1884
HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 14 July 1988
It is a pity that the details inserted in the articles on the economy will, in fact, tie the hands of the future SAR in employing a financial policy which can make flexible use of our social resources.
That the industrial and commercial sectors are particularly sensitive to Hong Kong's future and are worried can be easily understood. However, the provisions in article 105 which has been written for fear that Hong Kong will become a welfare state has been a source of regret and uneasiness to me.
Indeed, in the past year the social welfare sector has always asked the Government to increase allocation for social welfare services. However, the aim is only to satisfy the demands of those who are on the waiting list and to improve the quality of our services which has not been reviewed for years.
In fact, the social welfare sector has always been well aware of the fact that the welfare policy in Hong Kong is to help those who are least able to help themselves. For not only does it not ask the Government for financial commitment equivalent to the expenditure percentage of a welfare state, it has also taken into consideration the overall interests of our society and has long tolerated undesirable working conditions and quality of service.
Why is it necessary therefore for people in the industrial and commercial sectors who serve in the drafting committee to take such precautions against work that is, in fact, a re-investment in our society.
I feel that paragraph 3 of article 105 should be deleted. It is because annual expenditure on social welfare services is to meet actual needs. Such expenditure cannot be cut down or deleted at random. Should we work to control the finanical policies of the SAR and the constitution now, it would definitely undermine the flexibility of the SAR in deploying social resources for the solving of problems.
Besides, articles 152 and 154 are related. The former involves Government subvention policy for voluntary agencies and the latter involves the autonomy of agencies that provide services. They appear to be quite opposite on the surface but in fact are not incompatible. I think the existing subvention policy should be retained because it is the responsibility of the Government. However, it should be stipulated in the Basic Law that the SAR Government should not seek to undermine the autonomy of the voluntary agencies through its subven- tion policy. The subvention policy should only work to enhance the effective allocation of resources, so that there will not be too much duplication.
On the other hand, the articles in Chapter 6 are rather confused and not systematic enough. I feel that the articles on education, labour and social services should be grouped under social services and form an independent. chapter. And another chapter should include articles on science, culture, sports and religion. The aim is to concentrate policy articles similar in nature in the same area. There will be better integration. I feel that some policy articles in Chapter 6 are either redundant or repetitive. Article 152, for instance, says that
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