TNAG-1735-FCO40-2448-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 49

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 25 May 1988

1479

N NG (in Cantonese): The Hong Kong Government is the biggest employer in Hong Kong. How many disabled people do we have in the Civil Service?

CHIEF SECRETARY: Sir, if I might take the question. We do have figures available and I will let Mrs. Pauline NG have them. (See Annex IV)

DR. IP: Sir, in view of the acute labour shortage, has Government considered running short courses to train the mildly or moderately mentally handicapped to be messengers, cleaners and workers in unskilled jobs?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, as far as I know, we have not so far considered this idea, but we will certainly be happy to look at it.

MRS. Fan: Sir, it is perhaps to be expected that the disabled and his employer would face some adjustment problems when the disabled first enter into employ- ment. Could the Secretary tell us whether there is any sort of follow-up service to assist employers and disabled employees in adjusting to the new environment?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER: Sir, in the case of those placed by the Labour Department's Selective Placement Service, yes, indeed. They follow up very thoroughly and have repeated interviews with the employers and employees, to make sure that the settlement process will go as well as possible.

Written answers to questions

Dissemination of news by Information Services Department

9. DR. LAM asked: Will Government inform this Council whether there are different arrangements by the Information Services Department for the dis- semination of news to the press and the electronic media such as the radio and the television, and if so, what criteria are adopted in deciding on these arrangements?

SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND INFORMATION: Sir, the basic policy of the Information Services Department (ISD) is to treat the press and the electronic media equally, having regard to their different operational characteristics and requirements.

Normally, information is disseminated via the teleprinter and facsimile network which links ISD with all print and electronic media organisations. Thus both the print and electronic media receive the same news items in both languages at the same time.

Press conferences hosted by government officials are open to all media organisations; although it is not uncommon, at the end of the conference for television and radio stations to tape a short separate interview with the host in order to bolster presentational impact of the news item.