that they had lodged complaints with the university to which they belonged. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it will request the various universities to (i) examine the mechanism for handling sexual harassment complaints, and (ii) review and improve the policy on prevention of sexual harassment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2)
whether it will request the various universities to establish a committee to be headed by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor/Vice-President dedicated to taking forward the university's policy and initiatives on gender equality and prevention of sexual harassment on campus; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
given that only a small number of university students who had been sexually harassed had lodged complaints with the university to which they belonged, whether the Government will request the various universities to set up an online complaint and reporting platform which guarantees information confidentiality and anonymity for students who have been sexually harassed to lodge complaints and for witnesses to provide information, with a view to encouraging victims to make reports and protecting them from being discriminated against; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4)
whether it will allocate additional resources to the various universities to enable them to step up efforts in spreading to university students via social media the message that they should be alert to sexual harassment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(5)
whether it will request the various universities to provide training to all newly recruited teaching staff on prevention of sexual harassment; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 18
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Working dogs under the various government departments

Hon CHAN Hak-kan to ask:
At present, some foreign governments have made arrangements about the use of working dogs by government departments, such as work conditions (e.g. weekly working hours), retirement ages and the protection for post-retirement living. Regarding the working dogs under the various government departments, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the government departments which currently use working dogs to perform duties, and set out the numbers of dogs by name of government department;
(2)
of the details of the guidelines formulated by the various government departments on the use of working dogs to perform duties;
(3)
of the details of the duties performed by working dogs under the various government departments;
(4)
of the general weekly working hours for working dogs under the various government departments;
(5)
whether the various government departments have set retirement ages for their working dogs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(6)
of the relevant expenditures incurred on and manpower deployed for managing working dogs by the various government departments in each of the past five years;
(7)
of the numbers of working dogs euthanized in each of the past five years, and the reasons for that;
(8)
of the current number of retired working dogs; whether the Government has provided them with support in their living (e.g. medical services); if so, of the details and the relevant expenditure in each of the past five years; if not, the reasons for that; and
(9)
given that the Government plans to amend the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance (Cap. 169) to impose a "duty of care" on persons responsible for animals to look after their animals well, whether the Government will bring dog handlers of the various government departments within the scope of regulation; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 19
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Sickness allowance

Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:
Under the Employment Ordinance (Cap. 57), an employee employed under a continuous contract who has taken a sick leave for not less than four consecutive days is entitled to a sickness allowance, provided that other statutory requirements are met. Some employees have relayed to me that as no sickness allowance will be payable to them if they take a sick leave for less than four consecutive days, they strain themselves to go to work even when they are sick. In addition, as the early symptoms of certain infectious diseases are mild, the risk of such infectious diseases spreading will increase if employees who have contracted those diseases still go to work as usual. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
whether it encouraged private enterprises and institutions in the past three years to (i) handle their employees' requests for taking sick leave in a sympathetic manner during the surges of measles and influenza, and (ii) grant a sickness allowance to their employees who have taken a sick leave for less than four consecutive days; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will do so in the future;
(2)
whether the Government, being the largest employer in Hong Kong, will (i) take the lead in granting a sickness allowance to all of its contract staff members who have taken a sick leave for less than four consecutive days and have met other statutory requirements, and (ii) require contractors of outsourced service contracts to follow suit; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(3)
whether it will, in the long run, introduce legislative amendments to (i) stipulate that an employee who takes a sick leave for less than four consecutive days is also entitled to a sickness allowance, and (ii) raise the daily rate of the sickness allowance from 80% of the daily average wage earned by the employee during the 12-month period before the sick leave to 100% of that amount; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 20
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Incidents of pigs in slaughterhouses infected with infectious diseases

Hon SHIU Ka-fai to ask:
Immediately upon confirming on the afternoon of the 10th of this month that African Swine Fever ("ASF") virus had been found in a pig sample from Sheung Shui Slaughterhouse ("SSSH"), the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department ("AFCD") announced that all pigs in SSSH would be culled. In addition, the operation of SSSH was suspended for more than one week for thorough cleansing and disinfection. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
given that ASF is transmitted only among pigs and does not infect humans, nor does it pose a food safety risk, of the measures the Government took in the past and will take in future to publicize this message among members of the public, so as to maintain public confidence in pork consumption;
(2)
whether it will, after duly consulting stakeholders, establish a compensation mechanism in respect of such kind of incidents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(3)
whether it has studied how the process of cleansing and disinfection of SSSH can be expedited in future, with a view to shortening its closure period as far as practicable; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4)
whether it has summed up the experience gained from this incident for formulating a standard practice for handling similar incidents in future; if so, of the details?
 



Question 21
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Providing financial assistance to victims of marine traffic accidents

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:
In response to a vessel collision incident near Lamma Island that happened on 1 October 2012, the Government announced on 18 October 2012 that the Marine Department ("MD") would, in consultation with the trade, explore the implementation of 10 improvement measures. One of the measures was to consider, by drawing reference from the Traffic Accident Victims Assistance ("TAVA") Scheme, whether a Marine Traffic Accident Victims Assistance ("M-TAVA") Scheme should be introduced. On the other hand, the Government set up a Steering Committee on Systemic Reform of the Marine Department ("Steering Committee") on 3 May 2013 to advise and steer the Director of Marine on undertaking a comprehensive systemic review and reform. The Steering Committee indicated in its final report published in April 2016 that having considered the findings of a consultancy study, it had agreed not to introduce an M-TAVA Scheme at the present stage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the assistance schemes through which the Government currently provides financial assistance to victims of marine traffic accidents;
(2)
in respect of each of the assistance schemes mentioned in (1), of (i) the respective numbers of marine traffic accident victims to whom financial assistance was provided, and (ii) the total amounts of subsidy granted to such persons, in each year since 2012; and
(3)
whether it will consider extending the scope of the TAVA Scheme to cover victims of marine traffic accidents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 



Question 22
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Repair and maintenance of recreational facilities
in public rental housing estates

HonWilson OR to ask:
Some residents of public rental housing ("PRH") estates have complained that it has often been the case that the repair/replacement of recreational facilities (e.g. slides, health walkers and table tennis tables) in the estates has yet to be completed long after they were out of order or damaged, and individual facilities have been out of use for periods of time spanning years. Regarding the repair and maintenance of recreational facilities in PRH estates, will the Government inform this Council:
(1)
of the current arrangements for the repair and maintenance of recreational facilities; the number of contractors to which the Housing Department has currently outsourced such work;
(2)
of (i) the number and percentage of recreational facilities that were out of use because they were out of order or had been damaged, and (ii) the average time taken for repairing/replacing such facilities, in each of the past three financial years; and
(3)
whether it has set any target completion time or performance pledge in respect of the repair/replacement work for recreational facilities that are out of order or damaged; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?