Revised version

OP 95/96-29(1) (Issued at 11.00 a.m. on 20.5.96)

THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
ORDER PAPER

Wednesday, 22 May 1996 at 2.30 p.m.

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I. PAPERS

Subsidiary Legislation
Sessional Paper 1995/96

II. QUESTIONS
III. MOTION

INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

IV. BILLS
FIRST READING
SECOND READING

• Debates to be adjourned
• Debate to be resumed
COMMITTEE STAGE AND THIRD READING

V. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. STRENGTHENING OF CIVIC EDUCATION FOR YOUTH
2. PROVISION OF GENERAL PUBLIC MEDICAL SERVICES AT HALF THE NORMAL FEES AND CHARGES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITY AND THE ELDERLY

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I. PAPERS

Sessional Paper 1995/96

No. 82 - Report of the Independent Police Complaints

Council 1995

(to be presented by Dr. C.H. LEONG who will address the Council)

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II. QUESTIONS

1. Mr. CHIM Pui-chung to ask : (Translation)

Regarding the United States Government Trade Representative's most recent report in which Hong Kong is put under the "Other Observations" category on the watch list under the US Special 301 law, will the Administration inform this Council:

1. of the Administration's understanding of the "Other Observations" category;
2. how the Administration will respond to Hong Kong being put on the watch list for the first time; and
3. whether consideration will be given to approaching other countries or territories included in the "Other Observations" category with a view to making a joint response?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

2. Mrs. Elizabeth WONG to ask :

With regard to the seizure of relics imported into the territory from mainland China illicitly, will the Government inform this Council:

1. how it disposes of such relics; and
2. of the number of pieces which were returned to the Chinese Government in the past year, and the reasons therefor?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

Secretary for Security

3. Dr. LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

As an increasing number of retail shops in the territory are accepting Renminbi (RMB) for payment, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the current policy and legislation governing the use of RMB for payment of purchases and the RMB exchange activities taking place in retail shops in Hong Kong; and
2. whether it has discussed with the Chinese Government the possibility of RMB becoming one of the currencies in circulation in Hong Kong after the change of sovereignty in 1997; if so, what the details are, and whether it has estimated the extent of the circulation of RMB in Hong Kong during the initial stage following the change of sovereignty?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

4. Mr. WONG Wai-yin to ask : (Translation)

It was reported that more than 10 Correctional Services Department (CSD) staff members were taken hostage in the riot which broke out at the Whitehead Detention Centre on the tenth of this month. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of:

1. the establishment of CSD staff on day and night shifts respectively at the Whitehead Detention Centre, and the number of CSD staff on duty on the night of the incident; and
2. the types and numbers of readily available anti-riot equipment, such as shields and anti-riot suits etc, provided at the Whitehead Detention Centre?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

5. Mrs. Selina CHOW to ask : (Translation)

In view of the passage of the Intellectual Property (World Trade Organisation Amendments) Bill 1996 by this Council, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) given that the sale of pirated computer CD-Roms is becoming increasingly rampant and that such activities are concentrated in several computer shopping centres in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island, whether the departments concerned have a comprehensive plan to step up enforcement action in these centres to combat such activities;

1. of the number of raids carried out in these centres in the past 12 months, and the total quantity and value of pirated CD-ROMs seized;
2. of the number of prosecutions instituted regarding such offences in the past 12 months, together with the percentage of prosecutions resulting in convictions, as well as the highest, lowest and average penalties imposed by the court; and
3. whether any difficulties have been encountered by the departments concerned in instituting prosecutions relating to such offences; if so, whether positive action has been taken to overcome such difficulties so as to enhance the deterrent effect on offenders?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Trade and Industry

6. Mr. TSANG Kin-shing to ask : (Translation)

Officials of the Chinese Government have announced that the provisional legislature will be set up formally after 1 July 1997, and that it will start to operate before that date. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will permit civil servants to assist, before 1 July 1997, the provisional legislature in the preparatory work relating to amending or abolishing certain laws, such as the Bill of Rights Ordinance and the six amendment ordinances which the former Preliminary Working Committee's Legal Sub-group had recommended for their amendment or abolition, contrary to the stance taken by the Government?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

* 7. Mr. Michael HO to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that, in order to fund new services, the Hospital Authority instructed all public hospitals to raise their productivity in order to achieve savings from the allocations provided to them, at the rates of 1%, 2% and 3% respectively in the past three financial years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether the Hospital Authority has asked all public hospitals to submit detailed information on the savings achieved through enhancing productivity;
2. whether the Hospital Authority Board has discussed such information; and
3. whether the Hospital Governing Committees of individual public hospitals have discussed such information?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

* 8. Mr. CHOY Kan-pui to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of prisoners injured or killed as a result of being physically assaulted whilst in the custody of the Correctional Services Department (CSD), in each of the past three years;
2. of the reasons for the occurrence of such incidents; and
3. whether family members of the prisoners killed in those incidents have been granted any compensation?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

* 9. Mr. LEE Wing-tat to ask : (Translation)

With regard to the ceremony for the handover of sovereignty in 1997, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the estimated number of overseas journalists coming to the territory to cover the event;
2. what assistance will be provided to these journalists; and
3. whether overseas journalists coming to the territory to cover the event will be required to obtain prior approval from the authorities concerned; if so, whether the Chinese Government's consent to such an arrangement will need to be sought?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*10. Mrs. Miriam LAU to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of accidents involving vehicles hitting overhead bridges in the past three years arising from vehicles (including the goods which they carried) exceeding the stipulated height limit and the owners of such vehicles failing to notify the Police and the Transport Department beforehand;
2. how the authorities concerned will enforce the provision in the Road Traffic Ordinance stipulating that the height of heavy goods vehicles should not exceed 4.6 meters; and
3. what measures will be adopted to prevent the occurrence of this kind of accidents?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Transport

*11. Mrs. Selina CHOW to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether:

1. it has any information showing the number of cases in which Hong Kong residents were robbed or had their property stolen while crossing the border at Lowu and Shenzhen in the past three years;
2. the police has taken the initiative to conduct investigation with a view to ascertaining the actual number of pick-and-steal crimes, including those which have not been reported, so as to understand the actual situation regarding the occurrence of such crimes at the border;
3. the police will cooperate with the mainland Public Security Bureau to combat pick-and-steal crimes committed by pickpockets from both territories; and
4. the authorities concerned will reflect to the mainland authorities either directly or through the liaison officers of the Public Security Bureau stationed in Hong Kong, the situation regarding the occurrence of robbery and theft crimes at the border and urge them to improve law and order at the Lowu border area, so as to safeguard the property and personal safety of Hong Kong residents travelling between the territory and mainland China?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*12. Mr. Albert CHAN to ask : (Translation)

Recently, I have received complaints from the public that Hongkong Telecom has engaged debt collection companies to collect arrears in payment from its customers, which has caused harassment to the customers concerned. In view of this, will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether it plays any monitoring role over the engagement of debt collection companies by public utilities companies to collect arrears from their customers; and
2. to which government departments the public can go for lodging complaints about such harassment?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*13 Dr. David LI to ask :

It was reported recently that the lax security arrangements in Queen Elizabeth Hospital had given rise to an incident in which a patient, who had been reported missing, was found three days later to be hiding on the roof of the Hospital. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of cases involving the disappearance of patients from public hospitals in the past three years; and
2. of the security measures currently adopted by public hospitals to prevent patients from running away and whether the public hospitals will step up these measures?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Health and Welfare

*14. Mr. Fred LI to ask : (Translation)

With regard to the Five-year Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme from 1996/97 to 2000/01 recently announced by the Housing Authority (HA), will the Government inform this Council:

1. whether units will be reserved in the redeveloped public housing estates for rehousing those affected tenants who are included in the Programme; if so, please provide a list showing the details;
2. of the number of public rental housing sites which will be used to build Home Ownership Scheme flats after clearance, thus reducing the chance of the affected tenants in being rehoused locally;
3. how the HA will ensure that the number of new public housing units is adequate for rehousing affected public housing tenants locally; and
4. in regard to Blocks 5 and 6 of Lam Tin Estate which have been included in the redevelopment programme for the third time, what the reasons were for deferring the redevelopment works of these two blocks twice before and, in view of this, what measures the HA will take to ensure that the latest Comprehensive Redevelopment Programme will be completed on schedule?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Housing

*15. Mr. IP Kwok-him to ask : (Translation)

It is learnt that since the Government started to open up the posts previously held by contract officers for competition by civil servants, for over a year only one-fifth of such posts have been opened up. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the total number of posts which have been included in the 'opening-up' arrangement and the departments to which these posts belong, as well as the expected date at which all these posts will be opened up;
2. whether the progress of opening up these posts is on target; if not, what plans are in place to speed up the progress; and
3. whether the Government has encountered any difficulties in opening up these posts; if so, what the difficulties are?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for the Civil Service

*16. Dr. John TSE to ask : (Translation)

Regarding the Government's implementation of the Green Manager Scheme which aims to reduce the consumption of paper and electricity in government departments, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the government departments which have appointed Green Managers, and the respective ranks which they hold, since the implementation of the Scheme;
2. of the breakdown by department of the savings achieved in the consumption of paper and electricity since the implementation of the Scheme;
3. whether the Government has other follow-up plans to achieve further reduction in the consumption of the above resources; and
4. of the departments which still submit reports to the Planning, Environment and Lands Branch on the progress of the Scheme?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands

*17. Miss Emily LAU to ask :

In view of the statement by the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 1 May 1996 that the Labour Party would give full support to a government bill to grant British citizenship to the non-Chinese ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, will the Administration inform this Council whether it has stepped up efforts to urge the present British Government to bring forward such a bill in the United Kingdom Parliament and, if so, what the British Government's response is?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Security

*18. Mr. Howard YOUNG to ask :

Regarding airline check-in counter indicators along the passage way leading to the vehicle drop-off area at the Departure Hall level of the airport at Kai Tak, will the Government inform this Council:

1. when such indicators were last updated; and
2. why indicators of some airlines which have been in operation at the airport for quite some time have still not been put up?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Economic Services

*19. Mr. CHIM Pui-chung to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the current number of passenger vessels based in Hong Kong which carry passengers from Hong Kong to the high seas to take part in gambling activities on board such vessels;
2. whether it has considered introducing legislation to control gambling activities which take place on board such vessels outside the waters of Hong Kong; and whether there is any legislation regulating the provision of entertainment, food and beverage as well as steam bath activities on board such vessels; and
3. whether it has received complaints about betting on horse races of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club through illegal bookmaking on board such vessels; if so, how the authorities concerned have handled such complaints?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Home Affairs

*20. Dr. LAW Cheung-kwok to ask : (Translation)

Will the Government inform this Council whether the Hong Kong Monetary Authority has considered the feasibility of the following proposals when drafting the "Code of Banking Practice":

1. before "selling" new banknotes at a price in excess of their face value, note-issuing banks be required to obtain approval from the Government and state clearly how the profits so generated will be used;
2. in offering retail monetary products to customers, banks be required to clearly set out in the relevant documents the "annual effective interest rates" to be charged and the penalty provisions for early settlement of loans;
3. everyday language be used in contracts made between banks and their retail banking customers;
4. formulating a set of guidelines on business conduct for compliance by debt collection agencies employed by banks; and
5. drawing up relevant guidelines to protect bank customers' right to privacy, having regard to some recent cases in which certain banks have changed the terms and conditions of their credit card contracts to the effect that they have the right to disclose the personal data of customers to a third party; and

if so, what the results are; if not, why not?

Public Officer to reply : Secretary for Financial Services

* For written reply.

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III. MOTION

INTERPRETATION AND GENERAL CLAUSES ORDINANCE

Secretary for Security:

That -

1. the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance (Cap. 134) be amended in section 51(2), by repealing "$50,000" and substituting "$450,000";
2. the Dangerous Drugs Regulations (Cap. 134 sub. leg.) be amended in regulation 5(7), by repealing "fifty thousand dollars" and substituting "$450,000".

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IV. BILLS

FIRST READING

1. Dogs and Cats (Amendment) Bill 1996
2. Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1996
3. Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1996

SECOND READING

Debates to be adjourned

1. Dogs and Cats (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Economic Services
2. Telecommunication (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Economic Services
3. Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Amendment) Bill 1996	:	Secretary for Education and Manpower

Debate to be resumed

4. Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996

:

Secretary for Security

COMMITTEE STAGE AND THIRD READING

Immigration (Amendment) Bill 1996

:

Secretary for Security

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V. MEMBER'S MOTIONS

1. STRENGTHENING OF CIVIC EDUCATION FOR YOUTH

Mr. LO Suk-ching : (Translation)

That, to cast off the shadow of colonial education, this Council urges the Government to expedite the formulation of a clear and comprehensive policy on civic education and to adopt corresponding measures to actively promote civic education to the youth in Hong Kong in an orderly and progressive manner; so as to nurture our younger generation to be citizens with national pride and awareness; social responsibility; a positive and enterprising outlook on life; the ability to think independently; cosmopolitan vision; respect for the spirit of democracy and the rule of law; high ethical and moral values and readiness to shoulder responsibilities for national and community affairs.

Amendment to Mr. LO Suk-ching's motion

Mr. LAU Chin-shek : (Translation)

To delete "to adopt corresponding measures" and "in an orderly and progressive manner"; to insert "awareness to uphold human rights;" after "to be citizens with"; to delete "respect for the spirit of democracy and the rule of law;" and substitute with "the courage to strive for full-scale popular election for the realization of democracy, maintaining judicial independence and sustaining the rule of law;"; and to insert ", thus genuinely relinquishing the colonial rule" after "national and community affairs".

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Home Affairs

2. PROVISION OF GENERAL PUBLIC MEDICAL SERVICES AT HALF THE NORMAL FEES AND CHARGES TO PERSONS WITH DISABILITY AND THE ELDERLY

Mr. Fred LI : (Translation)

That this Council urges the Government to provide half-fee concession to persons with disability and the elderly aged 60 and above when charging them for general public medical services.

Public Officer to attend : Secretary for Health and Welfare

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