Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region - Council Meeting (Agenda) 1 September 2021

In June last year, the Government awarded, through open tender, a public relations service contract for the theme of "Relaunch Hong Kong" to a global strategy and communications consultancy firm. The contract period was one year and the contract value was about US$6.4 million (with the final amount paid being about US$5.7 million). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the factors considered in selecting the contractor for the aforesaid contract; whether, prior to awarding that contract, it had considered adopting other options which were more economical in the use of public money and conducive to improving the local economy and employment situation, such as deploying existing civil servants or hiring public relations firms in Hong Kong to undertake the relevant tasks; if so, of the details, and the reasons for not adopting any other option in the end;

(2)

as the aforesaid firm has already submitted to the Government publicity plans to be implemented in phases, as well as a marketing and advertising strategy, of the relevant details; and

(3)

how the value of the aforesaid contract (i.e. US$6.4 million) compares with the values of other publicity or public relations service contracts awarded by the Government in the past three years; if the value of that contract is obviously on the high side, of the justifications based on which the Government assessed the contract as value-for-money?

Question 2
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Student opinion survey mechanisms of universities

Hon Tommy CHEUNG to ask:

Currently, some universities have put in place an anonymous student opinion survey mechanism to collect students' opinions on course contents and teaching staff's teaching performance, and the opinions so obtained will be used for evaluating the work performance of teaching staff. It is learnt that due to differences in political opinions or dissatisfaction with the scores received for a course, some students gave, in retaliation, the teaching staff concerned extremely low scores in such surveys, and some teaching staff, being apprehensive about such a situation, lowered the standards as far as possible when giving students scores for courses. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it knows if the managements of various universities received, in the past three years, complaints from their teaching staff about the student opinion survey mechanisms; if they did, of the details of such complaints and the follow-up actions taken;

(2)

whether it knows if the various universities evaluated, in the past three years, the effectiveness of such mechanisms; if they did, of the details; and

(3)

whether it will recommend the various universities improve such mechanisms so as to eliminate any negative effect; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 3
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Epidemic-related measures

Hon Elizabeth QUAT to ask:

Coronavirus Disease 2019 infection cases involving the Delta mutant strain have swept across the globe, giving rise to grave concern about the epidemic situation. Regarding epidemic-related measures, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that the United States ("US") had seen a significant epidemic rebound early last month, with approximately 100 000 confirmed cases recorded on average each day, and a number of people coming from US had been confirmed to have contracted the disease on entry to Hong Kong, but it was not until the 16th of last month that the Government announced that it would adjust upwards the risk grouping to which US belonged four days later, of the mechanism and criteria adopted by the Government for determining the risk grouping of various places around the world, and whether it will conduct a review to ensure timely adjustment of the risk groupings to which various places belong;

(2)

given that as at the 10th of last month, there were more than 4 000 cases awaiting assessment by the Vaccine Allergy Safety Clinic under the Hospital Authority of suitability for receiving vaccination, and some members of the public have even been scheduled an appointment as late as in 2029, whether the Government knows the latest progress made by the Authority in speeding up the provision of assessment service; and

(3)

as it has been reported that the Mainland authorities have approved the lowering of the minimum age for emergency use of the Sinovac vaccine to three, and quite a number of local parents have indicated their intention to let their minor children receive the Sinovac vaccine, whether the Government will consider lowering the minimum age for receiving the Sinovac vaccine immediately?

Question 4
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Repealing the provision on adverse possession

Hon LAU Kwok-fan to ask:

Under the Limitation Ordinance and relevant case law, where a person who encroached on a piece of private land without permission (i.e. an "adverse possessor") has continuously occupied the land for 12 years or more, the landowner may not take legal action to recover the land and the adverse possessor may apply to the court to become the new landowner. There are comments that while such provision on adverse possession has an original intent to facilitate the optimal use of precious land resources, it has all along been rather controversial as it covertly encourages land thefts. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that the Basic Law provides for the protection of private property rights, and anyone robbing or illegally taking possession of another person's movable properties is criminally liable, but a person who has encroached on another person's land is not criminally liable and a landowner resorting to means such as severing padlocks or fences for entering his own land may incur criminal liabilities, of the reasons why a person encroaching on another person's land is conversely protected by the law and may even lawfully plunder the landowner's property under the provision on adverse possession;

(2)

given that even though the court may decide that an adverse possessor is the new owner of a land, the adverse possessor normally cannot obtain the deed for the land concerned, rendering the acquisition of the land by a property developer being unable to be effected by normal land assignment procedures, whether the Government will conduct an overall assessment on the hindrance brought about by the provision on adverse possession to land development and urban renewal; and

(3)

given that the recommendations put forward by the Law Reform Commission in its report on adverse possession released in 2014 have not been implemented so far, and that some overseas jurisdictions have repealed their enactments on adverse possession in recent years, whether the Government will consider repealing the provision on adverse possession as the circumstances have changed with the passing of time?

Question 5
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Ferry services between Central and Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan

Hon CHAN Han-pan to ask:

Some residents of Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan have pointed out that while the populations of the two districts are much higher than those of two decades ago and keep growing, the existing external transport services are unable to meet the demand. They hope that the two ferry routes plying between Central and Tuen Mun as well as between Central and Tsuen Wan, which were discontinued in 2000 due to financial unviability, can be re-commissioned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether, in order to attract applications from operators for operating the two aforesaid routes, the Government will, by following the current practice of supporting outlying island ferry service operators (including reimbursing annual vessel survey fees, pier expenses such as electricity tariffs and water charges, and the cost of purchasing vessels), introduce measures to support the operators of the two routes, so as to reduce their financial pressure; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that, and the new measures in place to provide more commuting choices to the residents of the Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan districts as well as to reduce the pressure on road and railway traffic; and

(2)

whether it knows how hydrogen produced from renewable energy, which is a type of green energy, compares with diesel (which is currently used by ferries) in terms of cost-effectiveness; if hydrogen is more cost effective, whether the Government will introduce hydrogen into Hong Kong so as to increase the financial viability of the two aforesaid routes; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 6
(For oral reply)

(Translation)

Support for enterprises amid the epidemic

Hon Jimmy NG to ask:

Some members of the business sector have relayed that amid the epidemic, governments around the world have imposed anti-epidemic measures such as compulsory quarantine on inbound travellers, seriously affecting their business connections with business partners and their tapping of business opportunities, and small and medium enterprises ("SMEs") have generally encountered financing difficulties. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will strive for the establishment of the following commercial corridor by the Central Authorities: persons who have completed a Coronavirus Disease 2019 vaccination course may be exempt from compulsory quarantine upon entry if they make business trips by taking point-to-point transportation for travelling to and from Hong Kong and Mainland places within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

whether it will relax the entry quarantine requirements applicable to both local and foreign businessmen to facilitate their business operations, thereby consolidating Hong Kong's status as an international financial centre; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

whether it will introduce more measures to relieve the cash flow pressure faced by SMEs amid the epidemic, including extending the Pre-approved Principal Payment Holiday Scheme which will end next month, as well as introducing interest-free loan schemes with greater loan amounts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 7
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Government outsourced services

Dr Hon Junius HO to ask:

Currently, the Government engages service contractors ("contractors") through outsourcing to deliver a number of public services, but the quality of such services has been criticized from time to time. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that the Office of The Ombudsman released in October 2020 a direct investigation report entitled the Monitoring of Outsourced Street Cleansing Services by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, and made in the report a number of recommendations for improving the relevant work of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), of the follow-up actions taken by FEHD and the progress made so far;

(2)

given that the Government has since 1 April 2019 implemented a package of improvement measures for awarding government service contracts through tenders, which include increasing the technical weighting in marking schemes for tenders to avoid the situation of the "lowest bid wins", whether it has evaluated the effectiveness of such measures; and

(3)

given that from time to time, some members of the public have complained about the ineffectiveness of the Government's anti-rodent and anti-mosquito work, etc., of the Government's new measures in place to monitor the performance of the contractors concerned?

Question 8
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Support for sports development

Hon CHAN Kin-por to ask:

Hong Kong athletes achieved record-breaking and brilliant results in the Olympic Games that concluded recently. There are views that the Government should step up efforts in supporting sports development in terms of policies, facilities and resources. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it has plans to inject funds into the Elite Athletes Development Fund so that the Hong Kong Sports Institute ("HKSI") can obtain more stable financial resources for nurturing more elite athletes;

(2)

whether it has plans to allocate more resources to those sports currently not receiving support from HKSI so as to help athletes achieve better results, thereby increasing the prospects for such sports becoming elite sports;

(3)

of the measures in place to attract more young people with outstanding performance in sports to become full-time athletes;

(4)

whether the current measures for supporting retired athletes are applicable to retired athletes with disabilities; if not, of the reasons for that; and

(5)

of the details of the programmes implemented in the past three years by the Government for promoting sports in the community, and the amount of expenditure involved; the details of the relevant programmes in the coming three years and the estimated expenditure?

Question 9
(For written reply)

Statistics on applications for a compulsory sale order

Hon Abraham SHEK to ask:

Regarding statistics on the applications to the Lands Tribunal for a compulsory sale order ("order") under the Land (Compulsory Sale for Redevelopment) Ordinance (Cap. 545), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the total number of such applications filed since 1 January 2011; and

(2)

among the applications mentioned in (1),

(i)

of the number of those for which an order has been granted and provide, for each case, the information set out in Table 1;

Table 1

Case number	Date on which the application was filed	Date on which an order was granted	Number of months between the two dates

(ii)

of the number of those which have been discontinued and provide, for each case, the information set out in Table 2; and

Table 2

Case number	Date on which the application was filed	Date on which the application was discontinued	Number of months between the two dates

(iii)

of the number of those which are pending and provide, for each case, the information set out in Table 3?

Table 3

Case number	Date on which the application was filed	Number of months since the filing of application

Question 10
(For written reply)

(Translation)

The students' unions of various universities

Hon CHEUNG Kwok-kwan to ask:

At its meeting held on 7 July this year, the Council of Hong Kong University Students' Union ("HKUSU") passed a motion expressing appreciation for the "sacrifice for Hong Kong" by a man who earlier on killed himself right after stabbing and wounding a police officer with a sharp knife, and "paying tribute" to the man. The University of Hong Kong ("HKU") subsequently issued a statement on the incident, strongly condemning the act of the HKUSU Council and announcing that it no longer recognizes the role of HKUSU on campus. Regarding the students' unions ("SUs") of the various universities, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that under the Statutes of the University of Hong Kong (Schedule to the University of Hong Kong Ordinance (Cap. 1053)), the members of the Disciplinary Committee shall include two students appointed by the Registrar out of a student panel, and the student panel shall consist of 20 students appointed in a defined order of precedence by the HKUSU Council, whether the Government has assessed if HKU's non-recognition of the role of HKUSU on campus has impacted on the University's operation and contravened the aforesaid requirements, and hence may be subject to legal challenges; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether it knows the corresponding measures put in place by HKU;

(2)

of the statuses held, as well as the roles and functions performed, by the SUs of the eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee in the governance structure of their respective universities; and

(3)

given that in recent years, the executive committees of the SUs of a number of universities have publicly made remarks against the State and in support of Hong Kong independence as well as those that incite violence and hatred, whether the Government will discuss with the management of various universities ways to ensure that the remarks made by the executive committees of SUs and the activities they engage in are in compliance with the law and meet the moral standards of society?

Question 11
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Inbound epidemic prevention and control measures

Hon YIU Si-wing to ask:

The Government indicated on the 2nd of last month that it would, on the basis of the "vaccine bubble", strengthen the inbound epidemic prevention and control measures (including the arrangement of undergoing compulsory quarantine in quarantine hotels) for persons arriving in Hong Kong from overseas, so as to strengthen the anti-epidemic barrier against importation of cases. Subsequently on the 20th, the Government tightened the relevant requirements further. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it has reviewed if the aforesaid measures have resulted in a shortage of rooms in quarantine hotels; if it has reviewed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the solutions for that;

(2)

given that the Government has, under the place-specific flight suspension mechanism, prohibited civilian passenger flights departing from extremely high-risk places from landing in Hong Kong for several months, resulting in quite a number of Hong Kong people being stranded in places such as Nepal, how often the Government will conduct risk assessments on such places to facilitate timely cancellation of such arrangements; and

(3)

given that under the latest arrangement, Hong Kong residents staying in high-risk Group A specified places on the day of boarding for/arrival in Hong Kong or during the preceding 21 days must hold vaccination records recognized by the Hong Kong Government for them to be permitted to board the flights for Hong Kong, but the vaccination records issued by the relevant authorities of some of such places are not recognized by the Hong Kong Government, resulting in quite a number of Hong Kong residents being stranded in such places, what measures the Government has put in place to assist such residents in returning to Hong Kong?

Question 12
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Support for the ethnic minorities

Hon Vincent CHENG to ask:

Regarding the support for the ethnic minorities ("EMs"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

as the Government indicated in the 2018 Policy Address that $500 million had been earmarked for strengthening the support for EMs, of the current commitment (with a breakdown by the measures involved) and balance of the funding;

(2)

given that schools are provided under the "Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework" an additional funding based on the number of non-Chinese speaking ("NCS") students admitted by them, of the number of schools provided with such funding in each of the past three years;

(3)

given that in order to enhance the professional capability of serving Chinese Language teachers in teaching Chinese to NCS students, the Education Bureau has implemented the "Professional Enhancement Grant Scheme for Chinese Teachers (Teaching Chinese as a Second Language)" to disburse subsidies to teachers who enrol in the relevant programmes, of the number of teachers who participated in the Scheme in each of the past three years;

(4)

given that the Labour Department commissioned two non-governmental organizations ("NGOs") in November last year to implement the "Racial Diversity Employment Programme", which provided EMs with one-stop employment services through a case management approach, of the number of job seekers participating in the Programme so far and, among them, the number of those who have successfully secured employment;

(5)

given that the Employees Retraining Board implemented the "Love Upgrading Special Scheme 4" in July this year to help the unemployed or underemployed upgrade their skills for self-enhancement and joining the employment market, whether it has assessed if the types and numbers of courses provided to EMs under the Scheme are sufficient to meet the demand; and

(6)

given that the Social Welfare Department has commissioned three NGOs to set up three outreaching teams for ethnic minorities ("OTEMs") to proactively reach out to EMs and connect those in need with mainstream welfare services, of, in the past 12 months, (i) the manpower of each OTEM and (ii) the number of EMs reached out by OTEMs and, among them, the number of those who received services, with a breakdown by the type of the services involved?

Question 13
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Addressing climate change

Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan to ask:

In its report released last month, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations has pointed out that climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying, and that carbon dioxide is the main driver of climate change. The Panel warns that stabilizing the climate will require strong, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as reaching net zero carbon dioxide emissions, which includes the cessation of coal-fired electricity generation and the use of renewable energy ("RE"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will expedite the pace of cessation of coal-fired electricity generation in Hong Kong, including expediting the increase in the shares of natural gas, RE (i.e. hydropower, wind power, solar power and waste-to-energy) and nuclear energy in the fuel mix for electricity generation in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

whether it will further step up the application of RE technologies in government buildings and facilities in order to reduce carbon emissions; if so, of the details (including the relevant targets); if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

as city greening is conducive to addressing the challenges relating to climate change, of the work progress for implementing city greening in Hong Kong in the past decade, including the annual average increase in greening area in the city and the annual rate of increase?

Question 14
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Handling of abandoned vehicles

Hon Wilson OR to ask:

It has been reported that the problem of public car parking spaces being occupied for a long time by abandoned vehicles has been serious in recent years. The work related to the handling of abandoned vehicles is undertaken respectively by a number of government departments such as the Hong Kong Police Force, the Lands Department, the Highways Department and the Transport Department. Quite a number of members of the public have criticized that the procedures for handling abandoned vehicles taking excessively long time to complete and the unclear delineation of powers and responsibilities among the various departments have rendered the relevant work ineffective. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of complaints received by the Government in each of the past three years about public car parking spaces being occupied for a long time by abandoned vehicles; among such complaints, the respective numbers of those (i) the processing of which was completed, (ii) which are being followed up, and (iii) which could not be processed, with a breakdown by type of the vehicles involved;

(2)

of the locations where the problem of abandoned vehicles is serious (set out by District Council district); if such information is unavailable, of the reasons for that, and whether it will compile the relevant information;

(3)

of the number of inspections conducted by the law enforcement agencies for handling abandoned vehicles, and the number of abandoned vehicles found, in each of the past three years; if such figures are unavailable, of the reasons for that;

(4)

given that the relevant government departments adopted on a pilot basis a modus operandi of joint clearance operations in handling the problem of abandoned vehicles in Yau Tsim Mong District in the first quarter of this year, of the effectiveness of such operations; the timetable for extending this modus operandi to other districts; and

(5)

whether it will consolidate the powers and responsibilities of the various government departments in handling abandoned vehicles and entrust the relevant work to a single government department; if so, of the details; if not, the practicable measures in place to further enhance the effectiveness of the relevant work?

Question 15
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Criminal prosecution work

Hon Paul TSE to ask:

Recently, the Court of Appeal ("CA") allowed an appeal lodged by a young man, who had already served five years of imprisonment, against his conviction for the offence of drug trafficking. In its judgement, CA pointed out that the trial judge had suggested that the prosecution should take a statement from the appellant in relation to the involvement in the offence by the other defendant in the same case, and had requested the counsel appointed by the Department of Justice ("DoJ") for representing the prosecution to report the case to DoJ, so that DoJ could decide whether or not to continue with the prosecution. The prosecution subsequently informed the court that the Director of Public Prosecutions ("DPP") had, after consideration, decided to continue with the prosecution. The CA judges criticized in the judgement that the prosecution seemed not to have much desire to find out what really happened, and had traded the opportunity to pursue the other defendant's suspected offence of organizing drug trafficking for a conviction of someone who had been minimally involved and might have been innocent. There are comments criticizing that DoJ may not shift its responsibility in this case to other parties. Regarding criminal prosecution work, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether, during the time of the original trial of the aforesaid case, the Secretary for Justice and DPP had personally listened to or perused the report(s) made by the counsel representing the prosecution, and what other DoJ officials had been involved in listening to or perusing such report(s); of the considerations and justifications based on which DoJ decided to continue with the prosecution; and

(2)

whether it has assessed if this case has revealed the existence of serious flaws in the criminal prosecution work and system, and if this case will undermine public confidence in the legal system of Hong Kong and the professionalism of prosecutors, thereby causing the public to be worried that the prosecutors are muddling along; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 16
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents

Dr Hon Priscilla LEUNG to ask:

Under paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the Immigration Ordinance (Cap. 115), a Hong Kong permanent resident ("HKPR") who is not of Chinese nationality ("non-Chinese HKPRs") will lose his/her HKPR status if he/she has been absent from Hong Kong for a continuous period of 36 months or above since he/she ceased to have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong. It is learnt that quite a number of non-Chinese HKPRs who are staying outside Hong Kong have been unable to return to Hong Kong due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 epidemic. They are worried that they will lose their HKPR status by virtue of the aforesaid provision due to absence from Hong Kong for a continuous period of 36 months or above. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the number of non-Chinese HKPRs, in each of the past two years and since January this year, who had lost their HKPR status as decided by the Director of Immigration ("the Director") on the basis of the aforesaid provision;

(2)

of the up-to-date number of appeals against the Director's decisions received by the authorities from those persons mentioned in (1) and, among them, the respective numbers of those which were allowed and rejected; and

(3)

in respect of those non-Chinese HKPRs who have been absent from Hong Kong for a continuous period of 36 months or above solely due to the epidemic, whether the Director will exercise discretion to decide that they still have the HKPR status; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 17
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Handling of waste tyres

Hon Frankie YICK to ask:

It has been reported that there are large quantities of abandoned waste tyres stacked up in piles in quite a number of waste recycling yards in rural areas, causing environmental and hygiene problems. On the other hand, the Government has not formulated a policy on the handling of waste tyres. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

among the waste tyres abandoned in each of the past three years, the respective quantities and percentages of those which were (i) recovered and recycled locally, (ii) disposed of at landfills respectively by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and its outsourced service contractors, and (iii) exported for recycling;

(2)

whether it knows the current types and usage of products made in Hong Kong by recycling waste tyres; the respective quantities of such products produced and consumed locally in each of the past three years;

(3)

as it has been reported that a local university has developed a new technology for recycling large quantities of waste tyres generated in Hong Kong into road surfacing materials, whether the Government will consider using such materials for road surfacing;

(4)

as the action plans set out in the Hong Kong Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022 published in 2013 indicated that the Government would conduct a study between 2016 and 2018 on whether other waste (including tyres) should be included in the producer responsibility schemes ("PRS"), of the outcome of the relevant study; and

(5)

of the measures in place to promote the recovery and recycling of waste tyres among the various stakeholders, in order to reduce the quantity of waste tyres disposed of at landfills and dovetail with the implementation of the policy on including waste tyres in PRS?

Question 18
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Recreation and sports facilities

Hon Starry LEE to ask:

The Hong Kong delegation achieved the best results in history in the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, rousing a craze for sports throughout the territory. However, some members of the public have pointed out that the recreation and sports ("R&S") facilities in Hong Kong have long been insufficient. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

as the Government has indicated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines ("HKPSG") that it "encourages participation in recreational pursuits and seeks to ensure that appropriate opportunities are available to meet the needs of the people of Hong Kong", of a breakdown, by District Council district and type of R&S facilities, of (i) the numbers of such facilities provided by the Government at present, and (ii) the discrepancies (if any) between the numbers mentioned in (i) and those that should be provided according to the standards stipulated in HKPSG; whether it has plans to provide more R&S facilities in those districts where such facilities fall short of the standards; if so, of the details; whether it has plans to raise the relevant standards which have been put in place for years, so as to meet the present-day demands of the community; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

given that the Government put forth in the 2017 Policy Address the "Five-Year Plan for Sports and Recreation Facilities" to launch 26 projects before 2022 so as to provide more and improve R&S facilities in the districts, of the latest progress of the various projects; whether it will consider expediting the implementation of the projects, with a view to advancing their completion; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(3)

whether it will study the redevelopment of the existing old sports centres and R&S centres into modern and multi-functional R&S buildings, so as to achieve the goal of optimizing land uses; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(4)

of the number of schools participating in the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme, the percentage of that number in the total number of schools, and the number of occasions on which sports organizations hired the facilities, in the 2020-2021 school year; whether it has gained an understanding of the reasons for some schools not participating in the Scheme; of the new measures in place to encourage more schools and sports organizations to participate in the Scheme?

Question 19
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Housing development projects in Yuen Long District

Hon Holden CHOW to ask:

The Government is currently implementing two large-scale housing development projects ("development projects") in Yuen Long District: Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen New Development Area which will provide approximately 61 000 housing units for accommodating around 176 000 persons, and the public housing development project at Long Bin which will provide approximately 11 000 units for accommodating around 32 000 persons. Such development projects will substantially increase the demand for transport services in the districts and involve complex issues of resumption of private lands. As such, some members of the local community have suggested that the Home Affairs Department set up, under its district administration structure, a new area committee that covers the areas in which such development projects are located, so as to facilitate representatives of the local residents to relay directly to the Government the views of the residents on such development projects and other district affairs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

of the local organizations, apart from the Yuen Long District Council and Heung Yee Kuk, that the Government has consulted on such development projects, and set out the consultation outcome by development project and type of local organizations;

(2)

whether it will consider taking on board the aforesaid suggestion of setting up a new area committee in Yuen Long District; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

as the completion date of the Hung Shui Kiu Station of the Tuen Ma Line will be deferred from 2024 as originally scheduled to 2030, but the first population intake of such development projects will take place in 2024 at the earliest, of the traffic arrangements to be provided by the Government to the residents concerned during the transitional period?

Question 20
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Implementation of national security education in schools

Ir Dr Hon LO Wai-kwok to ask:

The Curriculum Framework of National Security Education in Hong Kong published by the Education Bureau ("EDB") in February this year displays in a tabular form the learning content of national security education. The relevant content is embedded in different learning areas/subjects, as well as in the learning progression at different stages of primary and secondary schools. In addition, schools may implement national security education through learning activities outside the classroom. Schools are required to gradually implement measures related to national security education in the 2021-2022 school year and then fully implement national security education from the 2022-2023 school year onwards. Nevertheless, according to the outcome of a questionnaire survey conducted from April to May this year, nearly half of the surveyed schools indicated that they were not ready to implement national security education, that they had encountered difficulties in designing the curriculum content and teaching materials, and that the training for teachers was inadequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether EDB has gained an understanding from schools about the difficulties they have encountered in preparing for the implementation of national security education, and provided them with the necessary support to assist them in commencing national security education smoothly; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

given that in reply to a question raised by a Member of this Council in March this year, EDB did not undertake to disburse to schools a national security education support grant and merely indicated that schools might use other grants or apply to the Quality Education Fund for funding, whether EDB will consider afresh disbursing to all schools such a grant as a dedicated fund for dedicated use, so as to ensure that schools have sufficient resources to implement national security education; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

whether EDB will consider providing funding to primary and secondary schools for creating posts dedicated to coordinating the implementation of national security education within and outside the classroom; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Question 21
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Pork and related products of
the Taiwan region and the United States

Hon LUK Chung-hung to ask:

Since January this year, the authorities of the Taiwan region have permitted the importation of pork containing ractopamine (a kind of leanness-enhancing agent) from the United States ("US"). Earlier on, the results of sampling tests, conducted by a media organization on pork products taken from the local market which had been manufactured in the Taiwan region and US, indicated that the ractopamine content of seven of such products had exceeded the prescribed limits. It is learnt that an excessive intake of ractopamine by the human body over a long period of time will increase the risk of developing cancers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

whether it will comprehensively step up sampling tests, at the import, wholesale and retail levels, on the ractopamine content of pork and related products imported from the Taiwan region and US, in order to safeguard public health; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2)

given that the raw materials of food products not imported from the aforesaid two places may include pork and related products that were manufactured in the two places and contain ractopamine, whether the Government will consider enacting legislation to require that the places of origin of the major raw materials be set out on the labels of all prepackaged foods; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(3)

as it has been reported that the quantities of pork and related products imported from the Taiwan region into Hong Kong as recently published by the Census and Statistics Department are less than the quantities of such products exported to Hong Kong in the same period as published by the authorities of the Taiwan region, whether it has studied (i) the reasons for that, and (ii) if smuggling was involved; if it has studied and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the details and whether it has followed up the matter; if it has not followed up, of the reasons for that?

Question 22
(For written reply)

(Translation)

Teachers' understanding of national affairs
and upholding of the Basic Law

Hon Tony TSE to ask:

Some members of the community have pointed out that as some teachers have a weak sense of national identity, and they do not understand much about and hold prejudices against national affairs, they fail to assist students in developing a sense of belonging to the country, an affection for the Chinese people and a sense of national identity. Regarding teachers' understanding of national affairs and upholding of the Basic Law, will the Government inform this Council:

(1)

given that starting from the last school year, the Education Bureau ("EDB") has set forth specific requirements for training of newly-joined teachers, serving teachers and teachers aspiring for promotion, and the contents of the core training for them cover the Constitution, the Basic Law and national security education, whether EDB has evaluated the effectiveness of such training and studied which aspects of the training contents need to be enhanced;

(2)

given that starting from the last school year, the core training for newly-joined teachers and teachers aspiring for promotion includes study tours of about four days' duration to the Mainland, of the details of the itineraries (including the education units to be visited);

(3)

of the plans in place to enhance kindergarten teachers' understanding of national affairs; and

(4)

as the Government indicated in November last year that it was conducting a study on whether the arrangement for taking an oath or making a declaration to uphold the Basic Law and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was applicable to teachers in aided schools, of the progress of the study and the implementation timetable (if applicable)?

Legislative Council

Agenda Wednesday 1 September 2021 at 11:00 am

I.Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

II.Questions

III.Government Bills

IV.Government Motions

V.Member's Motion

Council meeting of 1 September 2021 Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

22 questions to be asked at the Council meeting of 1 September 2021

Agenda

Wednesday 1 September 2021 at 11:00 am

I.
Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council

II.
Questions

III.
Government Bills

IV.
Government Motions

V.
Member's Motion

Council meeting of 1 September 2021

Laying of Papers on the Table of the Council