HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 307 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Thursday, 22 October 1992
The Council met at half-past Two o'clock
PRESENT
THE DEPUTY PRESIDENT
THE HONOURABLE JOHN JOSEPH SWAINE, C.B.E., Q.C., J.P.
THE CHIEF SECRETARY
THE HONOURABLE SIR DAVID ROBERT FORD, K.B.E., L.V.O., J.P.
THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY
THE HONOURABLE NATHANIEL WILLIAM HAMISH MACLEOD, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALLEN LEE PENG-FEI, C.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE HUI YIN-FAT, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LEE CHU-MING, Q.C., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE NGAI SHIU-KIT, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE PANG CHUN-HOI, M.B.E.
THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAH
THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG
THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HO SING-TIN, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE RONALD JOSEPH ARCULLI, J.P.
THE HONOURABLE MARTIN GILBERT BARROW, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE MRS MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE LAU WAH-SUM, O.B.E., J.P.
DR THE HONOURABLE LEONG CHE-HUNG, O.B.E.
THE HONOURABLE JAMES DAVID McGREGOR, O.B.E., I.S.O., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS ELSIE TU, C.B.E.
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 308 THE HONOURABLE ALBERT CHAN WAI-YIP
THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG HOI-CHUEN
THE HONOURABLE MOSES CHENG MO-CHI
THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG
THE HONOURABLE CHIM PUI-CHUNG
THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE
THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY HA WING-HO, M.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL HO MUN-KA
DR THE HONOURABLE HUANG CHEN-YA
THE HONOURABLE SIMON IP SIK-ON, J.P.
DR THE HONOURABLE LAM KUI-CHUN
DR THE HONOURABLE CONRAD LAM KUI-SHING
THE HONOURABLE LAU CHIN-SHEK
THE HONOURABLE EMILY LAU WAI-HING
THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT
THE HONOURABLE GILBERT LEUNG KAM-HO
THE HONOURABLE ERIC LI KA-CHEUNG, J.P.
THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING
THE HONOURABLE MAN SAI-CHEONG
THE HONOURABLE STEVEN POON KWOK-LIM
THE HONOURABLE HENRY TANG YING-YEN, J.P.
THE HONOURABLE TIK CHI-YUEN
THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN
DR THE HONOURABLE SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI, M.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE YEUNG SUM
THE HONOURABLE HOWARD YOUNG, J.P.
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 309 THE HONOURABLE ZACHARY WONG WAI-YIN
DR THE HONOURABLE TANG SIU-TONG, J.P.
THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE LOH KUNG-WAI
THE HONOURABLE ROGER LUK KOON-HOO
ABSENT
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
THE HONOURABLE JEREMY FELL MATHEWS, C.M.G., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE STEPHEN CHEONG KAM-CHUEN, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS SELINA CHOW LIANG SHUK-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WONG WANG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE MRS PEGGY LAM, M.B.E., J.P.
THE HONOURABLE PETER WONG HONG-YUEN, J.P.
THE HONOURABLE MARVIN CHEUNG KIN-TUNG, J.P.
REV THE HONOURABLE FUNG CHI-WOOD
DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG
IN ATTENDANCE
THE CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
MR CLETUS LAU KWOK-HONG
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 310 Member's motion
MOTION OF THANKS
Resumption of debate on motion which was moved on 21 October 1992
DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Council will resume and continue with the debate on the Motion of Thanks.
MR MARTIN BARROW: Mr Deputy President, in his "Agenda for Hong Kong", the Governor has given our community a bold and visionary lead for the next five years. It clearly has considerable support across the community.
Economic issues
I wholeheartedly welcome the restatement of the Government's philosophy of minimum interference and of its desire to preserve Hong Kong as the most business friendly place in Asia. I also welcome the pledge to keep taxes low but would go further to suggest that a small part of the current surpluses could be used to roll back this year's tax increase. I also believe that the social programmes can be achieved without undermining these successful policies. The commitment to holding government spending down so that it does not outpace economic growth is equally welcome to the business community.
The four tasks set for the Governor's Business Council lie at the very heart of Hong Kong's quest for continuing success. As I have said many times in this Council, there remains a need to dam the flood of new legislation. Given the enormous task for the Administration and this Council alike to bring existing legislation into line with the Basic Law, I do not see how we can cope with so much new legislation as well.
While the Governor is right to say that consumers must have redress against unscrupulous business practices the remedy lies with more vigorous use of existing legal sanctions, for example a greater readiness to prosecute and to impose long sentences. It must not mean more legislation, more red tape in other areas, a regulatory environment which will stifle enterprise and, in retarding economic growth, deprive us of funds for improving social services. Minimum interference has served Hong Kong well and must continue to do so. We must resist the temptation to seek a legislative solution to every perceived abuse. It simply will not work. The determined criminal will breach the rules however complex while the enterprise of the honest businessmen will be stifled.
A case in point is the regulation of the securities industry. Hong Kong now has some of the most complex securities regulation in Asia while still further complexity is planned. The Government must strive for a better balance in both the structure of the rules and in the way they are presently being
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administered, between free, open and responsive securities markets and adequate investor protection.
I am delighted by the Government's commitment to reassess existing policies that stand in the way of progress. As President BUSH put it recently:
"We must clear away the obstacles to growth, high regulation, red tape, and yes, wasteful government spending.
Departments and agencies will carry out a top to bottom review of all regulations, old and new, to stop the ones that will hurt growth, and speed up those that will help growth.
I will not neglect my responsibility for sound regulations that serve the public good, but regulatory overkill must be stopped."
Hong Kong's free enterprise has brought prosperity to the people of this territory. The business community shares the Governor's determination to safeguard this against the assaults of the nanny state.
On many occasions I have called for a more vigorous programme of privatization. I am reassured that the Government will continue to pursue this area and I endorse Mr David LI's comments on this topic yesterday.
Lastly, on economic issues, this is the fifth policy debate in succession in which I have referred to the labour shortage. But the responsibility of the Government to explain its labour importation policies and the need to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks is no less pressing than before.
For example, our service standards as a major tourist centre can only be sustained if there are adequate staff to meet growing needs. Business as well as the Government can play its part by supporting retraining programmes but with unemployment at under 2%, the growth target of 5% or 6% can probably only be achieved with continued flexibility in the supply of labour from overseas. New schemes must, however, be surrounded by less red tape than in the past.
Serving the community
As in last year's policy address, I state my admiration for the dedication and loyalty of our Civil Service.
Last year I called for radical reform, for refocussing civil servants on serving the customer, not the boss. I called for mountains of achievement, not of paper. I am therefore delighted to learn of the Government's commitment to a culture of service through performance pledges. While it is encouraging too that civil service managers have responded to this new challenge, it is disappointing that some civil servant unions have suggested that it will lead only to overwork. No one suggests that civil servants do not work hard. But they
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miss the point. The effect of these proposals will be to reduce mountains of paperwork. Civil servants should themselves take the initiative in coming up with ideas. I know at least one civil servant who has been fighting the bureaucratic steeple chase for some years.
A case in point was the extraordinary Security Branch policy of imposing a paper chase of work before visas could be issued to certain visitors to Hong Kong. Now that needless paper work has been excised, the Immigration Department's workload has reduced. Further simplification in procedures of issuing Taiwan visitor visas, would reduce the workload further.
But other examples remain. In the same area, why should it be necessary to queue for hours to get an ID card or a passport? Cannot more of this activity be undertaken through the post? The Governor mentioned driving licences. In the United Kingdom a licence is valid until the age of 70. Why do we have to renew here every three years?
A "culture of service" must apply equally to customers in businesses. Is the Administration aware that it can take an entrepreneur six to nine months to obtain all the approvals to open a new restaurant? Health or fire regulations must exist but unclear and frequently changing regulation must be scrapped and replaced with a client-friendly system which will give all approvals within, say, 21 days.
As a member of the Efficiency Unit, I look forward to developing these plans. Law and order
I wonder how many years have passed since the Governor's address could last afford the luxury of no reference to Vietnamese migrants. I congratulate the Hong Kong and British Governments for reaching agreements with Vietnam and for the way in which these have been implemented. Hong Kong must continue both to look after those who remain in Hong Kong and to handle returners with sensitivity. For the past two months, the numbers awaiting return have remained at about 3 000. Bureaucratic blocks to rapid progress must be lifted, with initiatives to be taken by the Vietnamese side. As soon as the United States election is out of the way, the Administration must urgently press the United States to lift their trade embargo on Vietnam. The United Kingdom appears to have done little to help on this aspect and they must have it firmly on the agenda with the expected new United States administration. By giving hope for improvements in their economy, this will provide the psychological boost to encourage migrants to return home.
Another point on law and order relates to illegal immigrants. Is it right that illegal immigrants caught on building sites should be jailed, while those who are caught at the border are sent straight back? The former seem no more guilty than the latter. I see no evidence that jail sentences deter, while they cost
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the taxpayer over $500 million and impose extra burdens on the police and the Correctional Services Department. A change of policy is long overdue.
Finally on law and order, let me commend the Governor for the courageous decision to proceed with the abolition of capital punishment. I urge Members of this Council to support that move.
Conclusion
Mr Deputy President, I returned yesterday from Beijing and therefore missed the talk of Mr LU and Mr PANG's bridge building activities, as well as the quotes from Aesop's fables. However, during my meetings in Beijing I was advised of a well known Chinese proverb "不打不相識"。對不起，副主席先生，我用普通話講。I apologize, Mr Deputy President, for speaking in Putonghua which, I know, is not permitted under Standing Orders. (laughter) But let me explain the meaning of this proverb: If one does not start with a bit of a fight, one does not build a close understanding. As I am sure Mr Andrew WONG knows, this is often referred to in both classical and modern Chinese literature. It seems to me that the Hong Kong community should remember this and not overreact to the first round of discussions. I am sure the bridge will be built in time.
I do not wish to repeat the many points which had been made on constitutional development, but I note that some Members of this Council are disappointed that the proposals do not go even further. They quote recent opinion polls, but I believe we must be careful in interpreting these "motherhood" type questions. The latest City and New Territories Administration poll gave the following responses to the question: What do you think the Hong Kong Government can do to boost public confidence? 22% of respondents said develop the local economy, another 22% said maintain good relations with China and only 6% replied quicken the pace of democracy.
These results demonstrate the complex nature of community attitudes and I suggest we should all take care in interpreting research findings.
Finally, I have spoken many times in this Council on the economic relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland. Now that the 14th Party Congress has reaffirmed the policy of market orientated economic reform, Hong Kong should do everything it can to support these developments, to broaden its investment in China and to build its own infrastructure to meet the growing trade. Hong Kong's re-exports to China have grown by a staggering 1 000 times since the start of the open door policy. China is poised for economic take-off. If we stick to an economic agenda which benefits both the Mainland and Hong Kong we will be putting in place the best possible insurance for ensuring a good future for the people of Hong Kong.
With these words, I support the motion.
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MR VINCENT CHENG: Mr Deputy President, I refrain from telling fairy tales because I have done it quite enough. I have to do it every night when I have to put my daughter to bed.
I welcome the Governor's speech although there are areas I have doubts. On the whole it is cleverly crafted and packaged. That is why it has received such wide support even though the spending proposals are well within our fiscal guidelines. I am glad to hear that the Government's approach to business will remain one of minimum interference and maximum support. I am glad to know that we will provide more assistance to those in genuine need. I also welcome the establishment of the Governor's Business Council which has gone a long way to allay the business sector's fear over the fast pace of outlined democratic development in Hong Kong. The experience and insight of the members of the Business Council should provide useful input to the Government in formulating business policies.
Since many of my colleagues have already commented extensively on the Governor's policy proposals, I will confine my comments to a few specific areas which I feel strongly. The first area is competition.
1. Competition
I agree with the Governor that competition is the key to our economic success. It holds down costs, raises efficiencies and benefits consumers. We must therefore allow as much competition as possible in each and every sector of our economy. However, we also have to bear in mind that competition is only a means to an end; the end is whether consumers can benefit and, equally important, whether the market would continue to deliver goods and services at a speed and with such quality that society's demands can be fully met.
While competition is conducive to consumer protection, we must avoid equating competition to consumer protection. If we look at the complaints made to the Consumer Council, we will find that many of these complaints are not in areas where we lack competition. Rather many of those complaints are on unethical business practices of individual businessmen who cannot face competition and therefore have to resort to unethical and indeed illegal means to generate revenue. In addressing this issue the Government must distinguish between unethical business practices of individual businessmen, such as some electrical applicances shops and some second-hand car dealers, and genuine collusion on an industry-wide basis. It must also bear in mind that competition does not lie in the number of suppliers. If there is no surplus production capacity, there will be no competition regardless of the number of suppliers because suppliers find no incentive to compete when demand outstrips supply.
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 315 I would like to lay down the criteria of how I see a good competition policy:
A good competition policy should encourage production. It should encourage investors to produce more, better goods and services. It should eliminate whatever non-market barriers to entry for new comers.
A good competition policy should recognize the limit on the optimum number of firms imposed by the size of the market and should not sacrifice efficiency for competition.
A good competition policy should recognize the need for market stability. In industries where stability is essential to society, we have to accept arrangements of market participants provided that such arrangements are transparent, known to the public, and produce benefits without penalizing consumers. In other words, these arrangements are not used by firms for profit maximization.
Some colleagues have asked for more legislation and more watchdog bodies to protect consumers. While I support any legislation which would give consumers more protection, I am sceptical about legislation which would distort markets and resources allocation. Indeed I think I oppose those legislation. We must allow market forces full play if we want genuine and not artificial competition. Already there is legislation giving consumers the full redress against unscrupulous business practices. However, consumers seldom resort to legal proceedings because of the troubles they have to go through in undertaking such an act. I also disagree with the setting up of more committees and Quangoes as watchdogs. The Consumer Council has done a great job and we should continue to support their work. The need for more official bodies for consumer protection is not there.
2. Monetary Authority
I am glad to hear the Government's plan to form a Monetary Authority after months of speculation in Hong Kong on whether we would have one. Many commentators welcome the idea. But I must admit that I have not been thrilled to death by this piece of news, for the simple reason that the Government has said nothing about the role of the Monetary Authority. Before I know the details of its power, its structure, and how it would ensure monetary stability, I would reserve my judgement. If it is just a new name for two existing monetary departments — or what Mr Andrew WONG called old wine in new bottles — I do not see why I should feel elated. If it is more than a name, I would like to know what benefits it would bring to the people Hong Kong and the financial community. Nevertheless, knowing the talents of our monetary officials, I believe we will benefit from this restructuring. I do not agree with the idea of an independent Monetary Authority. Hong Kong is too small to have two independent economic decision making bodies. The last thing the financial market wants to see is the Government's left arm fighting with the right arm.
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 316 3. Rehabilitation
As a volunteer in the field of rehabilitation, I welcome the Governor's proposals to increase spending in this area. We must do more for the less fortunate members of our community, particularly disabled children. We have to ensure that more resources are assigned to special schools and normal schools with handicapped children, so that they have their resources to perform their tasks. While I welcome the provision of more residential facilities for the disabled, I would strongly urge the Government to pay more attention to the issue of employment of the disabled. Rehabilitation is not just helping handicapped people to overcome their disabilities, but rather to help them to live a useful life through work. Perhaps the Governor does not know, while he was promising more resources for rehabilitation, the resources the Government put in helping the disabled to get jobs have actually been cut back. I have just found out that the number of placement officers in the Labour Department to help the disabled to get jobs has actually been reduced. What is the point of training up the disabled and then sending them directly to sheltered homes? My colleagues on the Rehabilitation Employment Subcommittee have urged me to draw this to the Governor's attention.
4. Government efficiency
I welcome the formation of the Efficiency Unit in the Government and the publication of performance pledges. The Governor has listed several examples. But in my view, they are the easy ones and are far from sufficient. The Government should publish for each department a set of performance standards in the next six months. I fully appreciate the practical problems, but the Governor should try very hard to ensure that his pledge to increase civil service efficiency is supported by the whole Civil Service. If a government department fails to come up with performance standards, it should explain publicly why. To be honest, I remain sceptical whether any real achievement could be made in this regard. But I will keep an open mind.
5. Constitutional development
The constitutional development package outlined by the Governor, if implemented, would give Hong Kong a pace of democracy even faster than the OMELCO consensus. Let us be honest. Although the proposals themselves are not in breach of the Basic Law, it would in effect give Hong Kong 39 directly elected seats in 1995. While no one would and can argue against democracy, we have to bear in mind that democracy is only a means and not an end. We must not lose sight of the final objectives of government and our political system which are freedom, prosperity and stability. Although democracy is the best system of government, it is not perfect and it has its problems. We only have to look at the United Kingdom if we want to find a real example. I will support a faster pace of democracy; I just hope that we are ready for it. I have great doubts about the formation of a 10-member Legislative Council committee. This is not a healthy arrangement because it would deprive Members who are
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not on the committee the opportunity to discuss government policies directly with the three heads of the Government. I do not know the background to this proposal and I cannot help but think that this idea might have been influenced by Mr PATTEN's experience in the British Parliament where meetings are much less orderly and personal abuses abundant. I can assure him that our In-House meetings are nothing like that. If the first meeting we had with him two weeks ago is any guide, he should know that he has no trouble handling this lot. In the last Session, Executive Council decisions are discussed in our OMELCO In House meetings. Despite the large number of Members present, discussions were orderly and useful. Each Member had a chance to voice his or her opinions and concerns on each Executive Council decision that was put on the table. I do not see how a 10-member committee can represent the wide range of views of this Council. I therefore urge the Governor to withdraw this proposal, come directly to the Legislative Council and explain his policies to all the Members rather than just a handful. I, for one, will not be bound by any decision of such committee and I will vote according to how I see the policies.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR MOSES CHENG: Mr Deputy President, I would like to join my colleagues in thanking His Excellency the Governor for what many have deemed "a blueprint for Hong Kong's future". His Excellency's recent address to this Chamber represents bold steps toward breathing new life in issues and attitudes that have been dormant for too long. The response it has generated thus far indicates that the people of Hong Kong largely endorse the principles that are paramount to his propositions. Since my Co-operative Resources Centre colleagues and I have made it clear that we are largely aligned with these principles to fortify the future well-being of our citizens, I will focus my remarks on the practical and pragmatics of pushing forward key aspects of the agenda.
The premise upon which the success or failure of the Governor's proposals heavily rely is the continual growth in real terms of 5% per annum in our economy. The basic ingredients conducive to economic growth must therefore be preserved at all costs and dominant in our considerations. Our competitive economic edge, in terms of a low and simple tax system, hard-working people with enterprising initiatives and a stable and efficient government, must be maintained.
To lay out my primary purpose as a part of the Legislative Council, I want to share my belief that, beyond all other duties we serve here, there is no greater calling than actively promoting the strength and sanctity of family welfare, particularly the younger generation. Most children cannot, of course, vote; they have no business or economic clout; and their voices are largely unheard in the politically-charged atmosphere of competitive interests. But they do represent the purpose of all our planning, and the pinnacle of all our hopes. So I make it clear now — as I did one year ago during debate on the youth
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charter, and on several subsequent occasions — it is my intention to vigorously vouch for the younger generation and the families that hold them together. I appreciate the Governor's expeditious and direct response to the shared concerns in this critical area which my colleagues and I offered weeks earlier, and I believe the public must be comforted by the knowledge that their government institutions and leaders are united in this spirit. I am pleased with the pronouncements that encompass our recommendations of scaling down class sizes, trending towards whole-day schooling and boosting teacher training, amongst others, and I hope to move these proposals into legislation with the fleet attention these issues deserve. However, there is even more room for improvement to be sought in this vital area. The commitment of dollars signifies the Government's seriousness, but simply throwing money at the educational system falls short of guaranteeing success. Any meaningful, real, and lasting solutions must involve parents and families in a creative and comprehensive plan of youth development.
It is a positive measure to improve the working conditions of the territory's educators, but it is equally important that social workers have their conditions improved commensurate with their importance to community development. Such suggestions were noticeably missing in the "blueprint". They are too important to be omitted from our future, and I trust the Administration will co-operate with our efforts to insure that it is not.
Reducing the extraordinary stress and workload of our children must be a key concern. This is not a knee-jerk response to the tragic spate of suicides that seems a dangerously contagious idea amongst our young people. Rather, it is a long-term practical prescription for a happier and healthier population — one that can find contentment with working for a living, without living for work alone. People of all ages should be allowed the basic human instinct to find joy in life. Let us pursue proposals that will sustain their God-given right to exercise the joy of youth, and alleviate the massive burden of stressful expectations that suppresses their freedom at critical stages of growth. This more than any thing else, I contend, can enhance the prospects of democratic and open thoughts with an optimistic outlook for the next generation.
Most Members are aware of my keen concern in the fields of justice and taxation in our run-up to transition. I would be remiss not to address these in greater detail. Again, I am fully supportive of the Governor's commitment to principles that have assured Hong Kong's dynamic growth and domestic peace in these fields. So I will direct myself to practical measures. In sharing the Governor's stated intention to maintain minimal interference, I hope the Government will seek to put its hands only in those trouble spots that demand its presence, such as improvements in the environment and combating inflation, and restrain from putting its hands in other places, such as our wallets and pocket books. In short, any efforts to increase taxes in the future must be publicly substantiated. The Governor's package proposed for welfare must be efficient in meeting the genuine needs of our community, while neither saddling the economy with superfluous debt, nor penalizing the personal income of our
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hard-working citizens. If we ensure in our legislation that the Government will live within its means and prudently invest in the future, we can afford not only these proposals, but others that the coming era will bring from the benefits of growth. But my responsibility here is to responsible government, and I will not vote to manage or spend the people of Hong Kong's purse, in a way that I would not manage my own. So in the field of taxation and public finance, we must do all that is necessary to enhance this community without robbing our citizens of the ability to enhance their own fortunes first. In addition, we must be on guard against institutionalizing a growing overhead in intrusive regulations and public expenditure, both of which build bureaucracy and seem to generate lives of their own. "The government which governs the best, governs the least."
Having said that about taxes and spending, I should note another facet of government, where an increased hands-on approach can work to the benefit of stability and security in our community. I was most pleased to hear the Governor affirming his support to the police, and most of us here are eager to provide greater deterrents to crime by putting more police patrols on the street, better-equipped and outfitted to combat a chronic criminal element creeping into our streets and neighbourhood districts. I am equally eager to continue and enlarge the cross-border co-operation that has characterized recent efforts to mutually pursue and reduce criminal activity. Though recruitment may be more successful, to strengthen the police department as a whole, improvements in the management structure should be immediately implemented to retain a quality standard of efficiency and cost effectiveness within the force. The public has already voiced its support and desire for police reform proposals which should be put forward quickly and professionally, and I urge they be considered to streamline the process of insuring public safety.
Lastly, on the topic of justice, I must again infer that the Administration intends to pursue paths of greater efficiency and more rapid localization in both the Legal Department and the Judiciary. Let there be no doubt that I, and many in this Council, across all political lines, would prefer the kind of directness the Governor has offered on other issues, to the inferences of implicit language he has limited on localization. We have an urgent and pressing duty to promote qualified Hong Kong locals in those vital areas, as well as the Civil Service, and the sooner the Administration begins a co-operative and comprehensive strategy to move as rapidly as possible, the better local officers will be trained and the more experience they can gain in administering senior posts. We must single out the Legal Department and the Judiciary for their unique difficulties in drawing from a limited pool of qualified candidates. To attack this problem at its root, more opportunities for training must be introduced. It is essential that we cast a wider net for local candidates in our search for excellence. No extraneous posts should be built into these bureaucracies to accommodate displaced expatriates, nor should these workers be given advantage over locals in promotion considerations. Much remains to be done in this regard, but I intend to persist in putting forth ideas to act as a catalyst of more expeditious localization. Our institutions of justice are the cornerstone of Hong Kong's image of stability, and necessarily they deserve disproportionate scrutiny and
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attention. They must be made leaner, more efficient, and modernized, not only with machinery, but with qualified manpower. I would like to think that the proposed performance pledge is equally applied with a high degree of seriousness to these institutions. But I believe it may take more ingenuity by this Council to streamline these agencies, and guarantee swift and fair justice under the rule of law.
In conclusion, I want to make clear my fundamental tenets about the necessity of maintaining the right outlook on the future, since it is crucial to the positive passage of proposals in the Governor's plan. Just as I encourage optimism in our young people, I believe we must operate from a positive premise to obtain the best debate and discussion from Members of the Legislative Council. While we all agree to work for a better Hong Kong — one whose "cup runneth over", eventually, I believe we should lead the citizens of our great community on the promise that the cup is now half-full, rather than half-empty. How we view our good fortune, and our future, reflects on the hopes and dreams of millions who aspire for broader fairness, and expanding certainty of both peace and prosperity. Too often during the past Session this Chamber was divided by some who seem only to stir doubt about what is wrong with Hong Kong, rather than broaden their scope to give a more objective critique of fine-tuning flaws in a system that has worked right for most our modern history. I would suggest that isolating and politicizing issues out of their greater context is counterproductive to the seriousness of our task and serves only to demean this Council and arouse public contempt. Antagonistic and negative leadership garners neither votes nor victories, and if we all truly intend to contribute on bettering the future, I suggest we begin anew, by putting the past in its place, and pushing ahead with a more noble and positive stride towards 1997 and the next century.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR CHEUNG MAN-KWONG (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, the main theme of the policy address this year is "the Agenda for Hong Kong". The future represents both hope and uncertainty to Hong Kong people. When we take a look around ourselves, we can see that Hong Kong is actually a centre of hope because it has great potential and plays an important part in the economic development of the Asia-Pacific region generally, and of the Pearl River Delta in particular. However, when we face up to the prospect of political change and turmoil resulting from the reversion of Hong Kong's sovereignty to China, it looks as though we were in the depths of uncertainty. It is at this monumental juncture that one can find the co-existence of both uncertainty and hope which together orchestrate our collective destiny.
At this monumental juncture we need great talents to build the future of Hong Kong. And education is the "Project Hope" of tomorrow. We can see in the current policy address that investment in education is disappointing. The Government projects an annual real growth rate of 5% for our Gross Domestic
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Product between now and 1997. However, the average real growth rate for education over the next four years is only a mere 3.7%. This shows that our investment in education is not growing at the same pace as our economy. That is the first shortcoming of the educational package of the policy address.
But I must admit that the current policy address has attached greater importance to a balanced development of tertiary and basic education. In terms of tertiary education, it stresses the promotion of academic, scientific and technological research with increased resources. This is a step in the right direction, particularly in view of the economic restructuring which is taking place in Hong Kong. With the relocation of labour intensive industries to the Pearl River Delta region, there is greater need than ever before for Hong Kong industry to move towards high technology and better quality. The promotion of academic, scientific and technological research in our tertiary institutions will give a strong impetus to our economic restructuring and development into the 21st century and beyond.
However, the most disappointing feature about the proposed development of tertiary education in the policy address is the lack of a long-term plan and overall commitment in the development of the Colleges of Education. The Government only undertakes to make interim improvement to the Colleges of Education over the next year. That is a feeble cosmetic undertaking at best. The view of the education circles is that, in addition to improved facilities and teaching resources, the future Institute of Education should have a separate and unified campus, like the City Polytechnic and the Lingnam College. That is the only way the Institute of Education will have the competitiveness and room for development which it needs to attract more well-qualified people to join the ranks of the teaching profession. In this regard, the neglect of the Institute of Education in the policy address is the second shortcoming of the educational package.
The policy address has a number of forward looking innovations with regard to basic education. For example, the abolition of the policy to combine classes and increase class size that will result in the reduction of the class size to 35 at primary one. Other innovations include increasing the supply of teachers for both primary and secondary schools, and the implementation of whole-day schooling for all newly built primary schools in the territory. All of these innovations should be welcome. But the consequent change will also further aggravate the imbalance which already exists. The policy address has failed, most apparently, to address the issue of kindergarten education, despite its reiteration of the kindergarten fee remission scheme which is nothing new at all. Such an approach is a big disappointment to both teachers and parents, and indeed to everybody who cares for kindergarten education. One will justifiably worry for the future of our kindergarten teachers.
Mr Deputy President, of the $1.5 billion increased education spending promised by the policy address, only $37 million, or a meagre 2.3%, will go towards kindergarten education. Such a ratio is pathetic, ridiculous and
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shameful. Come to think of it, kindergarten education is a process which 99% of our school age children will go through; it is a process which involves over 8 000 teachers and close to 200 000 school children. But it has been sadly neglected in the policy address. It has been regarded by the Education and Manpower Branch bureaucrats as not absolutely necessary. It has failed to obtain even a fraction of the total public expenditure. That is a clear reflection that kindergarten education has been unfairly treated in the policy address. Such unfairness constitutes the third shortcoming of the educational package.
Insofar as secondary education is concerned, the policy address is unsatisfactory mainly in two respects. Whereas the policy to combine classes and increase class size was implemented to cut costs in both primary and secondary schools in September this year, it is due for abolition, insofar as primary schools are concerned, from the next school year, in the midst of strong opposition by all educators after it has been implemented for scarcely 37 days. Its abolition represents a victory for primary schools, but not secondary schools. Secondary students have to put up with the overcrowding this year, next year, and the year after next, and for an indefinitely long time to come. It is worth noting that the floating class system has still not been abolished in secondary schools. In this regard, students have to continue to float around, while having to live with the overcrowding, with teaching being made all the more difficult for teachers caught up in the process. Failure to improve the teaching and learning environment is the fourth shortcoming of the educational package.
Mr Deputy President, education is a human enterprise to the extent that individuals are different from one another. Different teaching methods apply to different individuals. The most difficult teaching task is being tackled by the so-called band five schools which accept students with the lowest academic results. The education policy mentioned in the policy address, insofar as it relates to the increased supply of teachers or the reduction of class size, has been formulated in such a way as to apply to all schools across the board. It is fair only superficially because its very failure to address the problems of specific circumstances means that it is not able to solve the peculiar problems of band five schools. Mr Deputy President, one wonders why we are not supposed to give right medication to individual case, why a preferential policy cannot be adopted for band five schools so that they will have more teachers, a social worker per school, and a more desirable class size of 30, as a matter of priority. This will enable band five students who are neglected and forgotten and who are struggling on the brink of evil to receive more care and attention, and to see hope and a brighter future ahead of them after going through school. The lack of flexibility and failure to address specific circumstances, at any rate, constitute the fifth shortcoming of the educational package in its effort to improve the quality of education as a whole.
Mr Deputy President, discontent is the vehicle of progress and man who rides in it is able to advance because he refuses to be complacent. I have in my capacity as a legislator cited the shortcomings of the policy address with a view
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to pushing for social progress. One very serious shortcoming in the proposed education reform of the policy address is the lack of democratic institutions to govern education policy making. In this regard, many of its proposals were actually demands strongly articulated by educators in the past but which have been sadly overridden by the Government, such as the abolition of increased class size and whole-day schooling, and so on. Since the Governor has made his policy address, it appears that all of our education bureaucrats have suddenly forgotten about the arguments which were advanced for opposing reform as they enthusiastically defend the the new policy. They do not seem to mind the incompatibility between the old arguments and the new. Mr Deputy President, supposing the Governor has made a wrong decision, there is no way we could resist the overwhelming arguments which our bureaucrats have been presenting to us. In this regard, it is most important that a democratic system should be instituted at every level of the Government so that policy decision may emanate from the bottom up, instead of being handed down from on high as a gift from, or a whim of the Governor. In terms of education policy making, the Education Commission and the Board of Education should have elected teacher representatives so that the grassroots will have a voice and consequently, an open, transparent and democratic system will emerge to shape and check government decisions.
Mr Deputy President, apart from education, housing and social welfare are issues of grave public concern. Whereas the policy address finally undertakes to build Home Ownership flats for the sandwich class, the provision of such flats will only be limited to 3 000 in the first three years. The chance of enjoying this benefit is under 2% annually for the 50 000 strong middle income households. Even for those who are fortunate enough to benefit, they will still have to come up with the down payment amounting to 30% of the flat price, let alone meet the mortgage payment amounting to one half of their monthly salary. They will have to pay for the other expenses of food, clothing and travel, and the cost of their children's education, quite apart from having to pay a heavy income tax at the end of the day. How can our poor middle income earners cope under these difficult circumstances? The individual who works all day does not even have a place which he owns and can call home to return to after work. Even if he owns a home, it has to be at a heavy price which he can ill afford, costing the labour of the best years of his lifetime and so much more. Is society a bit too cruel to him? Mr Deputy President, I will make use of every opportunity of public speech to speak for this group of poor sandwich class people. Let us give them a home, something to look forward to, after a whole lifetime of work.
Mr Deputy President, it goes without saying that our concern should be extended to the lonely, poor and helpless elderly who are living in caged bedspaces, and out on the streets. Admittedly, aging, disease and death are things we can do nothing about. But in a civilized and advanced society, it is up to us to minimize the agony of such experiences so that one can age gracefully, with pride and dignity. It is on this basis that I agree completely with the proposal of the United Democrats of Hong Kong that the public assistance
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should be adjusted to $1,600 to keep in line with inflation. This is to make sure that our old folks who have made their contribution to society will be able to have more joy and good fortune in the remaining years of their lives.
Mr Deputy President, the most important part of the policy address relates to the constitutional package of the Governor. This package promises us the greatest amount of democracy within the confines of the undemocratic Basic Law. If I may borrow the phraseology of Mainland China, this sort of caged democracy will not allow us to break free while it may allow us room for manoeuvre. The Professional Teachers' Union, which I represent, has conducted a scientific poll regarding the constitutional package. We found that 72% of our members are supportive of the package and opponents to it accounted for only 6%. The ratio of support is 12 to one. It is a reflection of the extent of strong support for a democratic government among teachers.
Mr Deputy President, I am convinced that democracy is not a gift. It is on the basis of this conviction that I, and countless other friends of democracy, have been fighting, each step of the way, for democracy, both within council chambers and without. What we are fighting for is also the cause of the whole democratic movement, which is the return of mandate to the people, rather than to the rulers. We do not want to have the fate of the six million Hong Kong people being decided between the Chinese and the British Governments behind closed doors. Hong Kong people are not appendages of the map which Britain can return to China at will.
Mr Deputy President, the Governor said in Beijing yesterday that the constitutional package should meet the three requirements of fairness, openness and acceptability by Hong Kong people. I agree with what he said. In this regard, I would request the Governor to disclose to Hong Kong people and the Legislative Council his talks and disputes with the Chinese side and their results. A referendum should be held at an appropriate time on the electoral arrangements for 1995. It is the highest form of democratic public participation whereby Hong Kong people will make their wishes known. If China and Britain have any respect at all for public opinion, then they should not use any excuse to deprive us of our right to decide our own destiny, our future — and incidentally the future of Hong Kong is the theme of the policy address — should be in our own hands. Let us build our future with our own hands if our future is going to be great and full of hope.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR TIMOTHY HA (in Cantonese):
I. Introduction
Mr Deputy President, in his policy address, Mr Chris PATTEN painted a picture of Hong Kong's society in 1997 and said "this is what stability and
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prosperity are all about in practical terms". Now, I would like to comment on education development and political reform.
II. Quality Education
As a matter of fact, Mr PATTEN made a number of encouraging proposals on education. For instance, he said that the Government hoped that "all" children would be able to receive the "best" education. This means that education should develop in the direction of "quality education" and take it as an objective. He also said, "children are first and foremost individuals" and "they do not all learn at the same speed". This shows that Hong Kong's education should develop along the course of diversification. I am very much in favour of these two points. I hope that the Government will take specific steps to put them into practice.
In addition, Mr PATTEN promised to allocate additional resources to education so that recurrent spending on education will go up by 15.8% in real terms. He also made a number of proposals to improve our education. I am very appreciative of this, too. However, while I congratulate his efforts, I wonder if Mr PATTEN has forgotten that the Government owes us some unpaid debts where education is concerned.
III. Unpaid debts
"Rife with problems" is the term often used by the educational circles to describe Hong Kong's education policy. It is clear to those who have been closely watching Hong Kong's education development that floating classes in secondary schools and teachers' fringe benefits are two unpaid debts. If Mr PATTEN has bona fide intention to improve education, he should formulate a comprehensive and thorough-going policy and not try to do window dressing. Otherwise, new debts will be incurred when the old debts remain unsettled. It must be borne in mind that an education system suffering from long-term weaknesses will certainly do no good for Hong Kong's future development.
IV. Shortage of teachers
In the policy address, the Governor proposed to provide more teachers. This proposal has put pressure on the source of teachers. For this reason, the Government has put forward the idea that teachers over the age of 60 should be allowed to remain in their posts and retired teachers be invited to come out of their retirement. I am in full support of these proposals as an interim measure, the reason being that nowadays many people over the age of 60 are still very healthy and active and can continue making contributions to society.
However, the bottom line for any interim measure in question is that the Government must not lower the entry requirements because of a momentary shortage of teachers. Education Commission Report No 5 already pointedly advocated the need to improve teachers' quality. Therefore, if entry
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requirements are lowered, not only will interested young people be discouraged from joining the teaching profession but our years' efforts in building up the image of the profession will go down the drain. The fact that the number of applicants to the colleges of education in the latest round of enrollment was far from satisfactory is a clear warning signal.
V. Shirking responsibility for teachers' housing benefit
Mr PATTEN proposed to introduce a "middle-income housing scheme" for the "sandwich class". His intention is admirable. But has Mr PATTEN given thought to the fact the majority of the teachers in Hong Kong are in subsidized schools and that they, too, belong to the "sandwich class"? The salaries of subsidized school teachers are paid ultimately by the Government and not the directors of their schools. Therefore, the Government, as the ultimate employer, cannot shirk its responsibility for these employees. And one must not lose sight of the fact that helping the "sandwich class" in solving the housing problem is merely a responsibility of the Government for the general public. To mix up "employer responsibility for employee" and "government responsibility for the public" is an attempt to shirk its responsibility. Besides, the scheme will not be available until 1995-1996. The stop-gap solution (to buy flats from the private sector) will help to provide only 1 000 flats in the first year. To the nearly 40 000 teachers of primary and secondary schools, this is undoubtedly just a move to console them with false hopes.
Teachers of subsidized schools and staff of the Hospital Authority are both employees of subsidized institutions. Yet the latter enjoy far more fringe benefits than the former. The Government in the past agreed to make improvements to redress such unfairness. However, in his policy address, Mr PATTEN did not make any commitment at all. In the policy address, the Government not only shirked its responsibility for providing a real solution to the housing problem but kept completely quiet about medical benefit. I feel very disappointed at this.
VI. Political reform and the silent majority
At this point in time, Mr PATTEN's constitutional package is just a proposal. One must wait and see before it is clear how much of the package will be implemented. Still, a definite result will be a broadening and deepening of our democratic development. If democracy is to take roots among the public, I think that the first and foremost thing to do is to foster the public's democratic awareness and the "culture" of voting zeal.
In the 1991 direct elections, only 30% of the eligible voters turned out on the election day. Turnout rate is a sensitive question. To deal with this question, what officials used to do was never to set a turnout target in advance and always to say afterwards that the turnout rate was very "satisfactory". In the new situation that comes with a change in the pace of democracy, I think that the Government will find it not so easy to muddle through.
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After considering many factors, I think that the turnout target for 1995 should be set at 55%. Anything less than that cannot be regarded as satisfactory. Once the development of democracy is set in motion, it will be difficult to stop or to move back. Therefore, preparatory work must be done now and cannot brook one moment's delay. And the main objective of this work is to encourage participation by the silent majority. Otherwise, political reform will only create an imbalance, and Mr PATTEN's proposal will very easily stand accused of being a subjective personal wish that does not have the support of the majority of the public.
VII. Conclusion
In five years' time, Hong Kong will return to China, to the embrace of "one country, two systems", so to speak. Mr PATTEN was confident that he would see "China, made more prosperous still by the contribution of Hong Kong". This, of course, is what the people of Hong Kong eagerly look forward to. We can anticipate that the United Kingdom will continue to phase itself out of Hong Kong in the run-up to 1997, when the United Kingdom's relations with Hong Kong will very probably have shrunk and confined to nothing more than that on economic front. If Mr PATTEN would like the United Kingdom to have a glorious retreat, he must not overlook the need, within the five years of the latter half of the transition period, to provide quality education and win the participation of the silent majority. Only thus will Hong Kong be able to maintain its stability and prosperity on the basis of the concept of "one country, two systems."
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR MICHAEL HO (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, as the labour policy spokesman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) and as the Member representing the Health Care Functional Constituency, my speech will focus on labour matters and the medical and health policy. As I see it, the labour policy outlined in the policy address has clear shortcomings. The UDHK has all along been of the opinion that Hong Kong's economy is undergoing a structural transformation in the 1990s and that the Government must formulate a long-term labour policy to help workers tide over the difficulties arising from the structural transformation and to minimize the impact on them. They become under-employed or redundant mainly as a result of the northward relocation of the manufacturing operations. Because of their age and lack of academic qualifications, they cannot fill the rapidly growing vacancies in the service industries. The Government's attempt to solve the problem by importing foreign labour is a short-sighted move. Any long-term solution must begin with labour training. According to the policy address, $300 million will be injected into the Retraining Fund and that the number of workers to be retrained will be increased to 15 000. While we welcome this, I hope that the Government will show real resolve to address the problems confronting our workers during the structural transformation. An effective retraining scheme not only must ensure
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a greater number of workers to be retrained, but help to be given to retrained workers in finding jobs. Most regrettably, however, the policy address still says that the importation of foreign labour will continue. Such a policy has long been strongly opposed by the general public. One objection to the policy is that it erodes the living standards of local workers and depresses wages. What is worse, the policy actually stands in their way when they try to switch to other trades. Those who wish to switch to other jobs and those who are under employed simply do not stand a chance. That is to say, even if they take part in the retraining programme, there is no guarantee that they will be able to find jobs. In view of this, the UDHK urges the Government to stop importing foreign labour to make it easier for the under-employed, the unemployed and the retrained to have a better chance to land jobs.
With regard to compulsory retirement protection, we are very disappointed that the policy address fails to indicate any commitment.
Now I come to the focus of my speech which is naturally concerned with health matters. At face value, it appears that the Government is making many specific commitments in the policy address. Yet I must point out one thing, which is that the services cited by the policy address are nothing new but a restatement of previously made commitments. Examples are shorter waiting time for emergency cases, drug labelling and standardized medical records. As a matter of fact, all of these are things promised long ago by the Hospital Authority or the Department of Health.
We note that the Governor has failed to grasp the most important problems. These are: We do not have a comprehensive health care services policy; our appropriation for health care services is inadequate; the shortage of nurses is already having a serious impact on services.
It was 18 years ago that the health care services policy was last reviewed. Many of the recommendations in that year's White Paper are now behind the times. Yet no plan is made for a comprehensive review of the entire health care services policy for the next five years. We are extremely disappointed at this. The Government's failure to come up with a revised comprehensive health care services policy means that the Government declines to make a commitment to the public. The Government's only promise is to add 4 200 sick beds, 13 clinics and to increase appropriation by 22% by 1997. It does not care whether these will be sufficient and considers its duty done. The health care services policy that we ask for is not what the Secretary for Health and Welfare described last Saturday in answering my question, which I quoted, "Nobody will be denied health care services for want of financial means". These words merely amount to the Government's "philosophy" in providing health care services rather than its "policy". The policy that we ask for is one that will clearly let the public know what services the Government will provide for them and why these services, who will be the recipients of the services and what the target number is. Only when there is a policy and a target number of service recipients, the
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departments which are responsible for providing the services will then be able to figure out precisely the scale of fundings.
With regard to appropriation, I am well aware that health care services are certainly not high on the Governor's list of priorities. However, it is noteworthy that the present funding for the Hospital Authority is based on the size of the establishment of the hospitals at the time they were taken over by the Hospital Authority on 1 December 1991 together with a project estimate. Everybody knows that medical and nursing staff were never adequate. If the Government works out the amount of appropriation on the basis of the previous year's "understaffed" situation, then the Hospital Authority has no alternative but to hire staff according to that establishment which is understaffed. How can health care services be improved in this manner? I must point out that the particular amount of appropriation is not sufficient even to fill the vacancies of the establishment previously approved by the Government. In other words, it is probable that the hospitals will only be able to hire even lesser medical and nursing staff than before.
I clearly recall that, in 1990, when I negotiated with government representatives in the capacity of a trade union representative about the shortage of nurses, government officials said at the time that more nurses had to be hired but this could not be done simply because there were no sufficient nurses around. The funding for hiring additional nurses, after all, should be resources available in previous budgets, earmarked for establishment purposes. It should be "money to be spent but not spent". Yet, at the health group's meeting a fortnight ago, officials from the Finance Branch insisted that the money appropriated for hiring additional nurses should not be considered as unspent appropriation for hiring additional nurses but be treated as financial resources for "improvement programme", that is, as resources to be vied for with other programmes. Under such an arrangement, the Hospital Authority has even less resources available than the Department of Health in the past.
In addition, the Governor skirted the shortage of nurses. It should be clear to him that the beds that are to be added will not be serviceable without nurses. He should also be well aware that, for this reason, 718 sick beds for acute cases are not in service in Tuen Mun Hospital, 380 convalescent beds are not in service in Sha Tin and the 1 620 new beds to be added to the Pamela Youde Hospital early next year will not be immediately in service.
These beds are not in service because there are not enough nurses. Any addition of beds without taking concurrent steps to ameliorate the wastage of nurses and to hire more nurses will achieve nothing. Adding "vacant beds" that are not serviceable is not an improvement of services. It is a waste of taxpayer's money.
The Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff and I have time and again called for, among others, a comprehensive review of the policy on the education of nurses and a review of night shifts. Also, we have proposed upgrading
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nursing courses to degree level so as to make this profession more attractive to young people. But we have seen no positive response whatsoever from the relevant policy branch.
The hard fact that we have to face is that the youth population is continuing to decline. On top of this is the fact that the number of places at the tertiary institutions will be increased substantially by several thousand in the next three years. Against this background, I am afraid that nobody will be interested in the apprentice-type nurse training courses offered by hospitals. It is expected that the enrollment of nursing students will decline further with each passing year.
Some officials think that the shortage of nurses is a world-wide phenomenon. Some point the finger at the the political development and emigration as the causes for the wastage of nurses. So they think that nothing can be done about it. They are resigned to fate and wait passively to see what will happen. Now, the number of emigrants has fallen, but the nurses' wastage rate still exceeds 10%. Most of the nurses that have quitted are not emigrants. They have simply switched to other jobs because nursing work is stressful and the prospects look bleak. This is the reality that we must face. Such a situation will undermine the Governor's ambitious plan, forestall efforts to improve the services and put public health at risk. I sincerely hope that the Governor's plan will come true and bring quick benefits to the public. Here, I would like to invite Mr Governor to join me in paying visits to some hospitals where he will find "vacant beds with no patients" because of the shortage of nurses and "patients with no proper beds provided" because of over-crowding. I also hope to be able to hold a lengthy discussion with the Governor on the present situation where, on one hand, the hospitals' nursing schools cannot enrol enough students and, on the other, there are more students than can be admitted into the nursing departments of some tertiary institutions.
I would like to make a more specific proposal. The Governor should appoint an interdepartmental committee, in which Health and Welfare Branch, Civil Service Branch, Education and Manpower Branch, the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health are represented, and ask it to make a study and come up with a plan to resolve the shortage of nurses. I also hope that this committee will adopt "performance pledges" as directed by the policy address and solve the problem within a set period of time.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
DR HUANG CHEN-YA (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, Mr Chris PATTEN's proposed constitutional package is more democratic than the Government's past proposals. In fact, however, it still falls far short of the long-standing aspirations of the public. Even so, some people are already making a fuss it and calling it too radical. Saddest of all, they cannot articulate why the people of Hong Kong should not enjoy a greater measure of
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democracy. They merely insist that the package is inconsistent with the Basic Law and does not converge with it.
Mr Deputy President, in Chinese society during the feudal days, men were fond of women of small feet. They bound young girls' feet with cloth to stop them from growing normally. No matter how the girls suffered, no matter how they cried and screamed, their feet had to be kept bound until they became deformed. And the deformed feet were called "three-inch golden lotus flowers". Nowadays, some people still hold fast to this mentality. They regard the Basic Law as the long and smelly strip of foot-binding cloth. Their hope is that Hong Kong people's democracy will not grow normally but develop into stunted feet, so to speak. Why is it that they turn a blind eye to the educational and cultural accomplishment, the economic strength and the maturity of political thinking of the people of Hong Kong? Why is it that they would not like to establish a political system compatible with the fact that the people of Hong Kong have come of age? Why is it that they would like to trim the toes to fit the shoes, to use the Basic Law to hold back the democratic growth of Hong Kong as "the three-inch golden lotus" shoes were used in feudal times to limit the size of women's feet? The reason is that they belittle the people of Hong Kong and look down upon China. They think that China will remain feudal and backward eternally. They do not see that China will advance and become more democratic and more civilized. Are we to assume that only colonial officers understand the Hong Kong people's yearning for democracy? One must not take too a static view of things. If the Basic Law is found to fall behind the needs of Hong Kong, then it should be revised. This is like what the 14th Party Congress did when it revised the Party Constitution by introducing the concept of market economy. If it had been successfully argued that market economy was not consistent with the old Party Constitution, then there would have been no reform or open economy, nor the economic growth and prosperity of the last few years. Why is it that China cannot give the people of Hong Kong a better package than that proposed by Mr Chris PATTEN? Why is it that China cannot offer to let Hong Kong hold direct elections to elect Hong Kong's deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) before 1997 and let the NPC revise the Basic Law on 1 July 1997 to give a greater measure of democracy to the people of Hong Kong? Will such an offer not take care of the problem of convergence and at the same time enable democracy to secure normal growth in Hong Kong? Convergence with the Basic Law will then cease to be a problem, will it not?
Mr Chris PATTEN's policy address contains a clear blueprint for political development. Regrettably, it is conservative and traditional in the matter of economic policy. It follows the thinking of previous administrations in Hong Kong. With regard to economic growth, it merely intends to jump on the bandwagon of China's liberalization; it puts forth no direction or strategy for excelling in a competitive environment. In particular, it fails to recognize that the vast changes in the Chinese economy and the increasing convergence of the economies of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan will require corresponding
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policy changes in Hong Kong in respect of economic structure, national income and the public expenditure.
Here is one example. Economic and trade relations between China and Hong Kong have become ever closer. Sea, land and air traffic links between the two must be strengthened. But airports and sea terminals are being over-developed in South China. Co ordination is needed, lest there be vicious competition and wasteful use of resources. China has liberalized its tertiary industry. Hong Kong-registered banks will set up offices in many parts of China. Given that China's financial market is not fully developed, Hong Kong, where these banks' head offices are located, has a responsibility to tighten banking supervision to ensure their sound operation.
This year Hong Kong has seen a great number of sale promotion of residential flats in China. Some of these development projects are yet to start, some have yet to secure the approval of the authorities concerned for their sales in the territory while some of their plans tend to overstate or unstate the case. And some of these developments would have no guaranteed supply of water and electricity. The Government is thus under obligation to hold talks with the authorities concerned in China and identify ways to protect local buyers' interests. Similarly, as many Chinese enterprises are expected to list on the local market, their credentials and results must be closely scrutinized if local investors' interests are to be properly looked after.
With regard to taxation, problems of tax evasion through corporations' internal account transfers may arise as enterprises move some of their production lines to China.
As to research and development, Hong Kong does not have sufficient manpower resources for science and technology to give full support to our enterprises. In contrast, China has a vast number of scientists and technicians who are now denied the opportunity to apply their expertise to industrial development. The setting up of a data bank to strengthen liaison between Hong Kong's enterprises and China's scientists and technicians will be very good for the development of Hong Kong's industry and for drawing on the expertise of China's scientists and technicians.
The above examples all point to one thing. It is that Hong Kong's economic policy must not continue to be looked at in isolation as it was in the past. Hong Kong's economic policy must be formulated in a manner that it is able to keep abreast of the rapid changes in relations between China and Hong Kong.
Mr Deputy President, economic growth is something that we should pursue aggressively on our own initiative. We must not simply jump on the bandwagon and trust to luck.
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In recent years, as production lines continued moving across the border, new technological industries have not been developed in Hong Kong. Should this trend continue, Hong Kong will stop playing a vanguard role in China's industrialization process. Hong Kong will become increasingly dependent on the China market, where quality expectations are not high. This will make Hong Kong's products less competitive in the global market. Also, Hong Kong will be affected with more and more trade disputes involving China and other countries. During the past year, colleagues in this Council made several appeals in unison, calling on the Government to formulate an industrial policy quickly to help Hong Kong in developing high-tech industries and high value-added industries. Most recently, the Victoria Junior Chamber of Commerce distributed questionnaire forms to small to medium sized enterprises and found that the vast majority of them would like the Government to adopt an industrial policy. Clearly, industrial policy is an issue that the Government must accord top priority. But the policy address this time still fails to take a position on this issue. It tries sneakingly to shirk this policy responsibility to a newly established Governor's Business Council. I think that this is a completely delaying tactic and makes a botch of the matters.
I think that the Governor's Business Council simply cannot assume the important responsibility for formulating an industrial policy. All the members of this council are heads of big business consortia in Hong Kong. They already have many channels to make their views heard. The council will not provide any additional contacts or provide a new forum. In fact, the Governor's Business Council is not a new thing. There are similar organizations in many Western countries. In the United States, the business council is composed of 65 tycoons of industry, commerce, banking and transport, but it is not very effective. The Business Council represents the views of only some sections of the business community. It does not have the input of other public views. Often, it tries only to help enterprises in decline. It does not give a real helping hand to emerging industries. Therefore, if we really wish to help boost our economy, we should learn from those who have been successful.
As we all know, one of the attributing factors to Japan's economic miracle is that Japan neither has a planned economy, in which the Government guides everything, nor leaves private enterprises to fend for themselves, each working in a different direction. Views are exchanged constantly between the government and the private sector. This forms the basis of consensus and co-operation for economic development. On the basis of such consensus, the government formulates manpower, financial and other public policies with the market place in mind. This enables entrepreneurs to feel at ease and invest without fear and to co operate with other entrepreneurs under government co-ordination, thus achieving the economy of scale. Employees, too, are able to work reassuredly, knowing that the government has a comprehensive and far-sighted employment plan and retraining plan to protect their jobs. In contrast, in Hong Kong, under the existing erroneous labour policy, there is a strange phenomenon in which, on one hand, 110 000 workers are being unemployed or
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under-employed and, on the other hand, there are unfilled job vacancies; and one quarter of retained workers cannot find jobs.
Therefore, we think that the Government should set up an Economic Development Council with members including government representatives, Members of this Council, scholars, labour representatives and industrial and business representatives. Industrial and business representatives should not only come from big enterprises. They should also include representatives of small to medium-sized enterprises. This is because most of Hong Kong's enterprises are of small to medium size. Their needs and experiences are different from those of the big enterprises in respect of venture capital financing management, market development and product research and development. Big enterprises represent experiences that have come of age. Small to medium-sized enterprises are the hopes of tomorrow. Only an Economic Development Council constituted in this way will be a composite body. It will be able, through a wide-ranging exchange of views, to arrive at an industrial policy and a consensus consistent with the overall interests of Hong Kong. This will lay the groundwork for Hong Kong's future economic growth.
Mr Deputy President, currency stability is very important for the economy. The recent exchange rate storm in Europe showed that speculators had enormous strength and that it was not easy at all to maintain our fixed exchange rate system. Hong Kong's Exchange Fund is under-staffed. The Government should have provided it with additional resources long ago. Also, following China's economic liberalization, Hong Kong has become the financial centre of South China. There are new financial instruments making their debuts every day and every month. This has made bank supervision a more complex job and all the more necessary. The Monetary Authority proposed in the policy address will pool the Government's monetary managers and make the deployment of manpower and other resources more easily. It is believed that this will have a stablizing effect on the Hong Kong dollar and enhance international financial markets' confidence in it. We support the proposal.
However, it needs to be noted that the Monetary Authority will be responsible to the Financial Secretary and will not enjoy an independent status. We know of many studies which show that a more independent central bank is better able to formulate a monetary policy that, in its opinion, is suitable to the country's economy and will keep the inflation rate and the unemployment rate low over the intermediate range and the long range. How is the degree of independence of the central bank related to inflation rate? The explanation is that inflation is bound to follow an increase in the money supply. And this happens in Western countries where governments wish to maintain pre-election economic prosperity whereas in Communist countries, the governments have a fondness for grandiose and ambitious projects with instant results. For these reasons, in both cases, money and credits are not reined in. Only a central bank independent in setting the monetary policy can counter an over-expansive fiscal policy and keep prices stable.
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Of course, because Hong Kong's exchange rate is pegged, the Monetary Authority's monetary policy has only limited effects. In this connection, making the Monetary Authority responsible to the Financial Secretary will not be too much a problem. However, if the pegged exchange rate is abandoned some time in the future, the Monetary Authority then should play a new role and become a body able to take initiative and decide and carry out a monetary policy independently.
Also, monetary policy and bank supervision are in fact contradictory. The tightening of money supply will add to banks' credit problems. The Office of the Commissioner of Banking may ask to ease money supply to prevent bank failures. If the Monetary Authority is to have the function of enforcing monetary policy, it should be as independent as the central bank of Germany and, like the central bank of Germany, it should stop to perform the function of bank supervision.
Therefore, we think that, given its constitution and degree of independence, the Monetary Authority can only be treated as an interim body. It must eventually assume an independent position. When the time comes, its bank supervision function must be taken away from it.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR SIMON IP: Mr Deputy President, the Governor has presented to this Council a bold and imaginative blueprint for Hong Kong for the next five years. I welcome the progressive and forward-looking approach of his policy address.
The Governor said that his goal was to safeguard Hong Kong's way of life. He emphasized that a crucial foundation of this is to guarantee the rule of law. This is a self evident truth which no one can dispute.
The Governor also said that maintaining an independent judiciary and combating crime and corruption were measures to uphold the rule of law. This is certainly correct, but is this enough?
What was most conspicuously absent from the policy address were measures to protect human rights. Despite the passing of the Bill of Rights Ordinance last year, the Government has done very little to ensure that the rights enshrined in that legislation can be practically enforced. Despite widespread support, the Government has taken the view that a Human Rights Commission is unnecessary.
That view is unsupportable. As things stand the rights prescribed by the Bill of Rights are more theoretical than real. We need concrete actions, not just words and legislation, to demonstrate our commitment to the rule of law. Without a Human Rights Commission, development of human rights law will be a piecemeal and haphazard process of legal challenge in the courts. Promotion
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of a human rights culture in our community will stagnate. We will be unable to inculcate an attitude in our society of respect for the rule of law without the existence of a secure institution such as a Human Rights Commission. The allocation of $1 million to the Civic Education Committee to educate the public on the Bill of Rights is woefully inadequate for this purpose.
Another area which was not touched upon by the Governor was the administration of legal aid. The administration of justice is less than impartial when legal aid is dispensed by a body with conflicting loyalties. The Legal Aid Department decides whether our less privileged citizens can obtain financial assistance to defend their liberty or to pursue their civil remedies against the Government. Since the staff of the Department depend on the Government for their livelihood and advancement, they will never be free of the appearance of bias. Hence, the administration of justice will be impaired in perception, if not in fact.
So, to ensure that our rights are not rendered sterile through the lack of means, we need an independent legal aid commission which can withstand actual or potential executive interference and which is accountable to the public through this legislature. This proposal has been supported by the legal profession for many years. As recently as June this year, the Government still maintained that independence of the Legal Aid Department was unnecessary. That attitude is inconsistent with the importance placed by the Governor on the rule of law and I hope the Government will review the situation urgently.
I was heartened to hear that the Governor will review the question of freedom of information legislation. None of the arguments so far advanced by the Administration against such legislation is valid. Article 16 of the Bill of Rights makes it imperative that the right of expression must be clearly defined and properly balanced against conflicting rights, such as the right of privacy, by way of detailed legislation. A general declaratory right as that set out in Article 16 of the Bill of Rights will result in confusion and uncertainty.
The Governor mentioned existing laws which are intrusive of some of our cherished rights. One such law which has caused widespread concern is the Public Order Ordinance. At present, some of the provisions in the Ordinance are ambiguous and oppressive. The wide discretionary powers granted to the police are not subject to control. In reviewing this legislation, I hope the Government will come up with proposals which will remove the potential threat to our freedom of expression.
Mr Deputy President, upholding and enforcing the constitution forms the cornerstone of all societies regulated by law. Our future constitution — the Basic Law — has been undermined by the agreement between China and Britain over the Court of Final Appeal.
What is at stake here is a fundamental principle going to the heart of Hong Kong's future — how secure are the rights and autonomy granted to Hong Kong
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under the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law? The power to invite overseas judges is unequivocally and categorically granted to the Court of Final Appeal under Article 82 of the Basic Law. That power was stipulated in identical terms under Part III of Annex I to the Joint Declaration. Hong Kong must not allow the agreement of the Joint Liaison Group to eclipse the rights clearly set out in these constitutional documents.
The issues involves judicial independence (which the Governor has recognized as being vital) and the power of the SAR courts to regulate their own affairs. If the future Court of Final Appeal cannot even determine the composition of the bench in particular cases, the promises of judicial independence in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law will be empty in all but name.
One further difficulty is that a number of senior judges from the Court of Appeal will retire in the next two years. This will create a potential vacuum at the top of the judicial hierarchy, making the establishment of the Court of Final Appeal all the more difficult.
I, therefore, strongly urge the Government to explore all possible means to restore the powers of the Court of Final Appeal, so clearly laid down in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
The Government should concurrently consider and implement urgent plans to recruit the best legal minds onto the bench, from the pool of talent here and other common law jurisdictions. We should then set up the Court of Final Appeal when we are satisfied that we are ready to replace the Privy Council provided that its composition will conform with the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
This brings me to the question of localization of the Legal Department. With less than five years before the transition, all the top position are held by expatriates. Unlike other government departments where local officers are emerging as secretaries and department heads, the Legal Department is conspicuously short of local officers at the top. The situation must be addressed through faster promotion. Recruitment from the private sector should also be considered.
Mr Deputy President, I welcome the news that the Government will introduce a Bill during this session to abolish the death penalty. Also, I am glad to hear that the Government will extend the jurisdiction of the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints. But I am disappointed that the Governor did not say that the Commissioner will be able to investigate complaints against the ICAC and the police. Both of those bodies, of course, play a crucial role in maintaining law and order. But it is equally important that they should be accountable to an independent body to ensure that their powers are not exceeded or abused. I urge the Government to keep this matter under review.
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Mr Deputy President, that part of the Governor's policy speech on education promised the implementation of a number of policies which are long awaited by the teaching profession. These are to be welcomed. However, I have some reservations on the proposed pace of reducing class size. There is already a shortage of full-time teachers and enrolment at the colleges of education has been low in recent years. The education sector has been unable to attract sufficient people of high calibre to meet increasing demands. The ambitious plan to produce 780 additional teachers in 1993 and another 1 420 by 1997 may not improve the quality of education but may instead lower standards, unless people of good qualification and appropriate training are attracted to enter and remain in this sector. This means higher pay, better promotional prospects and greater job satisfaction.
Turning to the environment, the Government should encourage and promote recycling industries to reduce the quantity of waste and to make use of recyclable materials. Air pollution is widely considered by the general public as the most urgent environmental problem in Hong Kong and urgent initiatives are therefore required. I support the polluter pay principle as well as the imposition of heavy penalties on polluters. Finally, greater efforts must be made to educate the general public on our environmental problems. More action-orientated programmes should be pursued to enable the general public to contribute towards a cleaner environment.
Mr Deputy President, the Governor made no mention of the question of non-Chinese nationals after 1997. Many of these persons were born in Hong Kong or have lived here for most of their lives. After 1997, some of them will become stateless while others will have no right of abode, despite their undoubted contributions to Hong Kong's success as a cosmopolitan city. The Government must fulfil its obligation to these persons by pressing their case vigorously with the British and Chinese Governments and secure their future.
I now turn to the Governor's proposals on constitutional reforms.
Broadly speaking, I welcome the direction the reforms are taking and the imaginative proposals in which those ideas are being realized. I support quickening the pace of representative government in Hong Kong while ensuring a smooth transition. Thus, the proposals must be discussed with China, which the Governor is now doing. I believe that the proposals are within the constitutional constraints of the Basic Law.
In my view, they cannot be said to be contrary to the letter or spirit of the Basic Law. Not contrary to the letter because the Basic Law is silent on these areas. Not contrary to the spirit because:
(1) Article 68 of the Basic Law stipulates that the ultimate aim is the election of all members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage. These proposals are a step forward in that direction.
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(2) Annex I of the Basic Law provides that the Election Committee for the 1999 legislature shall be formed pursuant to the principles of democracy and openness. I believe the Governor's proposals concerning the Election Committee are in accordance with those proposals.
These proposals are not a perfect substitute for direct elections, but if they are the most that can be achieved, they should be supported.
However, I have to express my reservations on the separation of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. First, I am worried about the implications for future governments if the Executive Council and the Legislative Council remained separate. The present arrangement may be a temporary expedient, but with no elected Member of the Legislative Council in the Executive Council, there is a danger that the Executive Council may become an authoritarian body with little accountability beyond matters involving finance or requiring legislation.
Further, with elected Members of Legislative Council carrying the mandate of the people being excluded from the business of governance, how will future elected leaders be groomed to govern Hong Kong?
Mr Deputy President, as China continues its economic reforms, the economies of Hong Kong and China will become increasingly interdependent. Ultimately, they may become integrated. The essential factors that will distinguish Hong Kong's status as a Special Administrative Region from that of any other Special Economic Zone of China are: the rule of law, a separate political system and our promised autonomy. We must now build up durable institutions that will protect those assets and, to use the Governor's own words, safeguard our way of life.
With these words, I support the motion.
DR LAM KUI-CHUN: Mr Deputy President,
Livelihood
In the Governor's speech, the section on livelihood is a typical example of how successful creation of wealth can improve the quality of life in Hong Kong. This section draws wide-spread acclaim in our population.
On the health policy, the pressing current issues include the lack of adequate numbers of hospital beds particularly infirmary beds, the lack of funds to meet the escalating cost of providing health service, the expected high cost of meeting health requirements of an aging population, and the unsatisfactory standard of service in the public health sector. For the first three issues, appropriate planning and injection of adequate money from the windfall surplus
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last year (as proposed in the Governor's policy speech) should deal with them well. In dealing with the problem of aging population, shifting remedial therapy in the elderly (which is expensive) to preventive management by health screening (which is cheap) is what I have been personally propounding for two years. A pilot project has now proven that this policy is an effective way to reduce health expenditure and to preserve working capability of our aging population. However, I need to add that screening for health problems in the elderly at the age of 65 years as proposed in the policy speech is too late, for degenerative diseases start before the age of 40 years. Nevertheless, 65 years would be an acceptable starting point for this new policy. The Government must now make additional facilities available for managing patients who have been found to have subclinical diseases.
The fourth pressing health issue, that of unsatisfactory service in the public sector, is merely skimmed in the policy address, presumably left to the ingenuity of the Hospital Authority. I wish to suggest that the key to the solution lies in two directions:
(1) To change from stale central planning to a responsive market oriented service, centred on patient demands and feedbacks.
(2) To introduce an element of viable competition between the public and private health sectors, and within the public sector itself.
The only major criticism in the HEALTH area is that the so-called "increase in real spending" of 22% till 1997 is more apparent than real. Averaged out, the additional spending yields 4.4% extra per year. Added to an expected rate of general inflation of 9%- 10% per annum, this yields an annual growth in spending of only about 14%. However, medical inflation (that is, the increase in the cost of treating the same diseases inclusive of advance in medical technology) averages 15% per annum over the last five years. Therefore, there is no real growth in health spending. Improved service still has to come from better management of the health care system. This, the Government and the Hospital Authority must pursue in future.
On welfare, the target figures of beneficiaries are taken directly from the projected deficits quoted in both the White Paper on Social Welfare and the Green Paper on Rehabilitation. The Government further allows for periodic reviews of the numbers. The new policy should therefore be able to benefit the entire segment of our population who most needs welfare. As the original White and Green Papers were put together by all agencies in the field, the policies are sound. The Government makes itself popular by now providing adequate funds to implement them. This is a timely move.
On the reservation side, I share the concern of the Honourable LAU Wah-sum, the Honourable Mrs Peggy LAM and the Honourable CHIM Pui-chung on the allowed absence from Hong Kong for continued receipt of Public Assistance and Old Age Allowance. Although it is proposed for extension from 119 to 180
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days, the policy falls short of expectation in failing to extend the absence period indefinitely so that retirees can live on the money comfortably in their native places in China. Forcing the destitute elderly to stay in expensive Hong Kong causes a drain on the public purse and a strain on the elderly's wallet. I hope the Government will in time see the wisdom of assisting Hong Kong citizens to live in China.
I note that the Governor's proposal to increase real expenditure on welfare by 26% until 1997 yields an average growth of about 5% per annum. This adds nothing to the expected growth rate of GDP of 5% per annum. for the same period. Allowing expenditure to follow growth in GDP is the established policy of the Government. The Government has added nothing much extra this time to what would be alloted anyway to welfare if our economy continues to perform well. What the Government has done this time is good packaging and good marketing.
Constitutional reforms
In the unwritten areas of the Basic Law, the Governor has found a way of hastening the pace of democracy. For that he rides a wave of exceptional popularity in Hong Kong. In this period of high expectations, I do urge the Government to ensure that good livelihood in Hong Kong does not need to be sacrificed in order to achieve a faster pace of democracy. I wish to draw the Governor's attention to three important differences between England and Hong Kong/China:
(1) Traditionally, Chinese attitude is that politics is for politicians only. For the common folk the top priority is their livelihood. This is borne out by repeated government polls of public opinion. In the one quoted by the Honourable Martin BARROW, factors affecting livelihood account for all five top priorities of our people. This priority is further affirmed by the overwhelmingly high proportion of questions being asked on livelihood in the Governor's open forums recently. Much though we desire democracy, it has never ranked higher than good livelihood in our people's minds. It is, I think, more a British priority for Hong Kong. We would like to be able to see convergence with the system after 1997 (call that the Basic Law if you wish), so that we can plan through 1997 (not till 1997). A system that would be dismantled in 1997 would put a thick wall in front of us, blocking our vision into the future. The Governor should please get our priorities right in his confrontation with China.
(2) For an historical perspective, the Chinese, communist or no communist, view the 1997 issue as a redress of a series of humiliation by England. It is a very sensitive issue. China was irritated by a payment deficit in the 19th Century in the silk-tea porcelain trade, then a continuous import in opium in place of
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payment in sterling silver, then humiliated by defeat in the opium war, and then by the Treaty of Nanking. Now as redress is being made through goodwill from both sides, the Chinese leaders find themselves tripped by one-upmanship from a new British politician on a territory they have always claimed as their own. I fear that the Chinese leaders may be seeing this as a final act in a one-and-a-half centuries' long drama called "Bullying China". The Governor should understand that he is tickling a very raw nerve. Further, it is not to Hong Kong's advantage that China is still ruled more by Man than by Law, and that we have seen examples of Man coming above the law in 1989 (when all court judges in China swore allegiance to the Communist Party). So to be efficacious, the Governor should perhaps try not really to exploit grey areas in the Basic Law, but to discuss earnestly with those who have power over the Basic Law. This is not an ideal for us, but I am afraid is the reality. I am afraid this is not what appears to be the Governor's approach to constitutional reform in his speech. I have the impression that the Governor is trying to force his opinion on China. If the Governor's think tank does not see the Chinese viewpoint, they may perhaps understand the English proverb: "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." Perhaps a lack of understanding of Chinese history and culture is the reason why no section of the Governor's speech is devoted to bettering Hong Kong-China relationship. If Hong Kong-China relationship goes sour, the ones to suffer are the people of Hong Kong.
(3) Democracy is not as mature in Hong Kong as in the United Kingdom. Turnout in elections here is still low. In the District Board election two weeks ago in Tai Hing, only about one third of the registered voters cast their votes. That accounts for only 9.39% of the population there. A bigger problem is refusal of many able people to identify with politics. I have earlier stated that in Hong Kong at present politics is for politicians only. Here, public service is not the same as politics. One example is Mrs Rita FAN. She was an appointed Member of this Council. She has an outstanding record of public service. Last year she was the Legislative Councillor with the highest approval rating from the Hong Kong public. Yet she resigned from this Council because she loathed politics. Her resignation is a big loss for Hong Kong. Last June, the District Boards with two thirds of their membership elected reaffirmed their desire to retain appointed membership. If the Government pushes with its full programme of democracy by 1994, then the District Boards, the Urban Council and the Regional Council will lose their Rita FANs. The Government must take care not to push democracy by undemocratic means. Forcing a good system through prematurely may not bring the desired benefits. Perhaps the new Governor and his think-tank from England would understand our
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caution better if they were asked to push England back into the Exchange Rate Mechanism of Europe today.
Mr Deputy President, this Council has not been given any view by the Government or by China of how this proposed constitutional reform may affect the livelihood in Hong Kong between now and 1999. The Government must convince this Council that the proposed constitutional reform would not cause a deterioration of our livelihood that may result from confrontation with China before 1997 or from dismantling of the system in 1997. To be fair to the people of Hong Kong, we should be given a clearer view of the results of our options before we make our choice. Otherwise, if we hurriedly approve of the reform proposals and Hong Kong's livelihood suffers consequent to that, our people will never forgive us for rashly staking their good livelihood for a political ideal, and losing both in the end.
With that, I support the motion.
DR CONRAD LAM (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, it can be said that the public's attitude towards the Governor's policy address is quite clearly supportive. The reason is not so much that the Governor's policy address contains anything spectacular as that previous policy addresses were too conservative, too conforming and too low-key. Many people, preoccupied with watching and enjoying the Governor's "show", have failed to notice and appreciate the 180 degree change in the political views of certain government officials and other relevant persons. I am delighted at this change, which shows that, after all, they do know how to feel the public's pulse and how to follow good advice. Still, I am worried. Five years from now, they will probably give an even more spectacular demonstration of their ability to bend with the wind and to go with the trend.
Concerning the policy address, I have the following comments to make:
(1) One can say that the Governor's policy address contains nothing new at all concerning health care services. It is a mere rehashing of some of the policies set by the Hospital Authority and the Department of Health. The truth is that the direction has already been set for the development of Hong Kong's medical and health services. The Business Plan of the Hospital Authority and Health for All the Way Ahead, a report put together by the primary health care group of the Department of Health, have already given a brief idea of the direction and scope set by the Government for the development of health care services in the coming few years. What yet awaits decision is merely the magnitude and speed of increases in the cost of health care. We have been hearing voices of discontent ever since the establishment of the Hospital Authority. For instance, Prince of Wales Hospital has been complaining about a shortage of medicine; the Intensive Care Unit of the Paediatric
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Ward of Queen Mary's Hospital and the Neurosurgical Ward of Kwong Wah Hospital have been complaining about staff shortages, as a result of which beds, even when vacant, cannot be put to use. Members of the OMELCO Standing Panel on Health Services, in a recent visit to Christian United Hospital, heard its Emergency Ward staff complain about the uneven distribution of manpower resources and about the stressful workloads of nurses. Despite these complaints, we must realize that the Hospital Authority was set up only two years ago and that some teething problems are inevitable in its taking over of 38 hospitals and 54 clinics. Given time and reasonable resources, it will not be difficult for the Hospital Authority to solve the problems described above. The Secretary for Health and Welfare has declared that the principle underlying Hong Kong's health care services policy is that nobody will fail to receive "suitable" health care for financial reasons. This is a correct principle. The problem is that the Government has failed to define the word "suitable." What are suitable health care services? For instance, how long must a cancer patient wait before being given treatment? Should the suitable waiting time be one year, six months or three months? Of the $10.2 billion appropriation for the Hospital Authority, 81% is spent on staff salaries and benefits. And 96.5% of the appropriation is for maintaining and improving existing services, with only the remaining 3.5% for the development of new services and systems. This being so, I would like to ask: Are "suitable" health care services suitably funded? The Secretary for Health and Welfare has identified the vital need that the provision of manpower resources must match service expansion. Yet, despite the shortage of manpower resources, the policy address made no promises and painted no future picture concerning training in this particular area. This is quite disappointing. Hong Kong is a place where Chinese and Westerners live together. Health care, too, is a mixture of Chinese and Western types of medicine. As the Interim Report of the Working Group on Chinese Medicine has pointed out, as many as 60% of the population relies on traditional Chinese medicine. All along, traditional Western medicine has been the mainstay of public health care services. Hong Kong's health standard is among the highest in the world. This is evidence that the government policy is on the right track and is following the right direction. In developing health care services, the Government may wish to consider adopting a more comprehensive policy than the present one and distributing resources fairly and reasonably to develop health care services outside the realm of Western medicine. Of Hong Kong's registered doctors, private practitioners outnumber their counterparts serving in hospitals under the Hospital Authority. Public and private health care services should complement each other. Heretofore, the Government has paid scant attention to the quality of private health care services. I think the Government should improve communications between the departments
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concerned and the Hospital Authority on one side and the private hospitals on the other. Each side should be doing what it is best at doing. For instance, private hospitals should be encouraged to set up hospital management committees and consultative committees, which are to improve communications between management and employees, to improve public relations, to promote the rights of patients and so forth. There are now 11 private hospitals with 2 907 beds, the average utilization rate of which is 65%. Statistics in 1991 show that each bed in the private hospitals served 60 patients (2 907 beds served 174 000 patients). This was twice the rate in the public hospitals, where each bed served 30 patients (21 600 beds served 650 600 patients), indictating that beds in private hospitals are being put to more effective use than those in the public hospitals. Therefore, expanding private hospital services will help to reduce the strain on the hospitals under the Hospital Authority and will enable the Hospital Authority to allocate its resources more flexibly. The Government should then take steps to encourage the public to use private health care services. This can be done, for instance, by making some medical expenses taxdeductible and by encouraging employers to take out a medical insurance policy for their staff. In addition, in the making of policy, fair consideration should be given to the interests of minorities. For instance, the Government should not discriminate against the doctors who have been working since the 1960s in exempted medical clinics providing inexpensive health care services to the grassroots. Instead, the Government should allow them to be remunerated the same as doctors with similar qualifications and experience working with the Government. The following conditions are essential to the improvement of health care services as a whole: (a) a determined attitude; (b) a sound plan and a long-term policy for training to produce sufficient manpower; (c) reasonable financial resources; and (d) the establishment of an affluent society where wealth is held in the hands of citizens.
(2) With regard to the constitutional package, the Governor said that he would abolish the appointed seats on the District Boards but that the ex-officio seats in the New Territories will be an exception. I am greatly puzzled. It is true that the chairmen of Rural Committees (ex-officio members of District Boards in the New Territories) are returned by a certain electoral process. Yet, in the election of rural representatives in the New Territories, the vast majority of women were totally denied the voting right. I am at a loss as to why the Governor feels a lingering love for a system that is so anachronistic and so full of sexual discrimination. If the Governor's move is out of respect for Chinese customs, then, according to some, eating dog meat is also a Chinese custom, but eating dog meat is forbidden under Hong Kong law. By upholding a New Territories tradition among the indigenous residents that discriminates against women,
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will the Governor not give the impression that, in his mind, dogs have more rights than women? To rectify the situation, I suggest that women in the New Territories, like men, should have the right to vote in the election of rural representatives. This will not only reduce sexual discrimination but greatly broaden the bases of the elected rural representatives.
(3) With regard to law, order and justice, the Governor said that he would find the correct balance between rights and powers. He also said that the police must have effective powers to maintain public order. To be sure, where criminals are concerned, it is quite clear how this balance should be struck. However, the line will be more difficult to draw in the case of harmless students and public groups who do nothing more than humbly protest against the Government or participate in demonstrations to seek social justice. Many laws of Hong Kong, such as the Public Order Ordinance and the Telecommunication Ordinance, have been repeatedly questioned by legal scholars and members of the public. Law is not equal to reason. In face of law that are unreasonable, there naturally will be protests. After lawful protests have again and again proved to be in vain, there is no reason why the public will not resist anachronistic laws. For the Government to protect liberty and human rights, the police must be restrained in exercising its powers against ordinary students and citizens. There are 3 333 cases of complaints against the police annually, involving more than 4 580 allegations. These complaints are more numerous and more serious than the 162 complaints against the two railway corporations and the complaints against other Government departments. The Commissioner for Administrative Complaints can deal with complaints against the two railway corporations, but it is not within his jurisdiction to deal with complaints against the police. This is really puzzling. It is fair and necessary that disputes between police powers and citizen rights should be settled through an independent body.
Concerning the separation of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, the public, looking at things from their angle, does not find it important at all. What is of interest to the public is the efficiency of the Legislative Council Members and whether they put party or personal interests above the interests of the general public. The Governor, as the President of this Council, has the duty to improve the efficiency of this Council. I must say that the pace of the passage of legislation is not satisfactory. The panel conveners and the officials concerned should do their utmost to set a time frame for the deliberation of bills.
Lastly, I hope that, when the Governor departs in 1977, Hong Kong will still be prosperous. However, the disparity of wealth should be ameliorated. Also, the Government should abandon high land prices and thus enable the
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general public to have decent homes in addition to good employment. I totally agree with what Dr LAM Kui-chun just said that the Governor must take care not to push democracy by undemocratic means. Therefore, when in doubt in deciding a time-table for Hong Kong's democratic progress, we should leave the decision to the general public. In other words, if necessary, we should hold a referendum to determine the time-table for our democratic progress.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR LAU CHIN-SHEK (in Cantonese):
A disappointing address
Mr Deputy President, the Governor has delivered his maiden policy address entitled "Our Next Five Years — The Agenda For Hong Kong". However, it is a disappointment to the grassroots and the labour sector.
On proposals to improve people's livelihood and welfare, many colleagues have pointed out that the proposals only seek to implement policies endorsed by the Government. No breakthrough is made in policies to address the problem of the policy direction which puts quantity before quality. I feel even more disappointed at the direction of the labour and economic policy pursued by Governor Chris PATTEN, the former chairman of the Conservative Party.
The danger of shortsightedness in economic policy
I am not an economist. But I dare to warn the Governor that his short-sightedness about the economic and labour policy will lead to extreme bad consequences for the long term development of Hong Kong. The policy address reiterates the long-time free market and "positive non-intervention" policy of the Government and attempts to maintain the present economic order and distribution of wealth by further strengthening ties with large consortia. There is no proposal for the direction of Hong Kong's future economy and industrial and commercial development. To set up a Governor's Business Council with Hong Kong's consortia as core members is only to give a chance to large consortia outside the Executive Council to influence government policies. We should note that they may intervene in policies concerning people's livelihood on grounds of "impeding economic development". For example, they may oppose improvement in labour legislation and increase in benefits and insist on continuing the importation of foreign labour. It is wishful thinking, I believe, to expect the Governor's Business Council to put forward policies against monopoly and proposals for long-term economic development. It is obvious that these large consortia are monopolizing public utilities and service industries in Hong Kong. For them to put forward policies against monopoly and competition is just like "a thief calling on others to catch a thief" and "staging a show"!
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Hong Kong is virtually experiencing economic restructuring. Whether the labour sector and the grassroots will receive protection of their employment and quality of life within the economy depends on what the Government does. The Government should not pass the buck by simply saying that it will adopt a policy of minimum intervention and maximum support towards businessmen. Ten years ago, I warned that the manufacturing sector would lose its edge if the industrial sector did not improve productivity and strengthen technical training of workers. At the time, the Government did not heed my warning. Today, the number of persons employed in the manufacturing sector decreases rapidly and middle-aged workers are in a plight. Who should be held responsible?
At present, shortsighted capitalists in the manufacturing sector may move the manufacturing process northward and make use of Hong Kong's quota to export their products. However, 10 years later, when GATT quota vanishes, we will have to face full competition. If the Government remains "indifferent" and does nothing to assist the industrial sector in making a breakthrough in the quality of products and improving workers' skills and the quality and output value of products, we dare not imagine what the consequences will be. Furthermore, the export trade and service industries now rely on the support of the hinterland of south China. But further development in the region may blunt this edge. In fact, even the service trade is "moving northward". For example, the Cathay Pacific Airways moves its booking service to Mainland China to take advantage of the cheap labour there. To make greater profits, employers in the service trade move the work process northward with no regard to the right of employment of local workers. So, how can workers switch to other jobs during the restructuring of the economy?
Obviously, according to the present development of the economy, there is no protection of employment and livelihood of workers in Hong Kong. In the long term, we may experience economic recession. Therefore, it is high time that the Government should actively intervene. It should devise a long-term industrial policy, assist the manufacturing sector in boosting output value to increase competitiveness, and provide effective training and employment protection for workers. History indicates that most capitalists in Hong Kong pay regard to short-term interests without committing themselves to long-term investment. Therefore, I do not have any confidence in the Governor's Business Council. Since the labour sector is in an unfavourable situation, "wage earners" should unite to protect their "rice bowls".
Mr Deputy President, in my opinion, it is imperative that the labour sector participate in the process of economic development. The development of society is for the benefit of the majority and not just a few consortia.
Lack of labour policy
Mr Deputy President, the Government has paid no attention to the fact that our labour force plays an active role in economic development. I feel that while offering criticisms, I should also make improvement proposals. I would
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concentrate on the views of the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions on labour policy, which are intended to be a basis for the Government and the labour sector to work on for the future.
The International Labour Convention virtually contains many specific provisions on labour rights and interests. Unfortunately, the Hong Kong Government all along has reservation about or accepts partially the provisions, resulting in long-term inadequate protection of the rights and interests of local workers.
Proposals for labour policy
No doubt, the most pressing problem we are now facing is the issue of workers' retirement protection. After years of effort by the labour sector, we will finally see a government consultation paper on compulsory retirement protection proposals tomorrow. What we then have to do is to devise a sound package and legislate to have it implemented as soon as possible. As you all know, Mr Henry TANG and I have, on behalf of the United Democrats of Hong Kong and the Co-operative Resources Centre, requested the Government to undertake the risk concerning contributions. I sincerely hope that our proposals will be accepted by the authorities.
Secondly, regarding workers' employment, it is an important issue that middle-aged workers in the manufacturing sector encounter difficulties in employment. Last week, during the second reading of the Employees Retraining Bill in this Council, I expressed my views in this regard, asking the Government to make a long-term commitment that it would inject $450 million annually to retrain 20 000 workers. I wish to reiterate that the authorities should be responsible for formulating a sound industrial policy, on the basis of which they should retrain workers actively and give them protection in employment after retraining. Furthermore, the Government should show concern about the employment of the disabled by providing in the law for the proportion regarding the employment of these people.
Thirdly, the policy of importing foreign labour, which takes away the livelihood of workers, should be scrapped immediately so as to protect local workers. In fact, the percentage of imported labour in the whole labour force in Hong Kong is higher than that in countries like Japan and Taiwan.
Fourthly, there should be a comprehensive review of the Employment Ordinance. At present, there are many problems in the Employment Ordinance, such as the method of calculating severance pay being unfair to long-serving faithful workers and the method of calculating long service payment discriminating against young workers. Amendment to the Ordinance should be made as soon as possible.
Fifthly, on the increase in wages, the Government should ensure that the labour force has a fair share in the fruits of economic prosperity. The
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Government should not, as it did over the past few years, take the lead in calling for a curb on the increase in workers' wages. Furthermore, the provisions of the International Labour Convention should be implemented. It should be ensured that men and women working in public and private sectors receive equal pay for equal work.
Sixthly, the Government should legislate to establish the right of collective bargaining of trade unions so as to promote equality between employers and employees.
Seventhly, legislation on unfair dismissal should be drawn up. The procedures for handling labour disputes as well as the manpower of the Labour Tribunal should be reviewed.
Eighthly, the enactment of legislation on industrial safety should be stepped up and the manpower for law enforcement be increased. It should also be provided in the law that a committee on safety of construction sites and a committee on safety of plants, both having employees' representatives on them, be established.
Ninthly, an unemployment protection fund should be established.
Work in the future
Mr Deputy President, the Governor is now in Beijing for negotiation and I do not know whether he meets with any difficulties. Anyway, we should not lay our hopes entirely on him. For Hong Kong to be a free, democratic and fair society requires the strenuous efforts of everyone of us. We should not rely on the favour of the United Kingdom or Beijing.
Of course, I hope the Governor will pay attention to my proposals on Hong Kong's economic development and labour policy. But I will not just sit and wait. I will follow up my proposals actively in this Council. What is more important, I think, is that I have the support of the labour sector and we will fight for what we want together.
Mr Deputy President, these are my remarks. Thank you
MISS EMILY LAU (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, I was filled with shame when I saw the strip cartoon published in the South China Morning Post today which depicted us, legislators, sitting on the fence at the meeting held yesterday. It is a vivid illustration of the performance of some of our colleagues in this Council yesterday. Since the Chinese and the British Governments have not been able to reach an agreement on the constitutional package of the Governor's policy address, they do not have the courage to state their positions on this important and controversial issue. Today's speeches are apparently less non-committal. Indeed, I believe that many Hong Kong people
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would like their legislators to hold on to their positions for the well-being of the six million people of Hong Kong. They will not want to see a repeat of last week when some legislators chose not to show their hole cards. The public would not want us to behave like fence-sitters, which is what we have been accused of in today's papers.
Mr Deputy President, given the time constraint, I will only focus, like I did in my speech in October last year, on the issue of constitutional development and human rights. Recently, in an interview which the Governor gave to a magazine, the good question was raised of whether Hong Kong would have democracy even if his constitutional package was fully endorsed by China and put into practice. The Governor's honest answer to that was "No" and that Hong Kong still would not have Westminster-style democracy. What he was trying to say is that Hong Kong would have a little more democracy and it is through this tiny bit of democracy that he wishes his goal would be achieved. He has also very explicitly stated that he would safeguard Hong Kong people's way of life. I said to the Governor when he came to this Council to answer questions on 8 October that I failed to see a blueprint which I and many other Hong Kong people can have confidence in, a blueprint which he has clearly drawn up for us to safeguard our way of life, and above all, as I am sure you know, Mr Deputy President, a blueprint which will safeguard the freedoms which we now enjoy.
Whatever we may say about this colonial government, I am sure many of us will have to admit that under the British rule, the five to six million people of Hong Kong have been able to enjoy many freedoms, freedoms which I am sure we would not have been able to enjoy under the rule of the Chinese Government. It was for such freedoms that my parents fled to Hong Kong in the late 1940's. Half of Hong Kong's population are refugees from China, and the other half are descendants of these refugees. We cherish our freedoms very much. In this regard, Mr Deputy President, I am very sad that there is no mention in the policy address at all of our constitutional development moving in a direction which will enable us to have confidence that our freedoms will be safeguarded in the future. However, though I am greatly disappointed at the policy address, it is also a progressive policy address compared to any of the previous ones which I can recall. I feel that many of his proposals are already the least that we should go for. I hope that the Governor, with the support of the six million people of Hong Kong, will be able to make them come true.
I would like now to talk about the issue of the Legislative Council. Mr Deputy President, I already discussed the issue of the formation and powers of the Legislative Council last year. I hope you will forgive my restating the same views which I already presented, just like replaying an old record. First of all, the Governor has already made a major concession in respect of the formation of the Legislative Council, that is the introduction of more directly elected element. I am very disappointed that he does not propose to increase directly elected seats beyond its present number, which stands at 20. I am always for a 100% directly elected legislature. I hope that the British will be able to make
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the greatest effort to introduce full democracy in Hong Kong before they retreat. I support the improvement proposed for the functional constituency elections. Although I am opposed to the concept of functional constituency, I support the addition of nine functional constituency seats. However, how are elections to be conducted in the functional constituencies as each of them may have between 200 000 and 400 000 voters? I believe there will be many practical difficulties in terms of implementation. Given the great many difficulties, one would wonder why we do not simply opt for the electoral method of one man-one-vote, which is surely the better alternative.
Mr Deputy President, I support fully the abolition of appointed seats on the district boards. I oppose the retention of the 27 ex-officio rural seats. I support all of the points made by Dr Conrad LAM, so I will not repeat them one by one.
Mr Deputy President, the legislative power of the Legislative Council is just as important as the way in which the Council is formed. It is clearly stipulated in the Sino British Joint Declaration that the future legislature shall be vested with legislative power. As I said in my speech in October last year, Article 17 of the Basic Law stipulates that the laws enacted by the legislature after 1997 will be submitted to the Central Government for record, and that if such laws are found to be in contravention of the Basic Law, they will then be returned to Hong Kong and become in validated. Mr Deputy President, Article 18 also stipulates that if the Central Government thinks that a chaotic situation has arisen in Hong Kong which the SAR Government cannot deal with, then the national laws of China will also apply in Hong Kong. Mr Deputy President, given these two provisions of the Basic Law, how much legislative power do we actually have? I believe our understanding of the Sino-British Joint Declaration at the time of its signing was that legislative power would stay with Hong Kong. But we can see here that our legislative power is rather empty. I would therefore fully agree with Dr HUANG Chen-ya that the Basic Law has many imperfections which we should seek to rectify. Neither the British Government nor the Hong Kong Government made any solemn statement regarding the partial violation of the Joint Declaration by the Basic Law when it was promulgated in 1990. That, to me, is most regrettable. I hope that the Governor will not be constrained by the Basic Law; I hope that he will instead find the opportunity to rectify clauses in the Basic Law which he judges to be directly incompatible with the principle of a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong. It is not, after all, an issue which is limited to increasing the number of directly elected seats to over 20.
Secondly, Mr Deputy President, I believe we are all the more wary about the issue of executive authorities. I have on numerous occasions indicated that I am opposed to the separation of the executive and the legislature because I see that as running counter to the development of representative government. But we have also heard the Governor say that it is a practice characteristic of the present stage of development. In this regard, he has given us the impression that it is only an interim measure. He has also split the Executive Council in
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three. First of all, the Executive Council appears to be a high powered think-tank. Then he has proposed the setting up of a Governor's Business Council, which I am very sceptical about. Mr LAU Chin-shek has mentioned all sorts of problems which may arise; I do not wish to repeat them except to say that I fully support him. I am wary of this Business Council because it is made up of the most influential businessmen in Hong Kong, many of them are beneficiaries of government franchises. The irony is that the Governor has seen fit to ask these businessmen to come up with a policy which will encourage competition; I do not really understand the point. I also hope that the Government will, in reply to our questions, perhaps explain to us how such an assembly of businessmen will reconcile their conflict of interest and how they may offer impartial views to the Government in terms of formulating a policy for competition. Thirdly, the Governor proposes the setting up of a Government-Legco Committee, which has already caused a lot of controversy within this Council up to this point. Indeed, Mr Deputy President, I personally support the setting up of such a Committee to facilitate communication between the Government and this Council. Being an independent Legislative Councillor, I might not be able to become a Committee member for after all I have only one vote. However, if there is widespread concern among so many of our colleagues, I would have thought that Members who belong to the United Democrats of Hong Kong and the Co-operative Resources Centre would not see fit to bully their twenty-odd colleagues who were opposed to the idea of the Committee in the first place. In this regard, I hope that the Government will make a point of explaining to us as early as possible the functions of, and other matters relating to the Committee. But I understand that even with such an explanation the problem of mutual mistrust and suspicion will not be entirely resolved. This is a problem which a legislature with immature party politics such as ours should face up to. In view of this, there is a lot of complication involved in the Government's attempt to communicate with its selected group of legislators.
Mr Deputy President, the Governor plays the most important role in the executive arm of the Government. It goes without saying that the Governor is not entitled to propose that the Chief Executive of the SAR Government should be elected in his policy address. That, however, is what I have been hoping for. I also hope that the British will be able, in the remaining four years of British rule, to do their best to help us put in place a democratic government. For while we may have an accountable Governor at present, who chooses to come out to answer questions, we have absolutely no grounds to believe, that being the personal choice of the Governor, the future Chief Executives will be equally accountable.
Other than the Governor, the Branch Secretaries have of course very important roles to play. We understand that in the future SAR Government, all Policy Secretaries will be nominated by the Chief Executive and appointed by the Central Government, but how will they be accountable to the legislature? Mr Deputy President, I am sure you will clearly recall the line explicitly stated in both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law that the executive is to be
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accountable to the legislature. But I cannot see in the forty-odd pages of the policy address any mention of institutional guarantee of accountability.
Mr Deputy President, the judicial system is the third issue of great importance. Mr Simon IP has raised the issue of the Court of Final Appeal; I fully support him and I am not going to repeat his arguments. I hope that the British Government will re-start negotiation with the Chinese Government because the agreement which they presented to us last year is not acceptable to this Council. Meanwhile, the inadequate supply of local judges in our High Courts is also a serious problem. I think that the issue is not so much that the appointee must be a local as that he or she must have high calibre. I hope that the Government should proceed vigorously in this direction. An independent, high quality judiciary is instrumental in maintaining the freedom, the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.
Perhaps the more important issue, Mr Deputy President, is the power of interpretation. The Joint Declaration told us that the future power of interpretation would be vested in the Court of Final Appeal and the final power of adjudication would also be exercised by the Court of Final Appeal. However, Mr Deputy President, the Basic Law has stipulated very clearly that the power of interpretation of itself as the mini-constitution of Hong Kong actually rests with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. I raised this issue last year because I felt that it was the most important point contained in the Basic Law. If the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has the right to interpret the mini-constitution of Hong Kong, Mr Deputy President, then what would become of our final power of adjudication? The Government evaded that issue last year altogether. Whereas we understand that it is a matter for the Chinese Government, it is the British Government which as a party to the Joint Declaration has promised us that we will have judicial independence and the final power of adjudication. If the Basic Law has nullified such promises, why is it that the British and the Hong Kong Governments have chosen to stay completely silent on this issue? The former Governor, Lord WILSON may not wish to, or dare to, address this issue. Now I place my hope on Mr PATTEN though he has not brought it up in the policy address. I hope government officials would not evade this issue when responding to our questions next week.
Constitutional development which has such an important bearing on the executive, legislative and judicial functions of the Government should not be confined to 20 directly elected seats in the Legislative Council. If we fail to face up to the many problems ahead, I am sure that we will not have the confidence to believe that Hong Kong will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in the future.
Lastly, Mr Deputy President, I would like to talk about the issue of human rights. Since the term "human rights" has not occurred at all in the policy address, I have asked the Governor whether he considers it to be a taboo which should not be mentioned at all. I believe the main reason for its absence is that the Chinese Government is very sensitive to "human rights" and the Governor
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has seen fit not to take a strong stance on this issue, But I understand that the Governor will attend and address a meeting organized by an American human rights body tomorrow night. I hope that he will be able to boost our confidence on this issue of human rights. I personally hope that, in the remaining four years of British rule, efforts can be made to scrutinize and rectify all legislation which is in contravention of human rights. Mr Deputy President, I hope the British will expedite the rectification and not limit themselves to the freezing of the six ordinances which we examined last year. I believe the Government surely knows that the ordinances involved are far more than this number and indeed, there are already close to 20 ordinances (in that category) which we are presently examining at meetings with the Constitutional Affairs Branch. I hope the Governor will act to monitor the progress of the Government on this issue. I agree with the suggestion of Mr Simon IP that a human rights committee should be set up to carry out the monitoring.
Finally, Mr Deputy President, I would like to talk about the issue of nationality. I hope the British will understand that they have a moral obligation towards the five to six million British subjects in Hong Kong. The granting of the right of abode in Britain to 50 000 Hong Kong households in the wake of the Beijing massacre is absolutely not quite enough. In this connection, I agree with what Mr CHIM Pui-chung was saying, that if the British Government really wants to prove that it is doing something for Hong Kong, it should consider giving British nationality to the four to five million people in Hong Kong, quite apart from giving them democracy and freedom.
With these remarks, I support the motion.
MR LEE WING-TAT (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, the constitutional development mapped out in the policy address of Governor Chris PATTEN can be described as innovative, courageous and is largely in keeping with his principles of openness and fairness. Commentaries and views in this aspect have been articulated at great length by Members of the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) and I will not repeat them. Unfortunately, housewives and retirees are not included in the newly created functional constituencies. This is a serious and apparent shortcoming. We cannot say that housewives have no function at all; I think Lady PATTEN will not go along with that as well. Similarly, it is not for us to say that retirees have made no contribution to society after a lifetime of work. In this regard, the UDHK propose that the Government should include housewives and retirees in the new functional constituencies.
The United Democrats fully support Mr PATTEN's proposal of the abolition of appointed seats on the two municipal councils and the district boards as part of the reform package for regional and district bodies. This is in keeping with the principle of gradual evolution. District boards began to be partially elected in 1982 and it will not be until 1995, a full 13 years later, that they will be fully elected. It is indeed a very long and slow process. It is
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unfortunate that there are representatives from certain political organizations which, on the pretext of gradual evolution, are still opposed to full direct election for the district bodies. Their opposition is just another disguised attempt to echo what their "Northern masters" are saying. These opponents to full direct election even for district bodies may be said to be advoates of tortoise-style democracy. Tortoise democrats have two characteristics. First of all, they progress very slowly. Secondly, they are extremely sensitive to any change in their surroundings. When their "Northern masters" show any sign of displeasure, they will put their heads, tails and claws inside their shells and stop moving immediately.
Insofar as the reform of district administration is concerned, Mr PATTEN's proposal for the abolition of appointed membership is inconsistent with his effort to retain the ex officio seats of rural committee representatives on the district boards in the New Territories. First of all, the indigenous residents of the New Territories will be able to vote twice, and the average New Territories residents only once, for the district boards. This is not in keeping with the principle of fairness. Secondly, the village representative is chosen exclusively by the male householders. This is an electoral method which is discriminatory against women. This is also not in keeping with the principle of fairness. Mr PATTEN's proposal to retain the ex-officio seats means his being personally implicated in the perpetuation of this evil practice of discrimination against women.
The Secretary for Home Affairs stressed last week in his briefing for Legislative Councillors that the retention of the ex-officio seats was to keep up the link between the Government and the indigenous residents. I am rather sceptical of this argument. One preliminary analysis conducted by the Research Centre of the UDHK reveals that at least 30% of the directly elected members of the District Boards of Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, North, Tai Po and Islands are themselves representatives of rural committees or people with excellent working relationship with rural committees. In this connection, the views of rural committees are already adequately represented by the directly elected members. The explanation offered by the Secretary for Home Affairs is not soundly based.
I appeal to all women organizations and women individually in Hong Kong to write to the Governor or through various actions to express discontent with their under representation in the new functional constituencies and with the retention of the ex-officio rural seats. I hope that the Governor will accept public opinion and take the initiative to make amendments accordingly. Or else, it is likely that he will lose the support of women in the territory, and be accused of discriminating against women.
Mr Deputy President, the reform package in respect of district administration can be described as "old wine in new bottles" and is completely devoid of innovation. Not only has it failed to address the issue of transforming the two-tier system into a one-tier system, but it has also failed to make any reform regarding the functions of the district boards. The new functions
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described in the policy address have in fact been discharged by most district boards for many years; I doubt very much if the Governor has been given biased advice by government officials, which results in such farcical "suggestions". Indeed, through the years, many district board members, including myself — before I resigned from the chairmanship of the Kwai Tsing District Board, have made many suggestions to the City and New Territories Administration regarding ways to improve local administration. However, these suggestions have sunken into oblivion and are never heard again. My initial thinking is that the political representativeness of these popularly elected district boards is not compatible with their functions. The district boards have been returned by elections involving the participation of over a million people. However, it turns out that they only play an advisory role and are merely talking shops.
In this regard, in order that their functions will be commensurate with their political representativeness, the Government should consider giving the district boards the powers of district management which do not involve central government policy and also, reforming the district boards in such a way so as to make them an integral part of the district management policy making process. I suggest adoption of the operational principle whereby, in terms of district affairs, the district boards may only address the issues raised by government officials. If the Government is determined to carry out reform, it can easily decide which government departments may share their policy making with the district boards. I will give some examples which are in fact proposals that I have made to CNTA over the years regarding matters which do not bear on overall policy and which may be decided upon between the district boards and the district offices of the relevant departments. I am talking about matters relating to the short-term tenancy under the jurisdiction of the Buildings and Lands Department, the tree planting programme of the Territory Development Department, small-scale district traffic management, road excavation works and the management of public housing estates (it is a function of the Town Council in Singapore).
Indeed, the present proposal regarding the expansion of powers and functions of the district boards has not been discussed with the district boards beforehand. I suggest that the Secretary for Home affairs should follow the example of Mr PATTEN to consult the opinions of members of the 19 district boards personally.
Mr Deputy President, a tall building must have a firm foundation. Participation of the grassroots is vital to the success of the constitutional system. A good foundation is also vital to a successful housing programme.
The public housing development programme mentioned by Mr PATTEN in his policy address is very disappointing. Mr PATTEN has only mentioned some old projects and past figures. At any rate, public housing development does not represent an impressive commitment on the part of the Government, as
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suggested in paragraph 60 of the policy address. It is problematic and indicative of the Government's attempt to shift its responsibility gradually.
According to the Housing Authority Report for 1991-92, it has only completed 36 000 units in that year. It is significantly less than the 45 000 units completed annually in the previous two years. Given that 12 000 units will be allocated to public tenants affected by redevelopment, it means that the disposable yearly output is actually down to 24 000 units. They have to be allocated to tenants who are paying exorbitant rent in the private sector, bedspace lodgers, squatters and residents of temporary housing areas. The Housing Department estimates that there will be about 200 000 households on the waiting list between now and 1997, and the clearance of squatter and temporary housing areas will affect at least 30 000 households. This means that there will be at least 230 000 households waiting to be allocated public housing. Given that the Housing Department can only provide 24 000 public housing units annually, it follows that over the next five years the total production will be 120 000 units which will only be able to meet half of the demand.
In 1991-92, the Housing Authority turned over to the central government a total of $1.9 billion in interest and dividend. It is the third year that such payments are made to the central government. In this connection, the mere fact that Mr PATTEN regards public housing government development as an impressive commitment by the Government reflects that he is not familiar with the problem of public housing in Hong Kong.
Mr Deputy President, I returned yesterday from a three-day Housing Authority visit to Singapore which began last Sunday. The purpose of the visit was to have a better understanding of their public housing development. The following data will help us achieve a better understanding. Singapore started its public housing programme in the '60s, sometime later than Hong Kong. But presently, 83% of the Singaporean population live in public housing and 87% of these Singaporeans own their own flats. They have to contribute only about 20% of their income on average in order to pay for a unit measuring over 1 000 square feet with four, five, even six rooms. Singaporeans, even if they are newly married couples, do not apply for a small flat consisting of three rooms which, in the Hong Kong context, would of course count as a large unit. There is no "sandwich class" in Singapore because 90% of its citizens can apply for public housing. They do not have a double rent policy for "well-off" tenants. The Singaporean Government's home ownership scheme has adequate appeal for stable income earners who are its main subscribers.
Mr PATTEN visited Singapore and stayed there for a short rest before he came to Hong Kong to take office. It is unfortunate that he did not make use of his time in Singapore to visit its public housing estates. If he had done so, he would have been ashamed of the public housing development in Hong Kong.
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Mr Deputy President, let me reiterate here the position of the UDHK. The Government should have a greater commitment to public housing development in the building of more public housing units and abolish the arrangement for the Housing Authority to turn over interest and dividend to the central government.
Mr Deputy President, the home ownership scheme for sandwich class contained in the policy address is, I believe, the most disappointing policy. According to the Working Group on the Sandwich Class under the Housing Authority, there are at present 47 000 households with a household income of between $18,000 and $40,000 who have not yet bought private homes and are not able to do so; and there are 4 000 new households each year falling into this category. Put it in another way, between now and 1997, there will be 67 000 such sandwich class households. Given that the Government is only able to provide 13 000 units between now and 1997, it is extremely inadequate to meet demand. What is more, the Government has a quota for 3 000 households only over the next three years. With 60 000 sandwich households applying within this period, it is clear that each one of them will have only a success rate of 5%; only five in 100 households will be able to benefit. One can only describe such a scheme as grossly inadequate, unbelievably mean, extremely offputting to the people who need it, and totally unrealistic. I cannot find better words to describe the ineffectiveness of this scheme. What is more, given that the flats for the sandwich class are priced in the middle range between market price level and home ownership price level, and given that the latter is directly affected by the former, it means that even those lucky enough to be chosen to benefit from the scheme, they will have to contribute half of the household income to pay the mortgage for their flats, and that they will just as well be subject to the traumas of escalating property prices.
In our two meetings with the Governor and the Financial Secretary, they invariably said that they were only aware of a sandwich class consisting of 40 000 households and were not aware of the annual increase in numbers. I therefore question whether they were provided with all the relevant data. I request that the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands release the report of the inter-departmental working group which he heads and explain the basis of his quota of 13 000.
Mr Deputy President, the UDHK suggest that the Government should provide at least 20 000 flats for sandwich class households. We understand that building is going to take time so we further suggest that the first batch of 10 000 pre-sale flats be allocated to the screened sandwich class applicants by the end of 1993 so as to alleviate the demand on the private property market. Meanwhile, we request the Government to step up measures to curb property speculation. If flat prices continue to remain high despite such measures, then the Government should expand the sandwich class home ownership scheme. The UDHK further suggest that home ownership flats and future flats for sandwich class households should not be pegged to private property prices.
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Mr Deputy President, I noticed a big banner hanging outside the Singapore Housing Development Authority, which read, "Builder of homes for the millions." If the Government can actively and boldly commit itself to solving the housing problems of the broad masses and the sandwich class, the UDHK are quite pleased to present a bigger and more beautifully written banner to the Government.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR GILBERT LEUNG (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, in preparing my speech today, I had distributed questionnaire forms to members of the Regional Council and sought their views on the constitutional package in the Governor's policy address. Many of the members who responded expressed great reservations about the Governor's constitutional reforms including (1) the separation of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, (2) the switching from corporate votes to individual votes in functional constituency elections, (3) the abolition of appointed membership to the two municipal councils and the district boards and (4) the establishment of an election committee, composed of district board members, to return 10 Legislative Council Members. As a result of this poll, I sense deeply that, while public opinion is generally supportive of the policy address, there are probably many who disagree with the specific proposals and arrangements put forth by the Governor. Therefore, while in principle we endorse the policy address as a whole, we must realize that the specific arrangements proposed by the Governor are not necessarily the only arrangements that will work, nor are they necessarily the best arrangements.
To determine whether the proposals put forth in the policy address are the best arrangements, or to identify even better arrangements, it is necessary that the Government talk things over with the people of Hong Kong and the Chinese Government in a frank, sincere, dispassionate and rational manner. Many people are now saying that Sino-British relations are at an all time low. The two sides are deadlocked over the airport project and the constitutional issue, to say nothing of frank and sincere discussions.
In my opinion, as Hong Kong's sovereign powers respectively before and after 1997, the United Kingdom and China should consider it their most important job to look after the interests of the people of Hong Kong. And should we the people of Hong Kong successfully arrive at general consensus on the major issues by accommodating differences, this will be indeed helping the United Kingdom and China to resolve their differences. Therefore, if it is our hope to see the United Kingdom and China come to a consensus despite the differences between them, we the people of Hong Kong must first arrive at a consensus among ourselves and remove our differences. The United Kingdom and China are like Hong Kong's parents. The decisions of the parents, in the final analysis, could not go against the wish of their children. If we resolve the differences among ourselves, there will be no basis for differences between the
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 361 United Kingdom and China. We should have the right to decide our own future.
Mr Deputy President, where the whole policy address is concerned, what disappoints me the most is the fact that the Government has not yet cast off its habitual shortsightedness. Though the Governor puts forth many welcome proposals for improving people's quality of life, these proposals still fall within the bounds of Government's bad habit of dealing with problems piecemeal.
This year's policy address presents an ambitious five-year programme. This sounds like a big step forward compared with previous policy addresses. It appears that the Government is now doing more thinking and looking farther ahead. However, Hong Kong's future indeed go well beyond the next five years. As Mr Andrew WONG said yesterday, we will have many more five years. For this reason, in formulating its policies, the Government should not regard 1997 as the end of the world. We are now in the year 1992, still almost five years from 1997. Will the Governor be talking about a four-year programme next year, a three-year programme the year after next, then a two-year small-scale programme and finally a one-year programme?
On the other hand, the span of the ambitious programme put forth in a policy address is not the most important thing. What is important is whether the Government, when considering what to do in the future, has given careful consideration to the relevant policies in their entireties and whether it has carefully analyzed the entire situations within the scope of policies and the interrelationships among policies. After reading the policy address, I fail to see that the Government has done any overall strategic planning. This is the most disappointing to me.
I am well aware that, given our limited social resources, we are unable to carry out the programmes of all policies or every programme of any particular policy at the same time. We have to set a priority. But the very fact that resources are limited is all the more reason why the Government must have an overall strategy after taking into account our opinions. Without it, the Government's policies will degenerate into stop-gap measures, into an "impromptu" kind of "crisis management", with the result that "he who makes more noise gets taken care of sooner". Only when importance is attached to an overall strategic view of things can it be assured that limited resources will be used where they are needed the most.
Take one example. I am most concerned about housing. I do not see any strategic planning for housing at all. The proposals made by the Governor for helping the sandwich class are roughly in line with the thinking of the Co-operative Resources Centre. We welcome this. But the Government must realize that the plight of the sandwich class is only one indication of the result of the Government's housing policy. The fact is that the Government's housing policy has all along been criticized by members of the public and that those dissatisfied with it are not confined to any particular quarter in our society. If
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the Government is determined to get to the root of the problem, it must conduct a thorough review of the existing housing policy, a review that covers the problems of public housing, home-ownership scheme and private-sector housing. Then it can clearly see the deep-seated causes of public discontent. Only when we have a clear idea of the whole situation will it be meaningful for us to discuss a one-year, two-year or even 10-year programme.
In paragraph 59 of his policy address, the Governor cited some housing statistics which have me confused. I would like merely to make two points here. Firstly, the Governor only touched upon plans to clear urban squatter areas; he made no mention at all of the rehousing of the even more numerous New Territories squatters. Secondly, the Governor said that three-quarters of people living in existing temporary housing areas will have been rehoused by 1997; but what about the remaining one-quarter? We must not make 1997 the dividing line for everything. Are we to make big issues of the things to be done before 1997 but forget about plans for 1997? Also, I would like to emphasize that the Government should not make a point of dwelling on how many squatter areas will have been cleared by which date. Rather, a responsible administration should make sure that squatter areas will be cleared and squatters rehoused on fair and reasonable conditions. This includes giving full consideration to the particular backgrounds of the affected residents.
While following up on the Government's arrangements for clearing Rennie's Mill, I discovered two strange things. The first thing is: I found that the Government, in its clearance plan, indicated that Rennie's Mill would be classified as ordinary cottage area. Later, I found that the Government in fact had never laid down conditions for the rehousing of those living in cottage areas that were to be cleared. In the past, the practice was that the conditions for clearing squatter areas were adopted to pass off as conditions for the clearing of cottage areas. Yet, as everybody knows, cottage areas and squatter areas are extremely different.
The second strange thing is that, when handling problems in clearing Rennie's Mill, the Government, which never liked to study history to begin with, totally ignored the unique historical background of Rennie's Mill as well as its own promises made in the past. I agree that rules must be observed in a society where the rule of law reigns. Still, the Government's decisions have to be reasonable; it must respect history and never go back on promises.
In mentioning Rennie's Mill here, I am not trying to highlight local problems. My point is to use the problem of Rennie's Mill to illustrate the Government's conservatism and shortsightedness and its persistent failure to take the whole things into perspective. I sincerely hope that the Government's grand design for the future will not only contain new measures but also take a comprehensive approach to deal with issues. In its grand design, the Government should look far ahead and think big.
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Mr Deputy President, in 1985, when the Government was vigorously promoting representative government, I left the civil service after having served for eight years to run in district board elections. Since then, I have been involved in board/council politics for seven years. I deeply sense the district boards' growth potential. Many local affairs require district board members' attention and action. Public affairs are very complicated. And to leave them all in the hands of the central government and the Legislative Council will run the risk of holding things up. I think that we should bring back the shelved system of local representative government developed in the early 1980s and set up a system of full representative government at the local level step by step. District boards should be given more decision-making power for handling local affairs. The popularly elected district board members are now only performing some advisory functions. This is really ridiculous. According to a survey that I conducted among members of the Regional Council, over 80% of them were in favour of expanding the power of district boards. In his policy address, the Governor proposed expanding the functions of the district boards and declared that more money would be appropriated for them in the next two years. This is only a small step forward. I hope that, besides increased appropriation for the district boards and their slightly expanded functions, the Government will have an overall plan for effectively developing local representative government. I am sure this will encourage more local people to come forward and participate in community service. And this is the right way forward for the development of a democratic government in Hong Kong.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR ERIC LI: Mr Deputy President,
I. The tale of "Peter PAN"
In search for a theme to my speech which will be about young people and politics, the thought of "Peter PAN" sprung to mind. PAN, the youthful hero, is the captain of the Lost Boys. He brings joy and leads children to boundless adventures in Neverland, an island between asleep and awake. When their dreams end, as dream always do, the earthling children will find PAN gone, though they would still be glad that they had those dreams which became almost too real and that PAN had made them never to forget him.
II. Politics in "Neverland"
The Governor's policy address is of course no fairy tale. It is a government blueprint of great substance. In fact, Mr PATTEN has shown the people of Hong Kong never to say "never" in politics. When the art of politics is practised to the edge of possibilities, it proves that a clear "pattern" of leadership can emerge even when politicians are bitterly divided. A course of greater democracy can be charted within the limited confines of the Basic Law. New standards of civil and social services can be set when the will leads the
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way. The policy address was rightly greeted with acclamation and a sense of adventure by the people of Hong Kong.
The cleverly engineered constitutional package is, on the whole, timely and workable. The package has created plenty of opportunities and there are real prizes to be won by aspiring politicians particularly from the grassroots. On the other hand, businessmen still find the Governor willing to lend them a sympathetic ear through the partisan Business Council, away from the cut and thrust of politics. If Mr PATTEN plays it right; he can indeed restore an effective executive-led government, while enjoying at the same time the benefit of a full range of opinions. However, this constitutional package, which is right for the time being, is not without serious drawbacks.
III. No graduate when class ends
The proposed package has offered a good deal more room for political parties to expand. However, it denies them of the ultimate prize of politics, the prized chance to share in the governing of Hong Kong.
The separation of the Executive Council from the Legislative Council and the creation of the two new bodies: the Governor's Business Council and the Government-Legislative Council Committee have effectively segregated the views of the community into three independent groups of broadly different interests. This setup leaves Mr PATTEN in a position to act as the lone judge of a whole range of usually conflicting views. Only days after the policy address, I have already heard remarks of suspicion from different quarters. The ordinary citizens suspect that the Business Council will become the "true" Executive Council. Vice versa, businessmen in their turn regard the Legislative Council and in particular, the Government-Legislative Council Committee, soon to be dominated by grassroot politicians after 1995, will become the real "power base". However, all realized that the role of the Executive Council has diminished and that local politicians, who can only advise, check or balance, could not have gained the necessary breadth of experience to resolve conflicts among ourselves and to run the administration of Hong Kong.
If I may indulge briefly in short rhetoric, Mr PATTEN might have paid handsome dividends to local politicians but he actually called in all the capital. Rule he will, while the community remains divided. By 1997, he may have a whole school full of students but none will graduate when class ends.
IV. An onslaught that belittles local politicians
"PAN crows the mightiest crow in Neverland and with his trusty sword, he wins every battle". When Mr PATTEN was said to be enjoying a "honeymoon", few were prepared to face the tremendous onslaught that he had already summoned to back his maiden policy speech. A well prepared platform, a budget to match, a battalion of elites from the Administration and the big wheels of the government PR machinery. It was destined to be an unfair battle
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right from the start. When the onslaught began, there was simply no room for the voice of opposition. In the process, local politicians have all been reduced to size. The myth of a lame duck government must have been dispelled once and for all though, unwittingly, he might have lamed the local politicians instead.
V. Darwinian evolution vs. fairy tale
"PAN will tell children that they can fly with a sprinkle of pixie dust and if they think a happy thought". With all the good wishes in the world, a stable democracy cannot be established in the nick of time. It comes in a rather slower process more similar to Darwinian evolution. I do not believe that democracy can be simply measured by the number of seats in the Legislative Council. Even if all our Members are directly elected, we have at best a representative legislature but certainly not a representative government. This is particularly the case, when the Executive Council and the Legislative Council are totally separated. Behind the superficial forms and vague ideology, it is perhaps even more important to ensure that these key posts will be filled by seasoned politicians who command wide community respect and are ready to take charge.
VI. Level playing field
"The Lost Boys in Neverland can refuse to grow up". Politicians in Hong Kong no longer have a choice. The Government must look at ways to nurture their strength rather than to build its own strength on their weaknesses. Political development in Hong Kong is still at its infancy. At present our politicians seriously lack the time, manpower and funds to compete with well heeled government campaigns. At the very least, Mr PATTEN ought to meet legislators on a level playing field.
In the short term, it may be incumbent upon him to exercise some restraint on the deployment of the immensely powerful public machinery vested in his trust. In the long term, the Government must take active steps to properly recognize political parties in legislation; to encourage their wide participation in the Government's key committees; to end the apparent "divide and rule" model at first opportunity so as to allow their leaders to participate in the Executive Council. In this regard, I would suggest a time-frame of no later than 1995 when the Legislative Council appointment system will cease. The proper recognition of political parties will hopefully help them to raise funds and thrive. I believe that it is from these "schools of politicians" that our future leadership will emerge. They are our future hope in bringing about quality criticisms and credible policy alternatives. We need unified and pooled efforts to effectively check and balance the strong Administration.
At a time when the people of Hong Kong are subjected to well orchestrated campaigns of quality government policies, more than ever before the people of Hong Kong need our fearless and honest counsel. Shady political stance, cheap criticisms that feed only on the insatiable demands of voters, double standards simply because of a change in Governor, slogan chanting and
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make beliefs rather than critical thinking, all have no place in this Council. We had better rise to the new challenge.
VII. Slow train to China
I have already spoken at length on Legislative Council and District Board reforms in earlier debates. I preferred a gradual phasing out of appointed members in District Boards. I will again stand by those remarks. On the question of the Legislative Council, I abstained my support to revive the OMELCO consensus but had voted against total stagnation. My hope was for an alternative proposal to be raised. The constitutional package fits the bill. I do not find it helpful to unstitch it while active negotiation is in play. For all its imperfections, I am still prepared to back it as a proposal to commence a dialogue with China. Reality or fantasy lies only on the two sides of a very fine line; it now rests in the court of a handful of senior Chinese leaders.
"When adventures end, PAN will fly home (hopefully from Chek Lap Kok) in his Jolly Rogers trailing fairy dust and in happy thoughts. He will reach home if he flies straight on till morning". For the rest of us, we will all be taking a "slow train to China". In reality, there is only one destination and our wheels must ride on track. Happy thoughts do not work without fairy dust and it is far too dangerous to start meddling with the track. I somehow do not feel it right either to ask passengers to jump off this train. So, honourable colleagues, shall we work on the only one thing possible, which is to build a faster and safer train?
VIII.The Charter for Youth
We build the future society for our children; it is important that they share our vision. I fully subscribe to Mr PATTEN's remarks that "an integral part of our present way of life..... is the participation of individual citizens in the conduct of Hong Kong's affairs". How relevant is this remark for our young people? If not, then why not and what can be done about it? I hope that Mr PATTEN will in turn subscribe to my Charter for Youth in which he shall find all the answers.
The simple fact is that the young people have little opportunity to participate in public affairs. A recent survey of the Commission on Youth indicates that more than half of our young people have taken up some form of community activities and one in 10 took up voluntary services. Both the willingness and training are there. Out of the some 300 000- strong trained volunteers aged 30 or below, only 342 were appointed to district based committees. They also occupy just slightly over 2% of all the government advisory committee and District Board seats. The community services that they have performed are also not appreciated by the Government and those in position of authority. For example, unlike many other countries, there is no place in the application form for civil service jobs to list the record of
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community services for our young applicants. The reduction of voting age to 18 is therefore only a beginning.
The Honourable Mrs Selina CHOW and the Honourable Mrs Miriam LAU have both spoken much about youth problems. I shall not repeat. I am concerned though with the likely standard official reply of more education and then expect the family to sort out its own problems as prime carer. In reality, this approach is very remote from the real problems. Despite the welcomed improvements in education, our ratio of pupils to teachers is still high. Teachers would welcome the much needed help from social workers in and outside of the school place. There are also substantial numbers of young people who have already left school or do not fit into our strait-jacket school system. Working parents are far more commonplace here than anywhere else in the world. The long hours they have to work make it impossible for many to adequately care for their own children. Much can still be done.
The Honourable HUI Yin-fat has already pointed out that social workers and young people are extremely disappointed at the lack of mention of the Charter for Youth which this Council enthusiastically endorsed in a motion debate held on 26 February this year. Instead of a prose and verse dialogue in this debate, I would like to echo the Honourable Mrs Selina CHOW's comment that communication is perhaps the key. I would appeal therefore to Mr PATTEN to meet with members of the Commission of Youth, who are his personal advisers, in the not too distant future so that we may have a chance to discuss with him directly these and other important matters pertaining to our young generation.
IX. Social welfare and rehabilitation
I have personally spent years of efforts in the drafting parties of both the Social Welfare White Paper and the Green Paper on Rehabilitation. I am still trying hard to keep up with all the areas of their follow-up work. It is therefore most heartening to find the Government's commitment in these two areas dear to my heart.
I would also like to mention that these policy papers have taken careful consideration of resource implications and issues are prioritized into attainable working targets. To accord spending priority on these already well established needs should not be criticized as lack of initiatives. Some suggestions I have made last year in the Policy and Budget Debates are given below:
(1) Increase allocation to the Lotteries Fund from 3% to 6.5%. We have now got an immediate capital injection of $2.3 billion,
(2) In place of an annual allocation, the Government should allow Policy Secretaries a firm commitment of 4.5% real growth in expenditure for the next three years. We have now got a firm commitment of 5% real growth for the next three years.
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As a fair person, I have no cause to complain but to commend this policy address highly. Perhaps just two more short comments to wind up. Firstly, I would appeal to the general pubic to assist in these important social programmes. In particular, we have experienced delays in the past in siting some of our schools and centres for the disabled. Please stand up for them if it happens in your neighbourhood. Secondly, in view of the fact that one in two of our disabled persons are unemployed, I trust that workers in sheltered workshops will be included in the nine new functional constituencies just as their able bodieed counterparts in regular manufacturing concerns.
With these remarks, Mr Deputy President, I support the motion.
MR FRED LI (in Cantonese):
Policy on Public Finance
In paragraph 5 of his policy address, Governor Chris PATTEN talked about his policy in respect of economics and public finance in very explicit terms, which I quote as follows: "We believe that low and predictable taxes are the best form of investment incentive. We believe that government spending must follow and not outpace economic growth."
Meeting Point is very disappointed in the failure of the policy address to respond to our persistent request for a comprehensive review of the the taxation system.
Meeting Point's position on public finance is this. We are not opposed to the Government adopting a prudent policy on public expenditure. But we do not agree that the Government should passively link public spending to economic growth. We believe that a sound public finance policy is one which will not only enable available resources to be allocated according to priority, but also one in which suitable arrangements are made to stimulate economic growth and explore new sources of revenue so that the tax burden will be equitably borne.
Meeting Point and Meeting Point legislators have stated repeatedly that the present taxation system fails to keep pace with the economic and social development of Hong Kong. It is unfair in terms of tax burden sharing. With salaries tax accounting for an ever greater proportion of the direct tax, middle income earners who have no access to the means-tested social services are made to shoulder a disproportionate tax burden.
Meeting Point urges the Government to conduct a comprehensive review of the taxation system immediately. We request at the same time that the Financial Secretary, in drafting the Budget for next year, should live up to his promise made last year in terms of raising the personal allowance significantly,
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alleviating the tax burden of the low-income earners, and adjusting the tax bands of salaries tax.
Economic Development
Hong Kong will face many economic problems in the nineties. These include protectionist threat to local trade, Sino-Hong Kong economic relationship, transformation of the local economic structure and direction of future development, structural unemployment and a widening gap between the rich and the poor. The policy address has not addressed any of these issues, except to propose the setting up of a Governor's Business Council consisting of 18 representatives from the big local business groups, to offer advice to the Governor in respect of how to maintain Hong Kong's competitive edge in foreign trade and what measures the Government should take to promote economic growth.
Meeting Point welcomes the fact that the Government has at long last recognized that it may have an important role to play in economic development. However, Meeting Point believes that it is not enough just to listen to the opinions of big businesses. We have always advocated the setting up of a widely represented economic review committee to probe the views of various sectors and to examine in a comprehensive manner our economy and the public economic policy.
Investment Environment and Consumer Rights
The Government recognizes for the first time the existence of market power in paragraph 11 of the policy address. I quote, "The public has already begun to voice alarm at the use of market power by suppliers in areas of special importance to the ordinary family's well-being". That in itself is an improvement in view of the denial by the Acting Secretary for Trade and Industry, Miss Denise YUE Chung-yee, in her reply to my question a few months ago, that there is no question of market monopoly.
Meeting Point considers that market domination is becoming a widespread phenomenon; it is already very evident in certain economic areas like oil supply, container terminal, banking and supermarket operation. Problems arising from such domination include domination by big corporations in such a way that small operators will find it hard to survive and new operators be excluded from the market. In their attempt to enlarge its market share, the big corporate groups might sell their products at low prices to attract customers. But when the market is dominated by a few remaining giants, the temptation will be strong for them to push up the prices to reap large profit. In this connection, Meeting Point notes that there are two considerations in terms of addressing this problem of market monopoly, namely, the maintenance of a competitive environment and the protection of consumer rights.
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We consider that the setting up of a Governor's Business Council whose members come from large consortia may give rise to a conflict of interest in terms of market domination and that the competition policy which the businessmen assist in formulating may not be effective after all and it will in any case be hard to muster public support. Meeting Point suggests the setting up of an independent and broadly based fair trading practice committee to formulate a competition policy for Hong Kong.
The policy address also mentions that the Government will work together with the Legislative Council and the Consumer Council to defend the free market and protect the rights of the consumer. Meeting Point welcomes this. We met the Consumer Council on Tuesday. To our disappointment, we noted that the Government did not have a plan yet and the Consumer Council was not aware of the important role which it will be playing. In this regard, I would like to urge the Government to come up with specific measures as soon as possible to translate its proposal into action.
Inflation
The Governor considered that "our most useful weapon in the battle against inflation is improved efficiency" (para 15) and that "as always, we must keep increases in wages and salaries in line with the higher productivity that efficiency brings" (para 15). The point he was trying to make is perhaps that the salaried classes should fight the battle against inflation on their own. But should employers, entrepreneurs and the monopolistic, market dominating enterprises also take up some of the responsibility? We must bear in mind that our inflation not entirely stems from sharp increase in wages. During the transformation of economic structure, businessmen's manipulation of market power to boost their profit to the maximum results in the inflated costs to other industries, as evidenced in the rising property prices and petroleum product prices, for example. While employers refuse to adjust staff remuneration to inflation, they will seek to raise prices when their profit margins are eroded by inflation. Such price adjustment brings with it cost inflation which will affect related industries and fuels prices of other products.
Meeting Point is disappointed that the policy address has failed to come up with any specific measure to combat inflation.
Deaf People and Community Development Service
I will focus on the problems faced by the deaf and those relating to the community development service while my Meeting Point colleague Mr Zachary WONG will later on talk about the problems of the aged and the issue of public assistance.
I am absolutely convinced that, given the full co-operation between the Government and the private sector, the demands put forward by the deaf are not difficult to meet at all. For example, subtitling and sign language can be
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incorporated into television news; electronic sign-boards can be installed in the MTR train compartments to highlight the next station; the police can make available emergency fax lines for people who cannot speak and hear properly to seek help. These are reasonable requests which have not been met over the years, much to the discontent of the over 12 000 deaf people in the territory. While "a great number of people" are accusing the Governor of spending too much money on social welfare, it would appear that such accusation does not stand after all for the basic needs of the deaf remain to be addressed for years.
The welfare commitment of the policy address amounts to little more than funding previously committed to welfare projects which the Government has up until now put on hold, on the pretext of inadequate funds. After all, the increased spending is only to fulfil some of the objectives set out in the White Paper on Social Welfare, and nothing more than that. Insofar as services which the Governor regards as non-essential, one can hardly be optimistic about their implementation. For example, it is not clear what will become of the community development service which is already included in the community building policy, though mainly provided by professional social workers, because it is not included in the White Paper.
The community development service is to be run by non-government agencies through community centres and neighbourhood level community development projects. There are at present 13 community centres and 51 neighbourhood level community development projects. Over the years, social workers have provided to the grassroot residents the most direct assistance, reinforced their readiness for mutual help and heightened their civic and community consciousness. However, the Government has not given any further commitment to this valuable service. I wish to appeal to the Government to seriously consider the possibility of implementing community development service in the new towns and old urban areas.
Commissioner for Administrative Complaints
I wish to comment on the proposal in the policy address regarding the Office of Commissioner for Administrative Complaints, since I happen to be the convenor of the Legislative Council working group on the review of the Office of the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints. First of all, I believe members of the working group would support the three changes proposed by the Governor, namely,
(i) that the public should have the right to take complaints directly to the Commissioner;
(ii) that the Commissioner may publicize his investigation reports; and
(iii) that the Commissioner's jurisdiction should be extended to include complaints against statutory bodies such as the MTRC and the KCRC.
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I appeal to other colleagues to give their support to these proposals in order that the Commissioner may be able to do a better job of handling administrative complaints and to make available to the public a more direct channel of complaining about administrative abuse.
However, it would appear from the analysis of public complaints against the Government that there is considerable public demand for the Complaint Against Police Office to be separated from the Police Force altogether to enhance its independence and public trustworthiness. I believe that this demand is reasonable. Although the Commissioner for Administrative Complaints is not in a position to handle complaints against the police, I believe that the Government should accede to the request of making the Office which deals with this kind of complaints independent of the Police Force.
Housing Problem of Sandwich Class
Meeting Point is a political party which reflects the views of the middle and lower classes. We have the following views on the housing problems of the sandwich class.
The policy address undertakes to provide a home ownership scheme for the sandwich class. But the proposed scheme which will produce 13 000 units over the next five years will have only limited effect, given that we have 300 000 sandwich households, though admittedly, not all of these households will need government assistance. Meanwhile, the Government has to cater to the needs of the great number of applicants on the waiting list for public housing. There are many temporary housing areas scheduled for clearance, in addition to a great many squatter areas which the Government promised to clear in the mid nineties. The Government should try its best to build more public housing units as far as possible because there are many low income applicants waiting for public housing. I wish to stress therefore that the Government should build more public housing and home ownership flats to ultimately solve the housing problem which Hong Kong people find the most worrying.
Mr Deputy President, due to the time constraint, if I may do a summing up here, Meeting Point has conducted a total of six district forums on the policy address. I personally did one in Kwun Tong and I was surprised at the unexpectedly high turn-out of over 200 people. I was also surprised that the participants were strongly supportive of Mr PATTEN's political reform. I asked them what they would think if China did not give its support to the constitutional reform. I asked them whether they supported the abolition of appointed seats on the district board, and whether they supported the political reform package as a whole. I was really touched as the majority of the participants, irrespective of age and sex, invariably showed their support by raising their hands for a greater measure of democracy and more openness. I wish to report to you this extremely unscientific observation, but that was exactly how the 200 odd participants felt about the issue. I think colleagues should conduct more street polls if they wish to know more about public
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opinion; they should do that instead of sitting in this chamber and saying that, since no opinion survey has been conducted, they would regard the reform package as being too radical and whatnot. I wish Members would conduct more surveys and organize more forums to gauge Hong Kong people's feelings.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
6.03 pm
DEPUTY PRESIDENT: We shall take a short break for supper.
6.49 pm
DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Council will resume.
MR MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, Mr PATTEN has stated very clearly from the very beginning in his policy address that in order to maintain Hong Kong's economy, there must be competition within a sound and fair framework of regulation and law. I fully agree that fair competition is a factor in Hong Kong's success and this is a principle that the Government must adhere to. But ironically in the newly established Governor's Business Council, all members are local business tycoons and there are no representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises at all. I really doubt whether the interests of small and medium-sized enterprises and small businessmen will be taken care of in the formulation of a comprehensive "competition policy" so that they would not be treated unfairly. In Hong Kong, over 90% of the companies are of small and medium size. They play a very important part in improving Hong Kong's productivity and promoting economic growth. However, they are a group of people who are least protected. Apart from not having a single place in the Governor's Business Council, this group of people also fail to get support in respect of investment environment and research and development under the non-intervention and laissez-faire policy of the Government. With industrial transformation, Hong Kong is moving into the manufacture of high-value-added products. The Government should positively take measures to increase the competitiveness of these small and medium-sized enterprises, improve their investment environment and upgrade the quality of their products. In this way, these enterprises who are the pillar of our economy will be able to develop and help our economy further prosper so that Hong Kong can maintain its competitiveness in the Asian-Pacific Region. Therefore, the United Democrats of Hong Kong (UDHK) are proposing the setting-up of an Economic Development Council in which the small and medium-sized enterprises must be represented.
There is a worrying trend in our economy that big consortiums are monopolizing the situation particularly in franchised businesses. Quality of
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services will not be improved where there is a lack of competition and prices will continue to rise as a result of monopolization. The past of China Motor Bus Company is a good example. Since the company was awarded a franchise, no improvement of service was seen. It is gratifying that the Government opens up 26 routes this year to introduce competition to bus services. It is only through competition that there will be improvement and incentive to improve service and draw customers. Yet there are still a lot of public utilities companies being protected by franchise, so the consumers' rights are adversely affected due to a lack of competition. The Government should play a role by setting conditions for franchise in such a way that these public utilities companies are responsible to consumers and there should also be a set of anti-monopoly policies. Matters such as the construction of Container Terminal No. 9, energy, telecommunication and Cable TV should be dealt with on the principles of anti-monopoly and introducing competition. In the United States, there is a long-standing Anti-trust Law to prevent monopolization. We may also consider introducing similar policy and legislation in Hong Kong to introduce competition so that the adverse consequences of monopolization will not jeopardize free market competition and the consumers' rights.
As the deputy spokesman for the UDHK on economic policies, I am much concerned that the Governor's Business Council might become a forum for lobbying and bargaining. I hope that there will be more transparency in the Council and in making decisions, the Council will take care of the interests of Hong Kong as a whole rather than allowing a small group of rich and powerful people to effect a cartel.
Mr PATTEN mentioned in paragraph 11 of his policy address that the Government will join forces with the Consumer Council to defend free markets as well as to enable consumers to have full redress. In a fair and perfect market, both the buyers and the vendors should be provided with full information. The consumers should have the "right to know" whether the products are hazardous to their health, the products are what they are said to be and the prices are reasonable. In order to defend free markets, we have to defend the consumers' rights. As for the commodities greatly affecting people's livelihood, such as flats, the Government should join forces with the Consumer Council to ensure that home buyers are provided with full and accurate information, the developers are self-disciplined and the property estate agents are more professional. Thus there should be adequate monitoring and legislation so that flats will not be beyond the reach of home-buyers because of people who corner the market or unscrupulous property agents who pocket the "price differentials" and because of the rocketing prices. I, therefore, urge the Government to expand resources and powers of the Consumer Council and legislate for the Council to prosecute unscrupulous businessmen. Last year, the Consumer Council extended its jurisdiction to cover complaints relating to non-goods services as well as flats. But I think this is inadequate. Its power should be further expanded in order to protect the consumers' reasonable rights more effectively.
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Let me turn to the question of environmental protection, which has been regarded by the industrial and commercial sectors so far as an impediment to economic growth. In fact, environmental protection and our economy are closely related. The manufacturers have not taken into account the pollution caused in the production process, that is, the social costs, so the pollution problem in Hong Kong is getting worse. The Governor has placed disposal and treatment of sewage and solid waste on "The Environmental Priorities". While I am pleased by this, I am also disappointed. The Government's approach in environmental protection is treating symptoms and it is not comprehensive enough though pragmatic. It has not embodied the philosophy of environmental protection: tackling problems at their root and taking prevention. The proposal of developing landfills in remote areas of the New Territories to deal with solid waste merely treats the symptoms but fails to get at the root of the problems. In another words, it fails to achieve the three major aims, namely reduction of solid waste and pollution, reuse and recycling.
In fact, the Government should address the problem through a "polluter pays" scheme. On one hand, such scheme can enhance public awareness of environmental protection; and on the other hand, it can reduce pollution and encourage recycling. As the more one pollutes, the more one has to pay, manufacturers will take into account the social costs in their decisions on production and thus improve their production method or develop a more efficient method. Apart from penalizing the polluters and the inefficient users through a "polluter pays" scheme, the Government should also consider making "taxation concession" to reward enterprises which have attached much importance to environmental protection so that they will realize that they have to include the social costs and reduce pollution. As for the big enterprises which are stubborn and commit offences repeatedly despite warnings and deliberately ignore the laws on environmental protection, they may be sentenced to imprisonment, if necessary, as a punishment. In this way, we will not only have both sticks and carrots but also foster a sense of "corporate responsibility/corporate citizenship" in Hong Kong. The entrepreneurs and businessmen will then understand that environmental protection does not necessarily lead to a rise in costs. In this way, we will be able to protect ecology, our quality of life as well as our economic prosperity. In fact, environmental pollution will deplete the competitiveness of the entrepreneurs since the overall productivity of their workers will decrease due to poor health. And for the promotion of environmental protection, trades relating to "green" commodities such as thermal energy recycling and material recycling technology will be developed, thus creating more businesses and jobs. In this way, we can dispel the misconception upheld by the big entrepreneurs that "environmental protection and economic growth cannot coexist" and the sense of "corporate responsibility" can help to maintain a lasting, close and balanced relationship between mankind and environment.
It is encouraging that the Government requires an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) to be included in papers submitted to the Executive Council. However, it is indeed discouraging that there is no legislation requiring an EIA
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on major projects undertaken by the public and private sectors. As a matter of fact, the Government has to announce the state of environmental pollution annually so that the general public are informed of the progress of the work undertaken for environmental protection in Hong Kong. Besides, the Environmental Protection Department should set up a comprehensive environmental database and provide a full record of pollution cases to facilitate public enquiry. What is more important is that the Government should create a powerful co-ordinating mechanism within the Secretary-level framework to make the policy branches take into full consideration environmental factors in the formulation of their policies and in major decision-making. Only in this way could we ensure the Government poses itself as a "green Government".
I think the Government should devise a Freedom of Information Act as soon as possible to put into practice what are stressed in the policy address; namely a "comprehensive competitive" economic policy and the tackling of the pollution problem. Except for the protection of commerce and trade secrets, a Freedom of Information Act will make the business sector understand more about the Government's measures of concern to them and ensure a fairer and effectiveness-oriented environment for competition within the trade, thereby considerably minimizing unfair cases of corruption, favouritism and monopolization. Further implementation of environmental protection will also be achieved through the early formulation of a Freedom of Information Act. This is because the Act will give the public the right to know so that they could understand the state of environmental pollution, for instance, in respect of water quality, air quality, toxic substances and radioactive materials, through the database or by checking records. It is, therefore, very important to formulate the Freedom of Information Act, in order to allow for fair competition of businesses and step up public monitoring of the Government's efforts on environmental protection on one hand and to highlight the openness of the Hong Kong Government on the other.
I am extremely dissatisfied with the absence of discussions on recreational and cultural policies in the policy address. While the Government paid attention to improvements in the material life of the general public, it failed to mention ways to better their spiritual life, to foster a balanced development in their well-being. In my opinion, the Government should establish an "Arts Council" or "Arts Development Board" as soon as possible to promote on all fronts our arts development including that of performing arts, visual arts and cultural arts and emphasize the importance of freedom in artistic creativity in Hong Kong and formulate a set of clear and far-sighted cultural policies. In order to implement on a firm footing such freedom of artistic creativity, the Government should firstly review or even repeal, with immediate effect, any censorship systems or legislation that have stifled artistic creativity, such as the banning of films on sensitive or political issues on the grounds of their jeopardizing Hong Kong's friendly relationship with its neighbouring areas. Secondly, the Government should review the policy that the Council for the Performing Arts has frozen its subsidy to local arts groups in the past three years. Arts groups need government subsidy to sustain their growth. The Government should also
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review the existing policy of letting the Council for Performing Arts decide on its own the allocation of funds to arts groups. Such decision-making power should be delegated to an "Arts Development Board" comprising representatives from the arts circles, government officials and staunch supporters of arts development.
In addition, the Government should establish an independent telecommunication authority as early as possible in order to formulate a set of long-term telecommunication policies. This would rectify the prevailing policies which are confusing and lacking in long term planning, so that services would be improved through competition between the media and the telecommunication industry. Such would result in the incorporation of brand new technology, provision of diversified entertainment and information services, protection of the consumers' right to choose as well as the maintenance of a reasonable level of charges.
Finally, it is most disappointing that the policy address did not mention the future of Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), the corporatization of which has been delayed for years. Since RTHK does not have any television channels, its television productions.....
DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Mr MAN, under Standing Orders you are limited to 15 minutes. Please conclude your speech.
MR MAN SAI-CHEONG: Yes, Mr Deputy President, just a few more words. DEPUTY PRESIDENT: Please conclude your speech.
MR MAN SAI-CHEONG: Mr Deputy President, could I have a couple of seconds' grace to say a few more words?
DEPUTY PRESIDENT: You really must conclude your speech, Mr MAN.
MR STEVEN POON (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, over the past 150 years Hong Kong has developed from a small fishing village into an international city of crucial importance. Hong Kong's success is attributed to many factors, among which two are the most important. On the one hand, Hong Kong, bordering on China, is well placed to exploit its vast natural resources and market. On the other hand, Hong Kong, as a British colony, has been able to stay away from the persistent uncertainty in China over the past century.
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Even since embarking on its development into a metropolitan city, Hong Kong had seen China suffer from a number of turbulences but Hong Kong could always go through them unscathed and focus its efforts on economic development.
Now comes a time when Hong Kong will return to China in 1997 on the basis of a "one country, two systems" concept at a time when China has successfully maintained a stable political situation, achieved a growing international status and made spectacular economic success. And this is also the aspiration of the Chinese both within and outside China to have a unified China. The signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration marked the end of British rule and the beginning of a new era.
Following the signing of the Joint Reclaration, Hong Kong's economy has been interwoven with that of China and we can no longer stand aloof from China's political development. The pound sterling plummeted several weeks ago but it had no effect at all on Hong Kong whereas the settlement of the Sino-American dispute over the Section 301 sanction and the upholding of the economic reforms and openness as endorsed in China's 14th Party Congress were able to trigger a surge in the Hong Kong stock market. The implication of these incidents is that the agenda of Hong Kong is no longer decided in London but to a very large extent in Beijing. As a future Special Administrative Region of China, Hong Kong will not be able to stand aloof from the affairs of China. As a local government, Hong Kong will certainly be subject to the influence of the Chinese central government.
Under such circumstances, it is our essential and urgent task to maintain a good dialogue and co-operation with China so as to lay a solid groundwork in 1997 for the establishment of a smooth relationship between China, the central government, and Hong Kong, the local government. This is also what I and many Hong Kong people expect the United Kingdom to do in its remaining less-than-five-year rule.
Yet, in his policy address the Governor did not give any idea as to the establishment of a good Sino-Hong Kong relationship before 1997. There is no proposal whatsoever regarding how to improve our communication with China, how to co-operate with China in the political and economic arenas and how to bring about better understanding between officials of the two governments.
On the contrary, the policy address gives one an impression that our Government intends to provoke a confrontation with China. This is very regrettable.
On 30 June, 1997 the Governor may depart from the Chek Lap Kok or Kai Tak Airport, or maybe as he wishes, he will take a through train back to the United Kingdom, where he may become a well-respected politician. However, during his governorship in Hong Kong, if he fails to build up a Hong Kong which can maintain a harmonious relationship with China and a Hong Kong
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which can enjoy a smooth transition to 1997, he will definitely be regarded as an incompetent Governor of Hong Kong. It is because he will after all leave us with a chaotic Hong Kong and the job to clear up the mess.
Last year in the debate on the policy address, I urged the Government to build on the success of reaching the Memorandum of Understanding on the new airport and strive for further communication and co-operation with China. To our disappointment, last year there was not only no progress in achieving better communication and co-operation but, on the contrary, things got worse. Furthermore, owing to the position taken by the Governor, Mr PATTEN, in his policy address, the Sino-Hong Kong relations have been at an all-time low. I would like to urge the Hong Kong Government to make efforts to improve the present strained Sino-Hong Kong relations.
In my opinion, the odds are Hong Kong will become a place which China cannot rule in accordance with the Basic Law, or even a threat to China. Hong Kong's future opportunity indeed lies on its future role as the most powerful locomotive of China's economy. At present, 40% of China's foreign trade is conducted through Hong Kong and 60% of its overseas investments come from Hong Kong or via Hong Kong while 90% of its foreign loan deals last year were arranged in Hong Kong. In fact, the impetus given by Hong Kong to China's open economy has spread far beyond South China to other provinces. Increasing number of Hong Kong entrepreneurs have already participated in projects in China's northern provinces such as real estate development, energy supply, piers and highway construction, telecommunication and the manufacturing industry. It is evident that Hong Kong's economy is in fact interwoven with China's overall economic development.
Last year in the debate on the policy address, I urged the Government to establish with China a committee on economic co-operation in South China so as to strengthen Hong Kong's co-operation with the provinces in that part of China. However, this proposal was not accepted. In this year, the economic co-operation between China and Hong Kong has been significantly enhanced and has extended to other provinces beyond South China. In view of the new Governor's new working style, I once again request the Governor to reconsider this proposal and go a bit further by setting up a committee on the economic co operation between China and Hong Kong.
Mr Deputy President, my colleagues in this Council may be disappointed if I do not talk about the new airport. The Governor only spared three paragraphs for the new airport and the related projects. But he fell short of putting forward any idea to resolve the present dispute between the United Kingdom and China over this issue. In fact, the Governor tried to evade the crux of the problem, which is the soaring cost of the airport railway. In fact, it shot up by 80% from July 1991 to April 1992. With so colossal a project, the participation of so many engineers and financial experts and the commitment of so much money to commission a consultancy to prepare a feasibility report, it is really beyond our understanding why the scale of the project can be amended to
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 380 such an extent that the cost has sharply risen by 80% within a short span of nine months.
The Government has never bothered to disclose the breakdown of the cost estimates of the airport railway to the public. The reason may be very simple. According to the present cost estimates, the airport railway project cannot be carried out cost-effectively. I am not urging the Government to scrap the airport railway project. I only wish to ask the Government to make a drastic reduction of the cost of the project which has already gone up by 80% and closely monitor the Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC).
In paragraph 35 of the policy address, the Governor mentioned that the MTRC has earned itself a worldwide reputation as a responsible borrower with a strong credit rating. Yet, the Governor failed to point out that the main reason for the MTRC to attain such a reputation is that the Government has kept on injecting Hong Kong people's money into the MTRC to make up its deficit so that it can clear its debts in time. In fact, to sustain a strong credit rating, the MTRC has already made a loss of $3.5 billion out of the $8.4 billion which is the taxpayers' money injected into the MTRC as capital. For this reason, the Government should, in the interests of the public, keep a close eye on the MTRC and give some thought to the idea of reorganizing its board of directors and the executives should have no role in it, so that the board will be able to monitor the operation of the MTRC effectively.
Mr Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.
MR HENRY TANG (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, at this delicate moment, what can be called a good policy address for Hong Kong? I think a good policy address must contain two major elements. Firstly, given that Hong Kong is a leading international financial centre, how will the new Governor run Hong Kong, which is already in the latter half of the transitional period? How will he hold things steady to enable Hong Kong to make its "smooth transition" to the special administrative region (SAR) government during this critical period of four and a half years? All of this is not only of concern to the 5.7 million people of Hong Kong. It also captures the serious attention of the international community. In other words, an important and indispensable element of governing strategy for the coming years is one which enables Hong Kong to make its smooth transition to 1997 on the basis of a partnership among China, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong itself, marked by mutual accommodation and mutual concession.
Secondly, a policy address must lay down a visionary and far-sighted development programme. For the United Kingdom, 1997 may be a "full stop" with regard to its rule over Hong Kong. However, for the general public of Hong Kong, 1997 is certainly not the end of things. We expect there to be more satisfactory development after 1997. If the people of Hong Kong had had no expectations concerning the days after 1997, Hong Kong would have become a
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pool of stagnant water long before now. We have reason to expect that as a responsible Governor, he will make sensible decisions and give the public a future to look forward to, a future that does not end by 1997 but holds the promise of longer-term development, a future for the next generation, a future to strive for.
It cannot be denied that Mr Chris PATTEN's policy address has moved things forward both in welfare policy and in democratic government. It has made the general public both excited and delighted. Many citizens even regard it as the most outstanding policy address in many years. However, I have some reservations about it. This is because the Governor has obviously ignored my two major expectations about the policy address. And many friends in the business community share my disappointment.
China-the United Kingdom-Hong Kong relations are a very delicate issue, which is rather hard to spell out in concrete terms since there is no fast rule or specific instruction that must be followed. Still, to maintain sound tripartite relations, what will be essential is a basic spirit of mutual trust and sincere co-operation. Without it, I am afraid that "smooth transition" will become nothing more than an empty talk.
I remember that, on 9 July this year, as Governor Chris PATTEN arrived at Hong Kong and took the oath of office, he said towards the end of his speech, "I have heard it said that the relationship between Britain and China, ....., is still bedeviled by misunderstandings and lack of trust..... I will do all that I can to remove misunderstandings and to build up trust. Trust is a two-way street. Good co-operation with China is my sincere aim and my profound wish."
These words are still fresh in our memory. Yet it seems that the Governor has already turned the table on his promise. The thrust of his policy address is quite clear. It is headed for a deterioration in Sino-British relations, a deepening of mutual misunderstanding. It certainly will destroy the understanding and trust that have been established so far and cast a dark shadow over political development during the transitional period. I hope that the Governor's forthcoming visit to China will not be a kow-tow trip or a pilgrimage but a trip to win for the people of Hong Kong a political system that we can accept.
In this policy address or policy blueprint, all developments are invariably timed to end at 1997. Every proposal in the policy address begins with by making it explicitly clear that the relevant programme will be carried out "from now until 1997" and that "further development after 1997 will be a matter for the Government of the SAR". The details of administration after 1997 should admittedly be up to the Government of the SAR. Still, arrangements must be made sooner than that for social development and for public spending. If we recognize the importance of "convergence," then there is no reason why all policy planning should stop at 1997. Such myopia will seriously undermine the
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long-term development of the SAR and be bad for the people who will continue to live in Hong Kong.
Also, it appears that the Governor's proposals on economic development in the policy address do not hit the nail on its head. I am rather disappointed. It is an indisputable fact that Hong Kong's economy is undergoing a structural change and is developing in the direction of financial and other service industries. This, however, does not mean that manufacturing is in perpetual decline. If we depend too much on service industries, then our overall economic advantage will suffer a serious blow in the event of a global recession. For many years, I, with many friends in the business community as well as economists, have been urging the Government to give active support to industrial development and to encourage researches on high-tech industries. At the beginning of this year, I moved in this Council a motion, that was supported by all unofficial Members, urging the Government to review its industrial policy. Regrettably, the Government has turned a deaf ear and ignored this public request. Also, the Government has paid no attention to the declining competitiveness of Hong Kong's industry in the international marketplace.
The policy address stresses that importance must be attached to competitiveness. I personally hope that Mr Chris PATTEN will be discerning enough to see that the Government really has the responsibility for aiding industrial development and that manufacturing must not be left to fend for itself until it is knocked out of the game by the other three small dragons of Asia.
The Government often boasts the support it gives to industrial development. Yet one never sees any real action that is well planned. People cannot but doubt the Government's sincerity of helping the development of Hong Kong's high-tech industry. Everybody knows that industry in the United Kingdom is in steady decline. Even the well-known Jaguar sedan, which was very much in demand at one time, has experienced a marked sales decline in recent years. The once leading position of British products in the global marketplace is gone forever. Will Hong Kong's industrial success make it even more difficult for British industry to hold onto its market share in the world? Is this why the United Kingdom is ignoring our call for sustaining our industrial development? If the British Hong Kong administration is really looking at Hong Kong's industrial policy in such a frame of mind, this is indeed something to be regretted.
During the economic structural transition, there has emerged in Hong Kong a very strange situation where "there are people without jobs on one hand and jobs without people to fill on the other". I am in favour of the Government's plan to inject $300 million into the retraining fund so that 15 000 workers will be retrained in the next two to three years. This is a very constructive plan but it still seems inadequate.
There are now 65 000 unemployed workers in Hong Kong. The $300 million will only pay for the retraining of 15 000. This will still leave
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40 000 to 50 000 unemployed workers without any kind of government help. I propose to inject $900 million into the retraining fund during the first year and $300 million during each of the following years. This will give all unemployed and underemployed a chance to participate in a more balanced and better training programme. As a result, the unemployed and underemployed may be able to fit into the future economic environment. Trainees will be able to put their training to good use to meet needs in society and in the marketplace. Since the policy address maintains that the Government has a duty to support the economic structural change, the Government must discharge this duty decisively and thoroughly. There should be no foot-dragging or equivocation.
Also, many members of the public have criticized the retraining plan and thought that it has failed because middle-aged workers who are lowly educated still cannot find jobs after retraining. During the past several months, both the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and I sent letters and paid personal visits to various big industrial and commercial enterprises to ask them to give priority to hiring retrained workers. I believe that this effort has produced some result. But the result may not be satisfactory. The main reason is that many complain that the retraining programme is not balanced and that many retrained workers are not up to par. Therefore, I would like to suggest that the Government, being the biggest employer in Hong Kong, should take the lead in hiring these retrained workers. They are experienced and capable. They are willing to work and to put up with unfavorable working conditions. It is true that they are not so young. But the Government's plans to set up many homes for the elderly, child care nurseries, house-keeping helper services and clinics are certainly related to the retraining of these workers in the sense that employment opportunities will be made available to them. The Government has achieved a remarkable success in hiring many disabled persons to fill suitable positions. I believe that retrained middle-aged workers will be more than equal to their jobs.
Lastly, I am disappointed at the policy address's failure to touch upon the compulsory private retirement protection scheme. I hope that this does not mean that the Government is totally without sincerity about such a scheme. I repeat that the Government has the duty to do its best for protecting the interests of the public. A sound retirement protection scheme cannot be successful without government participation. The Government has a basic social duty to guarantee against possible risks. It cannot call it quits by passing the buck to employers and employees.
Mr Deputy President, these are my remarks.
MR TIK CHI-YUEN (in Cantonese): Mr Deputy President, one can say that this year's policy address is the most eye-catching in many years. In my opinion, there are three main reasons: (1) It is Mr PATTEN's maiden policy address. Everybody would like to know what policy the new Governor is going to pursue. (2) The policy address touches on political reform and the improvement
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of people's quality of life, which are things of concern to all. (3) The publication of the policy address was coincided by a series of unprecedented promotional activities such as the question/answer sessions. As we can all see, the policy address has become the talk of the town over the past fortnight.
The Governor has stressed that the policy address contains only proposals. He welcomes Members of this Council and the general public to make comments. And there will be consultation before final decisions are made. Meeting Point welcomes the Governor's way of doing things: announcing administrative measures in the form of proposals, holding public consultation and listening directly to the public views. Compared with past policy addresses, which merely announced decisions already made by the Government, this years' represents a step forward in the direction of an open and accountable administration. Meeting Point will be taking an active interest in what procedure the Government will follow in consulting with the public and in what actions the Government will then take. Meeting Point does not wish to see reasonable action methods become political manipulations, where there are "posturings but no real actions".
I believe that the constitutional package is the most controversial part of the policy address. The media, too, have been focussing on the election systems for 1994 and 1995, the separation of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council and other like issues. However, I would like to point out here that in fact the people are also interested in the improvement of the quality of life. Meeting Point has held many forums with local residents on the policy address. At these meetings, most of the residents offered comments on issues closely affecting the quality of their life (such as education, health care and transport). I think that residents would like to have better health care services, which, to them, are as important as more directly elected Legislative Council seats. Regrettably, the media seem to have assigned a secondary place to reporting on proposals for improving the quality of life.
The policy address devotes a great deal of space and several chapters to talking about the improvement of people's quality of life. It also presents a list of specific recommendations on improvements to be made. For instance, it talks about adding more teachers, providing more beds in hospitals and protecting the interests of service-users. With regard to the improvement of people's quality of life, Meeting Point has three comments to offer:
(1) While the policy address contains a host of recommendations on the improvement of people's quality of life, these recommendations are nothing more than repayment of "old debts". Nothing new is proposed. They are mostly old policies and old commitments. All of these recommendations are the basic demands of the citizens, who have been pressing them for many years. Only now will they become reality. The Government is merely making up for the commitments and promises it made in the past.
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(2) The proposals of the policy address for improving people's quality of life are quite fragmentary. They all represent slight improvements within the scope of existing services. But many existing basic social services are not satisfactory, falling far short of the demands of the citizens. Public assistance is one example. Making a slight improvement on a very inadequate service level cannot meet the needs of our society. Also, given Hong Kong's present economic situation and the Government's present financial strength, these piecemeal improvements are really unsatisfactory.
(3) Plans for the improvement of services with a bearing on people's livelihood do not go beyond 1997. No policy direction is set for future developments. Nor is there any in-depth review of the needs of society such that reasonable long-range targets for the various social policies can be formulated.
I will now make some comments on education, health care and public services in New Territories North.
Education
In his policy address, the Governor proposed to increase recurrent spending on education from now until 1997 by 15.8% in real terms. This appears superficially to be quite generous. The truth is that a 15.8% cumulative growth over the five years from 1992 to 1997 averages out at a 2.998% annual growth rate in real terms. This is far behind the 5% annual growth rate of gross domestic product that the Governor projected. In other words, appropriation for education will increase at a much slower rate than the rate of economic growth.
Meeting Point thinks that this is indeed discouraging. In the education area, Hong Kong must within the next few years carry out many recommendations, including those of the Education Commission Report No. 5, to improve the quality of primary and secondary education, the increased places of tertiary institutions and more funding for research in these institutions. A 3% annual rate of increase in real terms is simply inadequate.
The policy address refers to parent's expectation of quality education for their children. However, it makes no mention at all of the right of parents to participate in the formulation of the education policy or of the right of students to participate in the learning process in their schools. This is really disappointing. Nor is it consistent with the "new client-based culture" proposed in the policy address. Meeting Point thinks that, where the education system is concerned, parents have the right to know, the right to participate, the right to air grievances and the right to choose schools. Their rights, as well as their obligations, should be laid down in a "parents' charter". Meeting Point urges the Government to play a more active role in this connection.
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 October 1992 386
Meeting Point welcomes the plan to reduce the size of each class, beginning next year. However, I would like to draw the Government's attention to the shortage of Primary 1 places in some new towns, such as Tai Po, North, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. Actions should be taken to forestall any further shortage of school places in these new towns as a result of class size reduction. Also, the Government plans to re-draw the boundaries of school districts so as to achieve a flexible distribution of school places. We think that, in expanding school networks, the Government must observe the principle that schools for Primary 1 students should be within walking distance.
Meeting Point thinks that the development of the education policy should follow an overall strategy. Also, there should be co-ordination among pre-school education, basic education and tertiary education in their development. I suggest that the Government conduct a comprehensive review of education services next year and formulate an education policy that goes beyond 1997. In view of the 1997 issue, we think that national education should be strengthened to help the younger generation in facing the return of sovereignty to China.
Health care services
On health care services, the Governor's policy address begins by stressing the need for the Government to continue improving the quality of health care services. The Governor also recommended a 22% increase in real terms in recurrent spending on health care services from now until 1997. The additional allocation will be used to add 4 200 beds, start 13 new clinics and expand 11 existing clinics. In these recommendations, we see only some quantity improvements. Most of these improvements were in fact promised by the Government years ago. They are not new programmes. It seems that the figures are intended to give the impression that the Government is making further commitments to health care services. This prompts one to doubt if it is the Government's intention to mislead the public.
With regard to the improvement of service quality, I believe that the most attractive improvement is to cut the waiting time and allow advance appointments. But these are improvements promised long ago by relevant departments and institutions. They are nothing new. Because not much can be done in the way of improving the quality of services, the Governor included in his policy address, as important improvements, even such negligible items as air conditioners, drinking fountains and cleaner lavatories. Evidently, the Government has done nothing at all in the way of improving the quality of health care services. Before this, the administration stressed its determination to improve quality. There is inconsistency between what is said before and what is said later, is there not?
In recent years, the general public has shown a keen interest in the rights of patients. However, the policy address makes no mention of the question of how the rights of patients are to be protected. In the past, the Government also acknowledged the need to protect the rights of patients, but they were all idle