XN000022-1995-02-23 — Page 8

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Mr Tam Yiu-chung (through interpreter): Thank you Mr President. I'd like to talk about retirement protection with the Governor. The Governor said that with regard to the OPS public opinion does not support it and therefore it has been shelved. Now the Government received submission on OPS and I would like to point out that recently a TV station commissioned a polling company to conduct a public survey for the OPS. It was found that 70 per cent of the respondents supported the OPS and the Governor stated that in this Council there was only one Councillor who supported the OPS unconditionally.

Now I would like to make the following points: with regard to the OPS, now in the consultation paper very often when it was debated in this Council, Councillors of course put forward suggested improvements. When we propose improvements that does not mean that we do not support the scheme and if the Government wants to proceed with a certain thing, I think the Government would have the support of the Council. Last time you pushed the reform package, that was a case in point and last. night Government officials in the afternoon lobbied hard against Mr Ho's Private Member's Bill. So you yourself Mr Governor, and your subordinates are very skilful in lobbying and very often you are successful. So, on this point you need not be overworried and very often you say that you put forward proposals and many people criticise the proposals and there are counter proposals. That is quite o.k. With regard to retirement issues, if you want to find an absolute consensus, well you need not go further because you will not succeed. You will never get 100 per cent consensus.

Lastly, you said that for this mandatory private provident fund you would like to know the thinking of the Council. That is unfair to LegCo because you've just outlined the Scheme. You do not give us the details of the Scheme so that we can make a choice. That being so, if you ask us for support that is what is unfair because on these sketchy details we may not give you ready support and then if we do not give you ready support you will drop it. So on the 8th March, if you force Councillors to indicate their stand, that is rather unfair, that is unreasonable too. Thank you.

Govenor: I'd like to say straightaway that while I read the Honourable gentleman's speech in the debate on the 9th November, and did find his conditions or qualifications fairly extensive, nevertheless it's true that the Honourable Member supported the thrust of the Government's proposals and did so, I think, from time to time extremely bravely. Both he and I, I guess, would have found ourselves lumped strange bedfellows in the same category as Euro-socialists which for some is, which is itself ideologically curious, apparently a term of abuse.

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