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OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Friday, 22 January 2021

The Council continued to meet at Nine o'clock

MEMBERS PRESENT:

THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE ANDREW LEUNG KWAN-YUEN, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE ABRAHAM SHEK LAI-HIM, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE TOMMY CHEUNG YU-YAN, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE JEFFREY LAM KIN-FUNG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WONG TING-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE STARRY LEE WAI-KING, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAK-KAN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN KIN-POR, G.B.S., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE PRISCILLA LEUNG MEI-FUN, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-KIN, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MRS REGINA IP LAU SUK-YEE, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE PAUL TSE WAI-CHUN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL TIEN PUK-SUN, B.B.S., J.P.

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THE HONOURABLE STEVEN HO CHUN-YIN, B.B.S.

THE HONOURABLE FRANKIE YICK CHI-MING, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE YIU SI-WING, B.B.S.

THE HONOURABLE MA FUNG-KWOK, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAN-PAN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG, S.B.S., M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE ALICE MAK MEI-KUEN, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE KWOK WAI-KEUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHRISTOPHER CHEUNG WAH-FUNG, S.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE ELIZABETH QUAT, B.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LIAO CHEUNG-KONG, G.B.S., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE POON SIU-PING, B.B.S., M.H.

DR THE HONOURABLE CHIANG LAI-WAN, S.B.S., J.P.

IR DR THE HONOURABLE LO WAI-KWOK, S.B.S., M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHUNG KWOK-PAN

THE HONOURABLE JIMMY NG WING-KA, B.B.S., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE JUNIUS HO KWAN-YIU, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE HOLDEN CHOW HO-DING

THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-FAI, J.P.

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THE HONOURABLE WILSON OR CHONG-SHING, M.H.

THE HONOURABLE YUNG HOI-YAN, J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE PIERRE CHAN

THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHUN-YING, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LUK CHUNG-HUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LAU KWOK-FAN, M.H.

THE HONOURABLE KENNETH LAU IP-KEUNG, B.B.S., M.H., J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE CHENG CHUNG-TAI

THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG WING-SHUN, M.H., J.P.

THE HONOURABLE TONY TSE WAI-CHUEN, B.B.S., J.P.

PUBLIC OFFICERS ATTENDING:

THE HONOURABLE MATTHEW CHEUNG KIN-CHUNG, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P. CHIEF SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION

THE HONOURABLE PAUL CHAN MO-PO, G.B.M., G.B.S., M.H., J.P. FINANCIAL SECRETARY

THE HONOURABLE TERESA CHENG YEUK-WAH, G.B.S., S.C., J.P. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE

THE HONOURABLE WONG KAM-SING, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

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DR THE HONOURABLE LAW CHI-KWONG, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE

THE HONOURABLE FRANK CHAN FAN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING

PROF THE HONOURABLE SOPHIA CHAN SIU-CHEE, J.P. SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH

THE HONOURABLE EDWARD YAU TANG-WAH, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL WONG WAI-LUN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT

THE HONOURABLE KEVIN YEUNG YUN-HUNG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION

THE HONOURABLE PATRICK NIP TAK-KUEN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR THE CIVIL SERVICE

THE HONOURABLE ALFRED SIT WING-HANG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY

THE HONOURABLE ERICK TSANG KWOK-WAI, I.D.S.M., J.P. SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS

THE HONOURABLE CASPAR TSUI YING-WAI, J.P. SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS

THE HONOURABLE CHRISTOPHER HUI CHING-YU, J.P. SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY

MR SONNY AU CHI-KWONG, P.D.S.M., J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR SECURITY

DR BERNARD CHAN PAK-LI, J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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DR CHUI TAK-YI, J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH

DR RAYMOND SO WAI-MAN, B.B.S., J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING

MR HO KAI-MING, J.P. UNDER SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE

CLERKS IN ATTENDANCE:

MS ANITA SIT, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

MS DORA WAI, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

MR MATTHEW LOO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

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MEMBER'S MOTION

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): This Council now continues with the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the Policy Address.

The Council now proceeds to the second debate session.

Members who wish to speak in this session please press the "Request to speak" button.

The debate themes in this session include: "Increasing Housing and Land"; "Building a Liveable City"; "Continuously Improving People's Livelihood"; and "Nurturing Talents and Youth Development".

The policy areas covered in this session have been set out on page six of the Script for Members' easy reference.

MOTION OF THANKS

Continuation of debate on motion which was moved on 20 January 2021

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, I agree with the Policy Address that in order to build a liveable city, urban landscape has to be conserved and renewed continuously. In this speech, I will express my views on urban development from the perspective of the tourism industry.

First of all, with regard to the planning of Invigorating Island South, the Chief Executive proposed for the first time the Invigorating Island South initiative to develop the Southern District into a place full of vibrancy and vigour for people to work, live, explore new ideas and have fun. A proposal for the rebirth of Ocean Park is included. The Chief Executive stated that the experience gained from the Energizing Kowloon East initiative will be drawn on in implementing the Invigorating Island South. However, the positionings of the two initiatives are actually different. The Kowloon East initiative is business-oriented aiming at developing a second CBD, while Invigorating Island South is a community planning with innovation and leisure as the main features. As I have said before, there is no systematic planning on tourism in Hong Kong. Tourism facilities and investments are relatively scattered, which is obviously LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3303 inadequate when compared with Sentosa in Singapore and Hengqin Island in Zhuhai. This time, the Government has taken the initiative to put forward the concept of Invigorating Island South, which is worthy of recognition. I hope the Government will draw up expeditiously the specific details and timetable of the plan so that Hong Kong people can see the new face of Island South.

As an important element of Invigorating Island South, the Ocean Park has to be preserved and developed. The Government has just announced the proposal for the rebirth of Ocean Park in which the biggest changes include repositioning the theme park into a resort destination, providing free access to the lower park area and upgrading the facilities at the upper park area so as to address persistent losses and future development. As a matter of fact, the transformation of the Ocean Park is long overdue. Its attendance has been stagnant or even on the decline in recent years in the face of competition from Zhuhai, ageing facilities and uncompetitive admission fee. Even with the number of tourists reaching record highs in recent years, the Ocean Park has still recorded losses for several years in a row. I hope the Government and the management of the Ocean Park will make a summing-up and a better planning according to its new positioning and formulate a long-term conservation direction for future development which I believe will obtain public support.

I think there are several points worth noting in the transformation plan of the Ocean Park. First, the future development plan has to be devised properly in order to avoid further capital injections by the Government. Second, appropriate arrangements have to be made for the some 2 000 existing employees who have brought joy to the public and contributed to the tourism industry and the park over the years. The Ocean Park should avoid layoffs as far as possible. It can arrange for its employees to be transferred to other suitable posts through enhanced training, or asked its contractors to give priority to employing existing employees. Third, the Ocean Park should take appropriate cut-off measures during the transition period in order to allay public concern. Fourth, the Government will allocate a total of $1.12 billion to the Ocean Park for the promotion of conservation and education. The Ocean Park should formulate plans as soon as possible. Apart from continuing the effective current practices, more importantly, innovative thinking should be adopted in promoting conservation in the community and schools so as to benefit our next generation and achieve value for money.

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Moreover, on community conservation, the Policy Address only mentions the development of old urban areas and conservation of environment, but not the conservation and revitalization of heritage sites. Recently, a 100-year-old cistern has been unearthed during a demolition project at Bishop Hill in Sham Shui Po. Some stone columns and ceilings of the Romanesque cistern have been damaged, showing the omissions and inadequacies of the current heritage conservation efforts in Hong Kong. The reform on heritage conservation and revitalization mechanism in Hong Kong is a question for the authorities to ponder on. In fact, a number of heritage sites scattered in various districts and country parks are not properly preserved, let alone revitalized. In addition to the architecture that was almost destroyed this time, there are many forgotten heritage sites. For instance, the Devil's Peak cannon and fort ruins in Yau Tong have been left unmanaged for a long time. The Kwun Tong District Council has carried out improvement works and built access roads to the site, but the damaged areas were only fenced off with barbed wire and no repair and conservation works have been done to this valuable site according to heritage standard. The site is now completely unrecognizable due to damages and illegal conversion.

Another example is the Wun Yiu Kiln Site, a declared monument in Tai Po with more than 400 years of history. The Government has set up an exhibition area showcasing the archaeological artefacts. However, the kiln site is only enclosed with a simple fence which is left unrepaired after being damaged. A large number of broken pieces of blue-and-white porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties were there for people to pick up. The site is now overgrown with weeds and hardly noticed by passers-by. We can only rely on pictures to recall how the site used to look like.

The above mentioned examples show that the Government has to carry out heritage conservation systematically and draw on overseas experience. Properly repaired heritage sites should be kept intact and retain their historical values. More importantly, they should be revitalized and turned into tourism resources to enhance their appreciation values and increase the interest of the public and tourists through various publicity efforts. Some successful examples in Hong Kong include Tai Kwun and Jao Tsung-I Academy. Surely, it is indeed difficult to make additional investment in the conservation and revitalization of some remote or less well-known heritage sites. Nevertheless, the Government may take into account the local conditions and combine the surrounding country parks and other tourism resources to package the heritage sites into tourist routes in LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3305 collaboration with the Hong Kong Tourism Board and the tourism industry. They can then be promoted to overseas and local visitors according to their characteristics through various channels so as to give full play to their potentials.

President, the Policy Address points out that there is no conflict between increasing land supply and building a quality living environment. I opine that there is also no conflict in incorporating tourism elements into building a quality living environment. Tourism brings people flow, vitality and jobs to the districts. The development of tourism can coexist with district needs as long as the Government can draw up better urban planning and consult various districts and major stakeholders. In this way, sustainable urban development can definitely be achieved.

With these remarks, President, I support the Motion of Thanks.

MR MARTIN LIAO (in Cantonese): President, I will speak on education and youth development in this debate session. Looking back on the past period of time, the "mutual destruction camp" have not only glorified illegal acts in order to achieve its political objectives but also used school campuses as the breeding ground for spreading the violent riots. We are also aware that teachers have a profound impact on the whole-person development of students. When teachers having ulterior motives bring their political agenda into school campuses, it is easy to instil in students inaccurate claim and the mindset of smearing the regime. I support the proposals made in the Policy Address to strengthen the training of teachers and principals upon their appointment, during their service and before their promotion and also to take stringent actions against teachers who are incompetent or found misconducted. However, besides waiting for reports from others, I also wish that the Government will take the initiative to monitor the words, deeds and conduct of teachers, with a view to identifying the black sheep of the education sector. In addition to dealing with the problems from the perspective of education, the Government should also do a good job in youth development and enhance the policy on addressing young people's concerns about education, career pursuit and home ownership, and encouraging their participation in politics as well as public policy discussion and debate.

As a matter of fact, the unemployment rate has remained high. With less working experience and exposure, it is even more difficult for young people to find a job. According to the latest figures from the Census and Statistics 3306 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Department, between October and December last year, the unemployment rate of youth aged 15 to 19 was as high as 17.6%, while that of those aged 20 to 29 was about 11%, reflecting an employment ice age for young jobseekers. Following the rapid development of the Greater Bay Area, the neighbouring Shenzhen has even become the leader in innovation and technology in the country, with abundant related talent, capital and technology. The Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme and the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area mentioned in the Policy Address, in my view, are definitely good for young people. Nevertheless, certain people in the community are trying to stigmatize the Greater Bay Area, which has caused misunderstanding of it among some people. I hope that the authorities will get in touch with young people more often and step up the promotion of the Greater Bay Area so that they can really understand the opportunities in this regard.

Moreover, as regards participation in policy discussion, besides gradually increasing the proportion of young people serving on advisory committees and statutory bodies through the Member Self-Recommendation Scheme for Youth, the Government can conduct consultation specifically on policies of immediate concern to young people or co-organize physical and online dialogues with political parties to provide more room for them to express their political views.

I hope that the Government will put in place a series of policies and take on board my suggestion by fostering the right values in students, while encouraging young people to seize the opportunities and benefit from the development of the Greater Bay Area.

I so submit and support the motion of the Chairman of the House Committee.

MR TONY TSE (in Cantonese): President, in this debate session, I will focus my speech on issues relating to land and housing, streamlined vetting and approval procedures, liveable city, as well as conservation of the environment and cultural heritage.

People are living in poor environment and cramped dwellings in the face of exorbitant property prices and high rentals in Hong Kong. The prices of private residential housing remain rock-steady Despite the triple blows dealt by "black-clad violence", sanctions imposed by the United States and an epidemic of LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3307 the century, the prices of private residential housing remain rock-steady, the waiting time for public rental housing ("PRH") is getting longer and longer, hundreds of thousands of people are forced to pay exorbitant rentals or to rent a subdivided unit, the grass roots do not know when they can be allocated a PRH unit, and young people and middle-class families have little hope of home ownership. The insufficient land and housing supply in Hong Kong has triggered quite a number of problems, including the wealth gap, youth problems, as well as political, governance and confidence problems. Therefore, it is of vital importance to resolve the problem of insufficient land and housing supply.

There are but four tactics that we can employ to increase the supply of land and housing: First, creation of land through reclamation; second, rezoning of land use; third, increasing development density to make the best use of land resources; and fourth, optimizing the use of existing buildings and floor area.

Creation of land through reclamation is an effective means that has been widely adopted in Hong Kong all along since its inception. Excluding the latest reclamation project in Tung Chung, more than 67 sq km of land for development in Hong Kong is formed by reclamation. Though such land only accounts for about 7% of the total area of Hong Kong, it is home to more than a quarter of the city's population and accommodates over 70% of its business activities. Many of those who oppose reclamation now are in fact living on reclaimed sites and are beneficiaries of reclamation projects. However, they oppose irrationally the Government's proposal to further create land through reclamation to alleviate the worsening shortage of land and housing as well as the problem of subdivided units, so that people can live in a larger and better environment in the long run. They do not even support the conduct of a study. The Policy Address states that the Lantau Tomorrow Vision will go ahead and there will be a planning study. Most members of our sector and I support this. However, we have to emphasize the need to have first a vision, a people-oriented approach, low-carbon development, equal emphasis on conservation, as well as cross-disciplinary and public engagement. The Secretary for Development has promised to do so and indicated that these would be clearly written into the documents of the planning study.

Despite these efforts, I hope the Government will go one step further to explain to members of the public in a more concise and down-to-earth manner the various benefits of land reclamation. For instance, they can make pledges on how much the waiting time for PRH can be shortened and the number of families 3308 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 which can benefit from the newly constructed subsidized housing units, as well as how much the average living space per person can be increased for all Hong Kong people. This will make it easier for people to have a feeling for the benefits of these reclamation projects to society, the public, and even themselves. In this way, people will truly feel that the Government is helping the people and they will benefit from it too. Establishing a link between large-scale projects to identify land for housing development and the time people can be allocated a PRH unit and achieve home ownership can also provide relevant officials with clearer working targets and performance indicators. They will have to explain and be held accountable for failure to meet such targets. They cannot pass the buck merely by saying that they have done their best, acted as quickly as possible, and that they have already made hard efforts.

As regards rezoning of land use and increasing development intensity, including the development of agricultural land and brownfield sites, as well as increasing the plot ratio as appropriate, the relevant expenditure costs may not be lower than those of reclamation. Moreover, in terms of the time required, they may probably take longer than reclamation because they involve relocation, compensation, resettlement, and various kinds of statutory vetting and approval procedures, as well as the construction of additional transport infrastructure and ancillary community facilities, all of which require public money and time. Nevertheless, these approaches and reclamation are not mutually exclusive, I hence support the Government to pursue all of them proactively, and to expedite their implementation by adopting a multi-pronged approach.

President, I had strongly urged the Government to streamline and speed up the relevant vetting and approval procedures when I was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Council in 2012. The Government subsequently accepted my views and undertook to do so. It is proposed in this year's Policy Address that the authorities will place special emphasis on streamlining the vetting and approval procedures of land and housing development projects, including the setting up of the Development Projects Facilitation Office, expanding the terms of reference of the Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control, introducing a pilot scheme for charging land premium at "standard rates", etc. Our sector and I have been fighting for these over the years, and finally they have now become the guiding policies of the Government. Here I would like to express my strong support and profound gratitude, and I firmly believe that these measures can speed up the increase in land and housing supply.

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That said, as I mentioned when speaking in the first round, our sector is most concerned about whether the Government can put their words into action, and when these measures will be implemented. I have confidence in the Development Bureau, and I also hope that other relevant Policy Bureaux and departments will also step up their efforts to remove barriers and restrictions in order to speed up the increase in land and housing supply.

Speaking of streamlining and expediting the vetting and approval of development projects, some people will query whether this is collusion between the Government and the business sector, transfer of benefits, or an attempt to give certain parties an advantage. In fact, even those former Members of the "mutual destruction camp" often mentioned in the past the need to improve Hong Kong's business environment and attract more foreign investment to Hong Kong. Are these foreign companies coming to Hong Kong not to make money, but to do business at a loss? Is this collusion between the Government and the business sector and transfer of benefits as well? Whether it is land reclamation, rezoning of land use, construction of additional infrastructure or urban renewal, all of these cannot be achieved by the Government alone, but must be done with the help of market forces. As long as it is an all-win solution that can bring benefits to society and the public, there is nothing wrong with facilitating and promoting private development to allow the participants to obtain a reasonable return. The Government should not be bogged down by unnecessary worries and evade responsibilities when facing difficulties in an attempt to avoid some irrational criticisms and voices of opposition. As a result, they often act slower and slower and do less and less. However, it often takes a decade or more to carry out land reclamation, development of brownfield sites and agricultural land, etc. For this reason, it can hardly meet in a swift manner the needs of over 260 000 PRH applicants at present, as well as the housing needs of more than 100 000 families living in subdivided units. With this in mind, I strongly support the construction of more transitional housing in order to improve their living environment and alleviate their rental burden in the short term.

The current-term Government has put forward the target of providing 15 000 transitional housing units within three years. In the blink of an eye, the fourth Policy Address has already been delivered. But then, how many such units have been provided so far? It can be said that the number is extremely small.

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It is proposed in the Policy Address that hotels and guesthouses which have been left vacant for a prolonged period of time amid the epidemic will be rented for use as transitional housing. Considering this a innovative and win-win solution, I hope the Government can expedite its implementation with a view to achieving concrete results, so as not to fall short of the expectations of a vast number of families living in subdivided units. The proliferation of unauthorized building works and subdivided units in Hong Kong runs counter to the goal of building a liveable and healthy city as emphasized by the Government. Over the years, our sector and I have expressed concern about the problems of ageing buildings, dilapidated drainage pipes and seepage in Hong Kong, which have led to an increased risk of virus transmission. Among them, the problems with "three-nil" buildings and subdivided units where drainage pipes are wrongly connected are the most difficult to tackle. The recent epidemic outbreaks in clusters of old buildings in a number of districts such as Yau Ma Tei and Sham Shui Po may also stem from the congested environment and poor ventilation of subdivided units, as well as unauthorized and wrong connection of drainage pipes. Although the Government has, at the request of our sector, launched an inspection scheme in relation to the external drainage pipes of buildings, it has done too little and too slowly. For those owners of subdivided units who defy the laws and disregard building safety and public health, as well as those "three-nil" buildings that are dilapidated with a vacuum in the management, it is useless even though the Government has given them guidance on how to deal with the problems after inspection. I hence believe that the best way is for the Government to provide assistance in handling these problems.

In recent years, there have been calls in society for enacting legislation to regulate subdivided units and reintroduce tenancy control. Yet, should these illegal subdivided units which pose significant safety and health risks be legalized regardless of their conditions? Is it true that as long as the rent is cheap, even if they are unsafe and unhygienic, they can still be rented out? Such being the case, how can Hong Kong become a liveable and healthy city?

President, our sector and I have all along advocated that development and conservation should go hand in hand and that they can coexist. In regard to the incident concerning a cistern at Bishop Hill in Sham Shui Po that came to light during last year's Christmas holiday, I am very grateful to the Development Bureau for its quick response in suspending the relevant works, thereby allowing this century-old monument with remarkable architectural characteristics to escape the fate of being demolished. While the Government has done a pretty good job LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3311 in remedying the situation, the problem is that such an incident should not have happened right from the very beginning. This reflects the problem that some departments and civil servants only go by the book and lack initiative and creativity, as I pointed out when I spoke in the first round. I hope the Government can capitalize on this rare opportunity to promote the awareness of conservation among the public.

On environmental protection, the Policy Address mentions that a long-term strategy blueprint on waste management, Hong Kong's first roadmap on the popularization of electric vehicles and the updating of "A Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong" will be launched with a view to achieving goals such as carbon neutrality in the long term. All of the aforesaid are projects spanning across a period of 20 to 30 years, I believe they need to be done and should be done immediately. However, the environmental protection work which is most urgent should be carried out as soon as possible, especially in the areas of reducing waste at source and turning waste into energy. As people are forced to buy takeaways or do online shopping amid the epidemic, there are a lot of plastic boxes and plastic bags being produced. Besides, people cook their meals at home more often. It should be an opportune time to step up efforts to promote the recycling of plastic and food waste. There is no cause for worry of virus transmission as long as these wastes are handled properly. What is more, there is also the problem of overflowing landfills. Measures such as optimizing the use of restored landfill sites have already been implemented for 10-odd years, but obvious results are yet to be seen. It is my hope that the Secretary for the Environment can step up his efforts, rise to the challenge and take concrete follow-up actions.

President, there are always more solutions than problems. Whether it is the fight against the epidemic or the search for land for housing development, as long as we can take one more pro-active step forward and work together in unison, there is no problem that cannot be solved.

With these remarks, President, I support the Motion of Thanks.

MR FRANKIE YICK (in Cantonese): President, first of all, the Liberal Party supports the Government in conducting a comprehensive traffic and transport strategy study. I believe this study is equivalent to the Fourth Comprehensive Transport Study requested by me for years. It has been some 20 years since the 3312 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Third Comprehensive Transport Study was last conducted. Be it social and economic development or the people's travelling habits, there have been substantial changes. For this reason, to dovetail with future development, the Government needs to conduct a comprehensive traffic and transport study, with a view to formulating a long-term transport policy. To enhance the traffic and transport strategy study, the Government should listen to the views of different stakeholders, especially members of the traffic and transport sectors who are frequent road users, and gain a better understanding of their mode of operation when determining the scope of the study.

At present, about 90% of passenger trips use public transport services. The number of daily passenger trips is about 12 million, and 90% of the people of Hong Kong rely on public transport services. In theory, public transport services should have no worry about a lack of passengers, but in reality, that is not the case. As a matter of fact, an imbalance has arisen in local public transport, which is the reason why I have repeatedly requested the Government to conduct the Fourth Comprehensive Transport Study. Except for the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL"), the patronage of public transport, including taxis, minibuses, non-franchised buses and ferries, has been declining. For example, in the past five years, the patronage of taxis and minibuses has dropped by 11.6% and 5.3% respectively.

While the income of public transport operators has been falling, the operating costs keep rising. Operators encounter difficulties in running the business. Facing losses, public transport operators can only apply to the Government for fare adjustments. However, in respect of vetting and approving fare adjustment applications, the Government never observes its so-called performance pledge. Consequently, it often takes years for such applications to be vetted and approved. For example, to my knowledge, the fare increase applications of taxis, franchised buses and minibuses made a couple of years ago have not yet been approved. The Liberal Party understands that in vetting and approving applications for public transport fare adjustments, people's affordability is one of the considerations. However, we cannot expect a horse to be good when we do not let it graze. The constant suppression of public transport fare adjustments will only backfire, resulting in continuous deterioration of the quality of public transport services. The Liberal Party holds that the Government must review the existing mechanism for vetting and approving public transport fare adjustments. It should make assessment in a scientific LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3313 manner and exclude all political considerations such that public transport fare adjustments will not lag too much behind, causing public transport operators to be short of resources for service improvement and even expose to the risk of closure.

On upgrading the quality of the taxi and minibus services, the Government said it would be achieved by leveraging on technology. In respect of taxis, it will explore the feasibility of installing new electronic taxi meters for e-payment system and electronic driver identification plates. As regards minibuses, it proposes to install devices to detect seat occupancy and the fastening of seat belts, etc. With the advancement of technology, the Liberal Party supports the application of technologies. As I mentioned just now, the income of taxis and minibuses keeps falling. I hope the Government will provide the trade with subsidies for the installation of new equipment. Apart from using technologies to improve services, the Government should at the same time consider providing policy support, such as setting up additional pick-up/drop-off points for taxis and minibuses, relaxing the restrictions in prohibited zones and designating public transport-only lanes.

I believe we are all rather familiar with the slogan "Zero Accidents on the Road, Hong Kong's Goal". However, after years of publicity, the number of traffic accidents in Hong Kong is still on the rise. From 2015 to 2019, it increased by 6%. To enhance the safety of buses, the Government has earmarked $500 million to subsidize franchised bus operators to retrofit safety systems. The Liberal Party proposes that the Government should similarly encourage the installation of a collision warning system in other public vehicles by providing financial incentives, so as to reduce the occurrence of road accidents. It can both lower social costs arising from accidents, including those for medical services, and prevent unnecessary insurance claims, thereby alleviating the financial pressure on operators caused by soaring insurance premiums for public transport.

The Liberal Party welcomes the Government's review of the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (i.e. the $2 transport fare concession scheme) and its preliminary proposal to extend the scheme to red minibuses, trams and kaitos. Not only can the scheme benefit elderly people presently aged 65 or above and eligible persons with disabilities. It can also increase the patronage of public transport. Given that the scheme was previously only applicable to MTR, franchised buses, green minibuses and licensed ferries, it was indeed unfair and would affect the 3314 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 patronage of other modes of public transport not included in the scheme. If the Government further lowers the eligible age to 60, it will deal a more serious blow to these modes of public transport. Take non-franchised buses providing services for residents as an example, some of them are operated in the same manner as franchised buses. Information on their fares is available on the website of the Transport Department. Furthermore, they are restricted to operating only in commuters' rush hours to relieve the people's heavy demand for public transport services during peak hours. Hence, the Liberal Party hopes that the Government will also include this type of non-franchised buses in the scheme to benefit more people in need.

As I have said earlier, Hong Kong is a small but densely populated place. The use of railway as the backbone of the transport system is not totally unjustifiable. The Liberal Party welcomes the work launched by MTRCL on various rail lines, including the four projects on the Tung Chung Extension, Tuen Mun South Extension, Northern Link and South Island Line (West), to cater for the residents' demand and the development of the districts. However, the Liberal Party has reservations about the Government's undertaking to cover half of cost of the fare concessions offered by MTRCL from 1 July last year to March this year. While the railway network keeps expanding, the Government lacks planning, causing a continuous decrease in the patronage of other modes of public transport. Now that public money is being used again to subsidize the concessions for railway services, the patronage of other public vehicles will be further affected. The policy seems to be seriously tilted. In order to balance the current ecosystem of public transport, policies rolled out by the Government must be fair, having regard to the viability of various types of public transport.

On how to resolve the shortage of parking spaces, the Government said that the first car park equipped with an automated parking system would be commissioned in the latter half of this year, while there is not yet any timetable for the other five. The shortage of parking spaces has plagued vehicle owners in Hong Kong for more than a decade. With the increase in the number of vehicles, the shortage of parking spaces has become increasingly acute in recent years. Based on the standard of 1.4 parking spaces per vehicle, the market currently falls short of at least 260 000 parking spaces. Early this year, the Yau Ma Tei Carpark Building, which provided several hundred parking spaces, was officially closed to make way for the Central Kowloon Route project. Although the Government has indicated that there are other replacement car parks in the district, they are remotely located with limited parking spaces. To resolve the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3315 shortage of parking spaces, I hope the Government will expeditiously complete the new round of the parking demand study and make planning for sufficient commercial parking facilities to cope with social development. Meanwhile, apart from halting the demolition of existing public car parks and providing real-time information on vacant parking spaces in car parks, the Government should, focusing on the parking problem of commercial vehicles, expedite the provision of more commercial car parks and on-street parking spaces for commercial vehicles during night time. It should also fully implement the measures of allowing minibuses to park at minibus stands during night time, and school light buses to park in the schools they serve after class.

Regarding marine transportation, the Chief Executive proposed in the 2019 Policy Address to extend the Special Helping Measures, originally provided to six outlying island ferry routes, to cover 14 routes, with a view to reducing the pressure of fare increase on ferry operators. However, faced with declining patronage and rising operating costs, outlying island ferry services are still operating with difficulties despite the Special Helping Measures provided by the Government. According to the figures of the Transport Department, the patronage of ferries in 2019 had dropped about 10% compare with that in 2015. Yet the operating costs keep increasing. The growth in expenditure on human resources is particularly high. Ferry operators generally face a succession problem. For this reason, apart from giving financial support to the trade, the Government needs to squarely address the lack of human resources in the trade.

In respect of those outlying island ferries and kaitos which have not been provided with the Special Helping Measures, I hope the Government will give them operational support. At least it should provide water and electricity facilities at public piers, such as Ma Liu Shui Public Pier, to facilitate the operation of outlying island ferries and kaitos which are not provided with the Government's Special Helping Measures. As regards the Pier Improvement Programme put forward by the Government in 2017 to refurbish public piers in remote areas, the works for the two public piers to be renovated in the first phase (i.e. Lai Chi Chong Pier and Sham Chung Pier) will not be completed until 2024 at the earliest, while the schedule for the rest is yet to be finalized. In fact, the progress is really too slow by taking seven years to complete the refurbishment of only two piers. I hope the Government will speed up the programme to facilitate the operation of outlying island ferries and kaitos.

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To improve the air quality, the Government will introduce the roadmap on the popularization of electric vehicles in the first quarter of this year, and it is also preparing to update the Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong, so as to set a long-term objective. The Liberal Party expresses its support for this. As environmental protection comes at a price, after Hong Kong has experienced a pandemic, both people and enterprises need a respite. Therefore, when the Government sets the objective of the Plan, it must be relevant to the actual circumstances. Where necessary, the Government should provide and even increase financial incentives to push forward the implementation of the Plan.

The Government has time and again tightened vehicle emission standards. Since 2017, the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") has progressively tightened vehicle emission standards to Euro VI, and it has followed the requirement of the European Union that vehicle manufacturers shall ensure that independent vehicle repair operators have easy, unrestricted and standardized access to information on the repair and maintenance of vehicles. However, the vehicle repair sector has told me that it is still rather difficult to obtain maintenance manuals from various vehicle manufacturers or their agents. Be it the vehicle briefing sessions held by various vehicle manufacturers at EPD's invitation or the information released online by the vehicle manufacturers, the information provided is superficial. To enable the vehicle repair trade to handle maintenance and repair of vehicles of new models more efficiently, and to provide vehicle owners with a choice in maintenance and repair, I hope the Government can ensure that vehicle manufacturers or their agents will enhance the transparency of vehicle repair information.

President, I consider the 2020 Policy Address of the Chief Executive comprehensive, containing quite a number of policies conducive to the sustainable development of the sector to which I belong (i.e. transport). I believe if the Government can implement one by one the policies proposed in the Policy Address, it will help bring about the recovery of various sectors and industries in Hong Kong after the epidemic.

With these remarks, President, I support the Motion of Thanks.

MR HOLDEN CHOW (in Cantonese): President, in the second session I will mainly focus on housing supply, living environment and youth matters. To start with, I would like to talk about the living environment and housing development. In this Policy Address, the arrangement for "Lantau Tomorrow" has certainly LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3317 attracted more public attention. In fact, as we said in the Finance Committee ("FC"), the $500 million funding is provided for the Government to first conduct preliminary studies which should cover and address properly the reclamation works of the entire artificial islands, the overall feasibility of such works as well as all the ancillary arrangements.

President, as I have said many times, insofar as these preliminary studies are concerned and based on the information provided by the Government, the artificial islands and Lantau will actually be provided with certain ancillary transport facilities, particularly the arrangements for railway tunnels, of which I think the planning can start before the completion of the artificial islands. I am referring to the longer-term arrangement in relation to the section from Tuen Mun to Sunny Bay, and I have all along proposed that it can go ahead without having to wait for the completion of the artificial islands. In this connection, since we have already approved funding for the studies, the Government should, in the preliminary studies, clearly explore the feasibility of this suggestion and if it is feasible, when the relevant work can start the soonest because apart from shortening the time required, this can also provide a solution to the transport arrangements for residents in New Territories West to travel to and from the urban area.

President, the population of New Territories West is ever expanding with new population being continuously brought into the areas around Tuen Mun, Yuen Long or Hung Shui Kiu. However, the traffic conditions in New Territories West have remained utterly undesirable. For residents who wish to travel by the West Rail in the morning, many of them living in Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai may not be able to get on a train, and we have reflected this situation to the Government on any occasions before. Obviously, apart from increasing the frequency of special trips from Yuen Long or enhancing the signalling system to ensure that the public can get on a train in the morning peak hours, actually a more effective way to address the problem at root is to develop a new railway to provide choices for the public and hence achieve the diversion purpose.

A long time ago, we in the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB"), including our colleague, Mr CHAN Han-pan, have repeatedly proposed the development of a railway from Tuen Mun to Tsuen Wan. To be honest, we have continuously called on the Government to consider and study it but the Government invariably refused to heed our view. Now that 3318 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 there is a plan to develop artificial islands and we have approved this $500 million funding for conducting preliminary studies, I hope that the Government will seriously look into how, in respect of ancillary transport facilities, it can start making arrangements for these new railways before the completion of the artificial islands in the Central Waters. I think this should be taken into consideration and tackled by the Government.

Besides, I also wish to say here that in respect of ancillary transport facilities for New Territories West, I noticed that in this Policy Address, the Government has only given an account of the progress of the development of some highways that are of public concern. An example is Route 11. I understand that according to the current explanation of the Government, it will not be completed until 2034 or 2036 the soonest. But apart from Route 11 for which we have waited for a long time, at a meeting of FC some time ago during which, as I recall, the study to be commenced on Route 11 was discussed, I proposed that the Tsing Yi-Lantau Link must also be included in the study because we knew that all the bottlenecks would concentrate on the Lantau Link, just as what happens now. All the vehicles from New Territories West are ultimately caught in a bottleneck that usually appears around the Lantau Link and the Tsing Ma Bridge. The development of the Tsing Yi-Lantau Link can definitely ease the congestion to some extent. This is why we demanded the inclusion of a study on the Tsing Yi-Lantau Link in the study on Route 11. I am grateful to the Government for accepting my proposal by agreeing to include the Tsing Yi-Lantau Link in the study. Having said that, let me remind the Government here that if eventually this Link would be completed only in year 203X, frankly speaking, this would really be most disappointing to the public who would query why it would take such a long time. Moreover, given the rapid expansion of the population in New Territories West, I think there would be a big problem if there is no highway to provide support.

Furthermore, I have to talk about the situation of Tuen Mun Western Bypass as we previously called it, which is now renamed Tuen Mun Bypass. Many people are saying that the planning of Tuen Mun Western Bypass seems to have vanished as it is nowhere to be seen now. But when we asked the Government about it, it always reacted like it was unable to retrieve it from the bottom of the drawer. The latest situation has brought a small ray of hope, and its name has also changed for there may be a new alignment. However, if the alignment of the tunnel has really changed, we urge the Government to give a further explanation and an account of the changes to the Legislative Council LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3319 expeditiously because the residents have indeed waited far too long for the Tuen Mun Bypass which is again something that has disappeared. The Government should, therefore, provide an explanation as soon as possible.

President, in respect of the supporting facilities for the living environment, I wish to particularly point out that while there may be some difficulties in renewing the old districts, I very much hope that the Government can adopt new mindsets for new land created by reclamation, including a piece of reclaimed land to be available in the Tung Chung East reclamation area that I have repeatedly mentioned, and the population intake will start in around 2024 the soonest. The Secretary for Development has probably heard me talk about it many times. We very much hope that the Government will adopt new mindsets when developing this new reclaimed area in Tung Chung East. For instance, we hope that new ancillary facilities for cycling can be developed in this new reclaimed area. What do I mean by new ancillary facilities for cycling? Simply put, from the Government's angle, bicycles have never been a mode of transport as cycling is considered a recreational, leisure activity. But in present-day society, if cyclists can park their bicycles at MTR stations so that they can take the MTR to work, then bicycles can really serve as a mode of transport. Therefore, I hope that the Government will adopt new mindsets for this reclaimed area in Tung Chung East by defining bicycles as a mode of transport and providing on all roads such ancillary facilities as cycle tracks for use by bicycles. This is different from the past practices in other parts of Hong Kong. As this is a new area created by reclamation, there can be some new attempts. I believe there will probably be many obstacles in making changes to the old districts. In that case, I think the Government may as well make new attempts in a new place and see if this proposal is feasible.

Many cities in the world also have ancillary facilities for cycling, and Copenhagen is a case in point. The streets and roads all over the city are pre-designed for use by bicycles, with plans being made to accommodate all such ancillary facilities beforehand. Therefore, while this new piece of land has just been "born", I hope that the Government may as well carry out some reforms there.

Lastly, President, I only wish to talk about the employment of young people. I very much support the Government's initiative to attract young people to work in the Greater Bay Area by offering incentives and support measures. Having said that, I wish to remind the Government to perhaps find out more 3320 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 about the local employment situation. At present, some young people take a greater interest in and have more aspirations for jobs or careers in such fields as music and performances. Actually, the Government can provide them with more platforms in future. Of course, there are now restrictions on many fronts under the epidemic, but if many young people may still have a lot of aspirations for arts, music, performances, and so on, I hope that the Government can pay more attention to this and provide more platforms for them to pursue development in these fields in Hong Kong.

President, I so submit.

MR MA FUNG-KWOK (in Cantonese): President, today, my speech today is mainly about issues relating to my sector and youth issues.

President, the Policy Address this year has not said much on how to assist the sector to tide over the epidemic. I expect that the Budget to be announced soon will have more to say about in this regard. In fact, the Policy Address this year has not devoted much space to culture, arts, sports and creative industries, with only seven relevant paragraphs. Certainly, I strongly support the $1 billion injection into the CreateSmart Initiative ("CSI") proposed in the Policy Address. Creative industries have become an increasingly important economic growth point, the Government's enhanced support for the industries deserves recognition.

Nonetheless, I also notice that CSI-funded projects in the past have focused on design and digital entertainment, while projects in other areas such as publishing, television and music are relatively fewer in number. I hope that in future, CSI will pay more attention to other areas and take the initiative to liaise with industry stakeholders to encourage them to apply for CSI funding, so as to promote a balanced development of various trades and sectors in the creative sector.

On the other hand, the Policy Address proposes to promote the integration of arts with innovation and technology. I think this is a forward-looking proposal which will facilitate the mingling of the arts sector with the innovation and technology sector, so that the arts sector may make full use of technology to explore more possibilities in arts and take the creativity of local arts to the next level.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3321

For the promotion of Art Tech, the Government has set aside a total of $100 million for the Arts and Sport Development Fund, the Innovation and Technology Fund, CSI and the Film Development Fund to assist the sector to implement projects that integrate technology and arts. Nonetheless, the resources required for innovation in Art Tech are actually quite substantial and a mere $100 million injection may not be adequate. Besides, the joint promotion of Art Tech through the four funds may easily cause confusion to the sector as they do not know which fund they should approach for assistance in respect of the projects conceived. I hope the Government will provide clearer guidelines to the sector in future. In the long run, consideration should be given to setting up a dedicated fund of a larger scale to promote development in this area.

Apart from the above, on local cultural and sports development, the Policy Address has merely repeated the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Kai Tak Sports Park ("KTSP"), which is slightly disappointing.

In sports, KTSP is expected to be completed in 2023. Regarding the direction of sports development in Hong Kong, I have all along advocated that in addition to promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and maintaining Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events, a fourth objective should be added, that is, industrialization. The Government should seize the next two to three years to draw up specific measures to promote the development of the sports industry, so as to provide support and nurture relevant talents for different areas in the industrial chain, such as the planning and promotion of sports projects, the operation of sports venues and the retail of sports goods, etc. to tie in with the completion of KTSP and give impetus to the development of the sports sector as a whole.

Furthermore, though it is still uncertain whether the Tokyo Olympic Games will be held this year as scheduled, pending the announcement of the Olympic Committee, it is a very important task to facilitate athletes to get well prepared and resume regular training for the Olympic Games to strive for good results.

In respect of culture and arts, due to the epidemic, the lack of smooth exchange between the Mainland and Hong Kong under the epidemic is a big obstacle to the development and expansion of local culture and arts. This is particularly the case for cultural exchanges in the Greater Bay Area, as online exchanges cannot meet the development needs. In fact, the cross-boundary 3322 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 travel restrictions between the two places is now the biggest obstacle to the development of the Hong Kong economy and various trades and industries. The Government must identify a thorough solution as soon as possible, otherwise, even if the Government introduces additional rounds of Anti-epidemic Fund to meet the unlimited demand with limited resources, it will merely be in vain.

President, now, I would like to talk about youth and education. In particular, I would like to discuss the issue of youth and education in Hong Kong. In the Policy Address, the Chief Executive mentions that she has been actively providing additional resources for the education sector since she took office, and the recurrent expenditure concerned has been increased by $13.5 billion over the past three years to implement the relevant measures. The increase of resources undoubtedly warrants recognition, yet in the past year or so, the social incidents, violence and illegal acts occurred in Hong Kong have exposed the existence of an unstable environment in society. This fully reflects that some young people do not know how to be tolerant and respectful, as well as lacking the spirit of the rule of law. As a result, they have tried to break the law to achieve certain political objectives and have been brainwashed by the thinking of "justice lawbreaking". All these make people doubt the effectiveness of the existing education system in Hong Kong.

President, I believe it is the consensus of an overwhelming majority of Members to call for a reform of the Liberal Studies ("LS") subject. Since the introduction of the LS subject, various parties have pointed out the problems with the subject. These include the lack of editorial assessment of teaching materials, the promotion of individual political stances and views by some teachers and the bias of examination questions towards relatively controversial and politicized subjects, and so on, which are contrary to the original intent of LS education. Originally, the LS subject accords special emphasis on developing students' knowledge and sense of responsibility, so that they can identify with their national identity, embrace a global perspective, respect diversity in culture and views, and become good citizens capable of thinking critically, reflectively and independently.

Regrettably, 23 years after the unification, many young people have a weak sense of national identity and national consciousness. Apart from the inadequacies of the national education in Hong Kong, this should also be attributed to the deviation in the implementation of LS education. Students are prevented from building the identity of a responsible citizen and national in a LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3323 positive manner and are misled by radical views on history, values and politics. The reform of LS subject is a crucial step to put Hong Kong's education system right. However, so far, I have not seen any specific and effective regulatory and control measures proposed by the Education Bureau to address the above problems. Apart from increasing resources, the SAR Government must reinforce student's knowledge about the history, culture and situation of the country and strengthen the education on the Constitution, the Basic Law, "one country, two systems" and the awareness of national security.

Apart from education, young people are also facing a series of social, economic and livelihood issues, such as housing, employment and opportunities for upward social mobility. My friends in the New Century Forum and the New Youth Forum, as well as I myself are extremely concerned about the upward mobility of young people. In the past few years, we have been tracking the data on the income and housing affordability of labour with university education by generation in Hong Kong. The newly released study report found that the pay growth of the younger generation has slightly improved, reversing the previous trend of lower earnings for younger workers. However, similar to the study findings in the past few years, the growth in income of the new generation is still being eroded substantially by rising property prices. To alleviate this problem, the Government should significantly increase the supply of subsidized housing and proactively promote diversification of industries to increase the opportunities for upward mobility of young people.

The Policy Address has rightly proposed the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, subsidizing around 200 youth start-ups and enterprises with operation in both Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") to recruit local university graduates to work in GBA cities. These measures will bring positive effect on promoting the participation of the young people of Hong Kong in the development of GBA, yet they are still inadequate. I hope the SAR Government will increase the resources, the number of subsidized places and the scope of coverage in future to encourage young people in a more comprehensive manner in exploring room for development and making contribution in GBA.

President, despite the adequate and comprehensive policy support offered by the SAR Government, the positive and proactive participation of the young people of Hong Kong is still necessary. At the end of last year, a survey found 3324 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 that more than half of the young people interviewed indicated that they were unwilling to pursue development in GBA, showing a significant increase in comparison with the percentage in the past. I notice that nowadays, a considerable number of young people are still looking at the development of the State through tainted glasses. They may be influenced by certain biased media and key opinion leaders, and are only exposed to biased information and lack correct perception, thereby creating conflicts and even confusion.

(THE PRESIDENT'S DEPUTY, MS STARRY LEE, took the Chair)

More importantly, it has been 23 years since the reunification, yet people's hearts have not yet been fully reunited. More so, the youth of Hong Kong also lacks a sense of belonging and positive values towards the country, the nation and society, which renders them unable to clarify the crucial fact that they and the country share a common destiny. The fate of Hong Kong is closely linked to that of the country while the development of Hong Kong is closely related to that of the country. This should not be considered merely from a utilitarianism perspective but also from the perspective of a Chinese. This is something that the youth of Hong Kong, as well as all the people of Hong Kong, should know and understand. This is also a consensus which must be reached by all people in order to maintain the stable development of society in future. I hope the SAR Government will take this as the objective of its governance and do its utmost to achieve it.

Deputy President, with these remarks, I support the motion.

MR WILSON OR (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I have less than 10 minutes of speaking time in this debate session. As the spokesperson of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB") on housing affairs, I will, focus on exploring with the Government the topic of land, housing and building a liveable city in this session.

Deputy President, to live and work in contentment is the aspiration of every Hong Kong person. When it comes to a sweet home, the most important thing for a family is simply securing a roof over their head. In this Policy Address, we indeed see that the Chief Executive is determined to implement various reforms LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3325 in respect of land and housing. The first thing I would like to talk about is that the Chief Executive has publicly undertaken to build 316 000 public housing units on the 330 hectares of land identified to satisfy the demand for public rental housing of about 300 000 units under the 10-year Long Term Housing Strategy. Deputy President, the Government has told Hong Kong people loudly that it has identified land to satisfy the demand in the coming 10 years, but there are still concerns or queries in the community about the arrangements made by the Government concerning such land. People believe that having a target is better than none, but the key is whether the target can be achieved.

When I studied housing policy in the past, I paid particular attention to the causal relationship between flour price and bread price. Even though we have identified land, we still need to expedite various tasks such as land development and rezoning. The Government has identified land to build 316 000 units, but I would like to remind the SAR Government not to be complacent. It is because the identification of land by the Government to build these units does not mean that it has any linkage with the around 300 000 applicants currently on the Waiting List for public rental housing and the waiting time of around six years. The target of public rental housing supply proposed in the first Long Term Housing Strategy was linked with the number of applicants on the Waiting List, but I have failed to see such linkage this time.

Deputy President, the second aspect which I regard as important is how to actualize land development in an orderly manner. The Chief Executive has adjusted the public-private housing ratio from 6:4 to 7:3. As far as private housing is concerned, I have compiled statistics and found that private housing supply will still be tight in the future. The Government's proposal to set up the Development Projects Facilitation Office is a correct move. However, I would like to tell the Secretary that as he is the bellwether and the official in charge, he should know that the processing of application, rezoning and consultation is time-consuming. Let me give an example. Hung Shui Kiu has 707 hectares of land that was planned for housing development, and a study on the project was conducted between 1998 and 2003. That said, can Members guess when the first batch of residents will move in? Deputy President, it is 2024. Is this arrangement desirable? In my view, it is by no means desirable. As it takes some 26 years to implement the arrangement, the Government must streamline the administrative procedure.

3326 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Deputy President, I have prepared eight major proposals for the Government. I will later submit my proposals to the Secretary. I would like to talk about two points at this juncture. First, should the Government clearly instruct the various departments to make performance pledges in respect of the time taken for approving development and planning projects? The time taken for approval is very long these days. I will not further elaborate on this, as I still want to talk about other items.

Second, Deputy President, I hope that the Government can link the provision of cash allowance to households waiting for public rental housing with tenancy control of subdivided units. The name "cash allowance" is very catchy. The Government has heeded the aspiration of the public and accepted the proposal of DAB in introducing and regularizing the provision of cash allowance. This is something that pleases us, and I would like to give the Government a round of applause. But I hope the Chief Secretary or the Secretary can offer a helping hand. When it comes to cash allowance, as the name suggests, the recipient can decide how to use it. Undeniably, he will use part of it to pay rents. In that case, can tenancy control for subdivided units be implemented in tandem to prevent crazy rent increase by unscrupulous landlords? I hope that in offering a helping hand, the Government can carry through to the end.

On the other hand, Deputy President, the Government provides the cash allowance to households that have waited for public rental housing for three years, but I would like to give a reminder to the Secretaries, particularly Secretary for Labour and Welfare Dr LAW Chi-kwong. I have got wind of the fact that if non-elderly one-person applicants are provided with the cash allowance, they will not be eligible to benefit from the Community Care Fund. I hope that the Secretary will think twice, as there are actually two categories of people who will benefit.

Deputy President, I want to raise another point concerning the Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme ("GSH"). DAB has all along supported the Government to regularize GSH. We supported both the pilot scheme back then and its regularization. However, a problem we have detected is the poor sales of GSH flats. Deputy President, what sell poorly are not large flats, which are in great need and snapped up by residents. What sell poorly are small flats. Regardless of social or economic conditions, small flats are invariably not favoured. We all want to improve our living conditions. People with the means all hope to move into larger flats through the revolving door. What about LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3327 small flats then? I have reminded the Government in the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") and on various occasions that I hope the threshold for purchasing small flats can be relaxed, so that eligible persons waiting for one-person public rental housing units can have the opportunity to purchase such small flats. I think that the Government should consider these views.

In addition, I would like to talk about transitional housing. Deputy President, DAB has long been advocating transitional housing on various occasions. Both inside and outside the legislature, we have been working incessantly to urge, request, coordinate and help the Government to implement transitional housing. Our target is to provide 15 000 transitional housing units in three years. Having a target is certainly a good thing, but I hope the Under Secretary for Transport and Housing can take one more step to enhance the role of the Government as a facilitator and coordinator. The reason is that only some 1 000 transitional housing units have been completed so far. The key is whether the target can be achieved. The Government should refrain from offering great cry and little wool, or else it will fail to fulfil its pledge. As such, I have one request concerning transitional housing. I hope that apart from expediting the construction of such units, the Administration should also properly play its role as a coordinator and facilitator. It should be committed to doing a good job.

Deputy President, I want to raise another point concerning drainage pipes. The pandemic this time around has aroused the grave concern of residents of public rental housing and private buildings about the problem of sewage pipe leakage. HA has commenced the Drainage Inspection Programme, which is expected to be completed within 18 months or by March this year at the latest. Frankly speaking, 18 months is too long a period. The drainage pipe problem is now causing panic among residents every day. Can the Transport and Housing Bureau consider increasing manpower to implement this inspection programme? In addition, as a lot of confirmed cases were reported in private buildings, a professor conducted site inspections and discovered that plants of residents were contaminated by sewage. This explains why the Buildings Department needs to be highly involved in assisting residents of private buildings to carry out inspections. Regrettably, however, no details have been released so far. Deputy President, the aforesaid problems are encountered by people every day. As I have often said, to enable people to live and work in contentment, the SAR Government must undertake its tasks with determination, new ideas and courage. That being said, these problems seem to have become perennial.

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In addition, I also want to raise a point concerning the Tenants Purchase Scheme ("TPS"). In the Policy Address last year, the Chief Executive publicly undertook to accelerate the sale of the remaining 40 000 flats or so in 39 TPS estates. She also pledged to commence a study when there is a steady housing supply. Deputy President, since the Chief Executive has formulated a target of building 316 000 public housing units in the coming 10 years, will the Government consider commencing a study on relaunching TPS, so as to satisfy the home ownership needs of public rental housing residents, and achieve the home ownership-oriented target? Deputy President, to live and work in contentment is the aspiration of everyone. I hope that the Government can do more and think more.

Furthermore, I would like to make a few concluding remarks on this Policy Address. In my view, this Policy Address has a clear direction and specific targets. What I am concerned about, however, is its execution. For this reason, Deputy President, I will support the Motion of Thanks, but I would like to remind the Government again to offer a helping hand, so that the executive ability of various departments can be fully manifested in this Policy Address. I also very much hope that they will have regard to the well-being of members of the public. While I often say that it is difficult to be an official, how can the Government make people feel that it is indeed thinking of them? I hope that government officials will do some thinking from this perspective, so that every policy implemented will not be criticized for being disconnected with reality. Thank you, Deputy President.

IR DR LO WAI-KWOK (in Cantonese): Deputy President, the discussion in this session mainly concerns people's livelihood. While nothing about people's livelihood is trivial, at the end of the day, the majority of the public are most concerned about "working in contentment and living in peace".

Employment is arguably the biggest livelihood issue. According to the latest figures published by the Census and Statistics Department, during October to December last year, the seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate and the underemployment rate were 6.6% and 3.4% respectively. The unemployment situation was grave in individual industries, with the unemployment rate of the construction industry reaching 10.7%. Now that the fourth wave of the epidemic is coming inexorably, the authorities anticipate that the anti-epidemic LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3329 measures may be further tightened around the Lunar New Year, causing even greater concern among various sectors about extensive business closures and surges in unemployment of wage earners.

The community must find ways to support the unemployed or underemployed wage earners. The Government should continue to take the lead in increasing the number of short-term and temporary posts, such as by creating posts related to anti-epidemic work, which can help solve both the problems of the increasing number of the unemployed and the manpower shortage in the fight against the epidemic at the same time. The authorities should also work with different industries to provide more internship and training positions. The Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong ("BPA") proposes establishing a $1 billion support fund for occupation switching to assist the unemployed in switching to other trades, switching to other modes of employment or starting their own businesses. In addition, the Government should also seriously consider establishing a time-limited unemployment assistance, for which BPA suggests a monthly amount of $8,000 for up to six months, so as to help the unemployed meet their imminent needs. Given the time-limited nature of the unemployment assistance, we believe that it will not result in a long-term financial burden.

To create more posts, I have repeatedly urged the Government to promote economic recovery through infrastructure projects. The engineering sector and I are pleased to see that the Chief Executive announced the estimation that works projects seeking funding in this legislative year would amount to $180 billion. I have also proposed that the Government should, while submitting funding applications of public works projects to the Finance Committee, initiate "parallel tendering" to expedite the launching of works, and repackage large-scale works contracts into manageable scales so as to enable more small and medium enterprises to participate for riding out the crisis together. In reply to my question on 6 January this year, the Secretary for Development said that the above two arrangements had been put in place gradually and the group tender limits for small and medium-sized contractors would be raised to provide them with more opportunities to participate in capital works projects.

Deputy President, whether people can live in peace depends on the realization of land and housing supply. The Chief Executive has announced in the Policy Address that the authorities, as required by the long-term housing strategy, identified all of the 330 hectares of land used for providing 316 000 3330 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 public housing units. However, by looking into the details, we will find that the land supply mainly comes from reclamation in Tung Chung, the agricultural land and brownfield sites in New Development Areas ("NDAs") such as Kwu Tung North/Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen, as well as sites and brownfield clusters which can be rezoned for public housing development. Obviously, the above land supply comes with a lot of uncertainties. Simply take the development and utilization of brownfield sites as an example, it involves such complicated issues as setting up a transparent mechanism to expedite the relocation and reprovisioning of brownfield operations or making reasonable compensation.

In my opinion, the SAR Government should adopt an innovative thinking to complement its long-term land use and infrastructure planning and expeditiously undertake planning for the construction of private, public and subsidized housing on lands suitable for residential purposes. The Government should not give up studying the rezoning of part of the Green Belt sites on the periphery of country parks of relatively low ecological value for housing as it is estimated that only 3% of the Green Belt sites will have a capacity to provide about 270 000 units. Meanwhile, the authorities should enhance urban planning by expediting and stepping up the efforts to redevelop old areas.

BPA welcomes the proposal in the Policy Address to implement the redevelopment plan of Tai Hang Sai Estate in Shek Kip Mei which is over 50 years of age, but at the same time urges the Government to expeditiously commence the redevelopment works of other aged housing estates and further strengthen the role of the Urban Renewal Authority as a facilitator of urban renewal. During the press conference held yesterday afternoon, BPA proposed a "250 000 public rental housing redevelopment plan" to redevelop 26 old housing estates in phases. If the plot ratios could be fully utilized, as many as about 360 000 units would be provided, which is 255 000 units more than the existing number of 105 000 units, representing an increase of 242% or more than two folds. This would help clear up the queue on the Waiting List for public rental housing. In the meantime, supposing it would take 20 years to take forward the plan, over 9 500 jobs could be created annually, which can be described as an all-win proposal.

Deputy President, the development of Hong Kong has long been constrained by the land shortage problem. Among the many land supply options, the Lantau Tomorrow Vision is the largest in scale and can provide the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3331 greatest amount of land. Moreover, it has been explored and discussed by the community for years. The Finance Committee finally approved funding of about $550 million in December last year to commence studies related to the reclamation project for the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands. BPA hopes that the development period of this project can be shortened as much as possible.

Deputy President, to build Hong Kong into a liveable city, great importance must be attached to traffic and transport infrastructure. At present, some NDAs are faced with the problem of inadequate ancillary traffic facilities. In view of this, I have repeatedly urged the Government to carry out a comprehensive traffic and transport strategy study to tie in with the planning on land use, housing, economy, demography, etc. of Hong Kong, and speed up the "Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030" to expand the capacity of the transport network and infrastructure facilities as a whole.

I am pleased to note that the Chief Executive has actively responded to and explored the layout of railway and major road infrastructure. However, I must point out that the progress made by the authorities in implementing the railway development strategy is far too slow. It was proposed in the "Railway Development Strategy 2014" the development of seven new railway lines, namely Tung Chung West Extension, Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station, Hung Shui Kiu Station, Tuen Mun South Extension, East Kowloon Line, South Island Line (West), and North Island Line. Back then, these projects were expected to be completed by 2031 and the Tuen Mun South Extension which should be the first completed project would be commissioned in 2020. For many years, I have been pressing the Government, both inside and outside the Legislative Council, for honouring its commitments. Regrettably, it took six years for the Government "gave a green light" to the Tung Chung West Extension and the Tuen Mun South Extension in 2020.

There are several new railway projects that must be carried out. For example, the infrastructure works in Kwu Tung North and Fanling North have already started; the funding application of the preliminary works of the Hung Shui Kiu NDA has also been approved by the Finance Committee and yet the railway project concerned has not been finalized after a protracted period of time. The document back then suggested an implementation window between 2018 and 2023 for the Northern Link and Kwu Tung Station with a view to serving the new population intake in NDAs in Northeast New Territories from 2023. However, 3332 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 as disclosed by the authorities at the meeting of the Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways last Friday (i.e. 15 January), the construction of Kwu Tung Station (that is, Phase 1 of the Northern Link) will not commence until late 2023 and will not be completed until 2027. As for Phase 2 of the Northern Link, the timetable is even more peculiar as the construction is actually due to be completed in 2034, a delay of 11 years compared to the original plan.

The Government cannot keep on holding discussions without making decisions and making decisions without taking actions. I urge the authorities to promptly implement the recommendation of establishing a department specifically tasked to handle and supervise railway planning and delivery in the Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Construction Works at and near the Hung Hom Station Extension under the Shatin to Central Link Project to speed up the orderly implementation of the seven new railway projects. At the same time, the authorities should press ahead with the "Strategic Studies on Railways and Major Roads beyond 2030", including reconsidering the construction of the Tsuen Wan-Tuen Mun Railway in order to bring new impetus to the further development of New Territories West.

As for promoting the connectivity of cross-boundary transport infrastructure, the authorities have heeded good advice and discussed with the Mainland the "Quota-free scheme for Hong Kong private cars travelling to Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge ("HZMB")", so as to make optimal use of the unused capacity of HZMB and encourage more people to drive to the Mainland and Macao. I urge the Government to further improve such supporting arrangements as the parking spaces at the control points and cross-boundary insurance. I also support the implementation of co-location arrangements at the new Huanggang control point, which can facilitate a smoother flow of people and goods, as well as release over 20 hectares of land at the Hong Kong control point for other uses.

Deputy President, with regard to young people, the Government introduced the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme and the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which coincide with the "e-channel to the Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong's youth" earlier advocated by BPA. We hope these schemes can be further improved and enhanced. I also suggest that the authorities establish a $1 billion youth professional development fund to provide employers with salary subsidies LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3333 for employees and assist young people in pursuing further studies and acquiring professional qualifications, which will help industries retain talent and nurture successors.

Deputy President, the most pressing livelihood issue at present is certainly the fight against the epidemic. Although the Government failed to make up its minds to implement population-wide testing, it has recently further expanded compulsory testing and for the first time delineated a core area in which all residents are required to undergo compulsory testing regardless of whether confirmed cases are found in the buildings within the area. I am in support of this. On the other hand, I particularly note that a team at the University of Hong Kong has developed a method to test domestic sewage for the COVID-19 virus. The Government has already implemented the scheme concerned and Mr WONG Kam-sing, the Secretary for the Environment, has also explained to the public that preliminary results showed that subclinical cases among household groups in the buildings could be successfully detected by this method. That said, only a small number of buildings are currently subject to sewage testing and they are just a drop in the bucket. I suggest that the Government allocate resources to expand this scheme as soon as possible. As regards the antigen rapid test that has recently aroused public interest, it can also help detect patients at the earliest possible time. Therefore, it will be a feasible option if it is used alongside the nucleic acid test for dual-track testing.

Deputy President, I would like to conclude by repeating the 16 words I mentioned in my speech during the first debate session, that is, "putting the fight against the epidemic first, reviving the economy, improving people's livelihood, believing in tomorrow".

Deputy President, I so submit.

MR TOMMY CHEUNG (in Cantonese): Deputy President, in this session, I will focus on housing, education and healthcare. In respect of housing, the Liberal Party advocates the approach to increase land supply and the principle of infrastructure first. Therefore, we very much welcome the Government's proposal to convert industrial buildings under the Housing Authority into public housing to increase public housing supply. In fact, the Liberal Party, including myself, has questioned the Housing Authority more than 10 years ago as to why 3334 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 the sites vacated by demolished industrial buildings must be returned to the Government instead of being used for building public housing and Home Ownership Scheme flats.

The Liberal Party also agrees with the establishment of the Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control as mentioned in the Policy Address. The Liberal Party has always held the view that many departments, including the Town Planning Board ("TPB") and the Environment Bureau, are too stringent in respect of land planning. For instance, it takes 10 years to turn potential sites to disposable sites. Very often, assessments on environment and traffic have to be passed and application has to be made to TPB. The complicated and time-consuming process fails to meet the demand of Hong Kong people for land. The Liberal Party hopes that the Government can relax the restrictions and remove the barriers as soon as possible, as well as introduce appropriate reforms, making people's housing needs a priority.

This Policy Address has precisely responded to our demand by expediting the land development process. We do not want uncoordinated policies and tedious approval procedures to slow down the development of potential sites into disposable sites and completion of residential housing. I expect the Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control to strengthen internal coordination in respect of land supply and promptly resolve the housing problem in Hong Kong under the supervision of the Chief Executive. Housing is a core issue in Hong Kong. The Liberal Party will definitely support any measure to increase land supply, including large-scale reclamation. Hence, we support the Lantau Tomorrow project and hold that capital raising or issuance of bonds can be considered if the Treasury is under financial pressure at this stage.

In respect of education, the Liberal Party has all along proposed that Liberal Studies should be changed from a compulsory subject to an elective subject and official teaching materials should be provided. Liberal Studies has been extremely controversial. No official teaching material is available since the subject was first introduced. Teachers are not subject to any control and may teach whatever they like, thus leaving students at a loss as to what to do. Deputy President, some students applying for admission to universities through the non-JUPAS route are not required to take Liberal Studies examination. How many universities will actually consider the results of Liberal Studies LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3335 examination? Therefore, the Liberal Party strongly calls for making Liberal Studies an elective subject. It is fairer this way and students can focus on Chinese, English and Mathematics.

Moreover, we have also proposed the installation of CCTV in classrooms earlier. In order to set the record straight, I must point out that the installation of CCTV serves to monitor the teaching process objectively. When a teacher is falsely accused, it can also serve to prove his innocence and avoid meaningless arguments. Furthermore, parents may review the lessons and students on sick leave may also review the lessons online. Parents may help their children revise at home in the evenings with the clips and understand their learning progress. Tutors can also learn about the contents of the lessons when arranging tutorial lessons, making studies more efficient and effective.

I suggest CCTV be installed to film only the contents taught by the teachers, not the students. In fact, many tutorial centres also film their lessons. When I went to university in the United States in the 1960s, I could go to the library to retrieve the teaching clips of a specific period for review even if I did not attend the class. The merits of this suggestion indeed outweigh its disadvantages, so I hope the Secretary can give it consideration expeditiously.

Lastly, I want to leave some time to discuss healthcare. In fact, even 30 minutes is not enough for discussing healthcare. Deputy President, the Liberal Party has been supportive of the promotion of primary healthcare by the Government and public-private partnership. A successful example is the Cataract Surgeries Programme. In the Policy Address, the Government's proposal to provide subsidized medical consultation services to patients diagnosed with diabetes or hypertension is indeed a good initiative. In fact, public-private partnership is crucial to alleviating the pressure on public hospitals in the long run. However, the Liberal Party is disappointed that the importation of overseas doctors has not been mentioned in the Policy Address. Thankfully, in the Question and Answer Session the following day, when I asked the Chief Executive whether she would give consideration to the importation of overseas doctors as soon as possible in order to solve the shortage of healthcare manpower which was a major public concern, she gave a positive response and clearly stated that she agreed with the Liberal Party's direction of importing overseas doctors.

3336 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Deputy President, the Government has invested substantial resources in healthcare over the years. In 2018-2019, the Hospital Authority received a recurrent funding of $61.5 billion. It is expected that 3 000 to 4 000 additional beds can be provided in the next 10 years. As a matter of fact, with $200 billion earmarked for the 10-year Hospital Development Plan, there should be a funding of at least $20 billion each year. However, the Government has neglected the major problem, and that is, despite the perfect facilities, there is a long-standing shortage of doctors in Hong Kong. If I remember it correctly, the North Lantau Hospital now also has floors, wards and beds, but there are not enough doctors. It is indisputable that there is a shortage of doctors in Hong Kong.

The two medical schools can admit 60 more medical students in 2022. If we look at the figures, currently the two medical schools have 520 to 530 places each year. Even with the 60 additional places, there will be 590 places only. It will take 10 years for these medical students to practice medicine. According to the Hospital Authority, even with medical students filling the vacancies, there will still be shortfall of 500 to 600 doctors in 2032. Actually, I am not quite satisfied with this figure because if shortening the waiting time and improving the efficiency are taken into account, 500 to 600 will not be enough.

At present, the average waiting time for accident and emergency services in public hospitals is 114 minutes, more than double than that in Singapore. As for specialist services, 10% of new patients waiting for orthopaedics and traumatology and eye specialist outpatient services have to wait nearly two years for a consultation session. Let me provide more data. In 2017, there were 1.9 doctors per 1 000 people in Hong Kong, while the ratio in Singapore is 2.4. If we have to catch up with Singapore, 3 400 additional doctors are needed. If we have to comply with the standard set by OECD, i.e. 3.4 doctors per 1 000 people, 10 000 additional doctors are needed. The Liberal Party holds that, since the two medical schools can only add 60 places despite their hard efforts, the construction of the third medical school to train local doctors seems imperative. Nevertheless, it takes at least 10 years to train local doctors until they can actually serve patients. Hong Kong people cannot wait that long. The fastest and most efficient way is to import qualified and experienced overseas doctors in order to alleviate the manpower shortage and long waiting time.

There are three aspects that discourage overseas doctors from practising in Hong Kong: first, the one-year registration period; second, internship; and third, the licensing examination. The first two aspects have been improved, yet the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3337 licensing examination remains a major obstacle. How can we expect a 40 to 50-year-old specialist doctor to pass the examination in general medicine that they have learnt in medical school? These are outstanding doctors both overseas and in Hong Kong. Yet, why did so many of them fail the examination? As I often say, a university professor may fail if he is to take DSE today. So, does it mean that he is incapable of teaching?

At the end of the day, the various requirements imposed on overseas doctors by the Medical Council of Hong Kong ("MCHK") and the many small tricks it has made actually aims at preventing overseas doctors from practising in Hong Kong and creating competition. In this way, they can keep increasing their fees and ignore the needs of the society. MCHK keeps practising exclusivism. I urge doctors to stop using the misconceptions that Hong Kong people had about Mainland doctors a quarter of a century ago and stop demonizing outstanding overseas doctors. They should put the overall interests of Hong Kong first instead of scaremongering for personal interests. In fact, only when there is competition will there be progress. The public and doctors will ultimately benefit if there is healthy competition in the healthcare industry.

I also wish to mention that, as far as I know, when the Hospital Authority recruits overseas doctors, they are currently required to speak Cantonese and English. But in fact, among the hundreds of doctors recruited from Commonwealth countries in 1990s, many did not speak Cantonese. By imposing this requirement now, does it mean that the English standard of Hong Kong people is worse than it was a few years ago? I do not think so. We can also hire interpreters who are probably more readily available and affordable than bilingual doctors. Therefore, Secretary, I hope the Government will formulate a policy on the importation of overseas doctors, so that the tens of billions of dollars invested will be put to good use and patients can truly benefit.

Deputy President, I support the Motion of Thanks.

MR CHRISTOPHER CHEUNG (in Cantonese): Deputy President, in this debate session, I will mainly talk about youth development and education. I choose to talk about these two areas because, firstly, I attach great importance to the development and education of young people; and secondly, the disturbances arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments to the 3338 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Fugitive Offenders Ordinance ("the disturbances") have shown us the many problems with the development and education of young people, which are indeed worrying.

First of all, I wish to talk about youth development. I think the Policy Address has, as always, displayed unlimited tolerance and support for young people. Among other things, the Policy Address has announced that in connection with the disturbances, for arrestees under the age of 18 who had expressed contrition and are not involved in serious offences, the Police may consider handling the cases as appropriate by cautioning them under the Police Superintendent's Discretion Scheme or imposing bind over orders. I strongly support this arrangement. After all, we notice that quite a number of young people arrested in connection with the disturbances were simply incited by those who harboured evil intentions to take to the streets to commit offences on impulse. Provided that they are not involved in very serious offences and have expressed contrition, the Government should adopt a more lenient approach in handling their cases, so as to give them an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. In addition, I believe that this move will also help mend the rift, ease the conflicts between the opposing sides in society, and enable the young to know better who actually incited them to become cannon fodder and the good people who truly care about them.

Another highlight of the Policy Address is the launch of the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") Youth Employment Scheme. I find it the most pragmatic scheme ever introduced by the Government to support youth development in GBA. In the past, the Government often appealed to young people to seize the development opportunities in GBA without any practical support. Even if there is such support, some entrepreneurship programmes in GBA invariably come with excessively high thresholds and very cumbersome procedures, thereby deterring interested young people from going northward for development. The GBA Youth Employment Scheme, on the other hand, provides direct subsidies for enterprises to recruit young people and station them in GBA to work and receive on-the-job training. This mode of support is undoubtedly more down-to-earth and direct, and can also benefit both the enterprises and young people, thus achieving a win-win situation and killing two birds with one stone. However, since this scheme currently only provides 2 000 employment places, I hope the number of places can be further increased in the future to benefit more youngsters.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3339

Deputy President, next, I wish to talk about education. I cannot agree more with what the Chief Executive has said in the Policy Address that the role of the Government in education is not merely a provider of resources, but also a policy maker, administrator and regulator. Nevertheless, what disappoints me is that the Government, as I have observed all along, merely plays the role of a provider of resources in education and has never fulfilled its responsibilities as a regulator. The problems with education in Hong Kong are not something that has just emerged today. Leaving aside the problems revealed in the illegal Occupy Movement in 2014 and the Mong Kok riot in 2016, in recent years alone, many young students "hijacked" inauguration ceremonies and graduation ceremonies and turned them into a platform for dissemination of the message of "Hong Kong independence" every year. How many slightly dissatisfied students besieged and confined school staff? How many teachers have been accused of professional misconduct for using their podium to advocate "Hong Kong independence" and corrupt our students? Has the Secretary for Education ever fulfilled his responsibilities as a regulator over the years? No, he has not. I only heard the Government repeat such routine nonsense as "school autonomy" and "handling in accordance with the mechanism" time and again.

Currently, among the more than 10 000 arrestees who are involved in unlawful acts in connection with the disturbances, 40% are students and nearly 2 000 of them are primary and secondary students. Is the Education Bureau really not responsible for causing this situation at all? If the Education Bureau, in the face of the misbehaviours of students and the misconduct of teachers, had not kept evading its official responsibilities in the first place but played the role as a regulator dutifully to oversee the strict handling by schools, education in Hong Kong would not have degenerated to such a state.

Nonetheless, what has been rather comforting recently is that the Education Bureau has earlier cancelled the registration of two teachers who have committed serious professional misconduct to eliminate the black sheep in the education sector. But I do hope that the Education Bureau will not be complacent because as long as the Secretary is willing to understand the situation in a more down-to-earth manner, he will know that many parents are still living in white terror today. They are on tenterhooks every time they send their children to school, worrying that their children will be instilled with wrong values, that their children will receive unfair treatment at school because of their political views, and that their children will be led by teachers with misconduct to break the law by smashing things up in the streets and thereby have their future ruined. 3340 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Therefore, I hope the Education Bureau can truly fulfil its responsibilities as a regulator to strictly monitor the quality of teachers, and should even promptly consider amending the Code for the Education Profession of Hong Kong by adding more detailed provisions to regulate the conduct of teachers, so as to prevent other teachers with misconduct from using their podium to poison our next generation, and at the same time, give peace of mind back to parents and restore tranquillity in schools.

Deputy President, I often quote a famous saying of LIANG Qichao: "If the young people are strong, the country will be strong; if the young people are wise, the country will be wise." The future of Hong Kong belongs to the young people, and education directly affects their quality and future. Therefore, I hope the Government will spare no effort to clean up the education sector, so that schools can return to their fundamental purpose of providing education to nurture the genuine future pillars of Hong Kong.

I so submit and support the Motion of Thanks.

MR VINCENT CHENG (in Cantonese): Deputy President, in this session I wish to focus my discussion on the issues of assistance for the unemployed and housing but since the Chief Secretary and the Secretary for Food and Health are in the Chamber, I wish to urge the Chief Secretary to consider stepping up the anti-epidemic efforts amid the outbreak because the residents living in areas around Yau Ma Tei are very worried.

Last night many residents told me that they were gravely concerned when they learned of the 30 to 40 confirmed cases in Yau Tsim Mong District. I hope that the Chief Secretary can coordinate the work of various government departments to ensure that more efforts will be made to provide full support for residents in Yau Ma Tei, especially as some 30 to 40 confirmed cases have been identified in the proximity of No. 10 to 20 Pitt Street. From what we have heard, there are views that the scope of testing should be broadened or an area should be set aside to provide assistance for residents in these communities. Besides, in respect of the pipes, can the Development Bureau do some coordination to step up inspections? It is because the pipes in subdivided units are most worrying to us. Many buildings have been found to have problems in the pipes, and there have been questions about whether there is a need to evacuate LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3341 the residents or whether they should be subject to compulsory testing, etc. I hope that the Government can expedite its work in this connection.

Lastly, another point that I hope the authorities can consider is that just as residents said to us last night, the residents in Yau Ma Tei are very cooperative as more than 20 000 tests have already been conducted there. I think close to 90% of the residents have taken the test. But after testing, what steps can be taken in a prompt, resolute and pertinent manner for "zero infection" to be achieved as soon as possible in the communities? If some residents have taken the test while others refused to do so, should the Government step up enforcement to show the general public that this is a serious, stringent system and affirm the need of compulsory testing? I hope that the Chief Secretary can coordinate this area of work.

Deputy President, in this session I would like to talk about the issues of assistance for the unemployed and housing. I believe Members are aware that the latest unemployment rate just released has reached 6.6%, a new high in 16 years. The Hong Kong economy has also suffered a severe blow. Currently more than 200 000 people are out of job, and over 100 000 people have become unemployed. Since the Secretary is in the Chamber today, we can have some discussions on this issue. The Government has introduced the Employment Support Scheme at a cost of some $80 billion, and insofar as the current situation is concerned, it depends on how a comparison is drawn as 6.6% may just be a cold figure. When compared with other countries, the situation in Hong Kong may not be so bad. But the unemployed are indeed living miserably and they are in dire straits. I hope that the Secretary can understand it.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB") have, over the past six months, conducted three territory-wide surveys respectively to find out about the public concerns over the prospects of employment, and there are three points which are of great concern to us. First, the unemployment period of the unemployed is getting longer and longer, and the number of people who have been jobless for six months to one year has been increasing. Second, the interviewees said that they had little confidence in finding a job and over 80%―a very large percentage―of the interviewees said that they basically had no confidence in landing a job in a short time. Third, many members of the public knew nothing about the employment support 3342 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 policies currently implemented by the Government. In other words, even though the Government has done a lot, people who have lost their jobs still do not know what they should do.

Therefore, in view of these three concerns of the public, I hope that the Government can, one year after the implementation of the relevant measures, reflect on whether improvement can be made to the employment support policies. First, regarding the Employment Support Scheme, I have repeatedly thought about it and shared my views with the Secretary many times. I also think that if the Employment Support Scheme was not implemented back then, probably an enormous tide of unemployment could have been resulted and therefore, we understand that the Scheme is helpful. But in the meantime, some employers actually may not be in need and yet they have applied for the subsidies, such as operators of supermarkets, property management companies, etc., and this has given people the impression that the Scheme may not be too fair. While it is still unknown as to whether the Employment Support Scheme will be implemented again and if its implementation is really necessary, the Government should adopt a more systematic approach instead of just doing it for the sake of speed. For instance, some people have suggested to draw reference to the practice adopted in Singapore by setting different percentages for different industries. Industries that are particularly in need, such as the construction industry, aviation industry and tourism industry, will receive a higher percentage of subsidies, whereas other industries may receive less. Of course, this approach may not be perfect but it is more reasonable.

Second, concerning the Love Upgrading Special Scheme, the Secretary has stressed time and again that the unemployed can pursue further studies to upgrade their skills. Secretary, I did think about it over and over again and from a macroscopic perspective, it is right for a person who has lost his job to pursue further studies and then try to find another job. Having said that, Secretary, this is not possible in reality, and it is very difficult to do so. I urge the Secretary to think from the angle of the public or the locals or ordinary citizens. For a person who has lost his job, it is most important to meet the rent payment and feed his family. But they are broke now and the Government is telling them to pursue studies. It is like telling me to go watch a movie when I cannot even feed myself. It is downright impossible for the public to reverse their situation. It is very difficult for them to do it. Although there must be people who can make it, I think there are not as many as expected. Even if they can really do it, is it true LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3343 that they can succeed in transforming themselves? Regarding the current Love Upgrading Special Scheme, has there been any survey conducted to find out whether the public, after taking up certain courses, can really land a job and succeed in their transformation, or they enrolled in a course purely to obtain a certificate and then receive a meagre amount of government subsidies? Can the Government look into whether the purpose can be served? Particularly the Government is still thinking that a way to assist the unemployed is to expand the Love Upgrading Special Scheme and hence enable more people to pursue further studies. I am gravely worried.

Third, unemployment assistance. As I do not have much time, I cannot go into detail, but I have raised this issue many times and it is also proposed by various political parties and groupings. I hope that the Chief Secretary and the Secretary can really consider it. We are not talking about a very long time. Under the proposal of DAB, the assistance is granted only for six months at $6,000 per month, which is a short-term measure. We are not suggesting that this payment should continue for two years and more. Nobody would wish to see this happen. We should at the same time have confidence in ourselves and there will not be a need for Hong Kong to implement an unemployment assistance scheme on a long-term basis. Can the Secretary not instantly refuse to grant an unemployment assistance? Will there still be room for consideration, so that some assistance can be provided by granting an unemployment assistance? Now there are only some people who cannot benefit from the measures mentioned by the Secretary earlier. Will the Government also provide a safety net for them to help them ride out this difficult time? Secretary, they need it for only a few months. Can you lend them a helping hand?

After talking about unemployment, I would like to say a few words on housing. Earlier on, Mr Wilson OR mentioned many issues relating to housing. Secretary, I hope that the supply of public rental housing can be increased in the medium to long term, and Mr OR has provided a lot of input earlier. But I also wish to say that regarding the supply in the short term, we hope that the Government can speed it up.

I am grateful to the Chief Executive for mentioning in the Policy Address that the Government is willing to consider and implement our proposals on transitional housing, cash allowance, tenancy control of subdivided units, and so on. However, we hope that work can proceed at a faster pace. If transitional 3344 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 housing cannot be supplied promptly and if it will again take many years to complete, it will be no different from public rental housing. The supply of transitional housing has to be fast.

I am grateful to the Chief Executive for putting forward the figure of 13 500 and we have seen some progress. Probably there can be supply in two years but more units will be made available only from next year onwards. Can the Government speed up the supply in the short term by, for example, expediting the transformation of guesthouses and hotels into transitional housing, which is already underway? I hope that the Government can step up efforts to this end.

Moreover, Mr Wilson OR also mentioned cash allowance earlier on. We hope that cash allowance can go hand in hand with tenancy control of subdivided units. I understand that the Panel on Housing may hold discussions on tenancy control of subdivided units in February, and I hope that it can be expeditiously brought into effect altogether within this year. The situation in Yau Ma Tei over the last few days has given me and you, Deputy President, a deep impression. The tenants of subdivided units really have no bargaining power and they are in great misery indeed, whereas owners of these units have subdivided their flats wantonly. I have personally seen that the connections of the plumbing system were in a mess in subdivided units in Yau Ma Tei, and basically there is no way to impose regulation on them. Yet, the landlords can safely pocket profits by charging the tenants $5,000, $6,000 or $7,000 for rental but the living environment of the tenants is utterly appalling. The cash allowance that we are talking about now may be of some help to them but assistance should be truly provided to tenants of subdivided units by enabling them to be allocated public rental units as soon as possible, rather than helping landlords of subdivided units. In this connection, I hope that the Government will impose control on subdivided units and most basically, landlords should not be allowed to charge rent randomly. This, I think, is a major component of short-term housing support. I hope that in respect of transitional housing, tenancy control of subdivided units and cash allowance, the Secretary can step up efforts to implement these three proposals expeditiously.

Deputy President, I so submit.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3345

MR SHIU KA-FAI (in Cantonese): Deputy President, in this debate session, my speech will follow the one I made in the first session, that is, how to make Hong Kong stable. To achieve stability in Hong Kong, the most important thing is to solve the housing problem. Among the daily necessities of clothing, food, housing and transport, housing is the greatest problem in Hong Kong. A large part of this debate session has been devoted to the supply of land and housing, as well as the living environment.

First, I would like to thank Secretary for Development Michael WONG, Secretary Frank CHAN and Under Secretary SO. In this year's Policy Address, they said that land has been identified for building public housing in the coming 10 years. I believe they must have made strenuous efforts, having to beg and plead. However, despite having the land for building the housing units needed in the coming 10 years, I believe the demand of Hong Kong people still will not be satisfied. It is because the present living area for Hong Kong people is approximately 161 sq ft per capita whereas that in Singapore is 270 sq ft. According to a report published by the University of Oxford in July 2020, 93% of the Chinese are satisfied with the country. I believe one of the reasons for this is that the average living area for Chinese is almost 400 sq ft per capita. This is the average. In urban areas, the living area is more than 360 sq ft per capita, and in rural areas, the figure is even more than 450 sq ft. I believe Hong Kong people, having learned of such figures, must be very envious. Let us first not think about how to reach the Mainland's level. But I think to slightly close the gap between Hong Kong and the Mainland, or even to catch up with that of Singapore, the Government has to step up efforts to increase land supply. Without land supply, there is definitely no way to increase living area.

In the past two years, the Development Bureau and the Transport and Housing Bureau have been vigorously promoting the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, which is one of the options that can potentially provide more land for Hong Kong people. I personally very much support this project because, put simply, the Lantau Tomorrow Vision is about reclamation and identification of land to build housing and further development. There should not be any dispute at all. However, as to whether the project can be taken forward at a lower and more affordable cost so that the people of Hong Kong can accept it and even believe its implementation can bring economic benefits to Hong Kong, I reckon that the authorities still have to work harder. Two days ago, I watched a television programme about Dr WU, owner of Hopewell Holdings Limited. He is very knowledgeable about the infrastructure development of Hong Kong. As regards 3346 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, he said if he were responsible for the construction of the project, he would be richer than even Jack MA. It tells how big a role this project can play. Therefore, I hope Secretary WONG and Under Secretary SO will continue their efforts to identify land in various ways for Hong Kong people, an example of which is the Lantau Tomorrow Vision.

As for brownfield sites, will their development stop? No. Many housing units can be built on the periphery of rural or mountainous areas. In this regard, the authorities should discuss with the relevant parties in no time. I wish to tell the Secretary that in taking forward property developments in Hong Kong, in urban areas on Hong Kong Island, buildings can be built as tall as possible in the urban areas on Hong Kong Island, and the same applies to Kowloon; but in rural areas where the indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories mostly live, there are bungalows or houses of only three storeys but occupy a very large area. In fact, if houses are yet to be built on these land sites in the New Territories, can new buildings of 30 storeys be built there instead of those comprises only three storeys? If they are 30-storey buildings, the usable area will be increased tenfold, so will the number of occupants. I truly do not understand why such land sites in the New Territories can only be used for the construction of three-storey buildings. If transport problems are to blame, while we may not be able to make changes to land sites on which residential developments already exist, it does not matter as we still can develop road networks in conjunction with housing developments on newly identified land sites to serve as ancillary transport facilities. Separately, as for the issue concerning people having small house concessionary rights or in possession of small houses do not have places to live, it has to be solved by the Government. All in all, one of the important options that the Government should consider in solving the housing problem is how to enhance the vertical development of housing.

Other than the vertical development of housing, underground development can actually solve land shortage. The Government can send officials to Korea and Japan and study the use of space on the periphery of metro stations, where there are many underground retail shops. How should the Government develop such underground space? This issue warrants prompt and immediate study. At the same time, I wish to point out that, in past developments of Hong Kong, there was an excess of consultation. I proposed the construction of a pedestrian escalator in Braemar Hill in my capacity as a District Council member in 2007, but the works are still yet to commence. Come to think about it, 20 years have passed but the pedestrian escalator still has not been completed; we are not LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3347 building the Great Wall, right? At such a pace, the development of Hong Kong will certainly get slower and slower when compared with other cities or Mainland cities. Therefore, I consider that the Government should really devote all-out efforts to streamline administrative procedures.

As for education, I will make it brief. I know that Secretary YEUNG has taken up the post of Secretary for Education since the inception of the current-term Government and has been responsible for enforcing integration and rationalization. It is a heavy duty stretching over a long course, amid extremely challenging situations. The education sector often talked about professional autonomy of education in the past. However, from the events occurring in the past year or so, we have come to realize the consequences of such professional autonomy, which indeed calls for rectification. As regards the subject of liberal studies, I find it very perplexing. I have been engaging in voluntary services for more than 20 years and held the office of District Council member for 12 years, and this is the fifth year of my tenure as a Member of the Legislative Council. When people ask me about political matters and have a discussion with me, I dare not say what I say is absolutely correct. I do not understand how teenage students can be taught liberal studies. What politics is correct? Who are to teach the students? What books are to be used to teach the students? And how do teachers give scores? What results will come out of it? All these questions baffle me.

Moreover, Secretary, on the subject of education, when I was a child, my classmates would be counted a black mark for being naughty and misbehaving, and those who were more naughty would be given a minor demerit or major demerit. If a student behaved in an even more outrageous way, in the blink of an eye he or she would be gone, meaning he or she would have been expelled by the school. Only then will students understand that they cannot engage in misdeeds. Education is not just about imparting knowledge to students as their conduct is even more important no matter how good their academic results are, is their conduct. In Hong Kong, the smarter and more outstanding a student having poor conduct is, the greater destruction he or she can inflict on Hong Kong. Therefore, concerning how to improve students' conduct, I believe the Secretary must step up efforts to deal with it. If university students excel at only academic performance but stir up troubles everywhere, then what should be done about them? I hope the Secretary will give this question serious thought.

3348 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

At last, I also wish to express some views to the Secretary for Labour and Welfare. I know that Secretary LAW has done a lot in the current-term Government, but I wish to point out that since the inception of the current-term Government until the Budget this year, recurrent expenditure has increased by 48%, amounting to almost $500 billion. What is the Chief Executive going to do next to help those in need? Those who need help should of course be rendered assistance, but can Hong Kong's treasury afford it? A balance needs to be struck among all aforementioned aspects. It is particularly so when introducing certain labour and welfare policies. A telling example is the raising of the penalties for violation of occupational safety and health legislation discussed just now. The maximum fine will be increased by a hundredfold from $500,000 to $50 million. Many friends of mine from the construction industry and business sector all felt dizzy when they heard about this. They said they could no longer do business upon hearing the amount of fines. After the introduction of these policies, I hope the Government can balance the interests of both the labour and the business sectors, and consider if the latter can bear this. It is because in Hong Kong, the business sector is indeed a crucial stakeholder as far as the policy implementation by the Government is concerned.

Deputy President, thank you.

MR CHUNG KWOK-PAN (in Cantonese): Deputy President, my two party comrades have raised many questions about housing, and I will now add a few words. As stated in the Policy Address, the Government has identified 330 hectares of land for the construction of 316 000 public housing units in the coming 10 years, which will suffice in that period of time. Of course, if the reclamation project under the Lantau Tomorrow Vision will be taken forward smoothly and the relevant works can commence in 2027, that is, seven years later, the first building can be completed in 2033 or 2034 at the earliest. If the overall situation goes smoothly, meaning that after the 330 hectares of land the Government has now identified has been fully utilized in 10 years' time, the land acquired through the reclamation project under the Lantau Tomorrow vision can then be used for housing development.

Nonetheless, our society keeps changing―especially in the past two years―and the Policy Address makes no mention of ageing population in the future. Of course, we know that by 2030, 20% to 30% of the Hong Kong LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3349 population will be over 60 years old. At that time, will there be such a great demand for housing? It seems that the Policy Address does not mention this.

(THE PRESIDENT resumed the Chair)

Another aspect is the development of the Greater Bay Area. If the development in the Greater Bay Area is promising, many people will be drawn to pursue development in the area. Some people have now moved to the Greater Bay Area to buy property and work. What are the numbers in this respect? Can we make an estimate? Will there really be such a great demand for housing in the future? Of course, by then people can sell their smaller homes and purchase bigger ones. But the Policy Address does not seem to make too much mention of the overall study and research in this respect. Moreover, what must be taken into consideration at the same time is a very hot topic recently―the wave of emigration. A wave of emigration is now emerging in Hong Kong. We do not know exactly how many people will leave Hong Kong. However, we have learnt from the reports in various newspapers that the number is not small. Especially, we can tell from property advertisements that many people are selling their properties for emigration. On the other hand, we see that many people who intend to emigrate or have already emigrated are professionals or "post-80s", i.e. people in their 30s or 40s. If some professionals in their prime of life are to leave, what will be the future demand for housing in Hong Kong? Should the authorities make some efforts to reassess the future demand for and supply of housing and even the space standards? These are my additional comments on the views of my two party comrades on housing supply.

The second topic is youth development. Youth development is the most important. In the latter part of the Policy Address, the Chief Executive devoted several pages to how to support young people in their pursuit of development in future, but it seems that she does not quite understand young people's thoughts and views nowadays. Very often, we feel that currently, the policies introduced by the SAR Government or the support provided for young people somehow seem to be wishful thinking, i.e. they are just the SAR Government's own ideas. Has the SAR Government communicated with young people from various sectors through different channels? I have not seen that. Of course, now there is the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth. Exactly how many young 3350 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 people will self-nominate to become members of Government's advisory committees and be absorbed by the authorities? Is the scope of the target group wide enough and will young people holding different political opinions be excluded? Such questions, I believe, are precisely the problems that Hong Kong has been confronting in the past two years.

What is equally important is that many university students who graduated in these two years have been unable to find jobs due to the epidemic and economic woes. Despite an overall unemployment of 6.6% as announced by the Government, it is not easy for young people to find a job. The youth unemployment rate is 12% to 15%, doubling the average, and it shows the severity of the situation. May I ask: how should the Government take care of this group of young people? Of course, some people will bring up the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, but it provides 2 000 places only. Nowadays, tens of thousands of university students or young people graduate every year. In this period, if they cannot find a job … Having studied for quite some years, they should have aspired to build a career but they have been unable to secure a job. I know a young person who had sent out 200 job application letters but received no response at all. He was beyond disappointed. Regarding such a situation, may the SAR Government please spend some time to communicate with young people so as to understand the difficulties they are facing. True, the Government appears to have invested a great deal of resources and funding in youth development, but the results seem to be lacking. Why is that so?

Hence, President, let me wrap up my speech. The first paragraph of the Policy Address is the prologue. The second paragraph reads, "'the social unrest arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and other anti-government acts"―the social unrest is one of them―"the shrinking economy and rising unemployment rate caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic"―this is the second―"[…] All these have seriously undermined the social stability of the [Hong Kong] SAR, impeded its economic development and tarnished its international image, and for which our society has paid a high price". The third paragraph refers to the remarks made by President XI Jinping that for the SAR Government, "it was imperative to always focus on development as the top priority; and it was imperative to always maintain a harmonious and stable social environment". As we all know, the problem of social unrest has been solved LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3351 given that the Hong Kong National Security Law is now in place. The "social unrest", which is first mentioned in the second paragraph of the Policy Address, has now been basically resolved. As for "the shrinking economy and rising unemployment rate caused by the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic", the SAR Government and Hong Kong society are still working hard in the hope that the vaccines can be introduced as soon as possible to solve the second problem. However, there is another very important point, that is, "a harmonious and stable social environment". Although the current social situation gives people a sense of stability, I can tell Honourable colleagues without a doubt that society right now is not harmonious, and is yet to be harmonious.

The newly elected President of the United States ("US"), BIDEN, has just sworn in―no one needs to be reminded that US is now facing serious social cleavages and polarization―and his top priority is to unite the country and restore social harmony. Why does the SAR Government not do such things? The Policy Address makes no mention of it. Why has a wave of emigration emerged? Why are there so many young people who are disgruntled with society? Why is the approval rating of the SAR Government only 10% to 20%? We all know the answers full well. I wish the SAR Government will take the initiative to mend the tear in society as soon as possible. Of course, given that only 17 months are left in the term of the current-term Government, coupled with the epidemic, the implementation of many policies will be sluggish and may not proceed smoothly. No matter how rosy is the picture in this Policy Address, or how strong the support we will render, we will not keep our hopes high due to the time constraint. Therefore, I believe what the SAR Government can do right now is to mend the rift in society.

Thank you, President. I so submit.

MS ALICE MAK (in Cantonese): President, in the first debate session held the day before yesterday, I said I hoped our officials would fight the virus together. I later learnt that Secretary Patrick NIP had done a lot of work. That day, I mentioned that he should take action earlier rather than waiting until there was an order. He said that was not the case. As a matter of fact, he has taken the initiative to offer a lot of assistance and done a lot of things. For example, he has set up a dashboard, assisted in delivering medicines to Hongkongers stranded 3352 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 in Hubei, participated in the implementation of the Universal Community Testing Programme and arranged designated quarantine hotels. He is also currently engaged in the coordination of vaccines. That is great. I hope every Director of Bureau will take the initiative to assist in the fight against the epidemic rather than taking action only after receiving an order. Then it will be easier for the Secretaries of Departments and the Chief Executive to do their jobs. Most importantly, so long as the officials can fight the virus together, those who will benefit are actually members of the public.

At the meeting on the day before yesterday, I mentioned that our governing team in the Special Administrative Region ("SAR") should learn more about the thinking of President XI Jinping. In fact, there is a book―I guess they may know about it but do not have too many opportunities to seriously study it―entitled Xi Jinping: The Governance of China. This book is highly readable since it is divided into different topics, making the search of topics quite easy. A few lines in the book are very relevant to the subject of our debate today. Let me read them out to the officials. How can we bring a sense of gain, happiness and security to the people? "We must always place the people's interests above everything else, accelerate reforming our systems and mechanisms in sectors for public wellbeing, and do everything in our means to guarantee and improve people's standard of living. We should continue to improve public services," and the following few lines, especially relevant to the question of our debate today, should be cited in this session: "enhance social fairness and justice, and direct more public resources to communities, rural areas, and groups in need of help. Priority should be given to matters that concern the people's immediate interests". Today we talk about housing and employment. These are issues about which people are most concerned now. The present grave unemployment is precisely a problem faced by people in need of help. More resources should be directed to them. Therefore, in formulating the Policy Address and deciding the policy direction, such work on utilization of resources should be done properly.

Moreover, the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has explicitly expounded on housing and employment. Members may look at paragraph 31 of the relevant report, which reads to this effect: "We should follow the principle that housing is for people to live in rather than for speculation. We should focus on both renting and purchasing, and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3353 implement city-specific policies to promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market." This is also what Hong Kong should also. As regards employment, paragraph 43 mentions to this effect, "We shall do everything possible to stabilize and expand employment, adhere to the employment orientation of economic development, expand employment capacity, improve the quality of employment, promote full employment, and protect the treatment, rights and interests of workers"―Secretary Dr LAW Chi-kwong is now present. Let me read it again―"protect the treatment, rights and interests of workers". We hope that people can stay in employment. Regarding the people's unemployment problem, the Government should safeguard their treatment, rights and interests. I very much hope that the officials will really do some thinking. What is the ultimate aim of our discussion on the Policy Address? As I have said in my previous speech, it is to bring people a sense of gain, happiness and security. We need to enhance social fairness and justice, and direct more public resources to the grass roots and groups in need. In handling the housing problem, we should note that housing is for people to live in, not for speculation. We need to resolve the housing problem. Concerning labour problems, what we should do is to protect the rights, interests and employment of workers.

I guess Members may have heard of the Two Centenary Goals. This year the country is embracing the first centenary of the Community Party. The goal is to make the national economy more developed and various systems further improved. To achieve the goal of the first centenary, we need to win the battle against poverty. But what is happening in Hong Kong? As mentioned by many Honourable colleagues these few days, the poor population is increasing. The unemployment problem is serious. When the country is now winning the hard battle to eradicate poverty, taking targeted measures to alleviate poverty in a precise manner with a view to achieving the first centenary goal, Hong Kong is going in the opposite direction of the national development. The country is resolving the poverty problem, whereas Hong Kong is creating it.

Back to today's question. In respect of land and housing production, the Chief Executive touched on housing and land development in paragraphs 83 to 106 of the Policy Address. In paragraph 96, she mentioned that the crux of the housing problem lies in the shortage of land for housing development. She added that with the present downward adjustment in construction costs and 3354 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 adequate manpower, this is an excellent opportunity to move ahead with land creation and housing construction. However, checking the detailed annual reports, we found that the Government had stated that the public housing production failed to achieve the target every year. The relevant departments had furnished many reasons for the failure to meet the target. Apart from the shortage of land, a lot of procedures and time were involved, thus causing delay. For example, there was the need to conduct land rezoning, land resumption and relocation work. Also, since the population had increased, it was necessary to improve the community planning, so on and so forth. As a result, the target could not be achieved. Actually, during the "big debate on land supply" two years ago, the then Task Force on Land Supply already pointed out that it would take 11 to 14 years if the Government used a "non-spade-ready" site for housing production from scratch. If a government site was used, the average lead time of a typical public housing development was seven years, during which the construction part under the charge of the Transport and Housing Bureau would take only about three years. Hence, the housing shortage is attributable to the land problem, but it also involves problems of planning and departmental administration. For this reason, earlier on, apart from seeking land through diversified means for housing development, we in the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions ("FTU") have requested the Government to remove barriers and restrictions. That is what we refer to as "breaking up to get a breakthrough". Our present housing predicament should be resolved by breaking up the Policy Bureau. That is to say, the Transport and Housing Bureau and the Development Bureau should be split up and restructured―the Secretary should get what I am saying―housing and transport, which are two large domains, should really be separate from each other. Now it turns out that there are problems on both sides. Transport projects have both incurred cost overruns and lagged behind schedule, while the target of housing cannot be achieved year after year. As such, should the Policy Bureaux responsible for land development and housing not be restructured and combined into one with barriers and restrictions removed, so as to speed up the procedures? In the 2018 Policy Address, the Chief Executive expressly agreed to this request and said a study would be conducted on the implementation, but when we asked further in the Legislative Council at the end of last year, the Government said that as it had to focus on the epidemic situation and tied up with the fight against the virus, it could not deal with this matter. Frankly, if this is one of the ways which can really help us resolve the housing problem, we should go ahead. The Government just said it was tied up with LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3355 something else, but it does not seem to perform very well in fighting the epidemic, and it cannot deal with the housing problem either. Then how can people have a sense of gain and happiness? Therefore, we hope the Government will have the vigour to deal with different tasks at the same time. The objective is to resolve our most pressing housing problem.

Besides, I wish to talk about housing for the grass roots. As a matter of fact, in 2020, the Chief Executive has particularly launched the Cash Allowance Trial Scheme in response, providing applicants for public rental housing ("PRH") who have been waiting for more than three years with a rent allowance. This measure which has paid heed to our views from FTU can be considered a breakthrough. In fact, since 2013, we have proposed that to address the housing problem of the grass roots, the Government should adopt a three-pronged approach, i.e. providing a rent allowance, implementing tenancy control and introducing a vacant property tax. Now the Government has introduced the cash allowance scheme, which is welcomed by us. However, we have a cause for concern. In a questionnaire survey released by us last week, we found that among the respondents, more than 80% of the families waiting for PRH worried that this allowance would ultimately go to the landlords. Moreover, 60% of the families suffered from a reduction in income, and more than 50% of the families indicated that after the economy worsened in 2019, the landlords still raised the rent. As I have said earlier, the rent of subdivided units is out of line with the market price because regardless of the market demand, the rent of subdivided units will only keep shooting up because the tenants of subdivided units actually have no bargaining power to haggle over the rent with the landlords. Consequently, the rent of subdivided units, cubicle apartments or inadequate housing will only keep soaring way out of line with the market. The Government should be aware of this problem. That is why the Chief Executive mentioned in paragraph 95 of the Policy Address that the Task Force for the Study on Tenancy Control of Subdivided Units will submit its report in the first quarter of this year ahead of schedule. However, when tenancy control will be implemented and how the grass-roots tenants can be protected are also vitally important. In fact, we have asked at the Panel meeting whether tenancy control will still not be in place after the end of the cash allowance scheme. Hence, the Government should actually implement tenancy control of subdivided units as soon as possible such that the rent allowance can produce its effect and genuinely help the people.

3356 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Besides, during such a difficult time, there is still something which can be done more quickly―Secretary Michael WONG happens to be present―here I wish to thank the Chief Executive and Secretary Michael WONG because I received a letter from the Chief Executive yesterday. As Members may know, I have proposed a private bill, i.e. the Waterworks (Waterworks Regulations) (Amendment) Bill 2020. Since it relates to government policies, the Chief Executive's consent is required for its introduction into the Legislative Council. As stated by the letter received by me yesterday, the Chief Executive has consented to the introduction of my private bill into the Legislative Council under Article 74 of the Basic Law. Certainly, I understand that this is supported by the Policy Bureau. So, here I wish to thank Secretary Michael WONG for his assistance. I have also learnt from the Chief Executive's reply to me that the Water Supplies Department ("WSD") has in fact carried out amendment work on the relevant legislation and will provide a hotline in respect of my private bill to facilitate enforcement after its passage. This is in fact a very good example which tells us that if our Government is really people-oriented, their job will not be affected by the red tape, since we know that WSD is already drafting the relevant amendment itself, and as indicated by the Government, tenancy control is also under study. Had the Government been bureaucratic, they would have replied that it was not until they had finished the relevant work that my private bill would be handled together, or it was not until they had completed their study that the Waterworks Regulations would be amended at one go. But I have no idea how many years I would have to wait because the Government would not conduct public consultation until the middle of this year. I believe that three years down the line, the Government might still be unable to do the amendment exercise. However, this time the Government did not adopt a bureaucratic approach. Instead, it accepted the private bill proposed by me, enabling me to work even faster than the Government. This is the fastest way to help the tenants and a genuine demonstration of being people-oriented. I hope the SAR Government can act in this way more often, thereby giving the people a sense of gain and happiness, rather than adopting its usual bureaucratic attitude. Therefore, here I wish to thank Secretary Michael WONG again for his support.

When the epidemic is still not over and the economy has not yet recovered, people can hardly resume their normal life. The ones who suffer most are grass-roots families. During the debate in these few days, many Honourable colleagues have spoken on the difficulties encountered by grass-roots families. We have also highlighted various problems confronted by many grass-roots families, such as online learning. We noted that a response was made in this LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3357

Policy Address. Subsequently, we had a discussion with Secretary Kevin YEUNG. I hope Secretary Kevin YEUNG will understand that the Government's timetable for handling the problems is actually quite slow. Currently, some children in grass-roots families still have difficulties in online learning. I hope the implementation of the relevant scheme can be expedited.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, unemployment and economic problems have remained serious. As we can see, many grass-roots people cannot even afford the rent of a subdivided unit. Many people have to sleep in the street. Such a situation was already mentioned by me in the first session on the day before yesterday. How can the Government actually help them? Just now I heard Honourable colleagues of different political parties propose an unemployment assistance scheme. Yet the proposition of our scheme is different. Our scheme seeks to establish a fund of $15 billion to provide the unemployed with a monthly allowance of $9,000 (about half of the median income) for six months. But the Government refused to do so. In that case, what does the Government intend to do to help them? Unable to afford the rent, grass-roots people have to sleep in the street. Middle-class people have to use up their credit limits to obtain cash advances to pay the rent. What can the Government do to help them? If it does nothing, how can the people feel that the Government is helping them and assisting them? Hence, I really hope that the SAR Government can appreciate people's feelings in this regard. It should be empathetic, put itself in people's shoes and think from the perspective of the public. At present, there is indeed an unemployed population of some 200 000 people. According to a survey of FTU, over 30% of the people have been unemployed for more than half a year. Some people would say they should find another job, and the Government has also advised people to enrol on retraining courses, but does the Government know that even after completing the security guard training course which is the most popular among the retraining courses, one can still hardly find a job? It used to be quite easy to find a job in this profession, but now that is no longer the case.

I know some fellows engaged in the tourism industry. Having obtained the Security Personnel Permit, they planned to join the security sector. However, after doing the job for a month or so, they were dismissed because the employers had hired younger security guards whose salaries were lower. As a matter of fact, the present situation in the labour market is very poor. The Government cannot make an empty appeal for family members to exercise the 3358 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 spirit of mutual support and help each other, while it does nothing itself and merely says that our proposal is infeasible. Regarding the proposals of Members and the public, apart from saying no, what the heck is feasible?

Here I also wish to talk about our anti-epidemic work. We have asked quite a number of times whether universal compulsory testing should be conducted. The Government said no, adding that such an approach was unscientific. Since the Government puts such an emphasis on science, it should come up with a solution. But so far it is still unable to tackle the epidemic, and the outbreak has become even more severe. Today it is reported that there will be a lockdown in Yau Ma Tei. Many people say they have already had enough. If the Government can go so far as to impose a lockdown, why not conduct universal testing so that the people will endure only a short-term pain for two weeks forthwith, rather than prolonging the pain? The Government said universal testing was unscientific, but when the outbreak in Yau Ma Tei became severe, it imposed a lockdown, saying that such an approach was scientific. After all, whether it is scientific or not is merely the Government's own saying. Since the Government considers itself smart and professional, will it please tackle the epidemic in a smart way? Yet it fails to do so. It only keeps remarking that other people's proposals are infeasible, making the public feel frustrated. Seeing the Government's performance, how can we not feel frustrated?

Regarding problems of unemployment, underemployment and reduced income, it always says the proposals made by other people are all infeasible. Only the Government's proposals, further studies and retraining courses are the most feasible. But in fact, they are not. Had they been effective, there would not have been so many grievances against the Government.

Yesterday, I participated in a charity event to give anti-epidemic supplies to elderly singletons. One of them was a strong supporter of the Government in the "blue camp". He said how terrible, now everyone is unhappy with the Government. Such is a situation we do not wish to see. When political conflicts are so intense, we do not want these livelihood issues to cause any further class conflict or conflict between the rich and the poor in society. Do not let any more conflict arise. We already need time to deal with the political conflicts. As regards the livelihood issues, the SAR Government must do a better job. Do not let people call it a "giant baby". Will the Government please make some good efforts?

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How the Policy Address can truly bring a sense of gain, happiness and security to the people is my expectation on the entire Policy Address or the whole Government. I hope the Government can give people a sense of gain, happiness and security.

President, I so submit.

MR KWOK WAI-KEUNG (in Cantonese): President, in my speech yesterday I said that we need to combat fake news and malicious rumour-mongering on the Internet, for the purpose of pointing out the loopholes arising from the lenient criminal liability and insufficient deterrent effect under the existing legislation. And I advised the Government to expeditiously enact dedicated legislation to prevent wanton smearing and malicious rumour-mongering from tearing the community apart and distorting the facts. At the same time, the Government also needs to ensure that its philosophy of governance and ideas can be understood by the public, and safeguard national security. Regrettably, however, the Government has so far remained nonchalant and failed to take any follow-up actions.

Today I would like to talk about education. Paragraphs 148 to 164 of Part IX of the Policy Address are about nurturing talents and youth development. Education is mentioned at the very beginning, and vision for education and quality education are explained. The gist is that we need to nurture our young people into quality citizens with a sense of social responsibility and national identity, an affection for Hong Kong as well as an international perspective. While this is a good objective, how can we achieve it? The Policy Address further states that, over the past three years, the current-term Government has increased the expenditure on education by a total of $13.5 billion. But what have we got? Paragraph 151 tells us that among the more than 10 000 arrestees in connection with "black-clad violence", 40% are students, and nearly 2 000 of them are primary and secondary students.

President, Members all remember that several days ago, the Panel on Education invited the presidents of various universities to reply to Members' questions as to how they, as administrators of the universities, can resolve problems in universities such as "black-clad violence", championing independence, singing pro-independence songs, and university campuses becoming arsenals for championing independence. All the university presidents, however, were left speechless by such questions.

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In addition, from June 2019 to October 2020, the Education Bureau received a total of 262 complaints against teachers. The investigation of 80% of such cases has been completed, of which 85 cases were found unsubstantiated. The Government has issued reprimand letters in 23 cases, warning letters in 13 cases, advisory letters in 20 cases and verbal reminders in 22 cases. The registration of two teachers involved has been cancelled. And 61 cases need to be further investigated. These are the figures as of late November.

The question is: Will the prospect of our education be promising after the investigation of all cases has been completed? In the face of the blatant infiltration of political forces into school campuses, can we root out the bad elements lurking inside by enhancing our administrative measures? Do we need to be extra patient and wait for them to mend their ways, or do we have to buy time for people to see their intransigence more clearly?

Let us see the two plus one cases involving the cancellation of teacher registration. Why do I say two plus one? It is because the latest case has not been officially announced. This case took place in a government secondary school and the teacher concerned had had a change of post before being put on suspension. He was allegedly involved in championing independence in teaching materials and examination papers, and thus the cancellation of his teacher registration is being considered.

In addition, what about the previous two cases? The two teachers whose registration has been cancelled worked in primary schools. One of them compiled a sample lesson plan that championed independence, and made use of certain media clips to introduce "Hong Kong independence" groups and organizations in a high-profile manner. At the same time, he also touched on secessionist movements such as Tibetan independence movement, Xinjiang independence movement and Taiwan independence movement, and even asked students to take a political stance in the classroom. The other teacher who taught Primary Two students distorted the colonial history. In my primary school days, the Queen of the United Kingdom and the Governor of Hong Kong dared not speak carelessly about history even though they alone had the say. During the Opium War, LIN Zexu ordered the destruction of opium to solve the root of the problem. However, a Primary Two teacher surprisingly told his students that the British launched the war to eliminate opium in China. This teacher fully displayed his subservient mentality, and he also, in his capacity as a teacher, taught Primary Two students to regard the enemy as kith and kin.

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Furthermore, there is another case that has occurred not in a school. A registered trade union has just compiled a picture book entitled《羊村十二勇士》 (The Twelve Warriors of the Goat Village) with political stance as the main axis. Not only does this book beautify "Hong Kong independence", violence and those fugitives, but it also smears and demonizes our country and spreads hatred. Its intention and objective are very much clear.

In examining these shocking cases, we will realize how absurd, ridiculous, laughable and unbelievable they are. As we can clearly see, those who were taught by them and exposed to such information are all primary school students. These innocent students are simply a piece of white paper, but there are obviously cliques and organizations infiltrating school campuses in a systematic way, in an attempt to turn white paper into black paper. These people cannot even wait for reaping what they have sown in universities, which they treat as arsenals, and thus they have hastened to sow poisonous seeds in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools.

President, as indicated by many of my colleagues, the Government is nonchalant not only in fighting the pandemic but also in combating rumours and protecting cyber security. As political forces are now infiltrating school campuses, can the Government demonstrate its determination and courage to right the wrongs associated with education, and rectify the belief that it has done its job by introducing piecemeal remedies? In addition, some teachers who are dedicated to education and discharge their duties properly have told us that, despite seeing the intransigence of their colleagues, many good teachers invariably choke with silent fury for they are worried that the school may have its own position.

Speaking of choking with silent fury, we certainly need to talk about school bullying. As far as school bullying is concerned, we have seen, due to the recent social dissension and politicization, the school bullying teachers, teachers bullying the school, teachers bullying students, and students bullying teachers. And the phenomenon of students bullying other students is even more common. In respect of complaints in this regard, if schools only accept signed complaints to ensure that no one will abuse the complaint mechanism, has the Education Bureau given any thought to this and thought about the complainant? Not only does the existing complaint mechanism fail to offer protection to the complainant, but it also helps schools to deter those who want to lodge a complaint, thus creating a real chilling effect. While many parents want to lodge a complaint, 3362 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 how can they lodge a signed complaint when their children are virtually taken hostage in schools? For this reason, the Education Bureau must improve the complaint mechanism and investigation regime, so as to protect the identity of the complainant.

At the same time, we also suggest that the Education Bureau should introduce regulatory standards and guidelines for teaching materials, so as to effectively monitor the teaching materials used by schools. In addition, we also need to introduce a reporting hotline, thoroughly investigate the incident and release the outcome of investigation following its completion. In the meantime, schools should also enhance transparency, allow parents to examine and inspect teaching materials, and put in place relevant mechanisms. Certainly, we also need to review the existing teacher registration mechanism.

President, many of my colleagues have referred to social dissension yesterday and today. In fact, can social dissension be naturally healed when we all remain nonchalant? Certainly no, we must all take one more step if we want to enhance mutual trust and reconcile with each other. The Government certainly needs to win public trust by undertaking more pragmatic tasks, responding to public aspirations expeditiously, and ending the fourth wave of virus infections as soon as possible. If teachers and schools want to win public trust, they must also enhance the transparency of schools in handling complaints, take responsive actions actively, and formulate preventive measures and contingency plans. Only by doing so can they address the concerns of the public, parents and students, rebuild our confidence in education, and truly nurture the talents needed by Hong Kong.

I so submit. Thank you, President.

MR JEFFREY LAM (in Cantonese): President, the housing problem has plagued Hong Kong for more than a decade, affecting the life of numerous families. It is not only a livelihood issue but also a political issue. With exorbitant housing prices and cramped housing units, living space has exerted so much pressure on people that they are unable to breathe. Insufficient public housing supply and soaring asset prices have widened the wealth gap, and no matter how hard young people study and work, they still cannot catch up with the unreachable housing prices. As pointed out by the Chief Executive in the Policy Address, people have aspirations for a stable and comfortable home. This LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3363 situation will possibly give rise to discontent with policy and social instability. Some people may even consider emigration, as extremely high living costs and cramped living space in Hong Kong are forcing talents to leave.

The Government says that it has identified sufficient sites to achieve the target of public housing supply for the coming 10 years, but these are either fragmented sites or located in remote new development areas. In addition, the housing policy is very complicated, as there are other schemes such as the Green Form Subsidized Home Ownership Scheme and the White Form Secondary Market Scheme. The Government has heeded our views and abolished the Doubled Ad Valorem Stamp Duty on non-residential property transactions, but it should also consider other harsh measures. As housing supply has been curbed, and the loan-to-value ratio on mortgage loans is so low, people find it very difficult to mortgage their properties and cash out. The Government should not be so rigid as not to give any consideration to this at all. Nor should it believe that it can clearly grasp all problems of our society by simply sitting in the office and watching television.

Despite the introduction of so many housing policy initiatives, it is still necessary to identify more land for building homes. However, there is no shortage of land in Hong Kong. Less than 10% of its total land area is used for building homes, only that the Government does not dare to use the land available. There are many green belts that are of no ecological importance and conservation value. For example, there are sites on the roadside which are provided with water and electricity supply and transport facilities, but the Government does not dare to use such sites simply because they are named green zones or green belts. This is such a waste. In fact, the allocation of only a few green areas will already be much more effective than the current practice of building stand-alone housing blocks on infill sites.

President, we support the Lantau Tomorrow Vision. The Policy Address also proposes various measures to support the planned development of the Greater Bay Area. In our view, the Government should not merely think about seeking funding, but it should also ask itself how to develop and make good use of sites in South Lantau. In fact, many sites in Lantau as a whole have not been put to use. South Lantau can support the development of the Lantau Tomorrow project. Not only can the entire area be used for building homes and offices, but the beautiful landscape of North Lantau and South Lantau can also facilitate the development of a popular tourist destination and a quality living circle in Hong Kong. I hope that the Government will give consideration to this.

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However, given the current financial position of the Government, it is only natural that there will be public concern if it spends the some $100 billion reclamation project will arouse public concern. For this reason, the Government must do a good job in explaining and implementing the project. There is indeed much room for improvement in the Government's performance in recent years. Apart from causing project delays and cost overruns, the Government is too rigid and inflexible in undertaking its tasks. The various departments not only shift responsibilities among themselves but also procrastinate. As Lantau Tomorrow concerns the development of Hong Kong in the coming decades, we should refrain from flip-flopping on it. If land to be supplied under Lantau Tomorrow is taken into account, most future land supply will come from the New Territories, and land supply in the urban areas will be limited. The so-called sufficient public housing supply actually means adjusting the public-private housing ratio from 6:4 to 7:3, robbing Peter to pay Paul. There is no major breakthrough in actual supply. The market is also concerned about a possible substantial shortfall in private housing supply by around 2023. The Government has yet to explain this to the public.

President, speaking of living and working in contentment, I would like to say that, apart from the housing problem, employment market conditions these days are very difficult, and we are also concerned about youth development. Young people are the future of our society, and we attach importance to their development. Only when we are committed to nurturing talents can we achieve further progress in social and economic development. As many young people are willing to go all out in work and achieve career success, the Government should provide them with a more favourable development environment as far as possible.

We have all along supported the Government to expand the innovation and technology talent pool of Hong Kong, which is crucial to innovation and technology development. The Government has committed a lot of resources to education and training, but why does it seem that no great effect is achieved? The Government really needs to regulate the teaching quality of teachers, prevent them from misconduct in lessons, and prevent lessons from being taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives. Only by doing so can it truly focus on training talents.

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On the other hand, the Policy Address proposes the concept of "one zone, two parks", including the joint development with Shenzhen of an international innovation and technology hub in the Greater Bay Area and the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park. And the Government has allocated $2 billion for attracting overseas scientific research talents to Hong Kong. The Government must persist in training local STEM talents, relax the threshold for and restrictions on importing talents, invest in innovation and technology infrastructure, and attract more dot-com companies to Hong Kong as early as possible, so that young people can learn from these talents and enhance their own competitiveness.

Some people are considering emigration these days. It is a pity if our young people or talents leave. The Government should provide young people with certain choices, so that they will know that as long as they are willing to give it a try and learn, there are many development opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. Many people keep adopting a wait-and-see attitude towards such development opportunities. Nowadays the fastest way out for the Hong Kong economy is to grasp the opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. We therefore welcome the introduction by the Government of the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, which subsidizes the provision of 2 000 jobs for 18 months. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce has rendered its support in the first instance by providing some 300 jobs covering various industries such as accounting, arbitration, electronics, environmental protection, real estate and healthcare, so that young people from Hong Kong will be able to unleash their potentials and broaden their horizons. At the same time, they can also take the opportunity to get to know the system and operation of the Mainland Government and enhance their sense of national identity.

President, times have changed, and the goal of the Greater Bay Area has changed from the world's factory to an international innovation and technology hub. The restructuring and upgrading of traditional industries are being accelerated, and the competitiveness of emerging industries is being enhanced. The Mainland has professionals who are proficient in English, but Hong Kong people have their own advantages, namely having a global mindset and international perspective. We and people on the Mainland can therefore support each other. Policies are closely connected. Hong Kong signed CEPA as early as in 2003, so that it could expand its services trade market in the Mainland. It is imperative for the SAR Government to provide financial incentives and 3366 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 subsidize enterprises, so that young people can go to the Mainland to see the local economic there. Apart from the employment scheme, the Government can also set up a fund dedicated to the professional development of young people, so as to further promote their employment and internship in the Greater Bay Area, and, at the same time, satisfy their housing needs in the Greater Bay Area.

President, in the past, many people said that if anyone went to the Mainland, he would be abducted or taken to China and stripped of privacy. In this era of information explosion in particular, a piece of negative news can easily be hyped on the Internet and give rise to various conspiracy theories. For this reason, the Government must be down-to-earth and better comply with public opinion in its work. Civil servants should change their inherent mindset that "one who does fewer things makes fewer mistakes and one who does nothing makes no mistakes", and do more practical things. Then people will know that the Greater Bay Area is not an empty concept but a real opportunity.

Speaking of the Greater Bay Area, I would like to make the following plea to the SAR Government again. When Hong Kong people have access to vaccines―the Chief Secretary is now present―I hope that the Chief Secretary and the Chief Executive will ask the Central Authorities to exempt Hong Kong people who have got vaccinated from the 14-day quarantine on the Mainland upon crossing the border. Reopening the border is of great help to Hong Kong in relaunching or revitalizing its economy, and it is necessary to do so. We hope that the Chief Executive can make it happen for us during her coming duty visit in the north.

President, I support the Motion of Thanks. I so submit.

DR CHIANG LAI-WAN (in Cantonese): President, the year 2020 is really a difficult year for Hong Kong. With the "black-clad violence" not yet over, here comes the global epidemic. It can be said that natural catastrophe and man-made disasters are coming one after another. The Chief Executive uses the five words "Striving Ahead with Renewed Perseverance" as the title of the Policy Address this year. I agree with the phrase "Striving Ahead", for the Government has really encountered many difficulties in the past year. All the people of Hong Kong have been rigorously tested by the social unrest and the epidemic. Yet, in the closing remarks of the Policy Address, the phrase "Renewed Perseverance" is used. I really have no idea what kind of renewed perseverance it will be. How can Hong Kong relaunch with renewed perseverance?

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First, let us look at the Policy Address. Every year, the Government will explain in the Policy Address the measures it has implemented and the work it has done in the previous year, as well as the new initiatives and proposals to be introduced in future, and so on. Hence, when we read the Policy Address every year, we will find it somehow familiar. For nearly 10 years, I have read each Policy Address seriously and carefully. The contents are similar every year, as if only addition and deletion are made to the original version here and there. The Budget to be announced soon will be the same, with addition and subtraction made here and there. Sometimes I think the job of the Financial Secretary is quite easy, for he merely needs to do some addition and subtraction. Therefore, if Hong Kong is to relaunch with renewed perseverance, we may really have to introduce reform, a serious reform.

The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong has proposed a number of significant reform measures to the Government earlier on, but regrettably, it seems that they have not been included in this Policy Address. I agree that the Government has not been indolent in the past few years. They have done a lot. Yet, may I urge government officials to ask themselves sincerely which of the many tasks they have done are considered successful by the public? Take education as an example. Secretary Kevin YEUNG, do you think the public consider the existing education system in Hong Kong a good one? Will parents think that the schools can nurture their children into outstanding talents once they have been sent there? I would not talk about other aspects. Let me take scientific research, to which we often refer, as an example. At present, for MBA and doctorate programmes offered by various universities in Hong Kong, the enrolment of local students is dropping. Despite the lowering of the admission requirement for local students time and again, the enrolment rate of local students is still very low.

As for healthcare services, is there any improvement and are the services getting better every year? No, they are getting worse every year. In the past, a patient may need to wait for more than 10 months for an ophthalmic appointment, then more than 20 months, and now one has to wait for three to four years. If a patient cannot seek consultation even after a wait of 30-odd months, he may really become blind. And in terms of welfare, are the various measures implemented effectively and can they provide genuine support for the disadvantaged and the poor?

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During the debate in these few days, we have heard that the economy is experiencing a downturn due to the epidemic, with an increasing number of shops closing down and large enterprises laying off their staff one after another. Members have been shouting at the top of their voices to urge the authorities to, amid this once-in-a-century epidemic, set up an epidemic emergency unemployment special grants to assist the needy, or introduce some interest-free loans to assist the middle class to ride over the difficulties. Yet, what is the response of the authorities? The authorities have not responded at all. They merely point out that there are three long-established pillars for retirement protection in Hong Kong. What is the point of mentioning these pillars? In the midst of the prevailing epidemic, none of these pillars can render support. Regarding other aspects like housing, transport and injury at work, and so on, since a number of Directors of Bureaux are now in this Chamber, I hope they will reflect on this: What you, or the Directors of Bureaux beside you, have done which actually won the applause of the public?

The former Premier ZHU Rongji once said that government officials should always refrain from "deliberation without decision, decision without implementation and implementation without effect". Yet, unexpectedly, after some years, this situation rightly occurs in the Government in Hong Kong today. Examples of these are in abundance. I can easily pick an example about deliberation without decision and that is the shortage of doctors in Hong Kong. This problem is well known to all. Prior to the reunification, the British-Hong Kong Government changed the system so that Hong Kong doctors trained in the British Commonwealth could not return to Hong Kong to practice. As a result, the number of doctors in Hong Kong was drastically reduced by half since half of the doctors in Hong Kong used to be trained in these places. After that, the Government of the first term reduced the number of medical training places for certain reasons, meaning that the already scarce supply was reduced further. However, on the other hand, it said that the population in Hong Kong would increase to 10 million. We all know that this is a problem, but why no action has been taken despite all the discussion? The simplest way is to follow the practice of our neighbouring regions by importing more overseas doctors. As the authorities will engage overseas experts and various departments have recruited overseas experts, why the authorities do not turn to overseas doctors when the public need the care of doctors? Why? Is it because they are afraid? Who are they afraid of? They are supposed to serve the public. If they serve the public well and if they are doing the right thing, they should be afraid of no one. Yet, if they fail to do so, they should feel afraid when they sleep at night, fearing that they will be cursed by the public.

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Another problem is about subdivided units. We have all seen those subdivided units. For humanitarian and hygiene consideration, these subdivided units are unsuitable for long-term living. Regrettably, over the years, the Government has been at its wit's end. Why does the Government not do something about it? The compulsory quarantine in Yau Tsim Mong district this time has exposed that there is leakage in drainage pipes of many buildings, which may have caused the infection of a large number of people.

Furthermore, I would like to talk about the structure of the Government. We have been discussing this for many years, pointing out that the existing structure of the Government is bloated and superfluous. Currently, government officials seem to "know everything but good at nothing". Reform is needed. However, over the years, apart from the creation of the post of Political Assistant and the addition of a Director of Bureau, nothing has been reformed. In fact, I earnestly look forward to such reform this year. Yet, no reform is introduced. This is exactly a case of deliberation without decision.

I will then explain what is decision without implementation. There is a shortage of land in Hong Kong. The development of the periphery of country parks will not have much impact on the environment as a whole. The construction of some hostels and residential care homes for the elderly in the periphery of country parks will make the elderly happy, for there is fresh air and they need not travel to the urban area for work every day. Why do they not do so? This is not that the authorities are unwilling to do so, and this is not deliberation without decision. The authorities have made the decision after deliberation and have given two sites to the Hong Kong Housing Society for development first. Yet, it seems that the decision is withdrawn soon after the start of the project, and the project is called off without a trace. I do not know why such a good policy disappears.

Another example is the vacancy tax proposed recently. Currently, some people cannot find a flat to live in while some flats are left vacant, so why not lower the rent to lease out the flat? Should the authorities levy an additional tax on vacant flats? Yes, they should. The relevant arrangement is ready to be submitted to the Legislative Council for legislation. Yet, unexpectedly, the authorities withdrew the proposal. Hence, this is decision without implementation.

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I will then talk about implementation without effect. Over the years, the authorities have taken a lot of actions. Nevertheless, have any of them yielded results or good results? Missions cannot be considered accomplished merely by saying that the work has been done and money has been handed out. The authorities have to achieve results and good governance.

President, there are so many such examples that when I drafted this speech, I did not know where to start, and I could not say it all even in three hours as the number of examples is simply shocking. Back to the supply of doctors. The authorities are well aware of the shortage. In each of the oral question session, the Secretary keeps saying that local training places have been increased now and the authorities are recruiting doctors from overseas countries. Over the years, merely half of the places have been filled and half of the doctors have left, leaving behind only 27 overseas doctors. There are over 40 public hospitals in Hong Kong, meaning that each hospital will only be allocated 0.5 doctor. Should this be regarded as a mission completed? This is a classic example of actions taken without achieving any result.

Another example is the epidemic. The Chief Executive has devoted a lot of space in the Policy Address to the epidemic, explaining that she has done a lot and implemented stringent measures to prevent the importation of cases and the spreading of virus in the community. She has done everything, yet the result is a steep rise in the number of confirmed cases, which means that the prevention of the importation of cases has failed and so has the prevention of the spreading of virus in the community. At present, the virus has utterly been spread all over Hong Kong. Is there any problem with this?

The second wave, the third wave and then the fourth wave of epidemic have broken out one after another. In fact, previously, the Government has sometimes … Expert advice is good. Yet, as we all know, though experts have excellent medical knowledge, they are not down to earth. Have they ever been to Yau Tsim Mong district? Which of them will frequently visit the Sham Shui Po area―do not laugh, I know you often go there, but you are neither a doctor nor an expert―the experts are not down-to-earth. In view of the apparent outbreak of the epidemic, the authorities were told to find hotels and require all people arriving in Hong Kong from overseas to stay in hotels instead of undergoing home quarantine. Yet, back then, the authorities said that they could not find any hotels as the hotels refused to lend a hand. However, eventually, they were willing to do so and in the end, many hotels were designated. One LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3371 point is crystal clear, and that is, where there is a will, there is a way. Am I right? Now that compulsory testing arrangement for the core area of the specified area has been introduced. Is this effective? We all see that it is effective. Am I right? Dozens of confirmed cases have been identified in a day. Just think about it. In Sham Shui Po, compulsory testing was first introduced in six buildings. One of the staff members responsible for conducting rapid tests was so excited because he identified a case after the operation had started for just 15 minutes. He looked so happy in a television interview, for this proved that their rapid tests were effective.

We have proposed introducing mandatory universal testing a number of times. Regrettably, the Chief Executive said that it was difficult to do so and it might need to impose a lockdown in parallel. Frankly, this should be done even if it is difficult. Should a task be left undone merely because it is difficult? If I ask you to pluck the stars from the sky, you will not be able to do so. But now, I am merely asking you to arrange for universal testing, why can this not be done? The authorities have blamed it on inadequate testing capacity. Why is it inadequate? At present, with the joint effort of the private sector and the rapid tests, 1 million specimens can be tested in a day. Why is it impossible to do so?

The epidemic has been going on for more than a year. I am not anxious. The problem is that many friends in the business sector and some SMEs may not be able to survive through this month. If they can no longer pay the rent, will the authorities think that the landlords will be nice to them? No. The painstaking effort made by some small businesses over the years will go up in smoke overnight.

Moreover, the authorities have made it clear that the Employment Support Scheme will end. Yet, now the authorities are acting as if they are very proud, saying that the unemployment rate has reached the highest in 16 years. The unemployment rate will continue to rise. Do they believe that there is a chance that it will keep rising? It is definitely possible. Do they realize that the public are in deep waters? Recently, I have lent money at no interest to a kaifong who is in great difficulty. Some time ago, he took out a high-interest loan, thinking that it would be fine if he could get through a few months. Now, he is in heavy debt and great plights, so I give him a little help. Do the authorities realize that this is a critical moment? They can brook no delay in taking actions.

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Recently, the Chief Executive has reiterated that "zero infection" is the target. Yet, if the number of confirmed cases cannot be lowered within a short period, and if the virus is spread further, I hope the Government will consider adopting a three-pronged approach, namely the introduction of mandatory universal testing, vaccination and the implementation of "health code", so that we can have a chance to achieve "zero infection". If the Government continues to procrastinate in the fight against the epidemic, this year, Hong Kong will only be caught in the same state as last year and many service-oriented enterprises will close down,. Hong Kong can hardly relaunch with renewed perseverance this year as the Chief Executive has said.

In fact, a number of government officials have said that there are many things they would like to do, yet there are divergent views in the community, and some people even actively oppose them. I wonder which policy introduced by the Government has the unanimous consent of the public. Please find one and tell me. Even if there are universal cash handouts, there are still people who oppose them, and in the past, some political parties strongly opposed the cash handouts. Therefore, as long as the authorities consider that something is right and good, they should do it. If they are afraid of what they are going to do and are over-cautious, nothing will be achieved in the end. One day, when they retire from the Government, I hope they will ask themselves sincerely whether they have implemented any benevolent policy for the people of Hong Kong during their tenure and what they have done to win the applause and support of the public. Hence, I propose to add one more phrase to the title of the Policy Address, which should read "Striving Ahead with Strenuous Efforts and Renewed Perseverance".

In fact, in the past year, President, the work of the Government not only deserves criticism but also praise. For instance, the Government has taken the initiative to stop increasing the civil service establishment in the wake of the ongoing epidemic, which is a good thing. Moreover, the firm implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the requirement that all civil servants should take an oath also warrant commendation. I hope other public officers will be required to take an oath of allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China as soon as possible.

Furthermore, there is a group of frontline civil servants who deserve our commendation and praise, such as the Police Force, staff of the Immigration Department working at control points, frontline and outsourced staff of the Food LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3373 and Environmental Hygiene Department, management staff of the Housing Department and all healthcare workers working hard in hospitals to take care of patients every day. Of course, all the staff of the Centre of Health Protection of the Department of Health are indispensable. Not only are they unable to work from home, they often have to work overtime or extra hours to stand fast at their frontline posts. I hope the Government will commend their hard work at the right time.

Finally, I would like to share with Members a few lines from President XI Jinping in conclusion: "Be loyal in serving the Country, be shameful of avoiding official responsibilities, and be united by the same spirit to win". We only have to work hard, thoroughly review various departments and introduce reform. We should not care about what others do. Do not say we cannot do it because of difficulties. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.

President, with these remarks, I support the Motion of Thanks to this Policy Address.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Does any other Member wish to speak?

(No Member indicated a wish to speak)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): If no Member wishes to speak, I will invite the nine public officers to speak. On the basis of the 15-minute speaking time for each officer, they may speak for up to a total of 2 hours and 15 minutes.

SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the many Members who have offered a lot valuable views. Here, I would like to give a focused response in respect of the purview of the Development Bureau ("DB").

Land supply has been a top priority of the current-term Government. At present, we have identified 330 hectares of land for the construction of 316 000 public housing units to satisfy the demand for public housing under the Long Term Housing Strategy in the next 10 years. This is a joint achievement attributed to the joint effort made by various sectors in society over the past period to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Land Supply.

3374 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Regarding the supply in the short to medium term, development projects in Tung Chung New Town Extension and new development areas like Kwu Tung North/Fanling North, Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen, Yuen Long South are being taken forward in full swing. The first batch of public housing is expected to be completed in succession between 2024 and 2028. As about 30% of the supply of public housing in the next 10 years will come from these new town extension and new development area projects, the smooth implementation of the relevant infrastructure work and land resumption will be of great importance to society.

We have completed reviewing 160 hectares of brownfield sites with development potential and identified eight clusters of brownfield sites for public housing development, of which the engineering feasibility studies for seven clusters have already been commenced. The review of another 290 hectares of land is close to completion and the result will be announced shortly.

We have identified some 210 sites which can be rezoned for housing development, of which 140 sites have been rezoned to provide close to 200 000 flats, while the rezoning of another 12 sites is in process. Though the size of individual lots in these sites is relatively small, the relevant rezoning work is still crucial to housing supply, as around 40% of public housing supply in the next 10 years will come from these rezoned sites.

Furthermore, we introduced the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme in May last year. So far, specific consultation has been conducted for about 10 cases with preliminary development proposals and initial dialogue with proponents on certain projects is underway. When formal applications are received, we will make an announcement.

As for land supply in the medium to long term, we are actively making preparation for studies related to the artificial islands in the central waters, with a view to providing around 1 000 hectares of newly created land and 150 000 to 260 000 housing units. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr SHIU Ka-fai, Mr Holden CHOW and Mr Jeffrey LAM for their support of the direction of the study. The Government will continue to prepare for the planning and engineering studies on the coastal development of Tuen Mun West and the reclaimed land at Lung Kwu Tan.

Moreover, we are conducting a development study covering San Tin/Lok Ma Chau Development Node and intend to seek funding approval from the Legislative Council within this year for the detailed design. Also, we will strive LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3375 for the early commencement of the planning and engineering study for the new town in New Territories North and the Man Kam To Logistics Corridor. These projects will provide a continuous supply of land in continuation of the above mentioned new development areas and new town expansion now in process.

A number of Members, including Mr Wilson OR, Mr Tommy CHEUNG and Ms Alice MAK, have mentioned the need for further streamlining of our vetting and approval procedures. We have to compress the development schedule, which includes expanding the composition and remit of the Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control and reviewing other development-related areas outside DB. DB has set up the Development Projects Facilitation Office to coordinate various Policy Bureaux and departments in expediting relatively large-scale private residential projects. Mr Tong TSE has particularly encouraged us to continue to work hard and fear not accusations of collusion between the Government and the business sector. I would like to point out here that we will continue to work hard. In taking forward certain measures which require the use of market forces, there will inevitably be various kinds of queries. In implementing these measures, we will ensure fairness and impartiality, enhance transparency and explain clearly to the public the substantial public benefits to be brought by the relevant measures.

In respect of urban renewal, the Yau Mong District Study being conducted by the Urban Renewal Authority ("URA") is about formulating various options under the Master Renewal Concept Plan and selecting pilot projects for trial implementation. To encourage the redevelopment of old industrial buildings, we hope to introduce a pilot scheme in the first quarter of this year to calculate land premium for lease modification at "standard rates" promulgated in advance, facilitating the sector to grasp the cost for lease modification and speeding up the completion of lease modification. We believe these measures will help release land in old districts for suitable development.

Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok has highlighted the importance of infrastructure investment. It is true that investment in infrastructure is conducive to the sustainable development of the economy of Hong Kong. Despite the prevailing economic condition, the Government will continue to invest in infrastructure as appropriate. Capital works expenditure will increase to a level exceeding $100 billion in the next few years, which will effectively improve people's livelihood and create the employment opportunities needed in society.

3376 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Ir Dr LO has particularly mentioned the need to adopt parallel tendering. I would like to report on that here. In the 2019-2020 legislative session, the Legislative Council has approved works expenditure of over $170 billion, involving 86 new project items. So far, works contracts for 80 projects have been awarded, and the remaining six projects are expected to be awarded in the next three months. In the current legislative session, thanks to the Finance Committee, funding for 13 works projects amounting to $37 billion in total has been approved so far. I hope Ir Dr LO would be happy to know that works contracts for four projects have been awarded, tenders for eight projects have been invited and the tendering process of the remaining one will commence as soon as possible. We hope that the project funding to be approved in this legislative session will reach $180 billion so as to provide new impetus to our economy.

Ir Dr LO has also mentioned the possibility for small and medium contractors and consultants to participate in public works projects. To facilitate effective participation of more small and medium contractors, the Government will split large public works projects into contracts of manageable scales to increase the number of contracts. Moreover, the Legislative Council is considering raising the expenditure ceiling of each minor works project funded under the block vote from the current $30 million to $50 million. Once this is implemented, we believe this will speed up the implementation of minor works projects which are closely related to people's livelihood.

To meet the challenges of the growing volume of construction works, high costs, ageing workers and declining productivity, DB is actively implementing "Construction 2.0" by adopting more innovative technologies and digital technologies in order to enhance the professionalism of the industry and absorb younger workers. For instance, we use the modular integration construction approach to construct a large number of quarantine facilities and the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre within a short period. The first batch of modular integration construction pilot projects, including InnoCell at Hong Kong Science and Technology Park and Disciplined Services Quarters for the Fire Services Department at Pak Shing Kok in Tseung Kwan O, has been completed. At present, in addition to requiring the adoption of modular integration construction for designated government buildings, such as schools, hostels and office building, we are extremely happy to see that public organizations like the Hong Kong Housing Authority, the Hong Kong Housing Society and URA are proactively adopting modular integrated construction for various construction projects.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3377

(THE PRESIDENT'S DEPUTY, MR MA FUNG-KWOK, took the Chair)

DB is actively promoting the digitalization of public works projects to enhance the project management and construction efficiency. As at December 2020, contracts for over 60 public works projects with a total value exceeding $100 billion have adopted the digital works supervision system, and over 300 public works and consultancy projects with a total value exceeding $150 billion have adopted the Building Information Modelling technology.

Moreover, after the establishment of the Project Strategy and Governance Office ("PSGO") under DB in 2019, project control has been strengthened comprehensively. PSGO conducts the project vetting process starting from the inception stage, observing the principles of "fitness for purpose and no frills" and seizing every opportunity to optimize project design with a view to reducing cost. In the past four years, we had reviewed over 280 projects and saved more than $70 million in costs for public works projects amounting to $520 billion.

On epidemic prevention, the Buildings Department ("BD") has earlier launched, through the Anti-epidemic Fund, an inspection scheme to inspect the external drainage systems of private buildings, covering over 20 000 private residential or composite buildings exceeding three storeys in height across the territory. After discussion with the Department of Health, BD will accord priority to buildings subject to compulsory testing requirement, including those located in the specified area of a district where compulsory testing is conducted.

The Lands Department and the Smart City Consortium, as well as other departments have provided the Interactive Map Dashboard relating to the epidemic to provide the community with a lot of information of interest. The Architectural Services Department, the Civil Engineering and Development Department and the construction sector have been working around the clock and doing their best to construct a large number of quarantine facilities in different places in the territory, especially Penny Bay, in a very short period of time.

I would like to particularly mention here that apart from the hard work of colleagues of government departments, the construction sector has also spared no effort in fighting the epidemic. The Construction Industry Council and the Hong Kong Construction Association ("HKCA") jointly launched the Construction Industry COVID-19 Testing Service Scheme in the second half of 3378 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

December last year, which has so far provided testing service to over 19 000 workers. HKCA has also organized experts to visit and review construction sites in the territory, offering a lot of valuable advice on epidemic preventive measures that should be implemented on these sites, such as management of site entrance, provision of ventilation facilities and resting area arrangement, and so on. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the construction industry for their relentless efforts.

A number of Members have also mentioned the work on heritage conservation. At present, the heritage conservation policy of the Government is to protect, conserve and revitalize historical and heritage sites and buildings in an appropriate and sustainable manner in the light of the actual situation for the benefit and enjoyment of the public.

A number of Members have mentioned the case at Bishop Hill. As we said earlier, the demolition work will not continue. Our future work will be conservation-oriented, and studies and assessment are now being conducted by experts. We hope that in March this year, the relevant facilities can be graded by the Antiquities Advisory Board. After that, we will further implement the specific conservation plan.

We will draw on the experience of Kowloon East to implement the Invigorating Island South initiative. The preparatory work for the setting up of the Invigorating Island South Office is in full swing. I believe the office will come into operation officially in the next few weeks. We look forward to working jointly with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Home Affairs Bureau in the future to carry out the various projects under the Invigorating Island South initiative properly, so as to develop the Southern District into a place full of vibrancy, vigour and velocity for people to work and live.

Deputy President, the provision of adequate land to address the needs of society is a tough challenge which the Government and the community as a whole have to face together, and it is inevitable that we have to make choices among the various targets. The Government will continue to strike a proper balance and maintain close communication with various sectors in society with a view to building a consensus and resolving the problem of land shortage together.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3379

With these remarks, Deputy President, I implore Members to support the Policy Address this year.

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I am grateful to a number of Members for their views on the two major policy areas of housing and transport.

After many years of efforts, the Government has identified 330 hectares of land to build 316 000 public housing units, satisfying the demand for public housing units for the next decade and representing an increase of 44 000 units over last 10-year period. This year, we have for the first time met the rolling 10-year housing supply target under the framework of the Long Term Housing Strategy ("LTHS"). This is a good beginning.

Of the aforesaid 316 000 public housing units, about one third are scheduled for completion in the first five-year period whereas the other two third fall in the second five-year period. For most projects within the first five-year period, all the consultation, statutory rezoning and other processes have been completed. As for those scheduled to be completed in the second five-year period, the statutory rezoning of most projects has been completed. Although there may be other variables in the process of project development which can affect or cause delays to the relevant procedures, the Government has the confidence and determination to build 316 000 public housing units on these identified sites in the next decade. In any case, we will make the utmost effort to take forward the relevant work.

According to the public housing construction programme for the period from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025, the estimated total public housing production in this five-year period is about 101 300 units. In fact, there has been an overall trend of steady increase in the total public housing production for the previous five five-year periods, and the total housing production for the five-year period from 2020-2021 to 2024-2025 has been the highest in recent years.

The 2020 Policy Address has announced a series of relevant measures to increase or expedite the supply of public housing and subsidized housing. These measures include the clearance of Shek Lei Interim Housing for public housing use, redevelopment of some factory estates of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA"), and redevelopment of Tai Hang Sai Estate, which can provide about 3380 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

7 900 units in total. To meet the housing production target under the LTHS, we will continuously endeavour to optimize site potentials through comprehensive planning and site-specific design to best respond to site conditions, utilize plot ratio and maximize flat production. We will also speed up the planning procedures and compress the time for site formation and construction, with a view to expediting the supply of public housing.

As it takes time to identify land, the Government will adopt measures to help families in poor living conditions and those that have long been waiting for public rental housing ("PRH"). With the facilitation and coordination of the Transport and Housing Bureau, as at the end of last year, the Government already identified adequate land for the provision of about 13 400 transitional housing units for the coming three years. We are pressing ahead with this initiative, with a view to achieving the target of 15 000 units. Besides, the Transport and Housing Bureau has also actively promoted a pilot scheme to utilize suitable rooms in hotels and guesthouses for use as transitional housing when the tourism industry is hard hit by the epidemic.

Since its establishment in April last year, the Task Force for the Study on Tenancy Control of Subdivided Units ("the Task Force") has adopted a multi-pronged approach in pressing ahead with its work to collect views of various sectors on whether and how tenancy control of subdivided units should be implemented. The Task Force strives to complete the study in the first quarter of this year and will submit its report to the Government. Upon receiving the report, the Government will actively follow it up at full throttle.

The Government will also launch a three-year trial scheme to provide cash allowance for grass-roots families which have waited for PRH allocation for a prolonged period of time, so as to relieve their pressure on livelihood. The Government is working out the implementation details of the scheme, and aims to start receiving applications in mid-2021 and disbursing cash allowance from July onwards. The work schedules are tight but we will do our best.

At present, housing supply is still an issue of great concern in society, and increasing land supply on a sustainable basis remains the fundamental solution to effectively resolve housing supply in the long term. We will continue to work closely with the Development Bureau and adopt a multi-pronged approach to increase the overall supply of land for housing development. With the provision of more land, we can develop more public and private housing units, and we can LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3381 build larger PRH units with better ancillary facilities, so that the public can live in more spacious units with better conditions. With sufficient supply of land, we can expedite the planning work, so as to complete the statutory procedures as early as possible and compress the time for infrastructure and housing development. I believe the waiting time for PRH units will then be gradually reduced. Moreover, following an increase in land supply and housing supply, HA will review the redevelopment of old housing estates and the per capita floor area of public housing. It is our responsibility and mission to provide the public with housing units where they can live in peace and contentment.

On the transport front, the Government will actively take forward transport infrastructure projects and continue to develop a transportation system centred on public transport with railway as the backbone, while making ongoing efforts to promote "Smart Mobility" and create a pedestrian-friendly environment.

The Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Tunnel, which was commissioned in December last year, connects the Northwest New Territories, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, North Lantau and the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") and provides an alternative road access connecting the HKIA in addition to the Lantau Link. It helps divert traffic to and from Lantau and the journey time from Tuen Mun South to the HKIA can be reduced by about 20 minutes. Seizing the opportunity created by the commissioning of the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Tunnel, the Government has since midnight on the day of commissioning waived the tolls of the new tunnel and the Lantau Link.

Meanwhile, the Government is in the course of developing Route 6. Upon commissioning of the entire Route 6 in 2026 as scheduled, the journey time for travelling between Tseung Kwan O Town Centre and Yau Ma Tei Interchange along Route 6 will be substantially reduced to 12 minutes. This, coupled with the Tseung Kwan O Cross Bay Link under construction, will provide the public with a more convenient express access between Tseung Kwan O and Kowloon West.

The Government will consult the relevant District Councils and stakeholders on the proposed alignment, works implementation strategy and implementation timetable for Route 11 and will seek funding approval from the Legislative Council for conducting studies on the investigation works for Route 11 (section between Yuen Long and North Lantau) in the first half of this year. As for the review of the feasibility of the Tsing Yi-Lantau Link, the 3382 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Highways Department ("HyD") plans to start the preparatory work early this year. Route 11 serves to enhance the connectivity of roads between Northwest New Territories and the urban areas, ease the pressure on the existing major roads, and cope with the future development of Northwest New Territories, including the traffic demand generated by the new development area in Hung Shui Kiu and Yuen Long South.

In respect of railway, we have invited the MTR Corporation Limited ("MTRCL") to embark on the detailed planning and design of the Tung Chung Line Extension, Tuen Mun South Extension and Northern Link. Meanwhile, the Government is studying the proposals and supplementary information provided by MTRCL on three other new railway projects and will announce the way forward for these projects in due course. As regards the South Island Line (West), MTRCL submitted the project proposal to the Government in December last year. The relevant government departments have since commenced studies and will take forward the projects concerned in due course to tie in with the timetable for the redevelopment of Wah Fu Estate.

Looking ahead, we will conduct the Strategic Studies on Railway and Major Roads beyond 2030 to explore the layout of railway and major road infrastructure and conduct preliminary engineering and technical assessments for their alignments and supporting facilities, so as to ensure that the planning of large-scale transport infrastructure will complement or even reserve capacity to meet the overall long-term development needs of Hong Kong.

For the convenience of the commuting public, we will continue to promote "Smart Mobility" initiatives. By leveraging technology, these initiatives will facilitate traffic management and enhance the efficiency of the utilization of roads and transport facilities. The free-flow tolling system is a major "Smart Mobility" initiative. Besides, we will continue to promote other "Smart Mobility" initiatives, such as the $1 billion Smart Traffic Fund to be introduced soon, the promotion of new-generation parking meters and pilot projects on automated parking systems. The Transport Department ("TD") is actively studying the amendment of legislation in the hope of creating favourable conditions for promoting the development and application of autonomous vehicle technology.

TD will introduce the real-time arrival information system for green minibus ("GMB") at the end of this month, following the implementation of the same for franchised bus and MTR, so as to facilitate commuting and trip planning LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3383 of the public. With a view to fully covering all GMB routes by next year, TD will progressively install location detection devices and conduct field testing on around 3 300 GMBs in Hong Kong.

The Government has been taking forward "Walk in HK" to create a pedestrian-friendly environment and encourage citizens to walk more by implementing a host of measures. For example, TD has since December last year extended the walking route search information on the HKeMobility mobile app to cover all 18 districts in Hong Kong, so that the public can acquire real-time traffic and transport information anytime and anywhere for route planning.

Furthermore, HyD will continue to take forward proposals for hillside escalator links and elevator systems while pressing ahead with the implementation of the Universal Accessibility ("UA") Programme to retrofit barrier-free access facilities at walkways. The scope of the UA Programme has been expanded to retrofit lifts at walkways of HA estates, including estates under the Tenants Purchase Scheme, the Buy or Rent Option Scheme, and public rental housing estates with non-residential properties divested, in order to provide convenience for the citizens in commuting.

Deputy President, in the light of the ongoing impact of the epidemic on the local economy, the Government has decided that the monthly public transport expenses threshold of the Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme will continue to be relaxed until June 30 this year, in order to further relieve the burden of transport expenses on the public. In the meantime, the Government will continue to provide a subsidy amounting to one third of the monthly public transport expenses in excess of $200, subject to a monthly cap of $400. It is estimated that around 3.8 million people will benefit each month. In addition, after discussion with the Government, MTRCL has decided to extend the 20% fare discount until March this year and also extend the $100 discount for various types of monthly pass until June this year, in order to tide over the difficulties together with the people of Hong Kong.

Deputy President, transport and housing are closely linked with the daily life of the public. With the overall public interests as the paramount concern, the Government has introduced many measures in an effort to make Hong Kong a better connected and more liveable city. With these remarks, Deputy President, I appeal to Members to support the motion and the policy administration of the Government. Thank you, Deputy President.

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SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I would like to thank the many Members who have spoken in the second debate session for putting forward a lot of valuable views on nurturing and pooling technology talents and promoting smart city development. As I have mentioned in my response after the first debate session, the current-term Government has been proactively promoting the development of innovation and technology ("I&T") along eight major areas proposed by the Chief Executive. The Innovation and Technology Bureau will continue to inject impetus into the local I&T ecosystem on the existing basis, in particular, to step up effort in attracting talents.

I understand Members' concern about the competition for I&T talents among different places under the current international environment. In order to promote I&T development, we must enhance our talent pool and bring together outstanding I&T talents. For this reason, we have adopted a three-pronged approach to nurture, retain and attract talent, with a view to expanding the local I&T talent pool. The Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme ("the Employment Scheme") proposed in the Policy Address began accepting applications from enterprises on the 8th this month. The Employment Scheme sets aside around 700 places for the I&T sector. The Government will provide subsidies to companies with operations in Hong Kong and Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area for employing Hong local university graduates to undertake I&T work and training in Hong Kong and Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, so that young people can better understand the latest I&T development in the two places and seize the career opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. The Employment Scheme has been very well received by the industry since its introduction. Applications from more than a hundred enterprises have been received in just two weeks, including over 340 I&T positions.

Moreover, we have launched the STEM Internship Scheme ("the Internship Scheme") last summer to subsidize short-term internships for undergraduate and postgraduate students in STEM programmes offered by local universities with a view to encouraging students to experience I&T-related full time work and foster at an early stage their interest in an I&T career after graduation, thereby enlarging the local I&T talent pool. The Internship Scheme has been very well received by the academia and the industry, attracting over 1 500 university students and more than 800 organizations so far. They all speak highly of the scheme. According to the findings of the surveys conducted by participating universities, the vast majority of students upon completion of their internship have gained a LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3385 better understanding of the I&T field and will consider pursuing their careers in I&T in the future. Besides, most of the participating employers were satisfied with the job performance of their interns, and even considered that the performance of the students exceeded their expectations and plan to join the Internship Scheme again. Participating universities found that the Internship Scheme had helped provide more I&T-related internship places for students to apply their STEM knowledge in the workplace and understand the I&T culture and work environment at an early stage.

I very much agree that the nurturing of I&T talents should start as soon as possible. Therefore, through the IT Innovation Lab in Secondary Schools Programme ("the Programme"), we seek to cultivate students' interest in information technology ("IT"), enhance their digital skills, computational thinking and innovative abilities, and promote a culture of innovation, so as to further reinforce the long-term supply of local IT and, in general, I&T talents. Under the Programme, funding support of up to $1 million in the three school years from 2020-2021 to 2022-2023 will be provided to each publicly funded secondary school for setting up IT Innovation Lab, procuring IT equipment and acquiring relevant professional services (such as cloud services and AI facilities) that meet the needs of teachers and students; and organizing IT-related extra-curricular activities.

In addition to our continued effort in strengthening training of local talents, Hong Kong has to enhance its competitiveness in attracting global I&T talents. The Global STEM Professorship Scheme is proposed in the Policy Address this year to subsidize local universities in hiring eminent overseas scholars and their teams to conduct STEM teaching and researches in Hong Kong. The Scheme will provide 100 quotas at an estimated cost of $2 billion. We believe the Global STEM Professorship Scheme will be conducive to enabling local universities to scale new heights in STEM teaching and research. Together with colleagues from the Education Bureau, we will brief the Panel on Commerce and Industry on the details of the Global STEM Professorship Scheme next week.

At the same time, in order to step up effort in attracting overseas and Mainland technology talents, the Technology Talent Admission Scheme provides a fast-track arrangement for the admission of overseas and Mainland technology talents to conduct research and development in 13 technology areas in Hong Kong. Since its introduction in June 2018, 517 quotas have been allotted and 3386 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

215 visas/entry permits have been issued. Among the 517 allotted quotas, more than 200 positions are in the artificial intelligence field, while about 100 are related to financial technologies and data analytics.

In the debate in the past three days, Members have put forward a lot of views on promoting the development of smart city. In promoting the development of I&T and smart city, we do not only seek to promote economic diversity and inject new impetus into our economy. More importantly, we aim at improving the quality of life of the people, so as to benefit the general public and bring them convenience. The Smart City Blueprint for Hong Kong 2.0 released last month announced more than 140 smart city initiatives, including the Smart Mobility measures mentioned by the Secretary for Transport and Housing in his speech just now. These initiatives will enable Hong Kong people to experience the convenience in their daily life brought about by smart city and I&T. The public may check the implementation of each smart initiative on the Smart City portal which also provides real-time city dashboards for members of the public to receive the latest information.

Meanwhile, a one-stop personalized digital services platform, "iAM Smart", has been launched at the end of last month. "iAM Smart" is one of the key digital infrastructure projects for smart city development. It allows the public to login and use online services with a single digital identity. Through the "iAM Smart" platform, members of the public can perform digital signing with legal backing under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance for handling statutory documents and procedures. Currently, members of the public are able to access more than 20 commonly used online government services, such as application for renewal of vehicle licence and full driving licence, eTAX and registration of outbound travel information, as well as online services of public utilities, such as the two electricity and the gas companies. It is expected that by the middle of this year, the number of public services accessible through the platform will increase to more than 110.

In addition, the Government will continue its efforts to improve public services and streamline business procedures by using technology to make government services more convenient, efficient and transparent. We will promote more electronic licence services with the goal of allowing electronic application for all licences by the middle of next year. Except in cases of legal or operational restrictions, all licences can be issued electronically with a view to LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3387 saving applicants' time and cost and making the services available anytime and anywhere. The Government will continue to reform more than 900 government services to further enhance the level of public services for the benefit of the public and the convenience of business.

Deputy President, the Policy Address this year proposed a wide variety of measures to promote I&T and smart city development, fully demonstrating the Government's determination to take forward I&T development in Hong Kong on a continuous basis. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Members for their valuable views and support on different occasions in the past. My team and I will continue to work hard and cooperate with the sector and various stakeholders to create more favourable conditions for I&T development in Hong Kong and promote Hong Kong as a more competitive international I&T hub.

With these remarks, I urge Members to support this year's Policy Address and the Government's work on I&T. Thank you, Deputy President.

SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): Deputy President and Honourable Members, I would like to thank Members for their speeches and valuable views over the past several days. Let me further explain the direction of work and state of affairs of the Home Affairs Bureau in terms of youth development, recreation, sports, arts and culture.

Youth development

The current-term Government actively spearheads youth development work by addressing young people's concerns about education, career pursuit and home ownership, and encouraging their participation in politics as well as public policy discussion and debate. Our vision is to nurture a new generation with affection for Hong Kong, a sense of national identity and an international perspective. At its seventh meeting just held, the Youth Development Commission offered valuable views on the new initiatives in the Policy Address, particularly those concerning further supporting young people from Hong Kong to seek employment and start businesses in the Greater Bay Area and promoting local outdoor adventure training activities. We will work closely with the Commission and relevant stakeholders in implementing the new initiatives.

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I would also like to thank the many Members who have expressed their concerns and valuable views about the Government assisting young people from Hong Kong in understanding our country. In his keynote speech delivered in last October in Shenzhen, President XI Jinping stressed the importance of making full use of the major cooperation platforms among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to attract more young people from Hong Kong and Macao to study, work and live on the Mainland, so as to facilitate wider exchanges and deeper integration among the youths in these regions, thereby strengthening their sense of belonging to the Motherland. The Home Affairs Bureau has long been making efforts to enhance and extend the scope of various schemes for youth internship, entrepreneurship and exchange on the Mainland, providing diversified opportunities for Hong Kong young people to set foot in the Greater Bay Area as well as other provinces and municipalities on the Mainland. Participants will gain first-hand experience of local cultures and have dynamic interaction with local youths. Although many outbound activities were suspended or postponed in light of the epidemic last year, we have permitted and encouraged funded organizations to organize local activities that do not involve crowd gatherings, such as online briefing sessions, seminars and training courses, for participants to learn about the culture, history, social features, people's way of life and latest development on the Mainland, particularly the exchange/internship destinations. In addition, the Youth Development Commission has also just held online workshops including one named Opportunities in the Greater Bay Area, in which members of the Commission and guests were invited to share their views and experience concerning the topic, and the relevant background was provided to the participants for their discussion, so as to deepen their understanding about the topic.

The Home Affairs Bureau will expeditiously relaunch various Mainland and overseas youth programmes subject to the development of the epidemic, and enhance the breadth and depth of all programmes. Since 2017, we have been collaborating with first-rate cultural and scientific research institutions such as the Palace Museum, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan to organize the Thematic Youth Internship Programmes to the Mainland, which provide unique and in-depth internship opportunities for Hong Kong youths to gain a better understanding of relevant disciplines and professional fields as well as the national development. With the proactive support of the concerned units, municipalities and provinces on the Mainland, the number of thematic internship projects has increased from two in 2017 to seven nowadays. As indicated by the Chief Executive in the Policy LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3389

Address, we are preparing to further expand the programmes, and launch five additional programmes in such disciplines as aviation and aerospace technology, ecological and cultural conservation, and archaeology. At the same time, under the funding schemes for youth internship and exchange on the Mainland and the scheme on corporate summer internship launched by the Home Affairs Bureau, arrangements were made for some 19 000 Hong Kong young people to participate in exchange and internship activities in various provinces and municipalities of the Mainland each year before the epidemic. We will continue to enhance the schemes to further attract more young people to participate in exchange and internship activities on the Mainland, including the Greater Bay Area, so as to enhance their understanding of their Motherland and the Greater Bay Area development through personal experience, thus helping them with their future development in the Greater Bay Area.

Just now, I noted that Mr CHUNG Kwok-pan mentioned strengthening communication with young people. The current-term Government has introduced quite a number of measures for young people to participate in public policy discussion. The feedback on the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth ("MSSY") has been very encouraging since its launch. From the pilot scheme introduced in 2017 to Phase III of MSSY following its regularization, a total of 5 000 applications were received, and its participants included 35 committees covering a wide spectrum of policy areas. Since the introduction of MSSY, around 340 positions have been filled by young people directly and indirectly appointed to the advisory and statutory bodies through the scheme. The scheme has successfully attracted a group of young people who aspire to serve the community to join advisory committees. Starting from Phase IV, we will increase the number of participating committees in each phase to 15, so as to attract young people to join advisory committees under various Policy Bureaux and participate in public policy discussion.

Young people are the future pillars and hope of our society. Apart from creating a good living environment in Hong Kong, we also hope that our young people can set their sights on the world and on our country, and seize the opportunities to study, work and live in the Greater Bay Area. In this connection, we will continue to work closely with the Youth Development Commission and relevant sectors of the community in helping young people to pursue self-enhancement and explore diversified pathways.

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Sports and recreation

I would like to thank Mr MA Fung-kwok for raising his concerns and valuable views about sports and recreation. The Government is forging ahead with the Kai Tak Sports Park Project and will develop more community sports facilities. Based on the progress of the project, the Sports Park will be completed in 2023 as scheduled to provide world-class facilities for the promotion of holistic sports development and to attract more international sports events and competitions to Hong Kong.

At the same time, we will continue to actively take forward the Five-Year Plan for Sports and Recreational Facilities ("the Five-Year Plan"). Thanks to the support of Members, over half of the 26 projects under the Five-Year Plan have been granted funding approval by the Legislative Council. We will expeditiously submit funding applications for other projects, so as to increase and enhance sports and recreational facilities. We hope that Members will continue to render their support then.

Transforming public play spaces under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD")

The Government launched a five-year plan to transform more than 170 public play spaces under LCSD in 2019. In respect of the 17 transformation projects to be implemented in 2020-2021, we will expedite the implementation of four of them by advancing the date of completion from the second half of 2022 to the first half of the same year. In addition, in order to facilitate the smooth implementation of projects in the coming years, LCSD and the Architectural Services Department will in the short term inspect sites selected to be transformed in 2021-2022, and begin to prepare a list of sites to be transformed in 2022-2023, so as to let people, particularly children, in various districts enjoy the more challenging and fun play spaces sooner and to create more job opportunities for the construction industry.

Culture and arts

I would like to thank Mr MA Fung-kwok again for raising his concerns and valuable views about culture and arts. In the area of Art Tech, the integration of arts with innovation and technology has become a new trend in arts development. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3391

The application of technology has broadened the scope of artistic creation, opened up more and newer possibilities for artistic expression, and enhanced the pursuit of art appreciation and beauty. In the Policy Address, the Chief Executive has indicated that the Government will actively promote and support Art Tech. And she has asked me to take the lead in setting up a cross-policy-bureau task force and invite the participation of representatives from the relevant sectors and non-government organizations to formulate strategies and measures to develop and promote Art Tech.

I would like to share with Members that the task force will convene its first meeting this month to discuss concrete policies and measures to support Art Tech. In addition, in the 10th Round Funding Exercise of Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme under the Arts and Sport Development Fund, which is now open for applications, we have taken the lead in including a new category, "Arts Technology", so as to support projects that facilitate the integration of arts and technology. The Government will also be more proactive in encouraging the relevant sectors to apply for funding from the Innovation and Technology Fund, the Film Development Fund and the CreateSmart Initiative.

East Kowloon Cultural Centre and integration of arts and technology

The East Kowloon Cultural Centre and the convergence of arts and technology are very important. We will actively support the latest development of technology in terms of venue and hardware. LCSD will provide an Art Tech testbed studio at the East Kowloon Cultural Centre as a base for fostering arts and technology development. We will join hands with artists, creative media institutes and creative technology professionals to promote the integration of arts and technology, so that Hong Kong can move towards the smart era by way of creative and performing arts, and further enhance its status in the international arts arena. The East Kowloon Cultural Centre is expected to be commissioned in 2023.

Given the pandemic these days, LCSD has newly launched the "LCSD Edutainment Channel", a round-the-clock online platform for the public. A "101 Academy" series launched on the Channel provide a systematic introduction, starting from basic concepts, to culture, arts, sports and science, with an objective to further promote culture and sports in the community. Furthermore, the platform also features the "vis-à-vis +01" series that provide the public with 3392 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 online interactive programmes and tours, so that members of the public can participate in and experience such activities without having to leave their homes given the pandemic.

At this juncture, I would like to particularly thank Mrs Regina IP for her concern about the opportunities for arts groups to perform in the Greater Bay Area. In order to promote cross-border cultural exchange activities, and explore more development opportunities for local artists and arts groups, we will actively promote the "Hong Kong Week" brand, which centres on cultural activities, in major Mainland cities and overseas regions. We are preparing for the "Hong Kong Week" to be held in Guangzhou and Seoul in 2021. In addition, we have committed additional resources to support local artists and arts groups to perform and undertake cultural exchange activities in the Greater Bay Area, and step up our efforts to conduct and deepen cultural cooperation with other places in various ways.

West Kowloon Cultural District ("WKCD")

WKCD is an important cultural investment of the SAR Government. Following the commissioning of two major performing arts venues, namely the Xiqu Centre and Freespace, in 2019, two museums in WKCD, including M+, one of the largest museums of contemporary visual culture in the world, are expected to open this year. The Hong Kong Palace Museum will open in mid-2022, displaying part of the collection of the Palace Museum. The two new museums, together with the expanded and reopened Hong Kong Museum of Arts, will become a new cultural landmark of Hong Kong. The SAR Government will, as always, support the development of WKCD and provide more development opportunities for the local arts and culture communities, so that members of the public and tourists can fully experience the charm of Hong Kong as a cultural metropolis and bring intangible social benefits to Hong Kong.

Many Members, including Mr Vincent CHENG and Dr CHIANG Lai-wan, have just been very concerned about anti-epidemic efforts in the districts. At the district level, Members may note that various government departments are making concerted efforts to fight the pandemic. As far as the Home Affairs Bureau is concerned, the Home Affairs Department and various District Offices have recently provided, in the light of actual conditions, old buildings in need, including "three-nil" buildings, with one-off cleaning service through various arrangements, with a view to demonstrating good building management. We LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3393 also call upon them to maintain environmental hygiene and fight the pandemic together. From December 2019 to December 2020, the Home Affairs Department and District Offices have provided some 3 300 sessions of cleaning services to over 1 900 "three-nil" buildings.

Members may also note that at the start of the third wave of the epidemic, East Kowloon saw the outbreak of the disease. To help residents and elderly persons in the districts, the Home Affairs Department immediately took the initiative to get in contact with certain charities to provide immediate assistance to elderly singletons or families of elderly doubletons in need. From July to August 2020, over 50 000 food packs were provided to elderly persons in need in East Kowloon.

In respect of districts with a higher ethnic minority population, the Home Affairs Department has recently joined hands with local District Offices to arrange dozens of staff who can speak ethnic minority languages and staff of the Office of the Licensing Authority of the Home Affairs Department to make daily household visits in buildings covered by the compulsory testing notice, explain the arrangement, distribute leaflets about the compulsory testing notice in ethnic minority languages, and register the information of residents for follow-up actions.

We have seen this time around that various departments are united as one in terms of not only policies but also district operations. Every day we and our colleagues in the civil service are contemplating how to go further and do more. As in the case of the testings being conducted, we are doing this to the best of our ability. In the future, we will continue to, as we are required, enhance communication and cooperation with various social sectors.

Deputy President, home affairs involve a wide range of policy areas. As its name implies, the Home Affairs Bureau aims to serve and benefit the people through policy implementation. At this juncture, we would like to thank Members for raising their views over the past days, to which we attach a great deal of importance. At the same time, we hope that Members will continue to support the implementation of policies by the SAR Government, support the Motion of Thanks, and support the Policy Address this year. I so submit. Thank you, Deputy President.

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SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I am grateful to Members for putting forward their views on the environmental and nature conservation policies in the Policy Address. I will give a response in four aspects, namely, decarbonization, emission reduction, waste reduction, and fighting the epidemic and economic recovery.

Decarbonization

I share Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok's view that environmental protection should be enhanced when developing new development areas. I also thank Mr Tony TSE for supporting Hong Kong to move forward in the direction of deeper decarbonization in the long term.

In the Policy Address the Chief Executive announced that Hong Kong would strive to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, and that the Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan would be updated in the middle of this year to set out more proactive strategies and measures on decarbonization, which include exploring zero-carbon energy and decarbonization technology, enhancing the energy efficiency of both new and old buildings, promoting green transportation, building large-scale waste-to-energy facilities, and so on.

Meanwhile, the Government supports decarbonization through innovation. For example, the Green Tech Fund, established with $200 million government allocation, is open for application from December last year. This will give new impetus to deep decarbonization and the development of green technologies.

To achieve deep decarbonization, we have been committed to reducing carbon emission from electricity generation. The Government has urged the two power companies to work for low-carbon transformation. In 2020, coal-fired generation accounts for only around 25% in the fuel mix for electricity generation in Hong Kong, representing a substantial drop over its share of about 50% in 2015. The two power companies will use more low-carbon and even zero-carbon fuel sources to further replace coal for electricity generation in the next decade.

In the meantime, the Government has stepped up the promotion of territory-wide energy saving, and enhanced the development of renewable energy on government premises. At the same time, the Government also supports the development of renewable energy by the public in the communities by, among LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3395 others, introducing feed-in-tariff. This new policy, which has been implemented for about two years, has received very positive feedback. The two power companies have received over 13 000 applications and approved over 11 000 projects. After the completion of these projects, it is estimated that the electricity to be generated by renewable energy annually will be sufficient to meet the electricity consumption of more than 50 000 households, and the progress is very obvious.

Emission reduction

In respect of emission reduction, or the reduction of air pollutants, we strive to improve the air quality by reducing emissions from vehicles, vessels and power plants. In October last year, we introduced two new measures, namely the $7.1 billion scheme for phasing out as many as around 40 000 Euro IV diesel commercial vehicles by 2027 and the $2 billion EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme to subsidize the installation of electric vehicle charging-enabling infrastructure in car parks of eligible existing private residential buildings. Over the past five years, the concentrations of such major pollutants as suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, etc. have dropped by 40%, showing that the improvement of air quality in Hong Kong have been effective.

We are going to introduce in Hong Kong a roadmap on the popularization of electric vehicles, A Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong, etc. Thanks to the support of Mr Frankie YICK and others, the Government will, among others, set targets on banning the sale of conventional fueled private cars, while the Clean Air Plan will duly respond to some of the concerns of the industry mentioned by Mr YICK earlier. Overall speaking, we will complement the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 in Hong Kong.

Waste reduction

As stated in the Policy Address, waste reduction is a global trend and is conducive to mitigating climate change. In particular, municipal solid waste charging, or MSW charging in short, which is the main driving force behind waste reduction, will also facilitate the sustainable development of related industries and the creation of green job opportunities.

"Plastic-free" is a new focus of waste reduction, and just as Mr Tony TSE said earlier, amid the epidemic, members of the public may have used more single-use plastics in the light of the virus outbreak. The Government has 3396 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 adopted a multi-pronged approach to step up publicity of "plastic-free" and waste reduction and enhance recycling support, including the clean recycling of plastic containers and tableware, styrofoam, etc., which can help turning waste into resources.

Meanwhile, the Government has gradually enhanced the community recycling network to cover 18 district by, among others, setting up 22 Recycling Stores with a new image and over 100 Recycling Spots which operate at regular locations and times on a weekly basis. The number of Recycling Stations, which attach importance to both recycling and environmental education, has been increased to 11. At the end of last year, we also introduced the new GREEN$ smart cards to encourage clean recycling. The smart cards have been well-received by the public, and over 16 000 individuals or households have obtained a card in the past two months. Besides, the Green Outreach of the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") has progressively extended their service to cover all 18 districts in the territory, providing on-site support for waste reduction and recycling at district level.

To enhance the local recycling performance, we have progressively commenced the pilot schemes on collection and recycling of food waste, waste plastics and waste paper, complementing our public education programmes and facilitating waste-to-energy/resources. Looking ahead, we will expand these pilot schemes gradually to cover more districts or target groups.

In the meantime, we are preparing to introduce the updated version of the long-term strategy on waste management, and I thank Mr Tony TSE and others for their support and views. Our main direction is to transform waste into resources more effectively, and support the development of a circular economy by, among others, turning waste to energy, with a view to achieving waste reduction and decarbonization.

Fighting the epidemic and economic recovery

As mentioned by Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok earlier on, the Environment Bureau and the University of Hong Kong ("HKU") have collaborated in a research study for detecting the new coronavirus in sewage and conducting tests on a pilot basis. In mid-2020, the Government, through EPD, Drainage Services Department, etc., and in collaboration with the cross-disciplinary team of HKU, conducted an innovative study and carried out on-site sewage tests in Hong Kong on a pilot LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3397 basis. For example, in December last year, the study found that the sewage samples collected from two residential buildings in Choi Wan (II) Estate had been tested positive constantly, showing that there might be undetected viral carriers. Even though no confirmed case had been identified in these buildings at the time, the Government still published a compulsory test notice and eventually identified a total of 10 confirmed cases in these two buildings. This ancillary anti-epidemic tool has been effectively tested in public and private housing estates, such as Choi Wan (II) Estate, Ping Shek Estate, Richland Gardens, etc. In the light of the epidemic, this study and the pilot tests are now conducted in communities where there are a large number of old buildings, such as Yau Ma Tei, Sham Shui Po, etc. Following the main direction supported by Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok and thanks to the concerns of Mr Vincent CHENG on places such as Yau Ma Tei, these tests being conducted on a large scale in the old districts can provide support in the fight against the epidemic. In respect of the testing capacity, we have, through the Drainage Services Department, HKU, etc., doubled the testing capacity within a short time. This research project is a demonstration of the concerted efforts made by the Government and the academia to combat the epidemic. It is an example of effective utilization of technology to complement efforts to fight the epidemic, putting us in the forefront of the world in this respect as our scientifically-based approach has shown initial results.

Besides, under the Anti-epidemic Fund, the Environment Bureau has launched the Green Employment Scheme to create thousands of time-limited jobs covering a diversity of fields and job types. Meanwhile, we will make an additional injection of about $200 million into the relevant funds under the Environment Bureau. Our objective is not only to increase the relevant green projects but also further create more job opportunities. In the next few years, with the implementation of various environmental measures, we will further create about 4 000 job opportunities covering renewable energy projects, scientific research, construction projects, recycling, logistics, and so on. This is an initiative to, as Mr Jeffrey LAM has said, create job opportunities on various fronts, which include areas relating to environmental protection.

Lastly, Mr YIU Si-wing mentioned the need to utilize tourism resources in country parks, including places of historical and cultural significance. In fact, in the Environment Bureau, for instance, we have, through the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and the Countryside Conservation Office under EPD, injected new resources for strengthening the conservation of these places as well as cooperation with relevant organizations, villagers, etc., and also for 3398 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 beefing up these local supporting facilities for tourism. Take the revitalization of Lai Chi Wo as an example. At the end of last year there was good news as this project received the inaugural Special Recognition for Sustainable Development in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, which is the highest honour of their awards.

Conclusion

As we fight the epidemic with one mind, let us not lose sight of environmental protection which can at the same time create job opportunities to facilitate a circular economy and promote green recovery.

Thank you, Deputy President. With these remarks, I appeal to Members to support the Motion of Thanks.

SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE (in Cantonese): Deputy President, many Members mentioned the issue of unemployment assistance during the debate, including the first and second debate sessions, in these three days. As we all know, under the system in Hong Kong, the severance payment or long service payment paid by the employers serve as the first line of unemployment assistance. While there have been unfortunate cases of redundancy cases in the past, we have also seen quite a number of employers willing to offer arrangements which were more generous than the severance payment and long service payment as required by the existing laws.

On the part of the Government, it can be said that our overall strategy is comprised of three aspects: (1) Creating job opportunities; (2) how to assist employment or re-employment; and (3) how to provide assistance for people and families in financial difficulty.

Regarding the first aspect of creating job opportunities, the Secretary for the Civil Service mentioned yesterday that the Government had created 31 000 temporary posts, among which 14 000 posts have already been taken up, whereas the remaining 17 000 posts are currently under recruitment or soon to be recruited. Certainly, 2 000 places will also be provided under the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme, which have been mentioned by Members as well.

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The second aspect is about how to assist employment or re-employment. A very important task is to strengthen collaboration among three parties, including the Employees Retraining Board ("ERB"), the Labour Department ("LD") and the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") which administers the Integrated Employment Assistance Programme for Self-reliance. These three parties have significantly strengthened their collaboration and information exchange in the past year, with the hope of better assisting employers who need to recruit staff and employees who are seeking a job.

In addition, after launching two tranches of the Love Upgrading Special Scheme ("the Special Scheme"), ERB has also launched the third tranche of the Special Scheme in January this year. The employment rate of graduate trainees of placement-tied courses in the first tranche of the Special Scheme exceeds 80%. We will provide approximately 60 000 places of placement-tied training courses in the coming year.

On the part of LD, it has increased the employee training allowances payable to employers under three schemes, namely the Youth Employment and Training Programme ("YETP"), the Employment Programme for the Elderly and Middle-aged and the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme. Taking YETP as an example, the amount of the training allowances payable to employers engaging young people under the Programme is 50% of their wages or capped at $5,000 for a maximum period of 12 months. It aims to help employers, such that they will still be willing to provide some training opportunities for young people, the elderly and middle-aged or people with disabilities to secure employment under relatively difficult circumstances.

SWD will also introduce progressively a number of special allowances for recipients under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance ("CSSA") Scheme with a view to encouraging them to seek employment. There are of course other measures in place to help these recipients. For those in financial difficulty, some adjustments to the CSSA Scheme have already been made, including the relaxation of the asset limits for able-bodied persons by 100% when they apply for CSSA. The arrangement of excluding the cash value of all insurance policies owned by new applicants as a part of their assets within a one-year exemption period will soon be implemented as well.

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We will continue to listen to the views from various sectors of the community and explore feasible measures in regard to enhancing the assistance provided for the unemployed and their families. We will brief the community and the Legislative Council after newly conceived measures have become more mature.

A number of Members mentioned the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme in their speeches. I am glad to tell Members that the initial response from enterprises under the Scheme has been very enthusiastic. As of the day before yesterday (i.e. 20 January), more than 130 enterprises have registered with the secretariat of the Scheme, indicating their interest in participating in the Scheme and offering 730 job vacancies. Since yesterday, we have been uploading job vacancies onto the dedicated website of the Scheme for open application by eligible young people. We will continue with our promotion efforts and reach out to enterprises that have previously expressed interest in participating in the Scheme.

The third issue that is more frequently brought up by Members is the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (i.e. the $2 fare concession scheme). I have already given a detailed account at the meeting of the Panel on Welfare Services of the Legislative Council on 11 January this year, so I did not intend to repeat it here at first. Yet, since some Members have been influenced by the headlines of some media reports and some misunderstandings have arisen, I have to reiterate the Government's decision here. This concessionary fare policy will be extended to people aged 60 to 64. Given the need to adjust the hardware and software of the system and issue approximately 600 000 personal Octopus cards, our target is to implement this policy in the first quarter of 2022. The $2 concessionary fare will remain unchanged and will be reviewed every five years thereafter, subject to fare increases.

Mr LEUNG Che-cheung expressed concern about community care services under elderly services. The current-term Government attaches great importance to improving elderly services. In the Estimates for 2020-2021, the funding for elderly services has been increased by 64% as compared with the actual expenditure in 2017-2018. Despite the fact that the waiting time for community care services is far from satisfactory, we have striven hard to increase the service supply in the past few years. Taking the Integrated Home Care Services (Frail LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3401

Cases) as an example, we have provided an additional 1 500 service quota in October 2020, and will further provide an additional 1 500 service quota in April this year, representing a cumulative increase of nearly 30%.

As for other initiatives, we will also continue to provide more community care services, including the Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, the number of which has been doubled from 4 000 in 2017 to 8 000 in October 2020. As for improving home and community care services, the number of service recipients will also increase by 19%, from 9 721 in 2017-2018 to an estimated 11 572 in this year. We will make continued efforts in every possible way to improve the quantity and quality of our services through a multi-pronged approach.

Other Members have raised several other issues as well. One of them is about, to put it simply, 2 of the 10 measures to benefit the public announced by the Chief Executive on 14 January 2020. Back then, the Government indicated the hope to provide additional allowances capped at three months of payment to households which had received Working Family Allowance ("WFA") or families which had received financial assistance for kindergarten, primary and secondary students in the preceding year counting back from that time, if they were unemployed or underemployed during that period.

Yet, we realize after a detailed study that a longer time will be required to implement this measure, especially because we need to ascertain the relevant information about unemployment and underemployment, so we have changed our strategy accordingly. With the funding from the Anti-epidemic Fund, we provided in April last year a special allowance equivalent to two months of payment to all families which had received WFA or student financial assistance in the preceding year. This measure of course covers all those who were unemployed or underemployed during the said period and their families.

In addition, some Members enquired about the abolition of the Mandatory Provident Fund offsetting mechanism. We have made a commitment publicly that we will submit the relevant legislative amendments by the end of this year. It is necessary to establish the eMPF Platform in order to implement this initiative. Currently, it is planned that the eMPF Platform will be fully implemented in 2025. Therefore, in respect of the abolition of the offsetting mechanism, we will table the legislation by the end of this year, but it can only be fully implemented in 2025 upon passage of the legislation.

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Another labour-related issue is the alignment of statutory holidays with general holidays. We will propose legislative amendments and introduce the relevant bill into the Legislative Council shortly.

With respect to the review of the statutory minimum wage rate, the Government has received the report of the Minimum Wage Commission already. The Chief Executive in Council will decide on the matter and make an announcement in due course.

With these remarks, I implore Members to support the motion.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I thank Members for their views on the Policy Address in respect of such issues as medical and health services, environmental hygiene and food safety in the earlier Panel meetings and the debate today. I will give a focused response as follows.

A few Members, including Dr Pierre CHAN, have raised questions about the promotion of primary healthcare services. Regarding the promotion of primary healthcare, following the service commencement of the first District Health Centre ("DHC") in the Kwai Tsing District in September 2019, the service contracts of Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin DHCs were awarded in September last year with a view to commencing services this year and next year respectively. We also plan to invite tenders for the service contracts of four other DHCs in the first half of this year. In addition, suitable sites have been identified for setting up DHCs in the remaining districts. Meanwhile, proposals for providing DHC Express services in 11 districts are currently under assessment with a view to commencing services this year.

To further strengthen the chronic disease management measures in the community, relieve the pressure on the public healthcare system and promote the concept of family doctors, the Government is actively exploring the implementation of the Pilot Public-Private Partnership Programme in DHCs to offer subsidies to DHC members diagnosed with diabetes mellitus or hypertension for the first time to receive treatment from the private network doctors in the community. So, Dr Pierre CHAN said we did not include family doctors, but we did. In fact, there are currently 37 family doctors who are service providers of the Kwai Tsing DHC.

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During the outbreak of coronavirus, DHCs has been providing services non-stop in different ways, including the use of online information technology. DHCs have also done their part in anti-epidemic work. For example, since May last year, they have been engaged in the distribution of deep throat saliva specimen collection packs, enhancement of the anti-epidemic awareness of the public and promotion of proper infection control practices.

Concerning healthcare manpower, various Members, including Mr Tommy CHEUNG, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan and Mrs Regina IP, have raised questions about the healthcare manpower shortage. The Government has always been concerned about the demand for and supply of local healthcare manpower and adopted a multi-prong approach to alleviate the manpower shortage. Over the past year or so, various measures have been implemented to increase the manpower of doctors. Nevertheless, even though various measures have been taken to relieve the manpower shortage, it is estimated that overall, the manpower of doctors, particularly specialists, will remain tight for a long period, and the need to enhance the existing healthcare service standard is yet to be fully considered. We understand the public concern about the manpower of doctors, as well as the healthcare service standard and the sustainability of the healthcare system. The Government has all long been enhancing the mechanism for non-locally trained doctors to come to work in Hong Kong, and we will continue to explore how to further take forward the work in this regard.

Based on the latest recommendations of the Cancer Expert Working Group on Cancer Prevention and Screening of the Cancer Co-ordinating Committee on breast cancer screening, the Government will continue to adopt a risk-based approach for breast cancer screening. The Department of Health will provide breast cancer screening for eligible women having regard to their risk of developing breast cancer. Details will be announced in the second quarter of this year.

As regards Chinese medicine, with the support of the Central Government, traditional proprietary Chinese medicine products for external use registered in Hong Kong will be allowed to be registered and sold in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("GBA") through a streamlined approval process. The Food and Health Bureau ("FHB") will proactively follow up with the Guangdong Medical Products Administration to implement the relevant arrangement.

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The construction of Hong Kong's first Chinese Medicine Hospital ("CMH") will be funded by the Government, with a non-profit-making organization to be selected to operate the hospital on the basis of a public-private partnership model. The second-stage tendering process for the operation of CMH was launched in September last year. It is expected that the service deed for the operation of CMH will be awarded in the middle of this year.

Regarding dental service, the Government plans to expand the scope of subsidy of the Elderly Dental Assistance Programme in the second half of this year through the Community Care Fund so that eligible elderly persons in need of treatment can receive more targeted dental services. These include: (i) allowing the inclusion of more subsidized items, including the removal of bridges or crowns and the provision of root canal treatment; and (ii) allowing elderly persons aged 75 or above who have received dental services under the Programme five years ago to receive free removable dentures and other related dental services for a second time.

In respect of drug subsidy, the Government and the Hospital Authority ("HA") introduced enhancement measures for the means test mechanism of the Samaritan Fund and the Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes in early 2019 to alleviate the financial burden of patients' families arising from drug expenses. After reviewing the effectiveness of the measures, we will further refine the mechanism, so as to alleviate the financial pressure faced by patients on long-term medication.

Concerning mental health, the social unrest in 2019, together with the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic since early 2020, have brought different levels of impact and influence on the mental well-being of some people. The Government has decided to provide additional resources of $300 million under the Beat Drugs Fund to better support the needy in the community and raise public awareness of mental health. Actively conducting the preparatory work, the Advisory Committee on Mental Health will work with the relevant sectors and non-governmental organizations to identify needs and set priorities, with a view to facilitating or promoting suitable services.

In addition, the Government will implement as soon as possible the arrangement of using Hong Kong-registered drugs and medical devices used in Hong Kong public hospitals at The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital on a trial basis subject to the approval of the Guangdong Province, and extend the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3405 policy to cover more designated healthcare institutions, drugs and medical devices in a timely manner. We have commenced follow-up work with the relevant Mainland authorities. We believe that this measure can facilitate Hong Kong residents to seek appropriate healthcare services in GBA and encourage pharmaceutical companies to set up and develop in the GBA cities, bringing mutual benefits to both places.

In 2016, HA launched the First Ten-year Hospital Development Plan ("HDP"), and $200 billion was set aside to conduct a total of 16 projects for providing more than 6 000 additional bed spaces and 94 additional operating theatres, as well as increasing the service quotas in specialist and general outpatient clinics. In the 2018 Policy Address, the Government further announced the Second Ten-year HDP, which covered a total of 19 projects for a budget of $270 billion. Upon completion of the Second Ten-year HDP, there will be a planned capacity of over 9 000 additional beds and other additional hospital facilities that will be basically meeting the projected service demand up to 2036.

Next, I will talk about environmental hygiene, which is also under the purview of FHB. The Government is taking forward seven new public market projects which are at different stages of planning, and has achieved satisfactory progress in the past year. The construction of the Skylight Market of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") in Tin Shui Wai has been completed and all the 36 stalls have been leased out. Among them, 10 stalls have been particularly leased to residents in Tin Shui Wai, and the market was already commissioned at the end of December last year. In addition, we have announced the sites for the new public markets in Tseung Kwan O and Kwu Tung North New Development Area, for which local consultations have been conducted. The preliminary planning is now under way.

We will seek funding approval for the Aberdeen Market overhaul project and consult the relevant Panel, with a view to commencing the project as soon as possible. We will also actively pursue the services under the other market projects.

On environmental hygiene, FEHD has significantly stepped up its anti-epidemic efforts in public markets in the past few months, including conducting thorough cleaning and disinfection in over 60 markets and soliciting market tenants' cooperation. This arrangement will be regularized. Other 3406 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 measures include installing body temperature checking systems in markets, improving air ventilation and market toilet cubicles, and applying anti-microbial coating. All these measures help improve the hygiene of public markets.

Meanwhile, FEHD has introduced new technologies and new measures to enhance anti-mosquito work and rodent control in a targeted in tandem with strengthened enforcement actions. FEHD will also actively implement the Enhanced Public Toilet Refurbishment Programme.

Concerning food safety, a public consultation document was published in mid-December last year on the proposed amendments to the Harmful Substances in Food Regulations for strengthening the regulation of harmful substances such as industrially-produced trans fats and mycotoxins. The consultation period will last for three months until 15 March this year. We will introduce to the Legislative Council the relevant amendments to subsidiary legislation after collating and taking into consideration the views received.

Regarding burial, the Government is determined to take forward the burial policy under a three-pronged approach. In respect of public niches, projects completed in the past two years have provided over 200 000 niches.

On improving the arrangements for handling abortuses, apart from the commissioned Garden of Forever Love at the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery, we also plan to provide facilities for keeping abortuses in other columbaria and establish a designated cremation facility for abortuses.

Regarding the regulation of private columbaria, the Private Columbaria Licensing Board has thus far approved or agreed to approve in principle the specified instrument applications submitted by a total of 19 private columbaria, covering about half the number of such columbaria.

In closing, Deputy President, may I express my sincere thanks again to Members for their valuable views on medical and health services and improving people's livelihood. Several Members, including Ms Alice MAK, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan and Mr Vincent CHENG, have raised their views again in this session on anti-epidemic work, compulsory testing and vaccination. We will definitely go all out to adopt effective measures to contain the epidemic as soon as possible. I hope Members will support our measures proposed in the Policy Address and mentioned just now in respect of such matters as medical and health services, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3407 environmental hygiene, food safety and burial. We will continue to work together with the Legislative Council and the general public to actively enhance the relevant work.

With these remarks, Deputy President, I implore Members to support the Motion of Thanks.

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): Deputy President, I thank many Members for expressing valuable opinions on the section about education in the Policy Address. Education is the key to nurturing talents and also an undertaking to build good moral characters, which is particularly important to the future development of society. The current-term Government places special emphasis on education, hoping to create a stable, caring, inspiring and satisfying teaching and learning environment for students, teachers, parents and principals to better nurture our students. Over the past three years, we have accumulated an additional $13.5 billion in recurrent expenditure on education for the introduction of new measures covering the entire education system, so as to address some long-standing problems faced by the education sector and enhance the quality of teaching.

Nevertheless, improvement of education quality, rightly as a number of Members have pointed out, cannot rely solely on financial resources. We need good education policies, a sound education system, outstanding teachers and the support of other aspects, such as curricula, assessment and evaluation, and teaching materials. The Government's commitment to education has never been merely a provider of resources, but also a policy maker and administrator, as well as playing the role of a regulator. Many Members have all pointed out that from the social incidents in 2019, we can see some areas for improvement in school education, including school management and the qualities of curricula and teachers. In the coming year, the Education Bureau ("EDB") will step up communication with sponsoring bodies and training of school managers, while specifying the powers, responsibilities and requirements of all parties concerned to strengthen school management and administration and also enhance the management and quality of the teaching force.

(THE PRESIDENT resumed the Chair)

3408 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Teachers play a vital role in passing on knowledge and nurturing students' character, having far-reaching influence on the whole-person development of students. The Government will enhance the quality of teachers through three aspects, namely entry to the profession, training and management. In collaboration with teacher education institutions, we will strengthen the content of professional conduct in pre-service training to ensure the ethics, character and conduct of teachers. At the same time, we will also set out new requirements for teacher training to enhance the training of teachers and principals upon their appointment, during their service and before their promotion, covering professional roles, values and conduct of teachers, education development at the local, national and international levels, etc. The content of the 30-hour core training also includes the Constitution, the Basic Law and national security. Moreover, we will provide other relevant elective courses for all teachers.

Many Members have brought up misconduct of teachers. Over the past year or so, EDB received more than 200 complaints about the professional conduct of teachers. We will seriously follow up on such complaints in accordance with the Education Ordinance. EDB may consider cancelling the registration of a teacher if he or she is not a fit and proper person or is incompetent to be a teacher so as to prevent persons unfit for teaching to assume the role, for the purpose of safeguarding the well-being of students, upholding the professionalism of teachers and maintain public confidence in education in Hong Kong, as well as bringing justice to the majority of teachers having dedication and enthusiasm for teaching.

As regards curricula, EDB has accepted the review report by the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum, and has initiated the work to implement six directional recommendations made therein for students' benefits. We already gave detailed explanation at the special meeting of the Panel on Education last Tuesday, and I will not repeat here.

We are now conducting a review of the implementation of the curricula and assessments of the four core subjects at the senior secondary level, i.e. Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and Liberal Studies, in order to lighten the burdens on students and create space for them to take other elective subjects, including Applied Learning, or engage in personal pursuits. EDB has also announced in November last year the directions for the reform of the Liberal Studies subject. EDB will, in accordance with the principle of "Led by Professionals", continue to follow up with the Curriculum Development Council LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3409 and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority on the details of the relevant changes, including the curriculum content and detailed arrangement for public examinations. We are determined to rectify the past problems of the Liberal Studies subject. EDB will announce the detailed arrangements to the school sector as soon as practicable after they have been confirmed. We hope that the entire education sector will cooperate in the reform to promote the positive development of the subject.

At the same time, EDB will continue to provide support for schools to further enhance students' sense of national security and law-abidingness to tie in with the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. Safeguarding national security is the duty of every one of us. National security education is indeed inseparable from national education. The fundamentals of national security education are to develop in students a sense of belonging to the country, an affection for the Chinese people, a sense of national identity, as well as an awareness of and a sense of responsibility for safeguarding national security collectively.

EDB will provide curriculum documents and guidelines to enable schools to build on their implementation of the Constitution and Basic Law education to promote national security education holistically through various subjects and learning activities within and beyond lessons at the primary and secondary levels according to students' cognitive abilities, thereby guiding students to clearly understanding the inseparable relationship between our country and Hong Kong and the importance of the National Security Law in implementing "one country, two systems" and ensuring the prosperous and stable development of Hong Kong. In addition, EDB issued in December last year a circular memorandum to all primary and secondary schools informing them that "law-abidingness" and "empathy" were added as the priority values and attitudes to be nurtured among students, in order to strengthen the implementation of values education in schools.

Since the beginning of 2020, the situation of the COVID-19 epidemic has been volatile. In response to the development of the epidemic, for the sake of protecting the safety of students, school staff and the public, and prevent the spread of the virus in schools and communities, the Government has made corresponding arrangements for classes, including suspension of face-to-face classes when the epidemic situation is severe and resumption in phases of face-to-face classes when conditions of health and safety permitted, so as to strike 3410 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 a balance between students' learning and epidemic prevention as far as practicable. With the concerted efforts of the education sector, the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination was successfully completed last year.

During the suspension of face-to-face classes, schools have been actively supporting the arrangements, coping with the changes flexibly, quickly adapting to the new normal and employing more diversified learning and teaching modes, including e-learning. Meanwhile, the Government has provided support for schools and students through different measures, including providing regular resources for the use of information technology in teaching, assistance to schools and teachers, and support for students having financial needs through the Community Care Fund. The Policy Address also proposes to especially set aside $2 billion in the Quality Education Fund to launch a three-year support programme, which encompasses setting up a platform for sharing learning and teaching resources, encouraging the sharing of quality teaching materials among teachers, subsidizing schools to purchase mobile computer devices for loan to needy students, and providing Wi-Fi routers or mobile data cards for students who do not have access to appropriate Internet services because of their living environment, in order to ensure that all students will have equal opportunities to access e-learning.

EDB will continue to monitor the epidemic development, take heed of professional advice from health experts and maintain dialogues with schools to understand their operation and needs so as to, in response to changes in the epidemic, work hand in hand to carry out flexible arrangements and coordination, and resume face-to-face classes at the earliest appropriate time.

President, the current-term Government never avoids troubles. EDB has also solved step-by-step some long-standing problems in the education system from different aspects. Here, I once again thank all Members for their concern about education issues. Nurturing a next generation of good quality requires the collaborative efforts of the Government, society, the education sector and parents. I hope all sectors of community will join hands with the Government to implement the various education initiatives proposed in the Policy Address, so as to nurture students to become the new generation of good quality with a sense of social responsibility and national identity, an affection for Hong Kong as well as an international perspective.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3411

With these remarks, President, I implore all Members to support the Motion of Thanks moved by Ms Starry LEE.

Thank you, President.

CHIEF SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION (in Cantonese): President, I am grateful to Members for putting forward many substantive views in the debate on the Motion of Thanks in the past three days. The Secretaries of Departments and Directors of Bureaux have also given responses in respect of the policy areas under their purview. I am now going to respond on nurturing talent, youth development and improving people's livelihood, and then I will do a sum up.

Nurturing talent and youth development

Talent has always been the cornerstone of Hong Kong's success and will continue to be the key driver propelling our economic development. The current-term Government attaches great importance to enhancing and optimizing our human capital. Hong Kong is facing the challenges of a rapidly ageing population and a dwindling workforce. To consolidate the long-term stability and development needs of Hong Kong, complement our progressive evolvement to a high value-added and diversified economy, as well as to capture the tremendous opportunities brought about by the development of the Mainland and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ("the Greater Bay Area"), we must make our best endeavour to nurture local talents and promote opportunities of upward mobility. Yet, we also need to proactively attract non-local elites at the same time. We will ensure that Hong Kong's measures to attract talent will remain effective and competitive amid the global rivalry for talent, and can continue to attract the high-quality talents that we need to come to work in Hong Kong. Our objective is to promote the sustainable development of Hong Kong's economy, open up more business opportunities and support emerging industries, so as to create more high-quality employment opportunities for the local workforce.

Attracting and nurturing talents, especially those in the innovation and technology ("I&T") field, is the priority policy area of the current-term Government. To this end, this year's Policy Address further proposes a series of related initiatives. Among them, the Global STEM Professorship Scheme will enable the universities to recruit renowned overseas scholars and their teams to 3412 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 engage in STEM-related teaching and research activities in Hong Kong by providing funding for the universities in order to offer more competitive remuneration package. This would allow the universities in Hong Kong to scale new heights in I&T teaching and research activities. We will continue to create more favourable conditions for attracting global talent to cater for the changing development needs of Hong Kong to maintain our competitiveness.

Young people are the future, hope and pillar of society, and the engine that drives our long-term social and economic development. The current-term Government strives to address young people's concerns about education, career pursuits and home ownership, and encourage their participation in politics as well as engagement in public policy discussion and debate. The aim is to enable the younger generation to see hope and opportunities for upward mobility. Over the past few years, we have implemented various policy initiatives on that basis, and we can say that certain progress has been made.

With respect to facilitating young people's career development and promoting their upward mobility, we have launched two brand-new funding schemes under the Youth Development Fund ("YDF") to support young people to start their businesses in Hong Kong and the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area through providing funding and more favourable support services for youth start-ups. At the same time, we have been assisting young people to broaden their horizons and map out their future career paths through various exchange and internship opportunities and programmes on the Mainland and overseas, thereby enhancing their competitiveness in employment.

To relieve the short-term housing needs of working youths, we have been actively taking forward the Youth Hostel Scheme. The first project was commissioned early last year, whereas another project of the largest scale so far is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. I am very grateful for Members' support for another two youth hostel projects at the meeting of the Panel on Home Affairs held last week. The four aforesaid projects will provide a total of 2 600 places.

In addition, to further strengthen the communication with young people, the Youth Development Commission ("YDC") has launched a new initiative and started organizing online policy thematic meetings since the summer vacation of last year, during which relevant Directors of Bureaux, its members and young people would engage in focused and in-depth discussion on policy issues related LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3413 to education, career pursuits and home ownership, and participation in politics as well as engagement in public policy discussion and debate. YDC has held two policy thematic meetings to explore the issues of youth employment and diversified pathways, and the feedbacks have been positive.

A short while ago, some Members enquired about the effectiveness of the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth ("MSSY"). I wish to point out that MSSY is a breakthrough in policies introduced by the current-term Government with the aim of encouraging young people's participation in politics to see for themselves the Government's operation, so as to bring the Government and young people closer. Up to now, around 340 posts are held by young people who have been appointed to advisory and statutory bodies directly or indirectly through MSSY. The ratio of appointed youth members in advisory and statutory bodies has increased from 9.9% before MSSY was launched to 13% at present, which is not far from our target of 15%. The number of advisory and statutory bodies that have met the target has also increased from 92 to 142, accounting for about one third of such bodies.

President, the past year can be described as full of challenges to Hong Kong society and our young people. In the face of the impact on the socio-economic environment brought about by the fluctuating epidemic situation, we should give more thoughts on how to create an environment which allows young people to give full play to their strengths. With this in mind, the Policy Address has proposed a number of initiatives related to youth development.

Hong Kong has the inherent advantage of having the Motherland as our hinterland. The Greater Bay Area is a major development strategy of the country, as well as a key way forward for Hong Kong to regain economic momentum after the epidemic. This will provide Hong Kong youths with a new runway for employment and entrepreneurship. The Greater Bay Area provides Hong Kong youths having different interests and aspirations with more and diversified development opportunities than in Hong Kong. However, some Hong Kong youths do not have much or a deep knowledge of the Greater Bay Area, so they may not be bold enough to go north for development. There is an urgent need to facilitate young people to gain a comprehensive understanding of the country and integrate themselves into the country's development.

3414 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Earlier on, the Government has launched the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme to encourage and support Hong Kong youths to seize the career development opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. As mentioned by several Directors of Bureaux a moment ago, the aim of the Scheme is to encourage enterprises with operations in both Hong Kong and the Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area to recruit and deploy university graduates of Hong Kong to work in the Mainland cities of the Greater Bay Area. The Scheme will provide 2 000 places, of which 700 places are I&T positions. Participating enterprises have to employ the target graduates and offer them a monthly salary of not less than HK$18,000. The Government will pay the participating enterprises a monthly allowance of HK$10,000 for each graduate employed for up to 18 months. I have personally contacted many chambers of commerce and enterprises, and their responses have been extremely positive and enthusiastic.

On the other hand, with a view to supporting more youth start-ups to strengthen their corporate governance, adaptability and digital competence, thereby enabling them to cope with the challenges to the business environment resulted from the epidemic, YDC has recently agreed to raise the funding of the new round of the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under YDF. More than $100 million will be granted to provide subsidies for more than 200 youth start-ups and render entrepreneurial support and incubation services to 4 000 young people.

To facilitate those who intend to develop their career in the Greater Bay Area to obtain information about the employment, development and industry prospects of the various cities of the Greater Bay Area, the Human Resources Planning Commission chaired by me has developed a one-stop career and employment information portal at talent.gov.hk. A thematic web page on the development opportunities of the Greater Bay Area has been launched in tandem with the Government's vigorous efforts in promoting the opportunities of the Greater Bay Area. The thematic web page introduces the overall development strategy of the Greater Bay Area and provide major employment information of nine Mainland cities on a regular basis, with a view to facilitating Hong Kong youths who are interested in pursuing a career in the Greater Bay Area to plan and prepare properly according to their own attributes and interests.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3415

Looking ahead, the Government will establish the Alliance of Hong Kong Youth Innovative and Entrepreneurial Bases in the Greater Bay Area to serve as a one-stop information, publicity and exchange platform. The long-term goal is to build a sustainable ecosystem that supports the innovation and entrepreneurship of Hong Kong youths, while at the same time encourage them to make good use of the broad platform of the Greater Bay Area to realize their aspirations.

Improving people's livelihood

President, the current-term Government attaches great importance to supporting the underprivileged. The recurrent expenditures on social welfare and healthcare have significantly increased from $65.3 billion and $62.6 billion when the current-term Government assumed office to $93.9 billion and $87.1 billion in 2020-2021, representing an average annual increase of 12.9% and 11.6% respectively. The Chief Executive also put forward a series of initiatives to further improve people's livelihood in January last year. Although the coronavirus epidemic has brought drastic changes to Hong Kong's economy and public finances, the Government will take forward the initiatives in a prudent manner. Let me briefly talk about our breakthroughs in some initiatives relating to people's livelihood here.

To begin with, as we all know, the ordinance regarding the increase in the provision of statutory maternity leave has come into effect on 11 December to extend the statutory maternity leave by four weeks. It is estimated that 27 000 female employees will benefit each year, whereas the employers may apply to the Government for full reimbursement of the additional maternity leave pay that has been paid under the ordinance, subject to a cap of $80,000 per employee.

Second, the Policy Address proposes that in order to provide suitable premises for welfare uses to satisfy the needs of society on a sustainable basis, the Government will invite the Hong Kong Housing Authority and the Hong Kong Housing Society to explore reserving 5% of the total gross floor area in suitable future public housing developments for welfare uses, in particular residential care homes for the elderly which are much needed by the community.

To help families in poor living conditions and those who have long been waiting for public rental housing ("PRH"), it is announced in the Policy Address that the Government will seek funding from the Community Care Fund to launch a pilot scheme to subsidize non-government organizations to rent suitable rooms in hotels and guesthouses for use as transitional housing. The scheme is expected to open for applications in March this year.

3416 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

Another example is the Cash Allowance Trial Scheme to be implemented by the Government in the middle of this year which aims at alleviating the hardship faced by grass-roots families which have been waiting for PRH for a prolonged period of time. The cash allowance is not a "rental subsidy", therefore the Government will not require applicants to submit documents such as tenancy agreements or rental receipts. This three-year trial scheme will entail a total additional expenditure of some $8 billion. It is our target to invite about 90 000 General Applicant households which may be eligible to apply for the Scheme starting from the middle of this year. The Government will conduct a review of the trial scheme in due course after its implementation.

Conclusion

President, despite the fact that the Government needed to focus on its anti-epidemic efforts in the past year due to the impact of the coronavirus epidemic, this year's Policy Address has not ignored the long-term development needs of Hong Kong society as a whole, in that more than 250 new initiatives for the short, medium and long term have been put forward. As I have mentioned just now, many of them are ground-breaking, innovative and forward-looking, which fully demonstrate the determination, confidence and commitment of the Chief Executive and the SAR Government to lead Hong Kong back on the right track.

The Chief Executive has broken away from the conventional bureaucratic mindset in the past and boldly adopted policy initiatives which the Government used to have reservations about but many members of the public are actually pleased to see. The current-term Government has introduced a number of major policy changes under the leadership of the Chief Executive. I have cited a string of examples when I spoke during the debate yesterday, so I will not repeat them here. President, the Chief Executive also wrote to your goodself on 19 January to provide an update on the latest development of a number of initiatives proposed in the Policy Address, highlighting the Government's transparency in policy administration and the great importance we attach to the relationship between the legislature and the executive.

President, the current-term Government is bold and ambitious, and is committed to improving people's livelihood through innovative thinking and pragmatic actions. We will strengthen our communication and have more interaction with Members of the Legislative Council and various political parties, so as to address the needs of society and members of the public. We will LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3417 seriously and pragmatically follow up and implement the various initiatives set out in the Policy Address to inject new impetus into the economy and society, with a view to propelling Hong Kong forward. Certainly, our greatest challenge and top priority at present is to win the battle against the epidemic as soon as possible. Let us all join hands in fighting the epidemic with unsparing efforts to get Hong Kong out of the impasse early.

President, I implore Members to support the Motion of Thanks moved by Ms Starry LEE. Thank you, President.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): The debate sessions on Motion of Thanks end.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Ms Starry LEE, you still have 8 minutes and 28 seconds to reply. Then, the debate will come to a close. Ms Starry LEE, please reply.

MS STARRY LEE (in Cantonese): President, during the motion debate on the Policy Address this time around, 42 Members in total have spoken with a total speaking time of 17 hours and 23 minutes.

Members have raised a lot of opinions, including many criticisms, on the policy areas of their concern. The Policy Address has listed out a series of initiatives to develop the economy, fight the epidemic and improve people's livelihood. In respect of land creation for housing development, sustainable city development, nurturing talent and youth development, creating employment and relieving unemployment, medical and health services, as well as injecting new impetus to the economy, Members have put forward many new policies, views and measures. In any case, I hope that the Chief Executive and all the principal officials will listen to Members' views with an open mind, so that the implementation of policies can have the support of the Legislative Council and the public.

President, the debate on the Motion of Thanks mainly serves to provide a platform for Members to express their views on the Policy Address. The motion itself does not point in any direction and I hope Members will support it. Thank you, President.

3418 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now put the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by Ms Starry LEE be passed. Will those in favour please raise their hands?

(Members raised their hands)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Those against please raise their hands.

(Members raised their hands)

Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok rose to claim a division.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok has claimed a division. The division bell will ring for five minutes.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Will Members please proceed to vote.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Will Members please check their votes. If there are no queries, voting shall now stop and the result will be displayed.

Functional Constituencies:

Mr Abraham SHEK, Mr Tommy CHEUNG, Mr Jeffrey LAM, Mr WONG Ting-kwong, Ms Starry LEE, Mr CHAN Kin-por, Mr Steven HO, Mr Frankie YICK, Mr YIU Si-wing, Mr MA Fung-kwok, Mr Christopher CHEUNG, Mr Martin LIAO, Mr POON Siu-ping, Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok, Mr CHUNG Kwok-pan, Mr Jimmy NG, Mr Holden CHOW, Mr SHIU Ka-fai, Mr CHAN Chun-ying, Mr LUK Chung-hung, Mr LAU Kwok-fan, Mr Kenneth LAU and Mr Tony TSE voted for the motion.

Dr Pierre CHAN voted against the motion.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 22 January 2021 3419

THE PRESIDENT, Mr Andrew LEUNG, did not cast any vote.

Geographical Constituencies:

Mr CHAN Hak-kan, Dr Priscilla LEUNG, Mr WONG Kwok-kin, Mrs Regina IP, Mr Paul TSE, Mr Michael TIEN, Mr CHAN Han-pan, Mr LEUNG Che-cheung, Ms Alice MAK, Mr KWOK Wai-keung, Ms Elizabeth QUAT, Dr CHIANG Lai-wan, Dr Junius HO, Mr Wilson OR, Ms YUNG Hoi-yan, Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan and Mr Vincent CHENG voted for the motion.

Dr CHENG Chung-tai voted against the motion.

THE PRESIDENT announced that among the Members returned by functional constituencies, 25 were present, 23 were in favour of the motion and 1 against it; while among the Members returned by geographical constituencies through direct elections, 18 were present, 17 were in favour of the motion and 1 against it. Since the question was agreed by a majority of each of the two groups of Members present, he therefore declared that the motion was passed.

NEXT MEETING

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now adjourn the Council until 11:00 am on Wednesday, 27 January 2021.

Adjourned accordingly at 2:03 pm.