Minutes of the 2Nd Meeting of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council (2020-2023)

Minutes of the 2nd Meeting of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council (2020-2023)

Date : 21 January 2020 (Tuesday) Time : 10:00 a.m. Venue : Yau Tsim Mong District Council Conference Room 4/F, Mong Kok Government Offices 30 Luen Wan Street Mong Kok, Kowloon

Present:

Chairman Mr LAM Kin-man

Vice-chairman Mr YU Tak-po

District Council Members Mr CHAN Ka-long, Leslie Mr HUI Tak-leung The Honourable TO Kun-sun, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai Mr HUNG Chiu-wah, Derek James Mr CHU Kong-wai Mr LAM Siu-pan, Ben Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr CHU Tsz-lok, Leo Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Ms TSUI Wai-fong, Natalie Mr CHUNG Chak-fai Mr LEE Wai-fung Ms WU Sui-shan, Suzanne Mr HO Cheuk-hin, Isaac Mr LI Owan Mr HO Fu-wing, Frank Mr SIU Tak-kin, Lucifer

Representatives of the Government Mrs ARON Laura Liang, JP District Officer (Yau Tsim Mong) Home Affairs Department

Miss PONG Kin-wah, Assistant District Officer (Yau Tsim Home Affairs Department Katherine Mong) (1) Mr SO Tsz-ching, Barton Assistant District Officer (Yau Tsim Home Affairs Department Mong) (2) Mr LAM Kwan-hau District Environmental Hygiene Food and Environmental Superintendent (Mong Kok) Hygiene Department Ms HO Sau-ying Chief Health Inspector (Yau Tsim) 2 Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Mr Bradley Stephen District Commander (Mong Kok) Hong Kong Police Force WRIGHT Mr HO Yun-sing District Commander (Yau Tsim) Hong Kong Police Force

Ms WONG Wing-yee, Chief Transport Officer/Kowloon Transport Department Winnie Ms FUNG Miu-ling Chief Leisure Manager (Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services West) Department Mr CHAN Ping-wa, Chief Engineer/S2 Civil Engineering and Edmund Development Department Ms LING Kuk-yi Chief Manager/Management (Kowloon Housing Department West and Sai Kung)

In Attendance:

Ms LO Wai-man, Mimi Senior Liaison Officer (Building Home Affairs Department Management), Yau Tsim Mong District Office Mr LUK Hung-yin, Martin Senior Estate Surveyor/UR5 (Urban Lands Department Renewal Section) Mr LAM Hang-yue, Robert Estate Surveyor/UR7 (Urban Renewal Lands Department Section) Mr Eugene YUE Senior Manager, Community Urban Renewal Authority Development Mr LEUNG Kam-chau Senior Manager, Acquisition and Urban Renewal Authority Clearance Mr David CHAN Operations Manager - Kwun Tong Line MTR Corporation Limited & Tsuen Wan Line Mr Y C CHAN Senior Manager - External Affairs MTR Corporation Limited Mr Ernest HO External Affairs Manager MTR Corporation Limited Mr WONG Siu-man, Simon Senior Engineer/Kowloon District West Transport Department Mr CHOW Ka-lok, Vincent Engineer/Yau Tsim Transport Department Mr NG Chun-ling District Engineer/Mong Kok Highways Department Mr YIP Hang-hei, Tony Engineer/Mongkok and Yaumatei Transport Department Mr CHAN Kin-hong Engineer/Transport Services 1/1 Electrical and Mechanical Services Department Ms CHEUNG Sin-man, Joel Police Community Relations Officer Hong Kong Police Force (Mong Kok District)

Secretary Miss HUI Hai-pui, Julia Senior Executive Officer (District Home Affairs Department Council), Yau Tsim Mong District Office

Opening Remarks

The Chairman said he had received a request from Mr Leslie CHAN before the meeting, and asked Mr Leslie CHAN to read it out.

2. Mr Leslie CHAN said that, after the deadline for the submission of papers, i.e. 15 January, two Hong Kong people who had been holders of British passports had jumped to their deaths from a hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. Their will notes had mentioned “See you at the demonstration area of the Legislative Council Complex”, indicating that they had participated in the social movement. He suggested that the attendees of the meeting observe one minute’s silence to mourn them.

- 2 - 3. The Chairman supported Mr Leslie CHAN’s proposal and indicated that this would be the last time he accepted Councillors’ ad hoc requests for observance of silence made before a meeting. He asked Councillors to raise such requests in their papers next time.

(Councillors rose to observe one minute’s silence)

4. The Chairman welcomed the representatives of government departments and other attendees to the meeting. He reported that Mr HO Yun-sing, District Commander (Yau Tsim), and Mr Bradley Stephen WRIGHT, District Commander (Mong Kok), of the Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”) would only join the meeting at around 12 noon due to duty commitments. He continued to report that Mr HUNG Sai-kit, District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Yau Tsim) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”), was on leave and Ms HO Sau-ying, Chief Health Inspector (Yau Tsim) 2, would stand in for him at the meeting. Besides, as Mr TSE Chick-lam, Ken, Chief Manager/Management (Kowloon West and Sai Kung) of the Housing Department, had retired, his successor Ms LING Kuk-yi attended the meeting.

5. The Chairman asked the attendees to pay attention that, according to Article 6(5) of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council Standing Orders (“Standing Orders”), all items discussed by the Council must not conflict with the functions as stipulated in Section 61 of the District Councils Ordinance. As required by the Standing Orders, he needed to ensure that the meeting was conducted in accordance with the above requirement. In addition, according to Article 49(3) of the Standing Orders, if the Chairman was of the opinion that a certain member of the public sitting in on a District Council meeting misbehaved in such a way as to disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting, the Chairman might order the person to leave the place of the meeting immediately if the person persisted in his or her misbehaviour despite warnings. He also asked the attendees to mind their language, and indicated that attendees must not use words of personal attack or insulting words, which would affect the image of the District Council.

Item 1: Financial Position of Yau Tsim Mong District Council Funds as at 9 January 2020 (YTMDC Paper No. 11/2020)

Item 2: Application for Yau Tsim Mong District Council Funds for Participation in “Green Stalls” in Hong Kong Flower Show 2020 (YTMDC Paper No. 12/2020)

Item 3: Applications for Yau Tsim Mong District Council Funds Requiring Follow-up after 1st Yau Tsim Mong District Council Meeting

6. The Chairman suggested discussing the papers concerning District Council Funds for Items 1 to 3 together. There was no objection. He reminded Councillors to declare their interests and complete the Declaration of Interests Form. Councillors should also make oral declarations and withdraw from the discussion.

7. Regarding Item 1 (YTMDC Paper No. 11/2020), the Chairman drew Councillors’ attention to the financial position of Yau Tsim Mong District Council (“YTMDC”) Funds as at 9 January 2020. There was no objection.

8. As for Item 2, the Vice-chairman agreed to participate in Hong Kong Flower Show 2020 (“Flower Show”) and supported to name the two Councillors mentioned in the paper as

- 3 - representatives.

9. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that Councillors had made some requests about the theme of the Flower Show at the last meeting. He enquired of the latest progress.

10. Mr Ben LAM responded that the budget for the Flower Show had been drawn up by him and Ms Natalie TSUI with reference to last year’s budget. As for the theme, he agreed with the suggestions made by Councillors at a previous meeting, i.e. promoting democracy and the vision of the “anti-extradition to China” movement through the stall. He had initially invited a friend, who was a florist, to design the stall. Apart from echoing the organiser’s theme of greening and environmental protection, they would also promote a range of elements through the stall. He could send the preliminary design plan of the stall to Councillors, but the specific design plan would be produced by the florist only after the approval of funding. Councillors would then be consulted again.

11. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming wished to get the design plan as soon as possible, and pointed out that most Councillors supported the funding for the Flower Show.

12. The Chairman confirmed the allocation of $9,400 for the participation of the YTMDC in the “Green Stalls” in the Flower Show. There was no objection.

13. Regarding Item 3, the Chairman asked the Secretary to brief Councillors on the funding applications requiring follow-up after the last meeting.

14. The Secretary briefly introduced that the first funding application requiring follow-up was the “16th Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair” of the Mongkok Kai-Fong Association Limited (“MKKFA”). After conducting the first meeting, the YTMDC had written to the MKKFA on 14 January 2020 to request the MKKFA to provide supplementary information in response to the ----- questions raised by Councillors. The letter and the MKKFA’s response (Annex 1) were on the table. The MKKFA had now withdrawn the funding application. She invited Councillors to note the views of the MKKFA.

15. The Chairman said that the MKKFA had withdrawn the application, but the MKKFA had enquired in its letter why the YTMDC had only invited the MKKFA amongst the 40 funding applications to attend the meeting to give clarification or explanation, while the other 39 applicant organisations had not been invited. The MKKFA queried that the YTMDC might not have taken a fair attitude in this matter. He would now respond to the above question. He indicated that the 40 funding applications had earlier been sent to Councillors for examination. These funding allocations, which had been supported in principle by the last-term YTMDC, had to be confirmed by the current-term YTMDC, so the Councillors of the current-term YTMDC had the responsibility to examine in detail the material and raise questions. Councillors had also invited the organisations they deemed necessary through the Secretariat to attend a meeting to give clarification. Given that there were a lot of agenda items for the meeting that day, Councillors had chosen the MKKFA because the amount of funding applied by the MKKFA had been the highest, and 160 000 participants had been expected for the event, which also involved a parade. Members of the public were now very concerned about the pneumonia. As Councillors were representatives of public opinion and the parade would involve many members of the public, it had been hoped that the MKKFA could explain what contingency plans had been made. At the same time, Councillors had found that the amount applied for in respect of individual items had been higher than that of similar events, thus the representative of the

- 4 - MKKFA had been invited to attend the meeting to give clarification and explanation. The representative concerned had been unable to respond in detail to some of the questions raised by Councillors at the meeting, so Councillors had requested to postpone the voting, but they had not rejected the funding application. Councillors had opined that detailed consideration had to be given, so they had written to the MKKFA and requested the MKKFA to respond further on individual issues in writing. However, the MKKFA had given no response to any of the YTMDC’s questions and had only withdrawn the funding application. The MKKFA had also thought that the YTMDC had been unfair in the process, which he personally did not agree with.

16. The Vice-chairman said that very few organisations had been willing to attend YTMDC meetings to have direct conversations with Councillors, so Councillors had thanked the MKKFA for attending the meeting previously to communicate and exchange views with Councillors. It was a good communication channel and everyone had expressed their views with good intention. At that meeting, many Councillors had wished to support the event. The questions raised about the risk assessment on the local spread of the Wuhan disease, the measures taken by the Police in response to public events and other matters had been constructive, instead of “adopting double standards and failing to handle the matter with impartiality” as claimed in the MKKFA’s reply letter. He personally did not agree with such wording. Councillors had not acted against certain organisations. As 160 000 participants had been expected for the event and the amount of funding applied for had been the highest among the 40 events, it had been reasonable for Councillors to raise detailed questions. For instance, a public event had recently taken place on Hong Kong Island on a Sunday and a Letter of No Objection had been applied for in respect of the event. However, the event had been brought to an early end less than an hour after it had started and the Police had fired tear gas at the protesters during the event. He was worried that similar situation would occur at Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair and hoped that the event could be held smoothly.

17. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed regret about the MKKFA’s reply letter. At the last meeting, Councillors had raised questions about the issues that had concerned them, such as the reasons for requiring an allocation of $105,000 for staging a fashion show, which had been irrelevant to the traditional celebrations in a temple fair. A Councillor had also enquired about the definition of temple fair, but the MKKFA had pointed out that it was an event in the form of a carnival, which had been contradictory to what the MKKFA had said. The YTMDC had sent a letter to the organisation to request for further information and response, but the organisation withdrew and evaded the problems, despite having organised major events for many years. Such an act had certainly led to doubts and regret. In its reply letter, the organisation failed to respond to the YTMDC’s questions, including those on the pun choi feast and the overall income and expenditure. Given that the pun choi feast was one of the activities in the temple fair, and according to para. 6.11 of the Guidelines on YTMDC Funds (“Funding Guidelines”), if an organisation failed to list out all expenses of a project, the YTMDC had the right to reject its application. He hoped the Secretariat would take note of the matter and opined that the MKKFA’s action was irresponsible.

18. Mr LEE Wai-fung felt it was a pity after reading the reply letter. The representative of the MKKFA had responded to his questions as far as possible at the last meeting, so he had not raised further questions. However, he attached great importance to other problems, such as the performance fee of $105,000 mentioned by Mr TSANG Tsz-ming. As for the possible evacuation of 160 000 participants during the event, the organisation should negotiate with the Police. The fireworks display held on the second day of the Lunar New Year, with about 300 000 spectators, was a relatively important event in Hong Kong. Therefore, Tai Kok Tsui

- 5 - Temple Fair, in which 160 000 people were expected to participate, was already an event of a very large scale. Regarding why only the representative of the MKKFA had been invited to attend the meeting among the 40 funding applications, he said it was because this activity was the largest, lasted for the longest duration, occupied a very large area of roads in Yau Tsim Mong (“YTM”) District, included a parade and required the use of cookers at night. Although the event had been held smoothly under good weather conditions for more than ten editions, the social situation was unstable at the moment and people carrying LPG cartridges for hot pots might also be considered to be rioters. He hoped the MKKFA would accept Councillors’ explanations. Based on the MKKFA’s suggestion, he was of the view that the YTMDC should vet all funding applications one by one in future for the sake of fairness.

19. Mr LI Owan considered that Councillors were very kind in using words like “pity” and “regret” to describe the matter. He was of the view that the MKKFA had made a very serious allegation against Councillors and the YTMDC in its reply letter. The two sentences “Doubts on the way of handling, whether there were double standards” and “neglected some of the current-term Councillors or the relevant persons” in the letter were actually making slanderous accusations. The MKKFA had years of experience in organising activities, and Councillors had only requested the MKKFA to provide a backup plan, but its performance was even worse than that of secondary school students organising activities of students’ unions. The MKKFA had gone too far with its accusations against elected representatives in the YTMDC. Instead of only expressing regret, Councillors should condemn the MKKFA. If time allowed, he would move an impromptu motion later to hold the MKKFA responsible for the defamation and consider whether to take legal actions. The letter indicated that the temple fair was “a major event with historical and cultural characteristics”, but the representative of the MKKFA had said at the last meeting that the temple fair would be held in the form of a carnival. He queried that the MKKFA did not know a temple fair was a religious activity in traditional Chinese culture. This reply letter was making slanderous accusations and insinuations. The MKKFA performed poorly and even blamed others. He considered that Councillors should not only express regret and note the matter. He strongly condemned the MKKFA for making slanderous accusations and absolutely not telling the truth.

20. Mr HUI Tak-leung considered that misunderstandings between people might be caused by a lack of communication. As the Chairman had just mentioned the criteria adopted by the YTMDC in vetting the MKKFA’s funding application, he asked the Secretariat whether the MKKFA had noted the Chairman’s views. This matter was related to the image of the whole YTMDC. Since the MKKFA might have misunderstood that it had been targeted by the YTMDC and the Chairman had just made some very reasonable comments, the MKKFA should be informed of the comments. Given that the MKKFA had withdrawn its funding application, he opined that all parties should communicate to avoid misunderstanding. He believed the MKKFA was sensible and would understand that the YTMDC was certainly not targeting at it and Councillors only wanted to know more about the event. As the temple fair was an event with characteristics, he would regret if it would not be held. He considered that more encouragement should be given to local organisations to organise similar activities with characteristics.

21. Mr Leslie CHAN said he had explained to the representative of the MKKFA after the last meeting that the YTMDC had not rejected the funding allocation and had only wanted to have a clear picture first. He had expressed goodwill, but had not expected the MKKFA to give such a reply letter, as if the YTMDC had intentionally created difficulties for the MKKFA. Councillors had shown their appreciation for the representative of the MKKFA, who had been

- 6 - willing to attend the meeting and face up to the monitoring by the public and the YTMDC. As members of the media were present today, he hoped that the people concerned from the MKKFA would watch the live broadcast of the meeting and consider again. Councillors did not want to cause a stalemate in their relationship with the MKKFA. He expressed regret about the MKKFA’s reply letter and considered that the MKKFA should not hold the temple fair, a traditional Chinese cultural activity, in the form of a carnival. This was an exploitation of the gods.

22. Mr Lucifer SIU said that the YTMDC’s written questions sent to the MKKFA were mainly related to pneumonia and police-community relations. He opined that the YTMDC had the responsibility to issue guidelines on public events in the community. Only some guidelines on students’ educational activities issued by the Education Bureau (“EDB”) were available on the Internet, where no guidelines on public events in the community could be found. He asked whether the Yau Tsim Mong District Office (“YTMDO”) had conducted any co-ordination work and drawn up any guidelines on community events recently in response to COVID-19.

23. The Secretary responded that the Secretariat had contacted the MKKFA after the last YTMDC meeting, indicating that in view of the further enquiries raised by Councillors at the meeting regarding the MKKFA’s response, it had been hoped that the MKKFA would submit supplementary information. The Secretariat had also invited the MKKFA to attend today’s meeting, but the MKKFA had politely declined to attend and provide a written response to the YTMDC in the end.

24. Mrs Laura ARON responded that regarding the prevention measures taken by the YTMDO at the community level against pneumonia, the YTMDO would disseminate the messages and leaflets of the Department of Health (“DH”) to the buildings and local organisations in the district. The YTMDO was of the view that it was not necessary to handle activities in a special way for the time being. If there was a risk of human-to-human transmission of the virus, the most important thing was to observe personal hygiene. Apart from the dissemination of messages, the YTMDO also encouraged district organisations to produce cleaning packs and call for the residents to observe personal hygiene.

25. Mr LEE Wai-fung said as the MKKFA thought that the YTMDC had targeted at the MKKFA by only inviting the MKKFA but not the other 39 organisations to attend the meeting, he asked the Secretariat to note that he hoped all applicants would have the opportunity to attend YTMDC meetings in future to give explanation on funding applications. He also hoped that the Secretariat would remind the organisations to make such preparations when they applied for funding.

26. The Chairman reiterated that Councillors were absolutely not targeting at any specific organisation. As regards funding applications, newly elected Councillors had a particularly strong sense of mission and hoped to monitor and control funding applications in a more stringent way as compared with the way before. He believed it was an expectation of the public towards Councillors, thus Councillors had chosen the MKKFA to attend the meeting and respond to enquiries. It was not that Councillors had not examined the funding applications from the other 39 organisations. The information of those funding applications had been sent to Councillors before the meeting, and Councillors had also raised enquiries about the applications at and after the meeting. The organisations concerned had responded to such enquiries, so he reiterated that the YTMDC was not targeting at any specific organisation. He totally agreed with Mr HUI Tak-leung that communication between people was very important. In fact, the

- 7 - MKKFA had all along been a close partner of the YTMDC in organising activities, and he hoped that the MKKFA would continue to co-operate closely with the YTMDC in future. This incident might be caused by misunderstanding, so he hoped that the Secretariat would consolidate the views expressed by Councillors today and reply to the MKKFA in writing, and hoped that the MKKFA would understand the YTMDC’s stance.

27. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming corrected Mr LEE Wai-fung’s remark. He hoped the Secretariat would invite applicant organisations to attend meetings to give explanation on their funding applications, starting from the level of the Working Group on Community Funds. If necessary, such practice should be extended progressively to the meetings of the Community Building Committee (“CBC”) and the YTMDC. In addition, he pointed out that no spot check system seemed to be in place and suggested making spot checks by open ballot.

28. The Secretary noted Councillors’ views. As the number of applicant organisations was very large each time, Councillors might consider referring the matter to the CBC for decision on the future practice. For instance, reference could be made to the practice adopted this time, i.e. sending all information of the applications in writing to the members of working groups or committees in advance, and the Secretariat would then invite individual organisations to attend meetings according to the list of organisations drawn up by Councillors. This would be more efficient.

29. The Hon James TO opined that other organisations should not be made to suffer just because the MKKFA withdrew its application and claimed that the YTMDC targeted at it. Councillors must vet every application carefully according to the priority and amount applied for. The “16th Tai Kok Tsui Temple Fair” involved the highest amount of funding among all funding applications, so the organisation should respond to Councillors’ enquiries patiently. The organisation had indicated in its reply letter issued on 20 January that it would withdraw its funding application because it had to prepare for the event urgently. Today was 21 January, which meant the organisation had considered that even if it attended the meeting, the funding would not be approved, or it was sure that it could not respond to Councillors’ enquiries. The MKKFA’s withdrawal from the funding allocation was a unique case, so Councillors only needed to consider the funding allocations in a fair manner.

30. The Chairman asked the Secretary to brief Councillors on the second funding application which required follow-up actions.

31. The Secretary said that regarding “Lunar New Year Trip 2020” (literal translation) organised by Jordan Neighborhood, a Councillor had pointed out at the last YTMDC meeting that an activity’s promotional material found in her neighbourhood had shown similar name, venue and date to those of the proposed activity under the application for YTMDC Funds, while a higher participants’ fee had been indicated. The poster had shown a fee of $260 for each participant, but had not indicated that the activity had been subsidised by the YTMDC. On the other hand, the fee for each participant was $90 for the proposed activity under the application for YTMDC Funds. A Councillor had at that time asked the Secretariat to clarify with Jordan Neighborhood, but since Jordan Neighborhood had then requested the Secretariat to contact it in writing, the Chairman had sent a letter to the organisation to enquire about whether those two activities were the same, and if so, whether the organisation would amend the participants’ fee or other items in the application form. Jordan Neighborhood did not provide a direct response in ----- its reply (Annex 2), but it was deduced from the literal meaning that those two activities were not the same. In addition, the organisation considered that the YTMDC had interfered with an

- 8 - activity which had not been under any application for YTMDC Funds.

32. The Vice-chairman said that to his understanding, the sponsorship of the YTMDC must be acknowledged and a prominent mark must be shown for any activity under an application for YTMDC Funds. The poster concerned, however, did not have any mark of “Sponsored by the YTMDC”, so the activity might not be sponsored by the YTMDC.

33. Mr HUI Tak-leung asked the Secretariat whether Councillors had the right to request for participation in any activity funded by the YTMDC. If so, the confusion of all Councillors could be solved.

34. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said the YTMDC had written to the organisation because of the suspicion that the organisation had attracted questions by holding a similar or confusing activity. Councillors’ question was not entirely wrong or aimed at creating difficulties, but was just out of suspicion that the organisation had intended to hold an activity with a similar name, or an activity that would easily cause misunderstanding by outsiders. Members of the community might not carefully observe whether the activity was sponsored by the YTMDC. He wanted to urge other organisations not to attract suspicion or confuse people when applying for funds. This would only attract questions.

35. The Hon James TO believed that the Secretary was very experienced and knew that Councillors were not interfering with an activity which was not subsidised by the YTMDC. Councillors only wanted to clarify whether the YTMDC-funded activity was not conducted according to the conditions for the activity. Councillors could monitor the activities funded by the YTMDC, and the activity report submitted by the organisation must also show that the fee for each participant was $90. If any Councillor or member of the public found that the fee for each participant was not $90, he/she could make a report. Councillors had the right to make enquiries if they had reasonable suspicion.

36. Mr Derek HUNG said those two activities were clearly different. One of them was under an application for YTMDC Funds, while the other one was unrelated to YTMDC Funds. Although the words “Lunar New Year Trip” (literal translation) had been used in the names of both activities, similar words could also be found in the names of the activities organised by many organisations and Councillors’ ward offices during Lunar New Year. Those words were very common. He hoped that the YTMDC would have good communication with the organisations in future and closely follow up the activities which did not comply with the eligibility criteria. In the past, Councillors would inspect the activities which had been under an application for YTMDC Funds for the first time. As for this case, Councillors should handle the two activities separately, which meant Councillors should only pay attention to whether the YTMDC-funded activity had breached the manual on the funds.

37. Mr LEE Wai-fung thanked Jordan Neighborhood for helping Councillors clarify some of the differences between the activities with and without the funding support from the YTMDC. He believed that a former Councillor had a close relationship with Jordan Neighborhood. The former Councillor should understand Councillors’ practice well and understand the use of public funds, and would be happy to explain to the organisation for Councillors.

38. Mr Isaac HO said that the names, organisers, venues and implementation dates and time of the two activities were completely the same. The organisation could claim that they were two separate activities by simply removing the words “Sponsored by the YTMDC” on the poster.

- 9 - For the Councillors who were concerned about whether public funds had been used correctly or whether there was any problem with the fee, it was difficult to monitor effectively whether this kind of activities had complied with the principle of the use of public funds. Hence, he hoped that arrangement could be made for Councillors to inspect this kind of activities in order to find out whether the activities had complied with the funding principles and the relevant ordinances.

39. The Chairman understood Councillors’ concern and said that the content of the two activities were the same, so Councillors’ queries were reasonable. He expressed regret about the reply letter in which the organisation had avoided this question, and opined that Councillors should inspect the 39 funded activities. If the content of the activities, such as the actual participants’ fee, did not conform to the information, it should be reported to the YTMDC and further action would then be taken by the Secretariat.

40. Mr Isaac HO said that the YTMDC-funded activity included visiting the museum of history, while the activity indicated in the poster included visiting the old fort in Tung Chung. However, it could be claimed that those were two separate activities if they were simply arranged to start at the same time, visit one different tourist spot en route and meet again later. He thought the organisation was tapping into the YTMDC’s resources in order to obtain more resources to organise activities that were basically the same. He wanted to clarify that one tourist spot included in the two activities was different, so that the former Councillor would not say he/she was treated unjustly.

41. The Hon James TO said that a quota (80 participants) had been set for the activity under the application for YTMDC Funds. There would not be any problem if there were 80 people paying $90 to participate in the activity. He guessed two coaches would be used in the two activities, and the participants on the second coach had to pay $260.

42. The Vice-chairman opined that Councillors might inspect the activity requiring a participants’ fee of $90. The organisation must submit a report to the Secretariat after completion of the activity to show the number of people paying $90 to participate in the activity. Councillors would then understand whether the two activities were separate activities.

43. Mr HUI Tak-leung agreed with the Hon James TO. There would not be any problem provided that the numbers of coaches and participants of the activity matched those stated in the application for YTMDC Funds. Individual organisations might charge different participants’ fees when organising activities. He had suggested many times that a list of participants should be submitted by the organisations for spot check by the YTMDC. He suggested the YTMDC enhance monitoring and crack down on the practice of having two arrangements for one activity.

44. The Chairman agreed with the Hon James TO. There was no further information showing that the activity involved a breach of the rules at the present stage. He suggested the Secretariat reply to Jordan Neighborhood and request it to confirm the number of participants and the fee, and to submit a report after completion of the activity.

45. Ms Natalie TSUI said that the participants’ fees of the two activities were different and was worried that members of the community would overpay, which would give rise to unfairness. If the poster did not indicate the above arrangement, she queried how Councillors could monitor such situation.

46. The Secretary responded that the organisation had to submit the receipts issued by the

- 10 - travel agent, publicity posters, leaflets and vouchers for participation. It must also state that the activity was subsidised by the YTMDC and indicate the fee for each participant.

47. Mr HUI Tak-leung added that the publicity for activities under applications for YTMDC Funds could not be carried out in the name of an individual. Since publicity was carried out in the name of an individual in the poster, the activity concerned might not be a YTMDC-funded activity.

48. The Chairman agreed with Mr HUI Tak-leung. The publicity for activities sponsored by the YTMDC could not be carried out in the name of an individual, and the words “Sponsored by the YTMDC” must be shown.

49. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai said that he lived in Jordan West. He had only seen posters showing a participants’ fee of $260 but had never seen those showing a participants’ fee of $90. He asked about the locations for putting up the posters showing a participants’ fee of $90.

50. The Secretary responded that the funding for the activity had not been given by the YTMDC, so the organisation could not put up the posters yet. Organisations could only carry out publicity and use the funds after approval and acceptance of funding.

51. The Chairman asked the Secretary to brief Councillors on the third funding application requiring follow-up.

52. The Secretary briefed Members as follows:

(i) The third case had taken place after the last meeting and the activity involved was Shaheen Sports Club’s “Fitness X Hockey Training Class” (literal translation), which had been funded by the YTMDC and had completed. Shaheen Sports Club had applied for YTMDC Funds last year for organising the activity “Fitness X Hockey Training Class” from October to November 2019. Two lessons of two hours had been held each week to teach the young people in the district about physical exercise and basic hockey skills. The last-term YTMDC had allocated $17,904 of YTMDC Funds in August 2019 to support the activity.

(ii) Recently, the Secretariat had been handling the applications for reimbursement in respect of the activity and had found three expenditure items which must be submitted to the YTMDC for approval. The first two items involved the expenses attributable to the cancellation of individual lessons: After completion of the project, the organisation had indicated that the activities on 20 and 22 November 2019 had been cancelled because of social movements, but the venue hire charges as well as the fees for coaches and assistant coaches could not be refunded due to prior agreement. The amounts involved were $600 and $1,680 for venue hire charges and coaches fees respectively. The organisation had ----- provided explanation on these expenses (Annex 3).

(iii) According to the Manual on the Use of District Council Funds (“Manual”) of the Home Affairs Department (“HAD”), depending on the circumstances and the reasons provided by the organisation, the District Council might, where applicable, endorse reimbursement of expenses already incurred in the preparation/implementation of the project in the event of project cancellation. If

- 11 - the District Council considered that the cessation of the project was due to negligence of the organisation, no subsequent reimbursement should be made. She asked Councillors to consider the reasons provided by the organisation in order to decide whether to endorse reimbursement of the two amounts attributable to the cancellation of lessons, i.e. venue hire charges and fees for coaches.

(iv) In addition, Shaheen Sports Club had applied for the purchase of resistance bands (the amount of funding was $500) for use in the activity. According to the Funding Guidelines, after purchasing these non-consumable goods, the organisations should keep them for organising similar YTMDC-funded activities next time. However, the organisation had given the resistance bands to the participants after the activity for their further practice at home. The letter mentioned the hope that the YTMDC would reimburse $500 by discretion. She invited Members to give their views on the two matters mentioned above.

53. Mr LI Owan asked whether the Secretary had meant that no reimbursement should be made if the cause was the negligence of the organisation. If she had meant human negligence, but the organisation had a good past record and the activities had been cancelled this time only because of social events, he considered that the venue hire charges and the fees for coaches and assistant coaches should be reimbursed as human negligence was not involved. As for the resistance bands, given that the organisation had admitted that there had been human negligence, he did not wish to reimburse the amount very much unless the organisation had a good past record, including submission of documents and receipts. If that was the case, Councillors could further discuss whether to give the organisation a chance, but he had some reservations at this stage.

54. The Secretary supplemented that the question of human negligence was only applicable to the part about cancellation of activities.

55. Mr LI Owan opined that since the organisation had admitted that there had been human negligence and had undertaken not to repeat the mistake, the YTMDC might exercise discretion as only a small amount of $500 was involved. By doing that, he wanted to show that the YTMDC was strict and only exercised discretion this time in the hope that the organisation would handle matters properly in future, so as to establish a good relationship with Shaheen Sports Club.

56. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen tended to reimburse the expenses because the impact of social events on the public had to be faced and borne together. He wished to indicate with a positive attitude that the YTMDC would offer support regarding the safety issues of various activities. He was of the view that the human negligence of Shaheen Sports Club was not a big problem. Given that the work of the organisation included multi-cultural exchanges with ethnic minorities and youth sports development, and that it had honestly admitted there had been human negligence, he considered that the organisation should be given a chance and the support for its direction. He hoped that the organisation would pay attention next time, while discretion could be exercised this time.

57. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) as the organisation had pointed out in its letter that it had notified the Secretariat by phone and by letter on 19 November, he asked whether it was the case; (ii) he enquired about the funding criteria and pay arrangements for the personnel of the activity in case of cancellation of activity due to typhoons

- 12 - or specific incidents; and (iii) as for the resistance bands, if the organisation had intended to distribute the goods to the participants after the activity for their further use at home, it should not apply for funding under the item of “Materials for the activity”. Other items should be used instead.

58. Mr Derek HUNG said that Shaheen Sports Club had organised many recreational and sports activities for the youth and various ethnic groups in the district in the past few years. Venue booking and arrangements for coaches had to be made several months before training classes were held. However, the activities had been cancelled because of the social events which had affected the safety of parents and students. Councillors should understand that, so he agreed that the venue hire charges and the fees for coaches and assistant coaches should be reimbursed. As for the resistance bands, the organisation had gained nothing by distributing them to the participants for further practice at home. The organisation had just utilised the resources. If the resistance bands were to be kept, it was however not clear when the activity would be organised again, so the arrangement was understandable.

59. Mr Leslie CHAN asked whether Shaheen Sports Club had organised similar activities using resistance bands before, and whether the resistance bands had been distributed to the participants after the activities. If not, he tended to exercise discretion. The webpage of Shaheen Sports Club showed that the organisation mainly organised activities for the ethnic minorities and children in the district. Moreover, resistance bands were plastic items which would become brittle after long period of retention. He would rather give them to children and ethnic minorities than throw them away and cause a waste. He considered the arrangement acceptable, but it was only a one-off arrangement. He suggested that the organisation should apply for funding under other items next time if it intended to give the goods to the participants after the activity. He hoped that the organisation had learnt a lesson. He had checked the records and found that social events had actually taken place in Mong Kok on the relevant dates, and the organisation had only cancelled the activities for the safety of children, so he agreed to reimburse the venue hire charges and fees for coaches.

60. Mr Ben LAM raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he tended to reimburse the expenses by discretion and asked the Secretariat whether there were other organisations which had applied for YTMDC Funds but had cancelled their activities because of social events. He was worried that the YTMDC would be required to exercise discretion for other organisations in the same situation after discretion was exercised for this allocation of funds; and (ii) as for the resistance bands, he opined that the YTMDC should write to the organisation to state that although discretion would be exercised this time, it would only be a one-off arrangement.

61. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) Shaheen Sports Club had honestly stated its difficulties and situation, and venue hire charges was a Force Majeure. After all, no one wanted to see the cancellation of activities. The activities had been organised for children with an aim to help them relax their body and mind, so he agreed to reimburse the venue hire charges and other expenses; and (ii) resistance bands had no special use. As the organisation had explained that it had given the resistance bands to the children for their further practice at home, he believed that it could help promote physical activities. Children were now under acute stress and needed a channel to relax their body and mind. The organisation had honestly admitted there had been negligence, which was of course not acceptable. If Councillors had no objection, he suggested giving a warning or reminder to the organisation.

62. Mr Lucifer SIU said that the problems of expenses caused by the cancellation of

- 13 - activities due to social events had been raised at the last meeting during the discussion on the temple fair. He asked whether it was necessary to exercise discretion each time according to the situation of the cases. He tended to reimburse the expenses in respect of the activities that had been cancelled because of social events, so that the organisations would be more confident in keeping on organising the activities funded by the YTMDC. It could prevent the organisations from reducing the number of activities or bearing additional and unnecessary loss.

63. The Secretary responded as follows:

(i) The Secretariat had received the written notification from Shaheen Sports Club on 25 November last year. She had to ask the colleague concerned as to whether the organisation had notified the Secretariat by phone beforehand. However, the colleague concerned might not have any information as it had happened several months ago.

(ii) The item of “Souvenirs” should be used in the funding application for the goods expected to be given to the participants by the organisations. The basic principle for the item of “Materials for the activity” was to hire the materials as far as possible. If it was necessary to purchase them, the prime consideration was whether there was any place for storage and whether the goods concerned would be reused for holding similar activities in future.

(iii) Shaheen Sports Club had organised various ball games or activities using different sports goods from time to time. According to the records, Shaheen Sports Club had distributed sports goods to participants before for their further practice at home. In January last year, the CBC of the last-term YTMDC had made a decision on this matter that organisations should thereafter retain this kind of sports materials for use in holding similar activities on the next occasion. Shaheen Sports Club had been clear about the relevant requirement at that time, and had then retained the balls used in its ball games for its future activities. The organisation had included resistant bands in its application for the first time and had claimed in its letter that the resistant bands had been distributed to participants because of negligence. In her verbal communication with the organisation, the organisation had also admitted that there had been negligence, and it had therefore submitted a written declaration as a supplement.

(iv) There had been activities that had been cancelled because of social movements and the organisers had applied for YTMDC Funds in respect of part of the expenses. As contracts had been signed, part of the handling fees, deposits or contractors’ expenses had to be paid after cancellation of the activities. The YTMDC had approved such funding allocations according to the Manual of the HAD. Mr SIU had asked whether the YTMDC could approve all such similar funding allocations. She indicated that the YTMDC could set a broad direction, but the allocations had to be approved on a case-by-case basis as each case involved money. The organisations should also prove whether terms of non-refundable payments had been entered into in respect of the activities or whether such expenses were unavoidable.

64. The Chairman asked whether Councillors agreed to reimburse the venue hire charges, the fees for coaches and assistant coaches, and the amount for resistant bands.

- 14 -

65. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming requested to vote by open ballot. There was no objection.

66. The Chairman asked Councillors to vote on whether to agree the reimbursement of venue hire charges and fees for coaches and assistant coaches.

(Post-meeting note: Only 18 Councillors were in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

67. The voting result: 17 votes for the suggestion (i.e. the Vice-chairman, Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Frank HO, Mr HUI Tak-leung, Mr Derek HUNG, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr Lucifer SIU, the Hon James TO, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming, Ms Natalie TSUI and Ms Suzanne WU). 0 vote against it. 0 abstained.

68. The Chairman declared that the reimbursement of venue hire charges and fees for coaches and assistant coaches was passed at the meeting.

69. The Chairman asked Councillors to vote on whether to agree the reimbursement of the amount for resistant bands.

(Post-meeting note: Only 19 Councillors were in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

70. The voting result: 16 votes for the suggestion (i.e. the Vice-chairman, Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Frank HO, Mr Derek HUNG, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr LI Owan, the Hon James TO, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming, Ms Natalie TSUI and Ms Suzanne WU). 0 vote against it. 2 abstained (i.e. Mr HUI Tak-leung and Mr Lucifer SIU).

71. The Chairman declared that the reimbursement of the amount for resistant bands was passed at the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: The Chairman wrote in the name of the YTMDC to Jordan Neighborhood ----- and the MKKFA (Annexes 4 and 5) on 3 and 5 February 2020 respectively.)

Item 4: Formation of Committees, Working Groups and Organising Committees under YTMDC (YTMDC Paper No. 13/2020)

72. The Chairman briefly reported on the discussion results of the annual in-house meeting in 2020 held on the morning of 14 January 2020, during which Councillors had agreed to set up five committees, seven working groups and five organising committees under the YTMDC in the current term.

73. The names of the five committees were as follows:

(1) Community Building Committee (2) District Facilities Management Committee

- 15 - (3) Food, Environmental Hygiene and Public Works Committee (4) Housing Committee (5) Traffic and Transport Committee

He asked whether Councillors confirmed to set up the above five committees under the YTMDC in the current term. There was no objection.

74. The names of the seven working groups and the units to which they belonged were as follows:

Standing Working Groups under the YTMDC: (1) Working Group on Women’s Affairs (2) Working Group on Youth and Children Affairs (3) Working Group on Security Affairs

Standing Working Groups under the CBC: (4) Working Group on Poverty and Care for the Community (5) Working Group on Community Integration (6) Working Group on Community Funds

Standing Working Group under the Food, Environmental Hygiene and Public Works Committee: (7) Working Group on Concern for Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market

He asked whether Councillors confirmed to set up the above seven working groups under the YTMDC in the current term. There was no objection.

75. Mr Ben LAM indicated that “反應” in point 3 of the Terms of Reference of the Working Group on Security Affairs should be “反映” instead.

76. The Chairman asked the Secretariat to note the comment.

77. The names of the five organising committees were as follows:

(1) Festival Celebration Organising Committee (2) Organising Committee on Promotion of Civic Education (3) Environmental Improvement Campaign Organising Committee (4) Building Management Promotion Campaign Organising Committee (5) Organising Committee on Cultural Arts Events

He asked whether Councillors confirmed to set up the above five organising committees under the YTMDC in the current term. There was no objection.

78. The Secretary briefly introduced the content of Paper No. 13/2020.

79. The Chairman asked Councillors for their views on whether the term of office of committees and working groups should be one year or two years.

80. Mr LI Owan suggested that the term of office should be two years so as to maintain the continuity of the follow-up on discussion issues.

- 16 -

81. The Chairman invited Councillors to express their views on the ratio of Councillors to permanent consultants/experts.

82. Mr Leslie CHAN was worried that there would not be enough seats in the conference room if the ratio of 1:1 was adopted. Apart from that, he had no comment on the ratios of 1:1 or 2:1.

83. Mr CHU Kong-wai suggested adopting a ratio of 1:1 at most because the participation of permanent consultants/experts could help working groups carry out their work.

84. The Chairman responded that it might not be possible for all Councillors to find a consultant/an expert with relevant background. The seats in the conference room might not be fully occupied even if a ratio of 1:1 was adopted.

85. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming was worried that it might not be possible to find consultants/experts.

86. The Chairman responded that Councillors were not required to recommend consultants/experts to attend meetings. He asked whether Councillors agreed that the ratio of Councillors to permanent consultants/experts in committees and working groups would be 1:1 at most. There was no objection.

87. The Chairman asked whether Councillors agreed the Terms of Reference of the relevant committees, working groups and organising committees as set out in Annex 2 of the paper. There was no objection.

88. The Chairman asked whether Councillors agreed that the term of office of the chairpersons, vice-chairpersons and members of committees would be two years. There was no objection.

89. The Chairman asked whether Councillors confirmed that no Co-opted Members would be appointed for the committees and working groups under the YTMDC in the current term. There was no objection.

90. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said he had noted at the annual in-house meeting that the lists of members of the four Area Committees had not been confirmed. He would like to enquire about the latest situation.

91. The Chairman said that as the lists of members of the four Area Committees had not been confirmed, Councillors had not reached a consensus at the annual in-house meeting on whether the four Area Committees might each appoint one member to serve in the organising committees.

92. Mrs Laura ARON responded that in the past, the organising committees had been responsible for organising activities by using various funding allocations from the Government. At the community level, Area Committees were important stakeholders of the community, and the YTMDO suggested that every Councillor should join his/her respective Area Committee. Since Area Committees were stakeholders as well as the YTMDC’s partners, she suggested that Councillors actively consider allowing Area Committees to send representatives to serve in the

- 17 - organising committees in order to facilitate connection and local participation when carrying out activities.

93. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming further enquired about the lists of members of the Area Committees.

94. Mr HUI Tak-leung said that to his understanding, whether the organising committees accepted the members recommended by Area Committees should be decided by the chairpersons of organising committees. District Officer (Yau Tsim Mong) had only suggested that organising committees should include representatives of Area Committees, while the final decision would be made by the organising committees.

95. The Chairman said that the formation of organising committees should be resolved by Councillors at this meeting and would not be decided by the chairpersons of organising committees.

96. Ms Suzanne WU asked if it was the case that Councillors could not choose the representatives but could only choose whether to accept the people recommended by Area Committees if it was endorsed at this meeting that the membership of organising committees should include a representative of Area Committees. In the event that Councillors did not accept the above arrangement, she asked whether it was necessary to cancel the arrangement that Area Committees might recommend one member to serve in the organising committees.

97. The Chairman responded that in accordance with past practice, representatives of Area Committees who would serve in the organising committees were recommended by Area Committees but not chosen by the organising committees. He asked District Officer (Yau Tsim Mong) whether the organising committees could choose their members from the Area Committees.

98. Mrs Laura ARON responded that if Councillors agreed that the organising committees would include representatives of Area Committees, the relevant representatives would be recommended by Area Committees as in past practice. If Councillors wanted to retain a greater degree of autonomy, they might consider not stating specifically in the membership arrangement, and invite representatives of Area Committees to join the organising committees at the organising committees’ meetings separately.

99. The Vice-chairman hoped that the organising committees could have a greater degree of autonomy in inviting representatives of Area Committees to attend meetings. The YTMDO could also recommend the representatives for acceptance by the organising committees.

100. The Chairman asked whether Councillors agreed that the membership of the organising committees would not include the people recommended by Area Committees for the time being. There was no objection.

101. The Chairman said that the term of office of the organising committees had been one year previously and invited Councillors to express their views on this.

102. The Vice-chairman asked why the term of office of the organising committees had been one year but not two years. He suggested that the term of office should be two years to enable the organising committees to have longer plans.

- 18 -

103. The Secretary responded that no information was available as to why the term of office of the organising committees had been one year. Such arrangement might have been made by the then Councillors in accordance with past practice.

104. Mrs Laura ARON responded that whether the term of office should be one year or two years depended on Councillors’ decision. For Councillors’ reference, she pointed out that the term of office of Area Committees was two years, while the term of office of some of the committees under the YTMDO was one year. Funding for the organising committees was allocated annually.

105. Mr Leo CHU indicated that he had no comment on whether the term of office of the organising committees should be one year or two years, but he would like to know the maximum number of terms or years organising committee members might serve.

106. Mrs Laura ARON responded that members of the Government’s advisory committees could serve for a maximum of six years. Since each term of the YTMDC lasted four years, the maximum period of six years would not be exceeded. To her understanding, there was currently no restriction preventing organising committee members from serving for four years during the same term of the YTMDC.

107. Mr Leo CHU said that members of the organising committees might not be Councillors and enquired about the maximum number of years they might serve.

108. The Secretary responded that the Standing Orders had no provision about the organising committees, and hence the appointment of members and composition of the organising committees could be decided by the YTMDC itself.

109. The Chairman suggested that the term of office of the organising committees should be aligned with that of the committees and working groups, i.e. two years. There was no objection.

Item 5: Enrolment of YTMDC Members in Committees, Working Groups and Organising Committees

110. �e Chairman said the Secretariat had emailed the form to Councillors before the meeting for them to indicate their preference as to which committees, working groups and organising committees they would like to join. Based on their replies, the Secretariat had drafted, and was distributing, the membership lists of committees, working groups and organising committees for Councillors to elect chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of committees as well as chairpersons of working groups and organising committees when discussing Item 6.

111. The Chairman then asked Councillors whether any amendment was needed.

112. Mr Frank HO said he would like to join the Traffic and Transport Committee (“TTC”), the Working Group on Poverty and Care for the Community, the Environmental Improvement Campaign Organising Committee and the Organising Committee on Cultural Arts Events.

- 19 - 113. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen said he would like to join the Building Management Promotion Campaign Organising Committee.

114. Mr Lucifer SIU said he would like to join the District Facilities Management Committee (“DFMC”). Moreover, as the Working Group on Poverty and Care for the Community, the Working Group on Community Integration and the Working Group on Community Funds were all under the CBC, he asked whether he must join the CBC if he had already joined the above working groups.

115. The Secretary responded, “Yes.”

116. Mr Lucifer SIU responded that he would join the CBC.

117. Mr CHU Kong-wai said he was member of the Working Group on Poverty and Care for the Community and, according to the said arrangement, he should also join the CBC.

118. Mr HUI Tak-leung invited the Secretary to again clarify whether a Councillor joining a working group which was under a committee must join that committee. He recalled that there had been no such arrangements for the YTMDC in the past.

119. The Secretary clarified that it was not compulsory for a Councillor joining a working group which was under a committee to join that committee.

120. The Chairman asked whether any Councillors needed to withdraw from any committees.

121. Mr CHU Kong-wai said he would like to stick to the list of the committees/working groups/organising committees he had decided to join, so he would not join the CBC.

122. Mr Lucifer SIU said he would join the CBC.

Item 6: Election of Chairmen and Vice-chairmen of Committees, Chairmen of Working Groups and Chairmen of Organising Committees

123. The Chairman said the election of chairpersons/vice-chairpersons of committees would take place shortly.

124. The Chairman added that each candidate for chairpersons/vice-chairpersons of committees should be nominated by another Councillor and seconded by two other Councillors.

125. The Secretary added that nominators and seconders should be members of that committee/working group/organising committee.

126. The Chairman held the vote. As there was only one nomination for chairperson/ vice-chairperson of each committee, all nominees were returned uncontested. The results were as follows:

(I) Chairpersons and Vice-chairpersons of Committees

- 20 - Nominee Nominator Seconders Community Building Committee Chairperson Ms Suzanne WU Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr YU Tak-po Vice-chairperson Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr YU Tak-po Mr Leo CHU District Facilities Management Committee Chairperson Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr Leo CHU Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr Leslie CHAN Vice-chairperson Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Mr Ben LAM Mr CHAN Tsz-wai Mr YU Tak-po Food, Environmental Hygiene and Public Works Committee Chairperson Mr Leo CHU Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr CHU Kong-wai Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Vice-chairperson Mr CHU Kong-wai Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr Leo CHU Mr YU Tak-po Housing Committee Chairperson Mr LI Owan Mr YU Tak-po Mr Isaac HO Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Vice-chairperson Mr Isaac HO Mr LI Owan Mr Ben LAM Mr CHAN Tsz-wai Traﬃc and Transport Committee Chairperson Mr Leslie CHAN Mr Leo CHU Ms Natalie TSUI Mr LI Owan Vice-chairperson Mr Ben LAM Mr Isaac HO Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Ms Natalie TSUI

(II) Chairpersons of Working Groups

127. The Chairman said the election of chairpersons of working groups would take place shortly.

128. The Chairman added that each candidate for chairpersons of working groups should be nominated by another Councillor and seconded by two other Councillors.

129. The Chairman held the vote on chairpersons of working groups. As there was only one nomination for chairperson of each working group, all nominees were returned uncontested. The results were as follows:

Nominee Nominator Seconders Working Group on Community Funds Chairperson Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr Leslie CHAN Mr Ben LAM Working Group on Poverty and Care for the Community Chairperson Mr Lucifer SIU Mr CHU Kong-wai Mr YU Tak-po Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Working Group on Youth and Children Aﬀairs Chairperson Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Mr Isaac HO Mr LI Owan Mr TSANG Tsz-ming

- 21 - Working Group on Community Integration Chairperson Mr Frank HO Mr YU Tak-po Ms Suzanne WU Mr Leo CHU Working Group on Women’s Aﬀairs Chairperson Ms Natalie TSUI Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr LEE Wai-fung Ms Suzanne WU Working Group on Concern for Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market Chairperson Ms Suzanne WU Mr YU Tak-po Mr Leo CHU Mr LEE Wai-fung Working Group on Security Aﬀairs Chairperson Mr Ben LAM Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Mr LI Owan Ms Natalie TSUI

(III) Chairpersons of Organising Committees

130. The Chairman said the election of chairpersons of organising committees would take place shortly.

131. The Chairman added that each candidate for chairpersons of organising committees should be nominated by another Councillor and seconded by two other Councillors.

132. The Chairman held the vote on chairpersons of organising committees. As there was only one nomination for chairperson of each organising committee, all nominees were returned uncontested. The results were as follows:

Nominee Nominator Seconders Festival Celebration Organising Committee Chairperson Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr Leslie CHAN Mr YU Tak-po Organising Committee on Promotion of Civic Education Chairperson Mr CHU Kong-wai Mr Ben LAM Mr LI Owan Mr Leslie CHAN Environmental Improvement Campaign Organising Committee Chairperson Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Mr Ben LAM Mr LEE Wai-fung Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Building Management Promotion Campaign Organising Committee Chairperson Mr LAM Kin-man Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Ms Natalie TSUI Mr LEE Kwok-kuen Organising Committee on Cultural Arts Events Chairperson Mr YU Tak-po Mr TSANG Tsz-ming Mr Leo CHU Mr Frank HO

Item 7: Schedule of Meetings of YTMDC and Its Committees (up to March 2021) (YTMDC Paper No. 14/2020)

133. The Chairman said that at the 2020 annual in-house meeting, Councillors had preliminarily discussed the schedule of meetings of the YTMDC and its committees from March 2020 to March 2021. The Secretariat had drafted a schedule according to the result of

- 22 - Councillors’ discussion at the annual in-house meeting. The YTMDC and its committees would meet every two months or so, generally on Tuesdays or Thursdays of odd-numbered months at 2:30 p.m.

134. The schedule of meetings was endorsed.

Item 8: Amendments to YTMDC Standing Orders and Guidelines on YTMDC Funds (YTMDC Paper No. 15/2020)

Amendments to YTMDC Standing Orders

135. �e Chairman said the draft amended Standing Orders, prepared based on the model text of the District Council Standing Orders and Councillors’ suggestions made at the annual in-house meeting held on 14 January 2020, were set out at annex 1 to Paper No. 15/2020, with the major amendments being set out in paragraph 6 of the paper. He invited Councillors to oﬃcially endorse the newly amended Standing Orders.

136. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said he would like to suggest some amendments to the Funding Guidelines, and asked whether the amendments to the Standing Orders could be handled separately from those to the Funding Guidelines.

137. �e Chairman responded that the Standing Orders were being discussed ﬁrst.

138. �e Vice-chairman suggested endorsing the newly amended Standing Orders, which had already been discussed in detail at the annual in-house meeting.

139. �e Hon James TO suggested that the Secretary brieﬂy introduce the major amendments for the information of the public and the media.

140. �e Chairman agreed with the Hon James TO, and invited the Secretary to brieﬂy introduce the major amendments to the Standing Orders.

141. �e Secretary brieﬂy introduced the major amendments to the Standing Orders.

142. �e Chairman asked Councillors whether they agreed to endorse the newly amended Standing Orders. �ere was no objection.

Amendments to the Guidelines on YTMDC Funds

143. �e Chairman invited the Secretary to brieﬂy introduce the matters relating to the amendments to the Funding Guidelines that required Councillors’ discussion.

144. �e Secretary brieﬂy introduced the matters relating to the Funding Guidelines that required Councillors’ discussion.

145. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming referred to the sentence that “each person should be given one lucky draw prize only”. However, if there were 100 participants but only 30 prizes, for example, some of those winning no prize might request theirs from the Secretariat. He

- 23 - considered the wording of the sentence somewhat strange.

146. �e Secretary responded that it should have meant “each person should win one lucky draw prize at most”.

147. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming considered the sentence that “each person should be given one lucky draw prize only” might be confusing, and thus suggested revising it.

148. �e Secretary responded that the sentence would be revised, i.e. “each person should win one lucky draw prize at most,” or “each person should win no more than one lucky draw prize.”

149. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming raised the following views and enquiries: (i) by comparing the funding amounts of the three District Councils in Kowloon West, he had noticed that those of the YTMDC were generally higher than those of the other two District Councils in Kowloon West, i.e. the Sham Shui Po and the Kowloon City District Councils. As such, he would like to suggest some amendments so as to make the funding amounts closer to the general level in Kowloon West; (ii) the maximum funding amount for printing an invitation card was $4.6 in the Sham Shui Po District Council, while it was $8 in the YTMDC. He considered that the costs of printing invitation cards in the Sham Shui Po District and in the YTM District should not be diﬀering greatly, as the two districts were adjacent to each other. Moreover, organisations might not print their invitation cards in the YTM District but elsewhere, so there was no need to set the maximum funding amount too high; and (iii) the maximum funding amount for printing a banner was $500, while the banner he had just printed had costed only $100 or so. In fact, the maximum funding amount for printing a banner was just $260 in the Sham Shui Po District Council. As such, he was doubtful about certain items and suggested adjusting them. He invited the Secretariat to explain the procedures involved.

150. �e Secretary responded that the amounts set out in Appendix I to the Funding Guidelines were the maximum funding amounts, which could be amended by the YTMDC every year. Having searched the records, the Secretariat had found out that most items had not been amended for years, and Councillors could amend them according to prevailing market arrangements and the funding amounts in other District Councils. �e YTMDC applied a certain percentage to the funding amounts for non-designated organisations. Under the Funding Guidelines, as a general rule, most activities held by non-designated organisations could secure only 70% of the maximum funding amounts. As such, Councillors could consider not only whether to adjust the maximum funding amounts but also whether to retain the percentages applicable to the funding amounts for activities in diﬀerent categories, as set out in paragraph 5.5.

151. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming suggested putting oﬀ the discussion, in the light of the Secretary’s remarks. He believed no conclusion would be drawn even if the matter was discussed for another hour. Councillors might need to go through the maximum funding amounts for each item.

152. �e Secretary asked Mr TSANG whether any suggested amendments were available at the moment so that photocopies could be made for other Councillors’ reference.

153. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming responded that his handwriting was not quite neat, but he could ﬁrst submit the form to the Secretariat for its handling.

- 24 -

154. �e Chairman suggested going back to the matter after the lunch break. Meanwhile, there were some other items requiring Councillors’ discussion, including whether to adopt HAD’s suggested amendments and whether to retain designated organisations. Based on Councillors’ views raised at the annual in-house meeting, there seemed to be no strong objection to HAD’s suggested amendments. He asked whether there was any objection to HAD’s suggested amendments; there was none. He continued by suggesting going back to the matter after lunch, as it took time to deal with the Secretariat’s suggested amendments. He then asked Councillors about their views on whether to revise the list of designated organisations and whether to abolish designated organisations.

155. Ms Suzanne WU raised the following views: (i) she supported the abolition of designated organisations, but considered that earmarked funding should be retained. As a platform for providing district facilities and services with the use of its funding, the YTMDC should take a leading role and respond to residents’ major future needs with the use of its earmarked funding. She considered that an activity seeking earmarked funding, enjoying a greater degree of flexibility or securing a higher funding amount under the Funding Guidelines must meet the specific objectives of that year, and that Councillors should consider project proposals and handle applications for earmarked funding based on the objectives of that year. In other words, she suggested that YTMDC’s future earmarked funding should not be available for designated organisations only. Councillors should grant funding depending on whether the project proposal fell into the aspect where the YTMDC would like to improve during that year; and (ii) she considered that the existing Funding Guidelines lacked in-depth review or assessment. She considered that an organisation seeking earmarked funding should undertake to be put under in-depth review on a sampling basis in order to secure a higher funding amount or enjoy a greater degree of flexibility in funding.

156. Mr LEE Wai-fung generally agreed with Ms Suzanne WU, while considering that YTMDC’s future directions or what kinds of projects that it would like to implement were still undetermined. As such, he suggested putting oﬀ the abolition of designated organisations until next year and keeping the status quo this year.

157. �e Chairman said there were two diﬀerent views: Ms Suzanne WU had suggested the immediate abolition of designated organisations, while Mr LEE Wai-fung had suggested their retention for another year and reviewing them afterwards. He asked Councillors about their views.

158. Mr Ben LAM raised the following views: (i) he preferred the abolition of designated organisations. According to information, it appeared that among the 18 District Councils, designated organisations were still found in the YTMDC and the Tuen Mun District Council only. He invited Councillors to correct him if he was wrong. He considered designated organisations “privileged organisations”, and could not understand why funding would have already been earmarked for them by the YTMDC before their submission of any funding applications. �e process involved was not quite transparent. He wondered why designated organisations did not need to compete for funding with non-designated organisations in a fair manner. While there was no such practice in the other 16 District Councils, local organisations in those districts did not seem to have faced particularly many diﬃculties in applying for funding, suggesting that all organisations, regardless of their scale, could apply for the same source of funding from a District Council as long as the funding application was fair; and (ii) he had reservations about Mr LEE Wai-fung’s suggestion for putting oﬀ the decision until next year,

- 25 - since voters had chosen them in hopes of prompt reforms to the YTMDC and rectifying its undesirable practice over the years as soon as possible.

159. Mr CHU Kong-wai raised the following views: (i) designated organisations had a strong sense of rigging. Although they secured earmarked funding, their activities did not seem to be particularly special, e.g. bringing a certain change to the district for four consecutive years or serving a particular section of society. He considered that the recreational and sports activities held by designated organisations, for example, were nothing different from other recreational and sports activities; and (ii) he would like to learn more about the reason why the decision on abolishing designated organisations should be put off until next year, as the voters who had chosen them should be informed of their plan for the transition period. However, since the existing Funding Guidelines had clearly violated the principle of fairness, if Councillors allowed designated organisations to exist for another year, it would be difficult for them to give an account to voters. Of course Councillors understood well that designated organisations were not contributing nothing to the community, and that in fact, their contribution to the community covered civic education as well as cultural, recreational and sports development. However, under the principle of fairness, public accountability could only be enhanced when the appropriate use of public money was ensured by requiring designated organisations to apply for YTMDC Funds in the same way as other organisations in accordance with the Funding Guidelines.

160. Mr Isaac HO agreed to abolish designated organisations, which had a sense of rigging. Many members of the public and voters were keenly hoping that District Councils’ resources would be allocated under the principles of openness, transparency and fairness. He considered that a funding application should be considered based on its project proposal rather than who the organiser was. Councillors could develop methods that were more scientific and better met professional or financial principles and carry out random checking before and after an activity to see whether the funding had been used in accordance with the District Council’s objectives of the year or the district situation. He could not understand why the decision on abolishing designated organisations should be put off. He believed the public or the voters who were looking forward to changes in the District Councils would expect that such obvious problems that could be immediately dealt with would be resolved as soon as possible, as those were part of the reasons why District Councils’ allocation of resources had drawn doubts and even criticisms over the years.

161. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen said the mechanism for designated organisations needed to be changed. What was being targeted was not designated organisations but the mechanism and whether it was fair to other organisations applying for YTMDC Funds. He considered that the funding mechanism should be changed. In the past, funding had been earmarked for designated organisations, perhaps due to their amounts applied for or as a measure to facilitate their planning. He considered that operational details could be further discussed, but in principle, it should be ensured that YTMDC Funds were allocated to different organisations in a fair manner. Given the increasing number of local organisations, it should be ensured that different organisations were able to apply for funding in a fair and open manner. Apart from Councillors’ vetting of funding applications in different committees and working groups, equal opportunities for all organisations and consistency in funding allocation were also important. Even if the mechanism for designated organisations was abolished, they would still be welcome to apply for funding.

162. Mr LI Owan said voters were looking forward to Councillors’ reforms. Although the

- 26 - arrangements for designated organisations were undesirable, he would not object to the earmarking of funding as long as it was transparent. As many were concerned about District Councils’ funding arrangements, Councillors should make greater eﬀorts and carry out reforms to avoid negative perceptions. He believed those organisations experienced in applying for funding should understand the funding rules. As long as funding applications were handled in a transparent and regulated manner, there should be no great diﬃculties, and Councillors were happy to approve funding applications. As such, he considered the retention of designated organisations unnecessary.

163. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said he very much supported reforms and changes to the present situation. In the case of the Tuen Mun District Council mentioned by the Councillor, he had learnt that after the discussion in the Tuen Mun District Council had been put oﬀ, the relevant organisations had soon withdrawn all their funding applications, but then they had secured funding from the HAD, circumventing the District Council’s scrutiny. He worried that the abolition of designated organisations might hinder Councillors’ scrutiny. Councillors and the public would like to scrutinise the use of public money and see whether organisations properly used YTMDC Funds and met public expectations, of which he hoped that Councillors would take note.

164. �e Vice-chairman believed a number of resolutions passed by Councillors at this meeting, including the abolition of proxy votes and co-opted members, were steps to reform. Many members of the public had expectations for the new-term YTMDC. For example, they hoped that Councillors would show greater determination to carry out reforms. Having given it thought for a few days, he considered that designated organisations should be abolished, which was the ﬁrst step towards reforms. In the future, designated organisations could apply for funding under the established mechanism. Councillors would hold discussions with them carefully under the Funding Guidelines, and he believed they would be willing to join discussions at meetings. As such, he suggested adopting a bold reform without hesitation by abolishing designated organisations, which had a vested interest. At this meeting, Councillors had already made a number of decisions to reform. Some Councillors from the pro-establishment camp had also agreed to abolish co-opted members, with which they had disagreed in the past. �e new-term YTMDC was led by Councillors from the pro-democracy camp, and it was hoped that reforms would be carried out.

165. Ms Suzanne WU understood that some Councillors would consider whether their work would be aﬀected by the source of funding for certain organisations, given the local powers or their balance. However, she considered that District Councillors were not trying to compete with the Government for allies or to build a network of friendly organisations through funding allocation. Instead, they should ensure the appropriate use of funding in the district. Moreover, some Councillors worried that the HAD might in turn allocate funding to the organisations, which could not be scrutinised. She believed the Hon James TO would disagree, as Legislative Councillors could help with that.

166. Mr LEE Wai-fung considered that no Councillor would deny the need for reforms in the YTMDC. At the last meeting, he and Mr TSANG Tsz-ming had raised the most queries about the funding amounts, as they had really looked into them in detail. Councillors’ reforms over the past few weeks had aﬀected only a small number of people, while some activities of designated organisations continually served people of the YTM District. He considered that despite the need for reforms, there should be a transition period to get everyone familiarised. If a funding application from a designated organisation was regarded as an ordinary funding

- 27 - application, as a general rule, it would secure only 70% of the approved funding amount for the activity. It might try to exaggerate the actual amount so as to secure funding at 100%.

167. �e Secretary added that the existing Funding Guidelines were eﬀective until 30 June. Applications for the 1st phase YTMDC Funds were being handled. If Councillors decided to update the list of designated organisations or any other items, the updates would come into eﬀect on 1 July. �e Secretariat would upload the amended Funding Guidelines to the website in March for the information of organisations.

168. Mr CHU Kong-wai said the current-term YTMDC was led by Councillors from the pro-democracy camp, and public expectations for reforms in the YTMDC were accumulating. According to his understanding, the Sham Shui Po District Council had abolished designated organisations a few years before. �e YTMDC should expedite its reforms to keep pace with other District Councils. �e Secretariat’s supplementary information showed that Councillors still had time to handle the matter. He hoped that Councillors would take into account public expectations.

169. �e Chairman said that he believed everyone had raised their views adequately on whether to retain designated organisations. As it was nearly lunchtime, he would like to hold a vote before that. He invited Councillors to vote on whether designated organisations should be retained for a year for further consideration and review.

(Post-meeting note: �ere were 19 Councillors in the conference room. �e Chairman did not vote.)

170. �e voting result: 10 in favour.

171. �e Chairman invited Councillors to vote on whether designated organisations should be abolished immediately.

172. �e voting result: 8 in favour.

173. �e Chairman declared that designated organisations would be retained for a year.

174. Mr Ben LAM asked regarding the votes just held, whether the names of Councillors would be shown in the minutes.

175. �e Secretary responded that all votes should be held by secret ballot unless otherwise requested.

176. Mr Ben LAM requested that the votes be held by open ballot.

177. �e Chairman said such a request should have been made before the votes, which had already been held by secret ballot.

178. Mr CHU Kong-wai asked how the matter relating to designated organisations would be brought up for discussion next year, i.e. whether it would have to be brought up by the Councillors moving the motion or would be automatically included in the agenda next year.

179. Mr LEE Wai-fung suggested that the Secretariat include it in the agenda next year as a

- 28 - reminder of the discussion.

180. �e Secretary responded that the Secretariat would bring up the matter in half a year or so, since Councillors might hope to not only discuss the abolition of designated organisations but also promote other major projects.

181. Mr LEE Wai-fung said he agreed that the abolition of designated organisations should take eﬀect from January 2021, and suggested that the Secretariat bring up the matter in three months or half a year.

182. �e Secretary responded that the Secretariat would bring up the matter in September.

183. Ms Suzanne WU responded that according to her understanding of the Funding Guidelines, the YTMDC should nominate several organisations as designated organisations. She suggested that no organisation should be nominated this year even if the system of designated organisations was retained.

184. �e Chairman responded that if there was no nomination, there would be no designated organisation this year, but the YTMDC had just endorsed the retention of designated organisations this year.

185. �e Secretary suggested that Councillors decide on the list of designated organisations at this meeting because the Secretariat would have to upload it to the YTMDC website in March. �e existing designated organisations should also be informed whether they would still be listed as designated organisations in the coming year so that they could determine the scale and the estimated expenditure of their activities seeking funding.

186. �e Chairman said the list of designated organisations would be discussed after lunch, and adjourned the meeting until 2 p.m.

[Meeting adjourned until 2:05 p.m.]

187. �e Chairman said he had just discussed the matter with Councillors, and no Councillor had so far requested any additional designated organisations. He again asked Councillors whether there were any suggestions for additional designated organisations, and invited the Secretary to read out the names of the six existing designated organisations.

188. �e Secretary responded that the existing designated organisations were the Yau Tsim District Yin Ngai Society, the Mong Kok Yin Ngai Societies, the Yau Tsim Mong District School Liaison Committee, the Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui Culture and Arts Association, the Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui Recreation and Sports Association and the Mong Kok District Cultural Recreational and Sports Association.

189. �e Chairman again asked whether Councillors would nominate any additional designated organisations.

(�ere was no nomination from Councillors.)

190. �e Chairman invited Councillors to vote on whether the six existing designated organisations should be retained.

- 29 -

191. Ms Suzanne WU requested that the vote be held by open ballot. �ere was no objection.

(Post-meeting note: �ere were 19 Councillors in the conference room. �e Chairman did not vote.)

192. �e voting result: 8 in favour (Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr CHUNG Chak-fai, Mr Frank HO, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming and Ms Natalie TSUI); 8 against (the Vice-chairman, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LI Owan, Mr Lucifer SIU and Ms Suzanne WU); and 2 abstentions (Mr HUI Tak-leung and Mr Derek HUNG).

193. �e Chairman said a vote had just been held on whether the mechanism for designated organisations should be retained. �e two resolutions contradicted each other, i.e. there was no additional designated organisation, while the six existing designated organisations had been vetoed. �e result was abnormal. Councillors supported the retention of the six designated organisations for a year on one hand, but had completely turned down the retention of the six existing designated organisations on the other. It had turned out that there was no designated organisation on the list even though the retention of the system of designated organisations had been endorsed. He asked the Secretary how funding would be allocated in the future.

194. �e Chairman said as advised by the Secretary, he could give a casting vote. �e result was absurd as the two resolutions contradicted each other, which he considered quite unreasonable. As such, he gave a casting vote in favour of the retention of the six existing designated organisations. He declared that the retention of the six existing designated organisations was endorsed. As to whether the inspection of activities funded by YTMDC Funds for the ﬁrst time should continue (paragraph 5.7), he invited the Secretary to give a brief introduction.

195. �e Secretary gave a brief introduction. In the last-term YTMDC, CBC members had been rostered to join the activities funded by YTMDC Funds for the ﬁrst time to see whether they had met the application guidelines and the application details. Under HAD’s guidelines, the more inspections of activities, the better. If Councillors would like to take turns to inspect all activities, the Secretariat could specify in the application guidelines that some places should be reserved for Councillors. She asked Councillors about their views on the random checking arrangements, e.g. following the arrangements in the last term or carrying out more random checks.

196. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that before the lunch break, most Councillors had shared the views on enhancing YTMDC’s transparency and the public’s right to know. As such, he suggested sending Councillors to inspect each activity. He suggested that a staﬀ member of the Secretariat stand in for a Councillor who became unable to join an activity due to other commitments, like other District Councils.

197. �e Secretary said according to the guidelines, both Councillors and YTMDO’s staff could carry out the random checking, depending on the number of times or the percentage of the random checking. Nevertheless, the roster should include Councillors. As the Secretariat would have to further look into its manpower arrangements, at the moment, it could not respond to whether its staff were able to stand in, especially as its manpower arrangements outside office

- 30 - hours might be involved.

198. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming understood the situation of the Secretariat’s staﬀ. However, he suggested that if there were 40 activities, for example, 20 Councillors should inspect two activities on average, and that if four activities were held on the same day, the Secretariat’s staﬀ should inspect one or two of them. He believed it would not be a big problem.

199. �e Vice-chairman understood Mr TSANG Tsz-ming’s worry. He suggested that in case a Councillor rostered for an activity had other commitments or fell sick, it could be solved by having another Councillor stand in for him or swapping their time slots. �ere had been similar arrangements for the Meet-the-Public Scheme in the past.

200. Mr LEE Wai-fung said regarding the rostering arrangements, he suggested rostering two Councillors for each activity, while the two of them should decide between themselves who to inspect it. In that way, the other 18 Councillors would not need to stand in for the Councillor who became unable to attend the activity due to other commitments.

201. �e Secretary asked Mr LEE Wai-fung whether he was suggesting that only one of the two Councillors rostered for each activity should inspect it, which she considered feasible. Moreover, in the past, inspections had been carried out by CBC members only. She asked whether all Councillors would like to take part, and whether they would inspect all activities or carry out random checking only.

202. �e Chairman asked Councillors whether they would like to inspect all activities or carry out random checking only.

203. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that during the morning session of the meeting, a number of Councillors in attendance had spoken loudly about proper safeguarding so as to meet voters’ expectations. �e ﬁrst step towards reforms in the YTMDC was to strictly safeguard the use of YTMDC Funds. As such, he suggested inspecting all activities.

204. �e Chairman asked whether any Councillors suggested carrying out random checking.

205. Mr HUI Tak-leung considered that there was no problem with scrutiny. However, he recalled that when he had joined the CBC last year, he had been forced to inspect an activity on the day of a YTMDC meeting. Having been treated so unfairly, he had withdrawn from the CBC. Moreover, he considered that organisations should provide parking spaces and meals for Councillors. He had once inspected an activity where he had not been provided with any meal, and he had been watching the activity lonely. What he had shared was his personal feeling and experience. He hoped that Councillors would be mentally prepared for situations that they might have to deal with.

206. �e Chairman asked Councillors about their views on whether to inspect all activities or carry out random checking only, and whether only CBC members or all Councillors should inspect the activities.

207. Mr LEE Wai-fung agreed that CBC members were responsible for inspecting the activities, who were supposedly willing to spend extra time on doing so.

208. �e Chairman agreed that the activities should be inspected by CBC members. He

- 31 - then asked Councillors about their views on whether to inspect all activities or carry out random checking only. He preferred random checking, as inspecting all activities might aﬀect Councillors’ allocation of time.

209. Ms Suzanne WU suggested that Councillors inspect the activities that they were interested in.

210. �e Chairman considered that Councillors could apply to the Secretariat for inspecting the activities that they were interested in, and he believed there would be no objection. �e detailed arrangements for the inspection would be made by the CBC. He asked whether Councillors agreed to the application timetable in paragraph 4.2, including the application deadline and the date of the announcement of results. �ere was no objection. He then asked Councillors whether they agreed to the arrangements for allocating YTMDC Funds in three phases. �ere was no objection. On top of the Secretariat’s suggested amendments to the ----- Funding Guidelines, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming had suggested some amendments (Annex 6) before the lunch break. He invited Mr TSANG Tsz-ming to give a brief introduction.

211. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said he had referred to the funding guidelines of the two other District Councils in Kowloon West and used those of the Sham Shui Po District Council as a basis, which were considered more comprehensive. By drawing a comparison, he had found that the maximum funding amounts for some items in the YTMDC were too high, and thus suggested some amendments. He continued to give a brief introduction of each suggested amendment.

212. Mr Leo CHU agreed with Mr TSANG Tsz-ming’s suggestion. When allocating funding in the past, he had been more concerned about publicity and printing. Many banners and posters had been quite expensive because of the design fees involved. �e maximum funding amount for item 1.16 “design and layout” was $1,000. With reference to Mr TSANG Tsz-ming’s amendment, the maximum funding amount for “banners” would be $265 per unit. He asked whether the amount did not cover any design fee, and considered that applications for design fees should be made under item 1.16.

213. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views: (i) in item 5 “meals”, the number of persons for designated organisations and activities with district characteristics was unlimited. He suggested that the maximum number of persons be not lower than that for mutual aid committees or owners’ committees (420 persons); and (ii) the maximum funding amount for item 5.1 was currently $76. �e Secretariat had suggested an upward adjustment to $87, while Mr TSANG Tsz-ming had requested a downward adjustment to $60. He hoped that Councillors would consider the amounts in other District Councils as well as inﬂation before discussing the ﬁgures.

214. Ms Suzanne WU said regarding meals, there was an increasing number of visits (e.g. volunteer visits), but in fact those participants would not be having meals at the same time. Many organisations had told her that the YTMDC had required their participants to have meals at the same time. However, the volunteers might only be free for a meal after visiting the elderly people, for example. It was therefore diﬃcult for them to have meals at the same time. As such, it had been asked whether meal vouchers or suspended meals could be used instead.

215. �e Secretary responded as follows:

- 32 - (i) In response to Mr Leo CHU’s question on design fees, in the past, there had been no such requirements. When handling such cases, the Secretariat had found that the receipts of some organisations showed a combined amount for designing and printing posters, while those of other organisations showed two separate items. Depending on whether an organisation had separated the two items in its application, the Secretariat would carry out vetting and make reimbursement in accordance with the application form.

(ii) �e maximum number of persons to be subsidised for meals for designated organisations and activities with district characteristics could be further discussed. Regarding “lunch” and “refreshments” (items 5.1, 5.2, 7.1 and 7.2), the current amendments were suggested by the HAD. �e HAD put forward suggested amendments to the Secretariat every year according to the Consumer Price Indices.

216. �e Vice-chairman considered that Mr TSANG Tsz-ming’s suggested amendment to the amount for “lunch/dinner with drinks” of $60 was enough for lunch, but it seemed not enough for dinner. He suggested adjusting it to $76.

217. �e Chairman asked whether Mr TSANG Tsz-ming would make any amendment based on the Vice-chairman’s suggestion. �e HAD had suggested $87. He asked whether Councillors would respect HAD’s suggested adjustment, made with reference to the Consumer Price Indices.

218. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming understood the Secretariat’s explanation. If the HAD had made such a suggestion, they would respect it. He had suggested amendments to those items so as to keep abreast with the situation in other District Councils across the territory and avoid being criticised by the public as being a “big spender”. As Councillors of one of the District Councils in Hong Kong, they were duty-bound to help the public scrutinise the use of public money and ensure its appropriate use. He did not oppose the Secretary’s remarks, which were reasonable and in line with the basic principle of public accountability.

219. �e Chairman understood Mr TSANG’s thoughts. If Councillors respected HAD’s suggestion and raised no objection, he suggested adopting Mr TSANG’s suggestion.

220. Mr Ben LAM commended Mr TSANG for spending time on the amendments to the Funding Guidelines, to which he generally agreed. As Councillors, they should scrutinise the use of public money. However, he worried that some measures might be too strict, e.g. the maximum amount for “drinks” in item 5 “meals” of $4 per head. He was afraid that six cartons of drink sold at a supermarket might cost more than $4 per unit. As such, he suggested that Mr TSANG further revise the amount and adjust it upwards as appropriate.

221. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming responded that the amount could be revised. �e current amendment was suggested with reference to the amounts of other District Councils. He welcomed suggestions from Councillors for amendments.

222. �e Chairman asked Mr Ben LAM to what amount he would suggest the amount be adjusted from $4.

223. Mr Ben LAM suggested $6 per head, and asked other Councillors about their views.

- 33 -

224. �e Chairman considered that $6 was an average amount between $4 as suggested by Mr TSANG and the existing amount of $8, which was reasonable. He asked Councillors about their views.

225. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai asked whether the amount was based on one or two cartons of drink.

226. Mr Ben LAM responded that it was based on one carton of drink.

227. �e Chairman asked whether there were any other suggested amendments. If not, Mr TSANG’s suggested amendments would be endorsed. �ere was no objection.

228. Mr Ben LAM said item 7.3 “drinks” was a similar case, and thus suggested amending it altogether.

229. �e Chairman responded that it could be amended altogether.

230. Mr LEE Wai-fung said there was no limit on the number of persons to be subsidised for meals for designated organisations and activities with district characteristics. He suggested adjusting it. Otherwise, the amount would be too large.

231. �e Chairman asked the Secretary whether there was no limit on the maximum number of persons to be subsidised for meals for designated organisations, and whether Councillors had the right to amend it.

232. �e Secretary responded that it could be amended.

233. Mr LEE Wai-fung said the activities of designated organisations were of a larger scale, and suggested that the maximum number of persons to be subsidised for meals be 600. Where necessary, an organisation could give an explanation to the YTMDC for its consideration.

234. �e Secretary responded that Mr LEE had suggested that the maximum number of persons to be subsidised for meals be 600. In any special case, decision would be made by the CBC or at a full council meeting of the YTMDC.

235. Mr Lucifer SIU said as the paper did not mention any fees for engaging temporary workers and casual workers, the item might be regarded as “miscellaneous” at the moment. However, with reference to the Sham Shui Po District Council, there were items regarding temporary workers and casual workers, and the amounts seemed unlimited. In the YTMDC, the amount for “miscellaneous” should not exceed 10% of the total amount approved, which he considered was too low and should be raised.

236. �e Secretary responded that “miscellaneous” was applicable to items 1 to 13 only and was not speciﬁed on the application form. Expenses of items not covered by items 1 to 13 could not be reimbursed as “miscellaneous” and application for reimbursement for such expenses could be made under item 14 “other expenditure items” only, which would then be considered by the CBC or at a full council meeting of the YTMDC on a case-by-case basis.

237. �e Chairman asked whether other Councillors had any views on Mr LEE Wai-fung’s

- 34 - suggestion that the maximum number of persons to be subsidised for meals be 600. Further needs or requests could be handled by the CBC. �ere was no objection.

238. �e Secretary would like the Councillor to clarify whether the maximum number of 600 persons was applicable to designated organisations and activities with district characteristics.

(Mr LEE Wai-fung said it was applicable to both.)

239. Ms Suzanne WU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) regarding organisations’ eligibility, many territory-wide organisations, small-scale arts groups or non-mainstream organisations were not registered in each district. If they could secure funding from the District Councils for holding activities, their arts and cultural projects might be more diversiﬁed and innovative. As such, she suggested allowing such organisations not registered in the YTM District to apply for YTMDC Funds, provided that priority would be given to those registered in the YTM District. Regarding administrative measures, in the past, the YTMDO might have informed the persons concerned of the opening of a tendering exercise by mail only, but in the future, an open registration system might be needed so that interested organisations could obtain funding-related information, particularly funding notices; and (ii) she asked the Secretariat whether it would hold any workshop to assist organisations in making application, especially those which had never applied for YTMDC Funds, so that more people could provide services and activities for the residents of the district.

240. �e Secretary said the HAD had classified eligible local organisations into two levels according to the guidelines on the registration of organisations. �e first one referred to the organisations registered under the Companies Ordinance, the Societies Ordinance or the Inland Revenue Ordinance and established wholly or mainly with the aim of bringing benefits to the local district. For example, according to the existing criteria for YTMDC Funds, only the organisations registered in the YTM District were eligible for YTMDC Funds. �e second one referred to the organisations providing services territory-wide. If such an organisation would like to apply for funding from a District Council, its activity must benefit those living, working or studying in that district. It was also acceptable if Councillors would like to allocate funding following HAD’s second channel, provided that the Funding Guidelines should be amended so as to make application open to territory-wide organisations. Nevertheless, the activities must target those living, studying or working in the YTM District.

241. Ms Suzanne WU said the information just provided by the Secretariat was very useful. She supported the amendment and hoped that other Councillors would do the same.

242. �e Chairman said Ms Suzanne WU’s suggestion could allow more organisations to meet YTMDC’s criteria, with a view to more diversiﬁed activities. He asked whether Councillors agreed to include the suggested amendment in the Funding Guidelines. �ere was no objection. He then invited the Secretary to consolidate all amendments.

243. �e Secretary responded that the amendments to the Funding Guidelines included: eligible funding applicants would no longer be limited to the organisations registered in the YTM District. In Appendix I, the amendment for “meals” would follow HAD’s suggestion, and the maximum funding amount for “drinks” would be $6 per head. Apart from the above, all other amounts would be amended according to Mr TSANG Tsz-ming’s suggestions. Tentatively, the maximum number of persons to be subsidised for meals for designated organisations and activities with district characteristics would be 600. If the maximum number

- 35 - of persons was exceeded, the funding application would be considered on a case-by-case basis. �e Secretariat’s suggested amendments set out in the paper would also be included. She asked Mr TSANG about the operational arrangements for district-wide and area-wide activities in suggested amendment note 2.

244. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said an area-wide activity referred to an activity publicised at the area level. As there might be fewer participants in an area-wide activity, the publicity expenses could be slightly lower. A district-wide activity referred to a large-scale activity involving the entire YTM District, e.g. a large-scale theatrical performance or the coming major event to be held in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

245. �e Secretary responded that it was easier to understand the activities held by committees under the YTMDO or under the YTMDC. However, if a local organisation held a day tour targeting all members of the YTM District, for example, in terms of execution, the Secretariat might have diﬃculties in determining whether it was district-wide or area-wide.

246. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said he could withdraw the suggestion as he was aware of the ambiguity. If the Secretariat considered that there would be diﬃculties in execution, he would suggest making further amendment later.

247. Mr HUI Tak-leung agreed with Mr TSANG. In the last-term YTMDC, it had been said that an activity was area-wide if it targeted only the residents of a particular residential estate or area, and that it was district-wide if it targeted all residents of the YTM District. For example, an activity held by an owners’ corporation (“OC”) was district-wide if it targeted all members of the district, and was area-wide if it targeted only the residents of a particular building. Regarding publicity leaﬂets, he considered that the funding amounts for district-wide and area-wide activities should be diﬀerent, and thus agreed with Mr TSANG’s suggested amendment. Last year, a residential estate’s application for YTMDC Funds for an activity targeting only the residents of that estate had been criticised by the last-term YTMDC.

248. �e Secretary responded that it would be easier for the Secretariat to understand a case where the applicant was an OC. However, for other local organisations in general, there must be clear guidelines to facilitate the Secretariat’s follow-ups.

249. Mr HUI Tak-leung said there was a column “target group(s)” on the application form. An organisation could ﬁll in a residential estate or a building or local residents of the YTM District for easier identiﬁcation.

250. �e Chairman said Mr TSANG Tsz-ming had mentioned that he would withdraw the suggestion, but Mr HUI Tak-leung supported Mr TSANG’s amendment. He asked Mr TSANG about his views.

251. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said Mr HUI Tak-leung, who had also served as a Councillor in the last term, had just clearly stated that the last-term YTMDC had raised such strong views and relayed them to the Secretariat. As such, he considered Mr HUI Tak-leung’s amendment acceptable as well.

252. �e Secretary responded that based on the Secretariat’s practical experience, in some cases, the activities held by OCs had targeted all residents of the YTM District, and the Secretariat had been unable to verify whether those activities had really been publicised across

- 36 - the YTM District, and whether their participants had been the residents of a particular residential estate only. If Councillors agreed, the Secretariat would only refer to the target groups speciﬁed on the application forms by the organisations.

253. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming responded that when holding an activity, an organisation should specify its target groups. Having some guidelines was always better than having no guidelines. How an application was made or what factors an organisation should take into account depended on the organisation’s choice.

Uses and Estimated Expenditure of 2020-2021 YTMDC Funds

254. �e Chairman invited Councillors to discuss the uses and the estimated expenditure of the funds for the coming year, on the supposition that the amount to be secured by the YTMDC for the coming year remained unchanged (i.e. $24,500,000). Details were set out at annex 3.

255. �e Secretary gave a brief introduction. Annex 3 to the paper set out the estimated expenditure of YTMDC Funds in the past two years. �e expenditure on engaging contract staff for the coming year was estimated based on the existing manpower, while the actual amount was subject to the maximum amount specified in HAD’s notice of the finalised funding amount to be issued in March, under which a District Council’s expenditure on engaging contract staff to perform its duties should not exceed 15% of the total funding amount plus a 25% over-commitment. �e last item “Leisure and Cultural Services Department (“LCSD”) activities”, provided by the department concerned, was the estimated expenditure of its activities to be held in the district in the coming year. She invited Councillors to discuss how to allocate the funding, on the supposition that the funding amount for the coming year was similar to that for the current year.

256. �e Chairman asked Councillors about their views on annex 3.

257. �e Secretary added that it was an earmarked funding amount only. �e actual funding amount was subject to the applications from the committees or local organisations with earmarked funding. Funding was earmarked solely for the convenience of annual project planning by the organisations or committees concerned.

258. Mr Leo CHU was aware that point no. 6 of item V “promotion of tourism and local community economy in the district” had been crossed, and asked how the $470,000 involved would be handled.

259. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said an organisation had withdrawn its funding application this morning. He asked whether the funding would be re-allocated to the YTMDC or used for holding other activities. He had learnt that some other District Councils would implement measures beneﬁcial to the people’s livelihood with their remaining amounts.

260. Mr Ben LAM said the earmarked funding amount for the Working Group on Security Aﬀairs was $0. �e working group’s terms of reference covered the preparation of reports on people’s sentiments to be presented to the Government, which required earmarked funding. He asked how the working group’s budget had been prepared.

261. �e Secretary responded as follows:

- 37 - (i) �e first two columns at the annex were the funding amounts in previous financial years. Regarding some new items, e.g. the Working Group on Security Affairs and the Working Group on Youth and Children Affairs, their funding amounts for the past two financial years were $0. She invited Councillors to put down their suggested funding amounts for the coming year in the third column.

(ii) Regarding the item “promotion of tourism and local community economy in the district”, funding had been earmarked as there had been such a working group, which had no longer existed in the current term. Councillors could consider re-allocating the funding for publicity and allowing the committee concerned to allocate it for publicity on local community economy, tourism and other areas. Otherwise, the item could be retained, and its uses could be determined by the committee concerned.

(iii) Regarding Mr TSANG Tsz-ming’s question on the remaining funding amount, Councillors could make reference to YTMDC’s ﬁnancial position in the paper of Item 1. �e amount used by the YTM District had exceeded that allocated by the HAD each year, and the amount estimated at the annex exceeded that to be allocated by the HAD. �e HAD had put in place a mechanism allowing a 25% over-commitment for each District Council every year. Over-commitment was allowed based on the expectations that some activities would be called oﬀ after funding had been approved or that their allocated amounts could not be used in full.

(iv) If YTMDC’s actual expenditure exceeded HAD’s provision, the Secretariat would apply to the HAD for additional provision around February, nearly the end of the ﬁnancial year. �e HAD would see whether there was any remaining funding in other District Councils, and would redeploy the remaining amounts of the 18 District Councils as appropriate.

262. Ms Suzanne WU said regarding the item “promotion of tourism and local community economy in the district”, the contents had been included in CBC’s terms of reference. To relieve the Secretariat’s manpower demand, the CBC would continue to handle the matter by holding speciﬁc follow-up discussions, and it was expected that resources would be needed for the activities or projects to be carried out. As such, she suggested that allocating the funding back to the CBC after the abolition of the working group so as to continue to implement the projects.

263. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that after discussion with other Councillors, he considered that study relating to tear gas and its guidelines were non-routine work but were very important. He hoped that the YTMDC would provide research funding for speciﬁed non-governmental organisations and universities. �e residents of the YTM District often suﬀered from tear gas at Nathan Road, while the Government had never disclosed the composition of tear gas and its impact on the human body. �e public would like to obtain more information. He asked how funding should be earmarked for such non-routine work.

264. �e Secretary responded that regarding Ms Suzanne WU’s request for retaining the item “promotion of tourism and local community economy in the district”, the Secretariat had no comment on the arrangement for re-allocating the funding to the CBC. Moreover, she asked Mr CHU Kong-wai whether he would like to add another item, and whether he would like to put

- 38 - forward a speciﬁc item.

265. Mr CHU Kong-wai said he believed Councillors agreed that the tear gas study was very important to the residents of the YTM District. He requested that the current-term YTMDC earmark funding for collaboration with a research institute.

266. �e Secretary said Councillors could decide on the matter.

267. �e Chairman said Councillors had discussed the matter, where most Councillors had supported Mr CHU Kong-wai’s suggestion. He asked in which item the earmarked funding should be included so as to be more appropriate.

268. �e Hon James TO suggested adding the item “research expenditure”.

269. �e Secretary agreed that “research expenditure” could be added as item VII.

270. Mr CHU Kong-wai agreed that it should be research-based, as he had earlier carried out preparation work with a research institute of a university and a non-governmental organisation, which had also mainly covered a research study as well as the preparation of a report.

271. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming agreed with the Hon James TO’s suggestion for adding item VII as it did not fall under any of the other six items.

272. Mr CHU Kong-wai said the study was non-routine work, and hoped that a result would be made available in half a year to nine months, i.e. within this year. Details would be provided by the research workers and the non-governmental organisation later. He suggested earmarking about $300,000.

273. �e Chairman asked Mr CHU Kong-wai whether he had discussed with the research institute, and whether both parties had agreed that $300,000 was enough.

274. Mr CHU Kong-wai responded that they had not reached any consensus but exchanged views. He hoped that the YTMDC, being a stakeholder, would take part in the study and encourage other parties to contribute so that more community resources could be secured.

275. Ms Suzanne WU said a number of Councillors had their own views on participatory budgeting, especially given that more than $30 million had been remained from the $100 million provision for the Signature Project Scheme, which should be used to beneﬁt residents. �e YTMDC could try to practise participatory budgeting. Not only could Councillors propose projects and vote on them, members of the district could also propose works or infrastructure projects beneﬁcial to the residents. To do so, it should be studied how to collect views in the district or whether it was feasible to directly collect views, hold deliberation sessions or activities in the district, develop a mobile app for carrying out polls or set up physical polling stations. She asked whether funding could be earmarked for the YTMDC to carry out preparation work for participatory budgeting through research.

276. Mr Isaac HO said regarding the introduction of an item for research expenditure, if the YTMDC had to bring about changes in society or the community, he agreed that studies or surveys should be carried out so as to substantiate the provision of targeted community services. �e research expenditure could be used in, for example, the tear gas study proposed by Mr CHU

- 39 - Kong-wai and the participatory budgeting put forward by Ms Suzanne WU. He asked about the maximum funding amount for the research expenditure, how many studies could be carried out, how many items could be covered, and whether there were any restrictions.

277. Mr CHU Kong-wai said he had just contacted the research institute, and the latest quotation for a study spanning half a year to nine months, including the preparation of a report, was $500,000. He had deeply reﬂected on his rash estimate of $300,000, and hoped that Councillors would allow him to change the earmarked funding to $500,000.

278. �e Chairman reminded Mr CHU Kong-wai that $300,000 might not be enough, as the study on the Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market had costed $600,000.

279. Mr LEE Wai-fung said regarding the quotation just obtained by Mr CHU Kong-wai, if there was suﬃcient funding to be earmarked, he suggested earmarking $600,000 to $700,000 at least, as any remaining amount could be re-allocated.

280. �e Chairman asked Councillors about their views on Mr LEE Wai-fung’s suggestion for earmarking $600,000 to $700,000 for the research expenditure. Moreover, regarding the $30 million remained from the $100 million provision for the Signature Project Scheme as mentioned by Ms Suzanne WU, he suggested leaving it for discussion at other meetings, given the limited time and that it was not the subject matter of this meeting.

281. �e Secretary said Councillors could determine whether to earmark $600,000 or $700,000 for the additional item. She also reminded Councillors that they must act according to the ambit of YTMDC Funds and section 61 of the District Councils Ordinance when carrying out the future study.

282. �e Chairman said the Secretary had reminded Councillors that no matter whether $600,000 or $700,000 was earmarked for the tear gas study, it might not necessarily be supported by the YTMDO, which must see whether the study met the requirements in section 61 of the District Councils Ordinance, stipulating that the primary function of a District Council was to advise the Government on matters aﬀecting the well-being of the people in the district.

283. Mr CHU Kong-wai suggested that the Secretariat or the District Oﬃcer relay YTMDC’s views to the HAD and the Government. If the Government disclosed the composition of tear gas, such money could be saved and public money could be used in a more appropriate manner.

284. �e Chairman hoped that the YTMDO would relay their views to the HAD. If the HAD had doubts about the study, he believed the best way for the Government to reassure the public was to disclose the composition of tear gas.

285. Mr Lucifer SIU asked whether the earmarked funding amounts for the Working Group on Youth and Children Aﬀairs and the Working Group on Security Aﬀairs should be determined now, both of which were currently $0.

286. �e Secretary responded that Councillors should ﬁll in their suggested funding amounts in the rightmost column of the form.

287. �e Chairman asked whether the amounts should be ﬁlled in by the chairmen of

- 40 - working groups.

288. �e Secretary suggested that the funding amounts for the newly established Working Group on Youth and Children Affairs and the Working Group on Security Affairs as well as the additional item VII “research expenditure” be determined first. Regarding the remaining items, the Secretariat would earmark funding according to the funding proportions for the current year. HAD’s actual funding amount for the YTMDC would not be made available until March, and Councillors would not be informed until then. However, the Secretariat would like to draw up a temporary budget. Councillors seeking funding for any special item could suggest an amount first, and the amounts for other items would be adjusted according to the funding proportions for the current year.

289. �e Chairman invited the Councillors in charge of the working groups to suggest the amounts. �e funding amounts for other items would be handled by the Secretariat according to the funding proportions for the current year.

290. �e Secretary asked whether $600,000 was earmarked for the research expenditure item.

291. �e Chairman suggested earmarking $700,000.

292. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said if the Secretariat considered it embarrassing to allocate as many as $700,000 to a new item, he would suggest including the amount in the item “Working Group on Security Aﬀairs”.

293. �e Chairman asked members of the Working Group on Security Aﬀairs about their views on Mr TSANG’s suggestion for including the research expenditure of $700,000 in the expenditure of the Working Group on Security Aﬀairs.

294. �e Secretary responded that the Secretariat did not consider it embarrassing, but the scope of the study should be considered carefully.

295. �e Chairman urged the Working Group on Security Aﬀairs and the other newly established working group to determine their earmarked funding amounts as soon as possible.

296. �e Secretary asked whether the Working Group on Youth and Children Aﬀairs could determine its earmarked funding amount.

297. �e Chairman invited Mr LEE Kwok-kuen to determine the earmarked funding amount for the Working Group on Youth and Children Aﬀairs.

298. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen considered that the newly established working group did not need a large amount for use in the ﬁrst year. As such, reference could be made to the funding amounts for some ordinary working groups in previous terms. He asked the Secretariat about the appropriate funding amount for a newly established working group for a year normally.

299. �e Secretary responded that rarely had new working groups been established. In the past, reference had only be made to the actual circumstances of that period or that year when determining a funding amount. For example, the Working Group on Concern for Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market, which had been allocated $650,000 last year due to the need for a special study,

- 41 - was allocated only $160,000 for the current year. �e funding amount depended on whether there were any special needs arising from YTMDC’s upcoming activities. Of course it was just an estimate. If Councillors would like to plan other activities, the YTMDC could make further adjustment.

300. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen suggested earmarking $350,000 for the Working Group on Youth and Children Aﬀairs.

301. Mr Ben LAM also suggested earmarking $350,000 for the Working Group on Security Aﬀairs.

302. Ms Suzanne WU said regarding participatory budgeting, she had preliminarily contacted community groups, which had taken the view that given YTMDC’s geographical coverage, the district should be divided into four study areas with a view to formulating proposals. About three research workers were required. She suggested earmarking $900,000.

303. �e Secretary asked whether another item should be added or the funding would be included in the item “research expenditure”.

304. Ms Suzanne WU responded that she would like to include the funding in the item “research expenditure”.

305. �e Secretary said the Secretariat would draw up earmarked funding amounts for other items on a pro-rata basis.

306. �e Chairman ended the discussion on this item.

Item 9: Progress Report and Proposed Projects of YTM District-led Actions Scheme (YTMDC Paper No. 16/2020)

307. The Chairman welcomed Ms Mimi LO, Senior Liaison Officer (Building Management) of the YTMDO.

308. Ms Mimi LO briefly introduced the paper.

309. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen expressed the following views: (i) over the years, residents of many buildings in his constituency considered the Scheme important, particularly in the aspect of cleansing of buildings. Due to the lack of management of “three-nil” buildings, refuse clearing remained an unresolved problem. Nonetheless, the YTMDO was able to arrange cleansing of “three-nil” buildings once or twice a year despite the lack of building management in these buildings, so he considered that the Scheme should be carried on; and (ii) since the YTMDO aimed at encouraging the formation of OCs for the buildings in the district, he suggested that the YTMDO should work together with Councillors to further the cause. While recruiting Resident Liaison Ambassadors (“RLAs”) was a good way to achieve the purpose, it would be better if the promotion efforts for the formation of OCs could be tied in with district services.

310. Ms Suzanne WU asked whether common parts would cover canopies, and if not, whether the project scope could be expanded to cover canopies and flat roofs as

- 42 - long-accumulated refuse was found at those areas. Most of the time, the refuse was not cleared, and a higher level of skills was required for clearing such refuse. Although cleansing workers would be hired by the owners of some buildings for exterior cleaning, they might not clean up the canopies. The problem would affect not only the buildings concerned but also the neighbouring buildings, as the complaints she had received were mostly from the households at lower floors of the neighbouring buildings.

311. The Chairman said that he had raised the problem several times at past YTMDC meetings. He would leave it to the YTMDO to give a response on the technical difficulties.

312. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that it was insufficient to just carry out one cleansing operation for the common parts of buildings. If regular cleansing could be arranged by the buildings, provision of funding by the YTMDO to facilitate the cleansing work would not be necessary. The building residents might encounter difficulties in organising cleansing work due to various reasons. The hygiene condition would still be poor if cleansing operation was conducted only once a year. He found that Li Tak Street was in poor hygiene condition during his inspections of his constituency at both day and night time, which was also reported to him by many local residents. Despite being pleased with the inclusion of some buildings at Li Tak Street in the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project, he suggested that the YTMDO should consider increasing the cleansing frequency or arranging regular cleansing for the buildings. In view of the recent community concern about the territory-wide anti-rodent work, failure in cleansing the common parts of buildings would render the efforts ineffectual if the condition was fast-deteriorating after cleansing. Therefore, it required a multi-pronged approach to achieve the results. As a good start had been made, efforts should be made to keep up the good work. He hoped that the YTMDO could collaborate with other departments to support the community and local residents.

313. The Chairman expressed the following views: (i) the Scheme consisted of two projects, namely the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project and the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Pilot Scheme. He considered both of them good projects, especially the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project. The project received an increasing support with a growing number of buildings expressing interest to join in; (ii) whether or not to increase the frequency of cleansing as proposed by Mr TSANG Tsz-ming would depend on the budget as many buildings were in need of the service; and (iii) as canopies were the dirtiest areas of some buildings, he had been hoping for the inclusion of canopies in the common parts for cleansing, and the cleansing of rear lanes was equally important. However, as cleansing of the common parts of buildings could only be conducted with the consent of the managing parties concerned, it might be unable to arrange cleansing in the buildings with unclear property titles.

314. Mrs Laura ARON responded that based on YTMDO’s observation, the cleanliness of buildings had been enhanced in the past few years, but there were some difficulties over the period. The management of private buildings, such as cleansing service, security service, fire safety and lift management, was the responsibility of private owners. Therefore, the YTMDO put in considerable resources to conduct visits to those buildings and encourage them to set up OCs or mutual aid committees. Even recruiting one resident as RLA also represented a step forward in good building management. The YTMDO must exercise caution and strike a balance in the course to avoid the use of public money for private building management. She hoped that Councillors would understand and recognise that the role of YTMDO was to assist buildings in their management. She was pleased that Councillors shared the same goal with the

- 43 - YTMDO in striving to offer assistance to the buildings, and the YTMDO would maintain close liaison with Councillors in respect of the building issues in the district in future.

315. Ms Mimi LO responded as follows:

(i) Regarding the issue of canopies, the YTMDO considered that the canopies might not be common areas but private premises. Under the principle of cleansing common areas, private premises were under private management, no unauthorised entry was allowed for clearing refuse. However, the YTMDO would make every effort to strike a balance. The YTMDO had the experience of assisting in clearing the refuse on the canopy of a building last year. Before the operation, the contractor would first evaluate the risk of clearing the refuse there. There should be sufficient space for cleansing workers to use a ladder for climbing up to the canopy to sweep off the refuse under a safe condition. The YTMDO would handle special cases as far as possible, but the occupational safety of cleansing workers and the issues related to entering private premises also needed to be taken into consideration. Besides, the YTMDO would arrange clearing of large pieces of refuse in the common areas of backstairs or even on the rooftops of buildings. While no lifts were installed in “three-nil” buildings, the contractor would try to remove the refuse piece by piece as far as possible.

(ii) The YTMDO hoped to improve the cleanliness of those areas. However, since they were private premises, the YTMDO did not want owners simply relying on external help and thus failing to manage their property by their own efforts. The YTMDO would therefore enhance education in parallel with publicity to guide them towards effective building management and tackle the problem at its root. The YTMDO had been assisting residents of the buildings in the formation of OCs and residents’ organisations, and launched publicity campaigns in this respect. The Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project served as an incentive. It was hoped that owners of the buildings, having experienced the benefits of cleansing the buildings, would take the initiative in forming their residents’ organisations to keep the community in a better state of cleanliness.

(iii) As for how to optimise the use of resources and strike a balance, when selecting the target buildings, the YTMDO would give priority to those which had never been selected for cleansing under the Scheme, or those which had not been cleansed over the past 18 or 24 months, with a view to striking a balance in the allocation of the limited resources. The YTMDO hoped that cleanliness of the whole community would be promoted through the provision of some resources to the target buildings.

(iv) As for rear lanes, it was aware that they might not fall within the building areas. Therefore, a list of buildings would be sent to the FEHD every week for the department’s arrangement of cleansing teams to step up cleansing in the nearby areas of the buildings, and for carrying out the rodent prevention and anti-mosquito work as well. With these complementary efforts, it was hoped that the overall state of cleanliness of the community would be improved.

316. Ms Natalie TSUI said that a large amount of refuse was dumped near Yau Ma Tei Market. Every morning, a lot of refuse was dumped in the alleys near the market at Jordan

- 44 - Road, where many “three-nil” buildings were located nearby. She asked whether advice on refuse disposal would be provided under the Scheme to the residents of the “three-nil” buildings in addition to the cleansing of staircases. As refuse collection bins might not be provided in “three-nil” buildings while rubbish bins might also not be available in the nearby areas, there was no place for disposal of household refuse. As a result, residents dumped their household refuse at a roadside spot, and the situation was getting worse.

317. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen clarified that he had not suggested increasing the frequency of building cleansing, and he shared the views of the District Officer in some way. He thought residents of the buildings should address the problem of cleansing themselves in the long run, whereas the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project was an incentive to encourage them in forming OCs. The YTMDO could take the opportunity to communicate with the residents, explaining to them the long-term effectiveness of forming their OCs. Therefore, he thought that apart from picking a date for the cleansing, the YTMDO could also give advance notice to Councillors who provided assistance for the residents in the district so that they could join efforts in encouraging the residents to form OCs. Even without the participation of Councillors, the Building Management Liaison Team of the YTMDO could take the opportunity to pursue the matter more actively.

318. Mr Lucifer SIU said that in the paper, the section summary of the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Pilot Scheme made a mention of providing assistance in the formation of OCs, but the section on the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project did not. He asked whether the former was a more effective way in assisting residents of buildings to form OCs while the latter was less effective in this respect. He also asked which of them would be more effective in approaching residents of buildings or in incentivising them to form OCs.

319. Mr Issac HO said that most of the buildings in his constituency had OCs, and there were few “three-nil” buildings. Although a building management company was engaged for Windsor Mansion and the residents had paid management fees, the hygiene condition over there was extremely poor. The residents complained to him that the management company failed to discharge its duty despite receiving management fees, and they had no channels to lodge complaints. Even though an OC had been formed for that building, the management company did not deliver their duty properly. He asked whether the YTMDO would step in to provide support for the residents facing such a situation.

320. Ms Mimi LO briefed the Councillors on the following:

(i) The YTMDO did launch publicity campaigns to educate building occupants about proper disposal of refuse. The FEHD would provide the YTMDO with a location map of the large refuse collection points near the buildings to be cleansed one week in advance, and the YTMDO would then put up notices to inform the residents of the large refuse collection points nearest to their buildings. As for the “three-nil” buildings, the YTMDO would put leaflets containing anti-mosquito and anti-rodent information into the letter boxes. When paying home visits at the buildings, the YTMDO would give out cleansing gift packs together with the educational materials. In the long run, the YTMDO hoped that the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project could serve as an incentive for improving the quality of building management.

- 45 - (ii) The support services provided under the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Pilot Scheme had a higher success rate in assisting building residents to form OCs because there was support from social workers who would attend OC meetings or pay home visits at the “three-nil” buildings. Moreover, as the Government provided fire safety subsidy for buildings, this was a greater incentive to the residents of “three-nil” buildings to form OCs so as to apply for the subsidy.

(iii) As for the cleansing arrangement, the YTMDO engaged a cleansing contractor for carrying out an cleansing operation. The contractor would only provide cleansing service, and it was the YTMDO which would later pay home visits and recruit RLAs. The YTMDO hoped that RLAs could act as a contact point of their buildings and assist in encouraging residents of the buildings to form OCs. The YTMDO would also send information to them.

(iv) There was an overlap between the lists of buildings under the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project and the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Pilot Scheme, which meant that some buildings had joined both projects at the same time. Three newly formed OCs were found to be overlapping in the lists of both projects, but they were not shown on the list of buildings under the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project because they were included in the list of the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Pilot Scheme.

(v) Although some buildings had OCs or engaged property management companies that provided stand-alone services, the buildings were not in satisfactory management. Therefore, they could also be included in the list of the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project.

(vi) If the YTMDC supported the continuation of the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Pilot Scheme and the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project, the YTMDO would write to Councillors after the item was endorsed at the meeting of the District Management Committee on 11 March, inviting them to nominate the buildings. Then, a list would be made in order of priority. The YTMDO, as in the past, would send the cleansing schedule to the Councillors of the constituencies concerned by post or by fax a few days before the cleansing of buildings. Councillors interested in the matter might visit the buildings for inspection.

(vii) The formation of an OC would take a long time. Although the YTMDO had been actively recruiting RLAs, most of the recruited RLAs were tenants only. Moreover, the property ownership of “three-nil” buildings was rather fragmented while residents might not share a common goal, all these made it hard to form an OC. The Building Management Liaison Team of the YTMDO was working hard on these issues.

321. Mr Lucifer SIU said that he was fully aware of the difficulties faced by the residents of “three-nil” buildings in forming OCs. As mentioned by the representative of the YTMDO, there were certain factors to incentivise the formation of OCs, including assistance from social workers and provision of funding. As such, the increase in cleansing frequency for buildings might not be an significant factor. Deeper involvement of social workers, provision of funding as well as wider publicity of the application process might be the more effective ways in

- 46 - encouraging residents to form OCs. He said that it was about the depth and breadth of the project, and suggested putting in more resources to explore ways on enhancing the effectiveness in the future.

322. Mr HUI Tak-leung said that the Scheme had been in implementation for two to three years, and the YTMDO’s involvement was by way of conducting door-to-door visits at the target buildings. However, the residents of the target buildings were often incompetent in building management, and that they were mainly the elderly and tenants. He asked whether the YTMDO would change its involvement approach, such as by way of explaining to the owners the details on the formation of OCs and on how to handle the fire safety subsidy. When conducting door-to-door visits to the tenant’s flats, it was found that the owners did not live there. The unscrupulous property traders rented out sub-divided units to tenants who dumped refuse outside and made the environment messy, and then took advantage of the cleansing service provided by the YTMDO to do the cleansing for them. As the Scheme had been implemented for a few years, he asked whether a change to the involvement approach could be made by contacting or writing to the owners proactively.

323. Ms Mimi LO responded as follows:

(i) If there were social workers to provide bespoke assistance while a subsidy was also available, it would without a doubt be a stronger incentive for the residents of “three-nil” buildings to form OCs.

(ii) The cleansing of buildings served dual purposes. The first purpose was to make a cleaner environment and to make residents of the buildings aware of household and personal hygiene. The other purpose was to promote building management. The organisation of home visits under the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings project provided an intervention point which facilitated YTMDO’s communication with residents. As far as she knew, the Government would progressively launch a series of subsidy schemes this year on large-scale home renovation, lift safety and fire safety, and the Urban Renewal Authority (“URA”) would make arrangements for the application matters. She hoped it would provide a stronger incentive for the residents of “three-nil” buildings to form OCs so as to apply for the subsidies.

(iii) Regarding the fine-tuning of the involvement approach, it was always found during the door-to-door visits that owners of the flats did not live there. The occupants were mainly tenants while the owners could only be reached through the tenants. It might be difficult to look for the owners proactively taking into consideration of the resources needed. Land searches had to be conducted at the Land Registry for the owners’ particulars and there was no way to verify whether the registered addresses of the owners were up-to-update. That’s why the YTMDO continued to conduct door-to-door visits for the time being so as to have face-to-face contact with the occupants. It was hoped that the tenants could then pass the information on to the owners and help them form the OCs.

(iv) The YTMDO had implemented the Building Management Professional Advisory Service Scheme. Experienced property management companies were engaged to approach target buildings and “three-nil” buildings directly to provide clerical assistance for ineffective OCs and to guide them on convening meetings and

- 47 - observing the law. They would also recruit RLAs and hold briefing sessions at “three-nil” buildings. The Scheme was originally scheduled to end in March this year, but the Government planned to have it regularised. The HAD would make an announcement in due course. It was hoped that more “three-nil” buildings could receive assistance in forming residents’ organisations.

324. The Chairman asked Councillors whether they would support the continuation of the “Fire Safety Direction” Support Service Extension Scheme and the Cleansing of Common Parts of Buildings in YTM District for 2020-2021. He also asked Councillors whether consent would be given to printing the YTMDC logo or the wording of “Supported by the YTMDC” onto the publicity materials of the projects. There was no objection.

Item 10: Resumption of Land for Implementation of Development Project YTM-011 by Urban Renewal Authority at Oak Street/Ivy Street, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon (YTMDC Paper No. 17/2020)

325. �e Chairman welcomed:

(a) Mr Martin LUK, Senior Estate Surveyor/Urban Renewal 5 (Urban Renewal Section), and Mr Robert LAM, Estate Surveyor/Urban Renewal 7 (Urban Renewal Section), of the Lands Department (“LandsD”); and

(b) Mr Eugene YUE, Senior Manager, Community Development, and Mr LEUNG Kam-chau, Senior Manager, Acquisition and Clearance, of the URA.

326. Mr Martin LUK brieﬂy introduced the paper.

327. Mr HUI Tak-leung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he asked whether this paper aimed to give a report to the YTMDC or to seek its views. Had it been the latter, Councillors could have raised objections and the land resumption would have been unable to take place, which was not the case. �e department was merely holding a discussion with Councillors rather than consulting the YTMDC; and (ii) he asked about the current procedures for land resumption, and whether the URA could carry out land resumption as long as it met the threshold.

328. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the project site was located in his constituency; (ii) there was a mahjong premise at the project location with quite a large share of ownership. He asked whether the URA had faced any diﬃculties or obstacles when making the acquisition. Some local residents had sought his help, saying that there were cracks and other problems in Kwong Wo Building and Oak House on the other side of Oak Street. �ey worried that when the project commenced, the piling or demolition works would make the condition of the buildings worse, if not endangering the buildings. Feeling worried, the residents would like to seek clariﬁcation; and (iii) as some non-ethnic Chinese were living there, he asked the URA whether there were any suitable measures to assist them, follow up on their needs or allocate suitable accommodations to them. �e department had said they would be allocated the housing units provided by the Hong Kong Housing Authority (“HKHA”) or the Hong Kong Housing Society (“HKHS”) and be assisted in adapting to the new environment. He hoped that the department would handle their cases with an approach close to their way of

- 48 - life, as they might not understand Chinese. �ose ethnic minorities were also concerned by Councillors.

329. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he hoped that the department would properly handle the accommodation of the building residents at the project site, especially the tenants. Whether the tenants would leave or stay depended on whether their landlords had decided to sell their ﬂats; and (ii) as the relocation of the mahjong premise might aﬀect its licence, he asked whether the LandsD and the URA could be of any assistance. He hoped that if the requests from the mahjong premise were reasonable, the departments would help as much as possible with a view to proper handling of the handover.

330. Mr Ben LAM said although the redevelopment project was not located in his constituency, he had received requests for assistance from some local residents affected by it. Regarding the tenants’ application for public rental housing, it was pointed out in paragraph 8 of the paper that “the owners of 55 of the 64 private flats affected had accepted URA’s acquisition offer”. He asked whether the department could disclose if prompt intake had been arranged for the tenants who had applied for public rental housing.

331. Mr Martin LUK responded that the department had submitted the paper with a view to seeking Councillors’ views. �e department would report on the views to the Secretary for Development and the Chief Executive-in-Council.

332. Mr LEUNG Kam-chau responded as follows:

(i) Regarding the mahjong premise, it had several property interests at the project site. In November 2018, the URA had made an acquisition offer to the mahjong premise’s owners. As far as owner-occupiers were concerned, they could receive an amount equivalent to the market value of their property, an allowance representing 35% of the market value of their property and an ex-gratia business allowance. �e URA had negotiated with the owners, but they had turned down the offers. Before the Government’s land resumption, the URA would normally make an acquisition offer based on the latest valuation. Apart from the amount equivalent to the market value of their property, regarding allowances, the owners could make a compensation claim for their loss of business in lieu of the various allowances offered, regardless of whether their business would continue. Previously in the Kwun Tong Town Centre or Sham Shui Po projects, some mahjong premises had been relocated to nearby streets. If the owners needed URA’s written certification of their relocation due to redevelopment for their licence applications, the URA would be willing to help. If they again turned down URA’s acquisition offer, after completing land resumption, the Government would make a compensation offer with an amount equivalent to the market value of their property at the time when the land was vested in the Government. �e owners could also make a compensation claim to the Government for their loss of business. Regarding the reasonable costs incurred by the owners for engaging surveyors or lawyers, the Government would reimburse them. If the owners failed to reach a consensus with the Government about the compensation amount, they could seek Lands Tribunal’s determination. �e URA would assist the owners with relocation as far as possible in the ways mentioned. If they did not have enough time for relocation, the URA could allow more time at its discretion, as long as the redevelopment schedule was not affected.

- 49 -

(ii) Regarding the cracks in the buildings near the project site, the URA had been communicating with the works departments. Drawings should be submitted for demolition and foundation works. �e Buildings Department (“BD”) should also set up a number of monitoring points to check whether any problems arose during the works. Moreover, such problems could be reported to the resident engineers, and URA’s engineers would also supervise the project. �e BD would report any problems to the URA if found.

(iii) Regarding ethnic minorities, the URA had recently identiﬁed some Nepalese and Vietnamese residents during registration. As their family members understood Chinese, the registration could be carried out without any communication problems so far. When handling ethnic minority residents (e.g. Pakistani), the URA could send simultaneous interpreters where necessary to assist with its registration and explanation of the compensation and resettlement arrangements.

(iv) Regarding the tenants of the acquired ﬂats, the URA had registered about 50% of them so as to assess their eligibility for rehousing and the ex-gratia allowance. �e URA would complete the assessment in these two months as far as possible and allocate public rental housing units to eligible tenants or make an ex-gratia allowance oﬀer to them.

333. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that in the past, some Councillors had suggested that the URA consider redevelopment in phases, especially in large projects. For example, a rehousing block would be first provided in the same district so that the local residents would be allowed “flat-for-flat” replacement. Moreover, the URA could consider the public-private housing ratio. Since URA’s Yau Mong District Study was underway, he hoped that the study would incorporate the views of Councillors reiterated time and again.

334. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming asked whether any parking spaces would be provided when the project was completed, as some local residents had complained to him about obstruction and illegal parking due to the lack of parking spaces. �e new project could be an opportunity to provide parking spaces for the convenience of the residents. He also suggested providing public parking spaces in the project for the convenience of the public in the district.

335. Mr Ben LAM asked whether it was the case that no tenant had been allocated any public rental housing unit in this project.

336. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views: (i) some buildings in Tai Kok Tsui had been acquired. He believed it was a trend for developers to work with the URA on urban redevelopment. He suggested “roller-style” redevelopment. Before redevelopment commenced, the URA could negotiate with developers about the reservation of some units for same-district rehousing or enabling “flat-for-flat” replacement so that the URA could provide the owners with an incentive by allocating them a comparable flat in the same district when carrying out the second phase redevelopment, which could slightly expedite the overall redevelopment; and (ii) if parking spaces would be provided in the project, he hoped that it would be strictly implemented, and that a decision would be made on whether the parking spaces should be used by the public, residents or visitors. Many parking spaces in other projects originally intended for public use had suddenly become parking spaces for visitors, which had only been designated as public parking spaces after Councillors had discussed with the department concerned for some

- 50 - time.

337. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen raised the following views and enquiries: (i) two rehousing blocks in his constituency were in close proximity to the redevelopment project, i.e. Bedford Tower and Rich Building. He asked whether the remaining units in the rehousing blocks were enough for the residents aﬀected by the project; and (ii) he agreed with the problem of parking spaces in Tai Kok Tsui mentioned by other Councillors as they had studied the area for some time. A local resident had brought a car for four years, but was still unable to park it downstairs. If the URA had to carry out the redevelopment, it should consider the development of the surrounding areas and auxiliary facilities and assist the residents of the nearby buildings by providing parking spaces for them.

338. Mr LEUNG Kam-chau responded as follows:

(i) According to the current planning, the project had 12 car parking spaces and two motorcycle parking spaces. One of the 12 car parking spaces would be a parking space for disabled persons and another would be a parking space exclusively for visitors.

(ii) No tenant had so far been allocated any public rental housing unit but some tenants had already opted for this rehousing arrangement. When carrying out redevelopment, the URA would normally allocate public rental housing units in urban areas to eligible tenants.

(iii) Rehousing blocks included Belford Tower and Rich Building. �ere were also rehousing units located at Soy Street. Generally speaking, if a tenant was eligible for the public rental housing of the HKHA or the HKHS, the URA would not allocate any rehousing unit to him, unless his length of stay in Hong Kong was less than seven years or his asset value exceeded the income ceiling of the HKHA or the HKHS, and he met the other eligibility criteria for rehousing. Depending on the number of households in need of rehousing units at that time, the URA should have enough rehousing units for those tenants at this moment.

(iv) Regarding the “roller-style redevelopment” or phased redevelopment mentioned by the Councillor, the URA said “flat-for-flat” replacement was included in the acquisition offer in the project, where owner-occupiers could opt for buying a flat of De Novo in Kai Tak or any other flat to be completed in the same district. He noted Councillors’ views and would relay them to the management.

339. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming thanked the representatives of the URA for responding to the enquiries on parking spaces. However, after the completion of the project, it should be further assessed whether the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines were complied with. Regarding the numbers of housing units and parking spaces required, he considered that there would not be as few as 12 households owning cars even in a single-block estate. As such, 12 parking spaces might not be enough. He worried that Ivy Street and Oak Street might be congested by then, and hoped that the URA would consider that when designing the project.

340. �e Chairman thanked the representatives of the LandsD and the URA for joining the discussion on this item. �ere was no objection to the land resumption for the Oak Street/Ivy Street project in Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon.

- 51 -

Item 11: Concern over Impact of Teargas on Charming Garden and West of Nathan Road (Mong Kok to Yau Ma Tei) (YTMDC Paper No. 18/2020)

Item 18: Strong Request �at Government Disclose Composition of Teargas and Liquid Delivered by Water Cannon, and Release Guidelines Drawn up by Government Departments in YTM District on Cleansing of Streets, Schools, Community Halls, etc. after Police’s Deployment of Teargas and Water Cannon, and Precautionary Measures Taken by Workers Concerned (Including Cleansing Workers) When Handling Such Cases (YTMDC Paper No. 25/2020)

341. �e Chairman said that both the discussion papers of Items 11 and 18 were related to tear gas issues, and asked Councillors whether they agreed to a combined discussion on the two items. �ere was no objection. �e Chairman continued that the written responses from the ----- FEHD and the Mong Kok Police District of the HKPF (Annexes 7 and 8) had been sent to Councillors for their perusal before the meeting. �e written response from the Hospital ----- Authority (“HA”) (Annex 9) was on the conference table for Councillors’ perusal. He then welcomed:

(a) Mr HO Yun-sing, District Commander (Yau Tsim), and Mr Bradley WRIGHT, District Commander (Mong Kok), of the HKPF;

(b) Mr LAM Kwan-hau, District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Mong Kok), and Ms HO Sau-ying, Chief Health Inspector (Yau Tsim) 2, of the FEHD;

(c) Ms FUNG Miu-ling, Chief Leisure Manager (Hong Kong West) of the LCSD; and (d) Ms Mimi LO, Senior Liaison Oﬃcer (Building Management) of the YTMDO.

342. Mr LEE Wai-fung said that the written responses of the departments had not concretely responded to the enquiries in Paper No. 18/2020. He hoped that the departments could respond to the enquiries ﬁrst.

343. Mr CHU Kong-wai also said that he would like to listen to the departments’ responses to Paper No. 25/2020 before making enquiries.

344. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) From June to December of the previous year, rioters had thrown a total of over 5 000 petrol bombs across the territory. A number of violent protests and riots had also taken place in the YTM District. �e Police had deployed tear gas according to the actual needs, and had not kept a record on the numbers of tear gas rounds ﬁred in individual places.

(ii) Regarding the residents of Shun Lee Building and those in the vicinity being aﬀected by tear gas, according to records, in the YTM District, tear gas had

- 52 - mainly been deployed at the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street, where was 520 metres away from Shun Lee Building. �erefore, the Police believed that tear gas had little impact on the residents of Shun Lee Building. He invited the Councillor to ask the residents who had claimed to be aﬀected by tear gas for details such as the dates and times involved, so that the Police could carefully study whether what they had smelt on those days was tear gas.

345. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, said that detailed information had been provided in the written response of the Mong Kok Police District. When the Police had deployed tear gas in the vicinity of Charming Garden, Cherry Street and Mong Kok Market, the protest scenes had already been full of roadblocks made of wood, plastic, polystyrene as well as other materials. According to the studies and reports of the Environmental Protection Department, such materials were highly toxic, containing dioxins and furans. What had been smelt by the nearby residents might not all be the smell of tear gas. �ere was a distance between the usual locations where the Police ﬁred tear gas rounds in the YTM District and the aforesaid areas. In addition, the mass of tear gas was heavier than air. It would fall onto the ground promptly after being released and would not reach any areas which were not in the proximity.

346. Mr LAM Kwan-hau responded as follows:

(i) �e FEHD had all along been caring about the environmental hygiene of public places and providing street cleansing services. During the previous seven months, the department had, under a safe condition, deployed workers wearing suitable protective clothing to carry out street cleansing and washing operations after every large-scale event.

(ii) Regarding whether the FEHD had received requests from the Police for street washing after the deployment of tear gas, he pointed out that every time after a large-scale event, the FEHD would deploy workers to clean up the streets aﬀected, while other departments would remove the large miscellaneous objects, including roadblocks like water barriers and metal railings. After the removal of roadblocks, the FEHD would arrange for street washing vehicles and workers to conduct street washing operations.

347. Ms FUNG Miu-ling responded that the LCSD had kept conducting cleansing operations in its venues all along. Regarding the residues of tear gas, the department had made reference to the suggestions of the Centre for Health Protection (“CHP”) and drawn up relevant health guidelines for venue staff and contractors. �e department would provide sufficient protective equipment for the staff, and ensure that the contractors had adequate equipment during routine inspections. If the Police deployed tear gas in the vicinity of the venues managed by the LCSD, the department would arrange for cleansing teams to strengthen the cleansing efforts in the areas concerned.

348. Ms Mimi LO responded that the YTMDO had received a total of three tear gas-related assistance requests or enquiries from the public, none of which were from OCs, relevant management bodies or owners. For the impact of tear gas on health, members of the public could refer to the Health Information on Tear Gas issued by the CHP of the DH. �e Building Management Liaison Team of the YTMDO would continue providing building management services for the residents of the district. If the YTMDO received any enquiries or assistance requests from OCs, building management bodies or owners in respect of tear gas-generated

- 53 - problems, the liaison team would deal with them properly and would refer the cases to the departments concerned where necessary.

349. Mr CHU Kong-wai said the submitters of Paper No. 25/2020 had requested that the departments concerned provide street cleansing guidelines and other relevant guidelines, but he could not ﬁnd such information in the written responses of the departments. As the representative of the YTMDO had said three tear gas-related enquiries or assistance requests had been received, he asked whether the YTMDO had provided relevant guidelines for local organisations or OCs.

350. Mr Ben LAM raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he seriously pointed out to the Police’s representatives that even the Police had sufficient reasons to explain their motives, they could not justify their means of enforcement. During the past seven months, members of the public had clearly seen that the motives of the Police were not entirely right, and their means of enforcement should certainly not be rationalised; (ii) he strongly condemned the Police on behalf of the residents in his constituency, saying that the Police had abused the deployment of tear gas, and more seriously, the use of rubber bullets and bean bag rounds in the area during the past seven months. �e anti-extradition bill protests in last June had eventually turned into a major social movement. One important reason for this was that the problem of the use of undue violence by the Police had not been solved all along. �e public had witnessed the Police’s loss of control during enforcement, and the Police had become an emotional enforcement agency; and (iii) he showed some photos of the Police deploying tear gas in a private housing estate to the representatives of the Police, the provider of which was a resident of a building near Mong Kok Police Station. �e resident had told him that the Police had fired a total of three tear gas rounds into his flat. He asked the Police whether they knew how many tear gas rounds had been fired into residential units mistakenly, whether they had taken remedial actions, and whether they would apologise to the residents affected.

351. �e Vice-chairman raised the following views and enquiries: (i) although the Police had said that they could not provide the figures of tear gas rounds fired, as far as he knew, the Police had fired a total of 16 000 tear gas rounds over the 18 districts of Hong Kong, and the YTM District should be the one where the deployment of tear gas was the most severe; (ii) the political party which he belonged to had carried out an opinion survey on the impact of tear gas on residents. From last November to January this year, 3 000 people had been interviewed, 60% of whom considered that the Police had deployed tear gas unreasonably, and 77% hoped that the Police would disclose the composition of tear gas. Every three Hong Kong people out of ten had been hit by tear gas rounds, and the people or units affected included residential flats, elderly homes, schools, elderly people, children and chronic patients. He believed that some disguised police officers were also included; (iii) he considered that it was extremely unreasonable for the Police to use tear gas in this manner. �e victims did not know the composition of tear gas, resulting in difficulties in their treatment; (iv) police officers should have to write reports after firing tear gas rounds, the contents of which should have included the firing locations. He asked the Police to provide the figures on the deployment of tear gas in the YTM District; and (v) he asked the FEHD whether there had been any cleansing workers feeling unwell or even having to take sick leave after cleaning up tear gas residues; and (vi) he asked the Police whether they would apologise to the people affected by tear gas.

352. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views: (i) it was hard for him to understand why the Police could not provide such basic data. He considered that the commanders should have known well the actions taken by every police oﬃcer, and should have recorded the numbers of

- 54 - tear gas rounds fired by police officers and the firing locations. He criticised that on some occasions, the Police had left behind pepper sprays, tear gas rounds and even a police pistol at the scenes after their operations during the past half year; (ii) regarding that the Police invited the residents affected to provide information on the deployment of tear gas, he said that unless the Police had fired tear gas rounds so madly that the rounds fired could not be counted, he considered it difficult to understand why such information had to be provided by the residents; (iii) it was difficult for him to understand why departments like the LCSD, the FEHD, etc. had to pay attention by themselves to whether their venues or the places under their management had been affected by tear gas and thus needed remedial actions. He considered FEHD’s response vague. He would like to know whether the Police had contacted the FEHD and assisted in the clean-up and remedial actions of their own accord after the deployment of tear gas; and (iv) he considered that the Police, the largest “armed group” in Hong Kong, should certainly have the responsibility to manage the use of every piece of ammunition. After every operation, they should contact the departments concerned of their own accord if the assistance in clean-up services or remedial follow-up actions from other departments was needed. He asked the Police whether they could inform other departments to take follow-up actions within four hours after the deployment of tear gas, as what he had requested in Paper No. 18/2020.

353. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said he was deeply dissatisfied with the response of the Police. As the Commissioner of Police did not attend the meeting personally, he doubted whether the Commissioner respected the YTMDC. �e Police was the only government department that could deploy tear gas in Hong Kong, but they did not know the numbers of tear gas rounds fired in the YTM District. He wondered whether this reflected that the total numbers of tear gas rounds fired across the territory provided in press conferences by the Police were fake. If this was not the reason, he would suspect that not all those firing tear gas rounds were Hong Kong police officers, so the Police were unable to make a thorough calculation. No matter what the reason was, he considered it ridiculous and shameful that the Police were unable to provide the figures of tear gas rounds fired.

354. Mr Isaac HO raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he questioned why the Police could point out that rioters had used 5 000 petrol bombs but were unable to provide the district figures of tear gas rounds fired. �e Police had caused a fire in Tsim Sha Tsui for having fired tear gas rounds to a residential unit. �e residents had to move out of their flat. As far as he knew, the household affected was currently claiming compensation from the Government. He asked the Police whether they would compensate the household concerned; (ii) regarding that the FEHD had said the department had been using water to wash the streets all along and considered it the most effective method, he questioned how the department could ensure that using water to wash the polluted areas was the most effective method, given that the department did not know the composition of tear gas. He asked the FEHD and the LCSD whether they had enquired of the Police about the composition of tear gas, and whether the Police had provided the information; and (iii) he repeated the response of the FEHD that the department had provided clear guidelines for cleansing contractors in respect of the handling of tear gas residues and would ensure that they had sufficient protective equipment. He believed that the guidelines were not confidential and thus requested the FEHD disclose them to the public and the YTMDC.

355. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen raised the following views and enquiries: (i) his constituency was one of those the most seriously affected by tear gas in the YTM District. Many residents had told him that tear gas affected the community and endangered their safety. Apart from the case of tear gas rounds being fired into a flat as mentioned by Mr Ben LAM, a large amount of tear gas had flown into shops, causing a lot of property loss. He asked the Police whether they

- 55 - would follow up or compensate for the impact on the community caused by the deployment of tear gas in their enforcement actions; (ii) to his understanding, there should be internal records for the use of high-level force by the Police. Nevertheless, he had never heard that the Police had reported on their use of force to senior government officials. He urged the Police to provide figures on the deployment of tear gas in the YTM District to the YTMDC, and asked whether frontline police officers had recorded and reported on their use of force according to the established procedures. He opined that all frontline police officers must make consideration and exercise judgement carefully before the use of force, and they must account for their use of force and explain their judgement to their superiors afterwards. He urged the Police to suitably respond to the above tear gas-related enquiries to dispel the worries of the public; and (iii) as mentioned by another Councillor of his political party, the composition and the impact of tear gas were questionable, and a lot of tear gas residues still remained in the community. �e Government had not provided any information on the impact of tear gas residues on the daily life of the public so far. He requested that the Police disclose the composition of tear gas and coordinate with other departments concerned in handling the impact of tear gas residues on the community.

356. Mr Derek HUNG asked the departments concerned whether the method to clean up tear gas residues was similar to that to clean up petrol bomb residues. Besides, in view of the large-scale protests and violent incidents during the past seven months, he asked the Police whether they would review the use of tear gas in crowd dispersal, and whether they would consider district factors before deploying tear gas and use less tear gas in certain areas. He opined that if tear gas rounds were ﬁred into residential units mistakenly, the Police should bear the corresponding responsibility in a reasonable manner.

357. Mr Leslie CHAN questioned why the Police could clearly point out the number of petrol bombs used during the past several months and call the users “rioters” directly but could not provide figures on the tear gas rounds fired by themselves. It was more difficult for him to understand that when a member of the public had made a report of being raped by police officers in a police station, why the Police had directly condemned her as making a false report. Under such circumstances, he considered it difficult to give an account to the public of the Police’s solicitation of additional resources to pay for their overtime work allowances and support for their pay increase proposal. He recalled the situation in Salisbury Garden on 1 December last year, where a notice of no objection had been issued to the procession held in the vicinity of the garden by the Police, that tear gas rounds had been fired at the peaceful and reasonable participants of the procession there at 4:30 p.m. �e chaotic situation had been wholly caused by the Police. He said that scandals spread really extensively as Taiwan newspapers had also reported the incident. He urged the Police to suitably respond to the enquiries on the use of tear gas as soon as possible.

358. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said the Police, in their earlier response, had asked the members of the public claiming to be affected by tear gas to distinguish whether what they had smelt was tear gas by themselves, but he considered that police officers should take the lead by taking off their masks and personally feeling the smell of tear gas instead of shifting the responsibility onto the people claiming to be affected. Moreover, it was also difficult for him to understand how the Police could declare that all protesters were “rioters” before any proper investigation, which he thought was hardly acceptable. He suggested the establishment of an independent inquiry committee to investigate all those that had used force during the social movement.

359. Mr Leo CHU agreed with the enquiries raised by other Councillors in respect of the use

- 56 - of tear gas, and urged the Police to disclose the composition of tear gas in order to facilitate the effective cleaning up of the residues by other departments. He also urged the Police to disclose the composition of the liquid sprayed by water cannon vehicles. �e liquid of water cannon vehicles had been sprayed onto innocent people mistakenly, but as the Police had not disclosed its composition, it was difficult for healthcare workers to apply treatment effectively. �e disclosure of the composition of tear gas and the liquid sprayed by water cannon vehicles could facilitate the coordination of remedial and cleansing work by other departments. He also asked the Police for the reasons for adding tear sprays into the liquid of water cannon vehicles.

360. Mr LEE Wai-fung said he had, at the previous meeting, reminded the Police not to call protesters “cockroaches” anymore; however, the situation persisted. He asked the representatives of the Police whether they had relayed the message to frontline officers; if so, he would like to ask the Police whether the frontline officers were unwilling to follow the instructions of their superiors. Besides, he had learnt from news reports that a police officer had fired rubber bullets to a carton box less than two metres away in a dispersal action. He believed that the frontline officer concerned might consider there were explosives or other suspicious articles inside the carton box, but he hoped that before using any force, police officers would make careful consideration and pay attention to whether the surrounding environment was suitable for them to do so in order not to endanger themselves as well as those near them (e.g. reporters).

361. Mr CHU Kong-wai raised the following views: (i) he believed that his constituency was the one where the Police had fired the largest number of tear gas rounds. Every month, the Police fired tear gas rounds at Nathan Road sections near Soy Street and Shantung Street, and water cannon vehicles sprayed liquid back and forth along Dundas Street, Soy Street and Shantung Street. �e liquid was sometimes transparent, and sometimes coloured. He himself had been hit by tear gas several times. Its pepper content would irritate people’s eyes while the composition of it was still unknown; (ii) the stall traders at Ladies’ Market had told him that the Police had fired tear gas rounds when they had been doing business, and they had had no way to hide themselves. �e schools in the vicinity of Fa Yuen Street and Sai Yee Street as well as the elderly homes in the vicinity of Tung Choi Street and Fife Street were also often affected by tear gas. Nevertheless, the Police had not apologised to the said innocent people so far. He urged the Police to apologise to them; and (iii) members of the public and police officers all wore masks. He opined that it was difficult to confirm that the ones conducting vandalistic acts were those referred to as “rioters” by the Police.

362. �e Hon James TO raised the following views: (i) during the past several months, the Police had disproportionately used large-scale force in an uncontrolled manner, including the use of tear gas rounds/tear gas and water cannon vehicles. He was of the view that the Government was afraid of members of the public gathering in streets, even just peaceful assemblies, as large-scale assemblies represented that the Government had lost its legitimacy and was cast aside by the public. He considered that the Hong Kong Government handled public assemblies in a similar way as the governments of some tyrannical countries or regions; (ii) he considered that the society needed police officers but currently the Police were unable to control frontline officers effectively. When a majority of the police officers did not obey the orders of their superiors, the society would be in a dangerous situation; (iii) he opined that the Police should disclose the composition of tear gas, and said the Police did not disclose it because they were afraid that after the disclosure, the public could circumvent or cope with the Police’s use of tear gas or produce “antidotes”. He considered the above reason ridiculous, and that it was impossible for the society to produce “antidotes” in a large scale; and (iv) he believed that the

- 57 - Police’s unwillingness to make a disclosure was to avoid strong responses in Hong Kong and from international communities. Nevertheless, unless the tear gas was too toxic, it was hard for him to understand why the Police handle the issue in this way.

363. �e Vice-chairman pointed out that Mr Derek HUNG had urged the Police to reduce the use of tear gas and considered if tear gas rounds were fired into residential units mistakenly, the Police should bear the corresponding responsibility in a reasonable manner. As the political party which Mr HUNG belonged to was the Police’s main ally, he considered that Mr HUNG had pointed out the problems of the Police out of his conscience. Given that more than 60% of the members of the public considered the Police’s deployment of tear gas unreasonable and 77% opined that the Police should disclose its composition, he questioned the Police whether they still thought that they represented the majority of public opinion. Moreover, he again asked the Police whether they would apologise to those affected, including elderly people, children and the general public, and whether the frontline police officers who had been out of control would apologise to the commanders for having disobeyed the orders of their superiors.

364. Ms Suzanne WU raised the following views: (i) the firing of tear gas rounds in the vicinity of the Fruit Market was equivalent to poisoning the public. As the Food and Health Bureau (“FHB”) had only deployed staff to distribute food handling guidelines in the Fruit Market, she criticised that the authority handled the issue of food safety in a casual manner; (ii) community facilities like schools and elderly homes as well as places where food safety was involved were air sensitive receivers and thus should have special protection. It was difficult for her to understand why the Government had not drawn up clear guidelines for the firing of tear gas rounds. Instead, the Police were allowed to arbitrarily fire tear gas rounds whenever they judged that there was such a need. She urged the departments concerned to provide sufficient guidelines so as to assist the parties and local residents affected by tear gas; and (iii) many parents of students had told her that school facilities were cleaned by the cleaners of the schools only. Given that tear gas residues might remain inside air-conditioners for a long time, she hoped that the EDB or other relevant departments would respond to whether they would assist schools in cleaning up the tear gas residues inside air-conditioners so as to protect the health of students.

365. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai was concerned about the impact of tear gas on his constituency. �roughout the week when the “Polytechnic University” incident had taken place, the Police had fired tear gas rounds in his constituency in a non-stop manner. He was particularly concerned about the impact of tear gas on the students of nearby primary schools and kindergartens. He recalled his personal experience that the Police had fired tear gas rounds near him, almost hitting him. He hoped that the Police would give an account of why they indiscriminately fired tear gas rounds without giving warnings in advance.

366. Mr Derek HUNG added that during the past seven months, the Police had faced many large-scale public events including violent protests, which had to be coped with by using different levels of force. Regarding the Police’s deployment of tear gas, he considered that a review was necessary. Acts disrupting social order were of different levels, and thus different coping strategies should be considered to stop them. Besides, it was only natural that the department concerned made apologies if residential units were fired mistakenly and innocent members of the public were affected in the actions of the department. He also asked the departments concerned whether the method to handle the petrol bombs of protesters was similar to that to handle tear gas, and what impact petrol bomb residues would have on public health and the community.

- 58 -

367. Mr Leslie CHAN said that the composition of petrol bombs was of course petrol. Regarding how to make petrol bombs, he considered that it could be found out online. However, the Police had never disclosed the composition of tear gas. He said that he urged the Police to disclose the composition not for circumventing or coping with tear gas, but because healthcare workers had to know the composition to cure the innocent people who had inhaled tear gas. Apart from aﬀecting the health of people, tear gas also had impact on the community. �e plants on the two sides of Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station had discoloured and many birds had died accordingly. He criticised the Police for treating animals in such a way, even not providing masks for police dogs. Besides, to his understanding, the Government had not subsidised schools to clean up tear gas residues. Schools had to deploy their own resources to wash the air-conditioners. Fortunately, the washing was sponsored by alumni. He considered that the department concerned should be responsible for cleaning up the residues of tear gas.

368. Ms Natalie TSUI said it was stated in many pieces of medical literature that tear gas was carcinogenic. She asked whether the Government would provide health examination service for members of the public. Tear gas was all over the community, and a newsstand in Jordan was even burnt by tear gas. She asked whether the Government would compensate the vendor affected. �e Police had also fired tear gas rounds in the vicinity of Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and the hospitalised patients had certainly been affected. Moreover, healthcare workers had complained about the Police’s deployment of tear gas near healthcare facilities. Besides, it was hard for shops to do business due to tear gas, which affected the economy. She understood that the Police had their enforcement considerations, but hoped that the Police would pay attention to the surrounding environment before firing tear gas rounds in order not to affect innocent people.

369. �e Chairman hoped that the two Police representatives in attendance would pay attention to the emotions of their frontline officers. As what other Councillors had said, many members of the public considered that currently the behaviours of frontline police officers showed signs of losing control. It could be seen from television footages that frontline police officers from time to time fired tear gas rounds to members of the public and councillors in a short distance without prior warnings. He recalled his personal experience, saying he had seen that when the crowd had started to retreat and the police vehicle had prepared to leave, anti-riot police officers, who had been leaving, had suddenly fired tear gas rounds to the crowd. To his understanding, police officers should follow the law enforcement practice when applying force, and the deployment of tear gas was for the purpose of crowd dispersal. He was unable to understand why police officers had fired tear gas rounds to members of the public before leaving the scene. He considered that an act of pure venting of emotions, and hoped that the commanders could ensure that frontline police officers would follow the guidelines when enforcing the law in future.

370. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) �e main component of tear gas was a chemical substance called 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, which would cause short-term irritation to the human respiratory system and skin. Nevertheless, it would not have any prolonged impact on the health of people, and its impact on environment was also temporary. During the past six months, Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station had been besieged by protesters in a planned manner 11 times. �e Police had deployed tear gas in their actions, and the areas involved had been washed with water

- 59 - afterwards.

(ii) The attendance of the Commissioner of Police at a District Council meeting was not a regular practice. He clarified that the Commissioner not attending the meeting did not mean that the Police did not respect the YTMDC.

(iii) Regarding that Councillors asked police oﬃcers to smell tear gas, he responded that police oﬃcers of course had the experience of smelling tear gas during their training.

(iv) Regarding a Councillor calling police officers an “armed group”, he absolutely disagreed with that. The Police of Hong Kong had been serving the public for 175 years, and no one had ever called the Police in this way.

(v) In the deployment of tear gas, the Police were on the passive side as they would not use tear gas without a reason. Generally speaking, only under the situation of coping with violent protests, the Police would consider using the appropriate and lowest level of force, e.g. deploying tear gas or using specialised crowd management vehicles, to disperse the crowds and control the situation as well as protecting the safety of other people and that of their own. In the Yau Tsim Police District, no tear gas had been deployed so far after Christmas Eve.

(vi) From June to December, the Police had fired a total of about 16 000 tears gas rounds. He said that the commanders knew the numbers of rounds fired by frontline officers; however, as frontline officers did not station at a single location when conducting sweeping operations, it was difficult to keep tracks.

(vii) The Police had received a case about tear gas entering a residential flat mistakenly, and would follow up on the relevant compensation issue.

(viii) Regarding the Chairman saying that the Police had fired tear gas rounds without prior warnings, generally speaking, the Police would issue warnings to the crowds before the deployment of tear gas, including the display of warning flags, to urge the protesters to leave as soon as possible, but warnings would not be issued before every firing of a tear gas round. However, it could be seen from the events during the past several months that protesters might not leave immediately every time after the display of warning flats by the Police. For the case mentioned by the Chairman, he believed that when the police vehicle had prepared to leave the protest scene, there had been some protesters moving towards the police vehicle, so that the anti-riot police officers had had to fire tear gas rounds to disperse the crowd and force the protesters to retreat in order to create a safe distance for the police vehicle to leave the scene successfully.

371. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded that during the past several months, Mong Kok Police Station had been besieged and attacked at least 73 times. To keep a safe distance from protesters, police officers had no choice but to use minimum force. Every time before the use of force, the Police had issued warnings and displayed warning flags. �e Police Community Relations Office of the police district kept communication with the shops, restaurants, schools and elderly centres in the district, reminding the relevant people of the situation of the district and giving them proper suggestions like avoiding loitering in streets,

- 60 - staying indoor and closing doors and windows.

372. Mr LAM Kwan-hau responded as follows:

(i) Regarding the enquiries of Mr CHU Kong-wai and Mr Frank HO about relevant guidelines, three sets of guidelines had been attached to FEHD’s written response to Paper No. 25/2020. Annex 1 was the guidelines which the department provided for contractors, mainly informing contractors of the points to note in respect of cleaning up chemical residues as well as guidelines on personal protective equipment, and specifying that contractors should take proper measures after assessing the risks, including providing cleansing workers with sufficient equipment for delivery of cleansing services. �e department requested that the cleansing workers of the contractors should wear masks, gloves, sleeves, non-slippery boots when carrying out their work, and put on N95 masks where necessary, in order to ensure a safe and clean working environment for them. Annex 2 was a set of guidelines issued by the CHP, briefly introducing the handling methods and cleaning procedures after the exposure to tear gas. Annex 3 was a set of guidelines issued to restaurants by the Food Safety Centre, setting out how to protect and store food as well as how to wash the foodstuffs that had been exposed to tear gas.

(ii) Regarding the enquiry of the Vice-chairman on whether any cleansing workers had felt unwell, the department had not received any reports on cleansing workers feeling unwell during the past several months. Every time after large-scale events, the department would ensure that the staﬀ conducting the clean-up operations had taken protective measures properly.

(iii) �e guidelines drawn up by the department set out the points to note when handling chemical residues, including that high pressure hot water cleaners or pressure washer surface cleaners should not be used to wash the road surfaces, and that when street washing vehicles were operated to wash the streets with water, the water pressure level of the nozzles should be adjusted to the minimum to avoid dispersion of the residual materials. �e department had also reminded frontline staﬀ that they should seek medical consultation and inform the department immediately if they felt unwell when carrying out the cleansing work.

(iv) Regarding the enquiry of Mr LEE Wai-fung on whether the Police had informed the FEHD every time after their deployment of tear gas, he said that the Mong Kok District Environmental Hygiene Oﬃce had carried out remedial operations for 30 large-scale events during the past seven months. Protesters usually left the protest scenes in Mong Kok at around 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. �e department would arrange for contractors to deliver cleansing services only after conﬁrming that the relevant people had left to ensure a safe working environment for cleansing workers, and the workers should wear proper protective clothing. Moreover, the department would strive to complete the work before the morning rush hours so that the streets would revert to normal and the impact on the public would be minimised.

(v) Usually, the Police ﬁred tear gas rounds across large sections of roads. �e FEHD did not have information on the exact locations where tear gas rounds were

- 61 - ﬁred. Hence, the department would carry out large-scale washing operations in the streets involved.

(vi) Regarding whether the method of cleaning up tear gas residues and that of cleaning up petrol bomb residues diﬀered, he said as there might be some other chemical residues in the scenes, washing the scenes with water was considered the safest clean-up method because it could avoid any adverse chemical reactions caused by other chemical residues that might be in the scenes.

373. Ms FUNG Miu-ling responded as follows:

(i) �e LCSD had drawn up guidelines for cleansing contractors based on the suggestions of the CHP, specifying that the best method to clean up chemical residues was washing with water to reduce their concentration. Generally, the department used cool water to wash away the residues and avoided the use of water spray gun to minimise the water pressure. �e department would provide the said guidelines for Councillors after the meeting.

(ii) To ensure the cleanliness of LCSD’s venues, the department would deploy staﬀ to conduct cleansing operations and remove graﬃti on a regular basis.

(iii) �e department kept a close watch on the impact of tear gas on plants and animals. To her understanding, two birds had earlier been found dead in the vicinity of Kowloon Park, and after examination, the veterinary surgeon had conﬁrmed that the birds had died of natural, not because of tear gas. As for the conservation of plants, the department would check the health of plants regularly and carry out work like mud changing where necessary.

(Post meeting note: �e Secretariat forwarded the relevant guidelines to Councillors via email on 2 March.)

374. Ms Mimi LO clarified her earlier response. She said that the YTMDO had received a total of three tear gas-related enquiries/assistance requests from the public, none of which was from OCs, relevant building management bodies or owners. When communicating with building management bodies, the staff of the YTMDO had not received any enquiries or assistance requests related to tear gas. Among the said cases, two were enquiries respectively made by a member of the public and a non-governmental voluntary agency to the 18 District Offices about issues on street sleepers, while the third case was an enquiry about the banks in the YTM District.

375. Mr Isaac HO again asked the Police whether they would apologise to and compensate the innocent households aﬀected by their abuse use of tear gas. He also asked the LCSD and the FEHD whether they had sought information on the composition of tear gas and the liquid sprayed from water cannons from the Police before washing away chemical residues. If the departments had made such enquiries, he would like to know what the Police had replied; if not, he would ask why the departments considered that there was no need to seek information from the Police, and how they knew what the most eﬀective clean-up method was.

376. Mr Leo CHU said the Police had not responded to the questions on water cannon vehicles, and criticised the Police for adding tear gas elements into the liquid sprayed from water

- 62 - cannon vehicles. He again urged the Police to disclose the composition of the liquid sprayed from water cannon vehicles, so that the innocently aﬀected people could receive appropriate medical treatment in time. In addition, as the goods at the Fruit Market and other ﬁxed-pitch hawker areas could not be sold because they had been polluted by tear gas, he asked the Police whether they would make appropriate compensation and apologies to the traders/hawkers concerned.

377. Ms Suzanne WU said no government representatives had directly responded to her question. She pointed out that the following premises were specified as under the classification of air sensitive receivers in environmental assessments: domestic premises and temporary housing accommodation; hotels and hostels; hospitals, clinics and nurseries; schools and educational institutions; offices, factories, shops and shopping centres; places of public worship, libraries and courts of law; and sports stadiums and performing arts centres. No matter whether there was an abuse use of tear gas by the Police, tear gas was undoubtedly an air pollutant. She asked whether the departments concerned had issued special guidelines on the emission of the said air pollutant within 500 metres of air sensitive receivers. She considered this question purely related to air pollution issues, so she did not understand why the departments were unable to respond to it. Moreover, she also asked whether the departments concerned would arrange air-conditioner cleansing service for schools.

378. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai said the Police had not responded to his enquiry. He repeated his experience that he had been just walking past Jordan but the Police had ﬁred tear gas rounds on his two sides without warnings. He again questioned the Police whether they would apologise for that.

379. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming raised the following views: (i) the term “armed group” used by Mr LEE Wai-fung had no negative meaning, so he did not understand why the representative of the Police found it unacceptable; (ii) it was not easy to clean up protest scenes and resume their normal condition in a short time. He praised the other government departments for fully supporting the Police in the follow-up remedial work after their enforcement actions to minimise as far as possible the impact of tear gas and its residues on the public. He did not accept that the Police still abused the use of tear gas, criticising that they were shameless; (iii) regarding the composition of tear gas, to his understanding, someone had conducted a cyanide concentration test at a protest scene polluted by tear gas in Kwun Tong and found that the concentration had exceeded the standard limit. Hence, he absolutely did not accept the Police’ account that tear gas was harmless to human beings; and (iv) he again asked the Police to make apologies for what they had done.

380. Mr Ben LAM raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he criticised that the written response of the Police and their responses at the meeting were poor, and particularly pointed out that the written response was just a perfunctory response to the YTMDC, showing no respect to the YTMDC. To his understanding, the Police had provided figures on tear gas rounds at a meeting of the Legislative Council (“LegCo”). He did not understand why the Police were not willing to provide the same information at the meeting of the YTMDC. From the relevant LegCo paper, he had found the data submitted by the Police. According to the data, the Police had fired a total of 347 rounds of tear gas in Hong Kong Island and Mong Kok on 29 September 2019, and 1 450 rounds in the YTM District on 18 November 2019; (ii) he recalled that there had been a member of the public being arrested and taken to a police vehicle in the vicinity of Boundary Street, Prince Edward just for asking the police officers on duty “where their conscience was”. He quoted from the Police’s written response, “…if any persons express their

- 63 - views in a peaceful and lawful manner, there would be no need for the Police to use any level of force.” He considered the above response was a lie as that person had just expressed his view in a peaceful and lawful way, but the Police had abused their power and arrested him. Hong Kong people had clearly seen the undue violence problem of the Police during the past seven months; and (iii) he displayed a photo to the meeting, showing a police officer, smiling, spraying pepper spray to reporters. He considered that the miniature of the Police. �ere were many frontline police officers wearing face masks but not their warrant cards, and some of them even disguised as protesters. At present, the behaviours of Hong Kong police officers were seriously out of control, and they were entirely unprofessional and could not gain the trust of Hong Kong people. Hence, he thought that the Police could not reproach members of the public for shouting slogans like “Disband the Police Force” and “Re-organise the Police Force” during protests. As a District Councillor, he would continue demanding the establishment of an independent inquiry committee. He also hoped that the Police would review their enforcement behaviours, stop undue violence and consider re-organising the Police Force. In the future four years of his term of office, he would continue to pursue what the Police had done.

381. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen said the relevant departments had not responded to his questions, while the Police had only provided supplementary information on their written response. Councillors invited the Police representatives to the meeting because it was hoped that the Police could dispel the doubts and concerns of Councillors and give concrete replies to Councillors’ enquiries. A major reason for members of the public being so disappointed with the Police of Hong Kong was that they did not assume the corresponding responsibility in respect of their authority. He again asked the Police whether their use of diﬀerent levels of force was in compliance with the established procedures, how members of the public could know whether the Police had performed their duties in compliance with the relevant procedures, and whether the Police could provide the written records of the reports made by police oﬃcers to their superiors after the use of force.

382. �e Vice-chairman said the Police had fired 16 000 tear gas rounds in an uncontrolled and indiscriminate manner without a reason. Regarding their enforcement behaviours, he made the following enquiries to the Police: (i) whether the Police would apologise to the members of the public affected; (ii) whether the Police would apologise to and compensate the residents concerned for the loss of property they caused; (iii) as Mr CHAN Tsz-wai had nearly been hit by two tear gas rounds when walking past Jordan, whether the Police would apologise to him; (iv) whether the Police would apologise to the schools polluted by tear gas; (v) whether the Police would apologise to the shops at the Fruit Market as well as other shops affected; (vi) as the behaviours of police officers had resulted in the pro-establishment camp’s losing of a lot of seats in the District Council general election, whether the Police would apologise to the pro-establishment camp; (vii) whether the Police would apologise to the departments that had to assist in the follow-up remedial work for the deployment of tear gas, including the LCSD, the FEHD and the YTMDO; (viii) as the elderly people in elderly homes were mobility-handicapped and could not be evacuated in time when the Police fired tear gas rounds, whether the Police would apologise to the elderly people in elderly homes; and (ix) whether the Police would apologise to those Hong Kong people that had passed away due to the proposed legislative amendments.

383. Ms Natalie TSUI said in a number of processions to which notices of no objection had been issued, including the one in the vicinity of Salisbury Garden as mentioned by Mr Leslie CHAN, members of the public had expressed their demands lawfully; however, the Police had ﬁred tear gas rounds to them repeatedly, resulting in members of the public being forced to rush

- 64 - into MTR stations and the protest scenes being turned into a very chaotic state. She criticised the Police for treating the members of the public who were protesting in a peaceful and lawful manner in such a way and disregarding their safety. She considered the behaviours of the Police unacceptable. �e current Police Force were no longer the Police Force that Hong Kong people had knew, and the society had lost the Police Force that would maintain law and order. She urged the Police to apologise to the general public.

384. Mr Frank HO made enquiries to the Police about a case of compensation claim. He said that on 18 November 2019, a newsstand at the junction of Jordan Road and Parkes Street had been burnt by tear gas, and the victim had lost more than $400,000 property and could no longer earn a living with the newsstand. He asked the Police whether they would make compensation for the incident. To his understanding, the Police were entitled to criminal immunities. If frontline police oﬃcers caused any loss of property due to negligence during operations, it would not be deemed as criminal damage. He asked the Police under what circumstances they would exercise immunities and not need to be responsible for their damaging acts.

385. �e Chairman summarised the enquiries of Councillors made in the two rounds of speeches, saying that most Councillors had asked whether the Police would make apologies and whether they would compensate for individual incidents. Nevertheless, the representatives of the Police had not made due responses to these two questions. He hoped that the representatives of the Police would take Councillors’ enquiries seriously.

386. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) The Police would follow up on the cases of compensation claims arising from tear gas.

(ii) Regarding the case mentioned by Mr HO, the Police were currently investigating the cause of the fire. On the material day, apart from spent tear gas rounds, petrol bombs had also been found in the vicinity of the fire scene. Therefore, an investigation had to be conducted on the cause of the fire. If it was confirmed that the fire at the newsstand had been caused by tear gas after investigation, the Police would certainly bear the corresponding responsibility. The Police would not consider the exercise of immunities and would surely follow up on the compensation claim properly.

(iii) Regarding the enquiry of Mr Leo CHU about the composition of the pepper based solution sprayed by water cannon vehicles, its composition was similar to tear gas. The use of pepper based solution by specialised crowd management vehicles was not a unique practice of Hong Kong.

(iv) Regarding the matter on the Fruit Market being affected by tear gas, the Police had not received any tear gas-related complaints from the traders of the Fruit Market. If necessary, he invited the persons concerned to contact the Police.

(v) Regarding the enquiry of Ms WU on sensitive receivers, he said that the Police had their professional judgement on the use of force.

(vi) On Mr TSANG’s saying that there was cyanide in the composition of tear gas, he

- 65 - clarified that tear gas contained no cyanide. After the incidents which took place in The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Polytechnic University, the parties concerned had visited the scenes to study whether the residues contained cyanide. According to the findings, the content of which was extremely low, equal to the level in a normal environment.

(vii) He wholly denied Councillors’ accusations of police officers disguising as protesters and throwing petrol bombs, and police officers raping an arrested young girl. He urged the persons concerned to contact the Police as soon as possible if they could provide more information on the above incidents.

(viii) He considered that the Police should apologise to the residents, the underprivileged and the traders/shop owners in the YTM District being affected by tear gas. Nevertheless, he quoted what the Regional Commander had said in a press conference that the society was currently waiting for protesters to make apologies for their setting of fire, blocking of roads and destroying of shops.

387. Mr LAM Kwan-hau responded to the enquiry of Mr Isaac HO about how the FEHD cleaned up tear gas residues, saying that the department used water to wash away pollutants and tear gas residues, and that the department did not have any information on the composition of tear gas.

388. Ms FUNG Miu-ling responded to the matter on cleaning up tear gas residues, saying although the department had not sought information on the composition of tear gas from the Police, it had made reference to the relevant guidelines issued by the DH.

389. Ms Mimi LO responded that her supplementary information was suﬃcient, and she hoped to see a harmonious community in future.

390. �e Hon James TO said although he disagreed that the Police did not disclose the composition of tear gas, he could understand why they did not do so. What he found ridiculous was that the Police even did not trust other government departments and were not willing to disclose the composition of tear gas to the departments assisting in the remedial work. He also questioned why the departments concerned did not make coordination arrangements with the Police, and considered that the Police could facilitate the remedial work of other departments without disclosing the composition, such as helping the departments choose the eﬀective cleansing materials.

391. Mr Lucifer SIU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he had been attacked by a water cannon vehicle without noticing any warnings. Regarding that the representatives of the Police had said in their responses that frontline police officers would issue warnings before their use of force, he asked the representatives of the Police what the effective duration of a so-called “warning” was and to what extent it covered. If the effective duration of a warning was three hours, he asked the Police whether police officers could use force at will without the need to issue further warnings within those three hours; (ii) he urged the Police to give an account of the handling progress of compensation claim cases, including how many compensation claims there were in total, what the handling situation was at present, and how long it would take in average to complete the handling of a case. To his understanding, the time for the Equal Opportunities Commission to handle an ordinary complaint was 160 days. He hoped that the Police would provide concrete information on the progress of handling compensation claims; (iii) he was

- 66 - aware that the Police had drawn up relevant guidelines for the use of force. He asked the Police the following questions: (1) whether frontline police officers had used force in compliance with the guidelines; (2) whether the Police had internally received any complaints about frontline police officers being suspected of breaching the guidelines; (3) how the Police dealt with the officers who had not complied with the guidelines; (4) as frontline police officers attacked protesters indiscriminately at present, whether the Police would impose internal punishments on them; and (5) how the Police internally identified the frontline police officers covering their faces and not showing their police identification numbers; and (iv) he showed a photo to the meeting taken in Argyle Street near Langham Place on 25 December 2019. It showed that at least 60 armed police officers were at the location while there were no protesters. He had been performing his duties as a District Councillor at that time, seeking to understand from the Police the reason for such a deployment, but the police officers had scolded him, saying that the deployment of the Police was none of his business and urging him to leave.

392. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai raised the following views and enquiries: (i) as the Police had said in their responses that they would apologise to the shops concerned and the people affected, he asked the Police whether they indirectly admitted that they had not followed the guidelines during their operations; (ii) he quoted the response of the Police representative that the Police would issue warnings before the firing of tear gas rounds. He asked in what ways the Police issued the warnings, and whether loudspeakers were used to ensured that members of the public would notice their warnings; and (iii) in view that a police officer had pronounced his name wrongly, he asked about the minimum academic requirements for joining the Police Force.

393. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) �e Police would not ﬁre tear gas rounds without warnings. Nevertheless, the crowds were continuously moving during protests. He supposed that the Police issued warnings at Tsim Sha Tsui Clock Tower and then dispersed protesters to Yau Ma Tei, and said it was actually diﬃcult for the Police to issue warnings in a non-stop manner throughout the entire operation.

(ii) If police oﬃcers were seen wearing a full set of anti-riot gear, it meant that incidents were taking place at the areas concerned.

(iii) �e Yau Tsim Police District had received a report on tear gas entering a residential ﬂat of a building, and the household aﬀected was still considering whether to make a compensation claim.

(iv) Regarding the enquiry on whether the Police used loudspeakers, the Police used loudspeakers as far as possible when issuing warnings. As for the individual incident, he hoped that Mr CHAN Tsz-wai would provide information like the time, date and location to facilitate the Police’s follow-ups.

(v) Regarding the minimum academic requirements, the Police would provide a supplementary response after the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: To join the HKPF as an inspector or a constable, an applicant must meet the established requirements in respect of academic qualiﬁcation and language proﬁciency. Details can be found at the page “Entry Requirements” of the website

- 67 - of the Police at: https://www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/15_recruit/er.html )

394. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) Every time before using force, the Police would issue warnings by ways of displaying warning ﬂags or banners, etc., and would inform members of the district through social media. Besides, a police oﬃcer who had used force in an operation must record and give an account of his use of force.

(ii) �e Complaints Against Police Oﬃce (“CAPO”) of the HKPF had received a total of 1 503 complaints, and was currently following up on them. If Councillors would like to lodge any complaints in respect of the enforcement actions of the Mong Kok Police District, they were welcome to contact him directly.

(iii) �e Police deployed tear gas to disperse the crowds in a safe way and to create a safe distance between police oﬃcers and rioters. It was an internationally acceptable method. �e use of tear gas could be found in many countries, including Italy, Chile and Belgium.

395. Mr Lucifer SIU said the representatives of the Police had not responded to his enquiries at all. He repeated his questions and urged the Police to respond to them.

396. �e Chairman urged the Police to respond to the questions of Mr Lucifer SIU.

397. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) �e Police would issue warnings clearly before the use of force so as to inform the protesters and members of the public in the area. �e Police would also hold warning flags up high so that the crowds several dozen metres away could also see the flags clearly. However, if the protests did not stop, during the actual sweeping operations, it would be difficult for the Police to make individual warnings. When the operation teams of the Police had stopped their actions, they would generally issue warnings again before further using force.

(ii) If there were anti-riot police oﬃcers being deployed and conducting sweeping in an area, it meant that there were incidents taking place in the vicinity. He hoped that Councillors would assist the Police in suggesting the residents of the district go home or go to some safety places as soon as possible.

(iii) Regarding that Councillors had said the police identification numbers of police officers wearing anti-riot gear could not be clearly seen, the Police was aware of the situation. �e Police Headquarters had put forward a corresponding solution in late 2019, displaying unique operational call signs on anti-riot vests for the identification of police officers.

398. Mr Lucifer SIU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he asked whether the warnings made to protesters had any eﬀective extent and duration according to the guidelines of the Police; and (ii) he had indeed noticed that police oﬃcers had worn gear with operational call

- 68 - signs after 1 January 2020. He asked the Police whether they indirectly admitted that frontline police officers had not displayed their operational call signs before 1 January. As police officers had covered their faces, they could not be identified. He asked the Police whether members of the public could not make effective complaints due to this reason.

399. Mr Leo CHU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) regarding that Commander HO had said the Police would like to apologise to the innocent people aﬀected, he asked the Police whether they would make apologies at this meeting only or they would make apologies in a written form; and (ii) regarding the enquiries of Mr Lucifer SIU about warnings, he asked the Police that after they had issued warnings, whether they would assess if the evacuation routes were eﬀective, and whether they would evaluate the time needed by the people at scenes to evacuate so as to conduct crowd dispersal after a particular period of time.

400. �e Chairman said that Paper No. 18/2020 requested the Building Management Liaison Team under the YTMDO to contact the building OCs and stakeholders aﬀected, enquiring about their needs and referring the cases to the departments concerned for assistance. He asked the YTMDO to make a response.

401. Ms Mimi LO responded that the YTMDO had not received any assistance requests or enquiries from OCs, relevant building management bodies or owners. Generally speaking, if members of the public needed to seek help, they would contact the YTMDO or the departments concerned on their own initiative. �e YTMDO would not take the initiative to contact the stakeholders of building OCs and ask them whether they were aﬀected. Nevertheless, if the YTMDO received enquiries, it would handle them immediately and properly, and would refer them to other government departments concerned for follow-ups where necessary.

402. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) �e so-called “eﬀective extent” depended on the topography and environmental noises of the scene, and he could not provide information on an exact area of it. Generally, loudspeakers were eﬀective to an extent of several dozen metres.

(ii) Regarding how the Police would deal with the situations of police oﬃcers before 1 January, the Police would provide information after the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: Even if a member of the public could not identify the police officer against whom he wanted to lodge a complaint by police identification number, he could still make a complaint to the CAPO. �e Police would assist him in identifying the police officer concerned through different means, such as duty records, the material time and location of the incident involved in the complaint, video footage, etc. �e Police would deal with every complaint case in a fair and just way.)

(iii) Regarding that Mr CHAN Tsz-wai had asked whether it meant the Police had done wrong if the Police made apologies, he denied that the Police had done anything wrong. As the Police were not clear about the degree of impact on residents, he considered a written apology infeasible.

403. Mr LI Owan said the subject papers were about the use of tear gas. He pointed out that

- 69 - there were disciplined services quarters in his constituency, and he was deeply concerned about the health condition of the disciplined services officers. He asked the Police whether they had assessed the health problems of police officers caused by being exposed to tear gas excessively while they were on duty, and whether members of their families were affected.

404. Mr HO Yun-sing responded that he had not received any such cases.

405. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded that he had not received any complaints about health problems caused by being exposed to tear gas excessively. All police oﬃcers had been exposed to tear gas during their training while ﬁrst joining the Police Force.

406. Mr LI Owan said he was deeply concerned about the health condition of the electors of his constituency while the residents of the disciplined services quarters were also electors of his constituency. Everyone knew that tear gas contained irritating substances. As the Police claimed that they had not received any reports of problems, he asked the Police whether they had proactively sought to understand if frontline oﬃcers had been aﬀected by tear gas.

407. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded that after every operation, the Police would internally review the operation and seek to understand the physical condition of police oﬃcers. Indeed, many police oﬃcers had been attacked by petrol bombs, stones, hard objects and some other objects.

408. Mr LI Owan said what was discussed in this item was the deployment of tear gas by the Police but not the so-called “rioters” and petrol bombs. He urged the representatives of the Police to respond to his question.

409. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, said he maintained what he had responded.

410. �e Chairman thanked the representatives of the relevant government departments for joining the discussion on this item.

411. Mr LEE Wai-fung suggested a ﬁve-minute adjournment. �ere was no objection.

412. �e Chairman declared a ﬁve-minute adjournment.

[�e meeting was adjourned for ﬁve minutes.]

(Post-meeting note: �e Secretariat emailed the supplementary information provided by the ----- LCSD on this item (Annex 10) to Councillors on 2 March 2020.)

Item 12: Strong Request That MTR Release All Closed Circuit Television Footage of Prince Edward Station Incident on 31 August 2019 to Allay Public Concerns (YTMDC Paper No. 19/2020)

413. The Chairman said that both the discussion papers for Items 12 and 20 were about the amendment bill-related incidents. He asked Councillors whether they agreed to combine the discussion on the two items.

- 70 - 414. Mr LEE Wai-fung asked whether Councillors would not be allotted twice as much time to speak during the combined discussion, i.e. the speech time allowed would be four minutes only.

415. The Chairman responded that Councillors were entitled to the usual allotted time in respect of one agenda item during the combined discussion. Nevertheless, it was some time past six o’clock at the moment, and the meeting was running one hour behind schedule. In view that there were a number of items pending discussion, he recommended a combined discussion and called on Councillors to speak concisely.

416. Mr LEE Wai-fung did not agree to a combined discussion because the areas of concern of the two items were different.

417. Mr Derek HUNG did not agree to a combined discussion because the discussion on Item 12 was supposed to be relatively straightforward.

418. Mr Leslie CHAN did not agree to a combined discussion because the areas of concern of the two items were different.

419. The Chairman asked whether any Councillors agreed to a combined discussion. No Councillor supported the suggestion.

420. Mr Ben LAM said that thus far, about half of the agenda items had been discussed only. He suggested holding an extended meeting to continue any unfinished business, so that the Secretariat staff needed not work unduly long hours.

421. Mr LI Owan said that he did not mind continuing discussion at the meeting until early hours of the morning, but opined that the staff of the YTMDO and the Secretariat working unduly long hours deserved empathy.

422. The Chairman said that the Secretary and the staff of the YTMDO had expressed their wish to proceed with the remaining business of the meeting, and announced that Items 12 and 20 would be discussed separately. The Chairman continued that the written responses from the ----- Fire Services Department (“FSD”) and the Mong Kok Police District of the HKPF (Annexes 11 and 12) had been sent to Councillors for perusal before the meeting. He then welcomed:

(a) Mr Bradley WRIGHT, District Commander (Mong Kok) of the HKPF; and

(b) Mr David CHAN, Operations Manager - Kwun Tong Line & Tsuen Wan Line, Mr Y C CHAN, Senior Manager - External Affairs, and Mr Ernest HO, External Affairs Manager, of the MTR Corporation Limited (“MTRCL”).

423. The Hon James TO provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that the discussion on this item was confined to the “31 August” incident only but the public still brooded over several other dates, i.e. 12 June, 21 July, 31 August, etc. An independent inquiry was inevitable unless the Government intended to stay antagonistic towards the public forever. Previously, he had wished to adopt an alternative approach for handling the “31 August” incident, e.g. a report made by the Independent Police Complaints Council (“IPCC”) might be able to indirectly shed light on the situation after it had obtained the closed-circuit television (“CCTV”) footage during the investigation process. Nevertheless, for now, he envisaged that

- 71 - obliging the IPCC to publish the report would entail difficulties and be time-consuming due to various reasons. Recently, it was even said that the IPCC was not able to obtain much information. Despite the Police’s denial, he believed that no progress would be made in this issue. He was of the view that the MTRCL could absolutely make public details of the CCTV footage concerned in public interest. As a matter of fact, precedents had been set for making public details of CCTV footage in public interest, e.g. this had happened to the Link Real Estate Investment Trust before. Thus, he questioned MTRCL’s rationale behind for withholding the footage concerned. Since the incident had taken place in this district, Councillors should fulfil their duty by requesting the MTRCL to release the footage.

424. Mr LI Owan provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that the “31 August” incident in Prince Edward had triggered an extensive discussion in the community. Prince Edward Station had been closed for two days, not to mention what had happened therein. Even though so many incidents had occurred in Hong Kong in the past, not a MTR station had been closed for such a long time. At present, all Hong Kong people were keeping an eye on the actions to be taken by elected Councillors. He enquired of the MTRCL about the legal grounds for withholding the CCTV footage, given that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (“PCPD”) had responded to the LegCo the day before that it would pose no problem as long as the faces of people therein were redacted. He questioned why the MTRCL had yet to respond so far.

425. Mr Leslie CHAN provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that if the MTRCL was willing to release the footage early to allay public concerns, it could help create a positive corporate image. It had been half a year since the “21 July” incident in Yuen Long. The closing of Yuen Long Station on the 21st day of each month had not only affected the residents in Yuen Long but also other members of the public who had to travel to Yuen Long for either work or visiting relatives. He urged the MTRCL to ask itself why it could not release the footage concerned. Just then, a Councillor had quoted the PCPD’s response that the footage could be released as long as the faces of people therein were redacted. The priority mission of a transport operator was to safely deliver passengers to their destinations. Yet, the MTRCL had failed to do so on the day of the incident. According to his understanding, the “21 July” incident was related to the white-clad men whereas the “31 August” incident was about police brutality. Thus, he questioned why the MTRCL was not willing to release the CCTV footage to allay public concerns.

426. Mr LEE Wai-fung provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that he was not sure whether the MTRCL had prepared its reply before the PCPD had given a response the day before. Even if the MTRCL was unable to respond this day, he requested the MTRCL to have the decision reviewed. After all, this would be a win-win situation for all. To uncover the truth about the incident, members of the public could solely rely on two sources, namely the CCTV footage from the MTRCL and the Police’s records provided by body-worn video cameras (if they were switched on). As reporters had been ordered to leave the scene at that time, members of the public could only take an objective view of the situation and police deployment on that day through MTRCL’s CCTV footage. He hoped that MTRCL’s legal department could re-examine when the full CCTV footage from several MTR stations (namely Prince Edward Station, the stations between Yau Ma Tei Station and Cheung Sha Wan Station, as well as Lai Chi Kok Station) would be released.

427. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that releasing the CCTV footage would not only enable the public to see the truth about the incident

- 72 - on 31 August 2019 and allay public concerns through recognition of their right to know but also improve MTRCL’s image. He believed that supposedly, the representatives of the MTRCL had already heard that their company was popularly known as the “Communist Party’s Railway”, a name evoking negative associations. Public perception towards the MTRCL and sentiments of the people would profoundly affect its corporate image. As the PCPD had already indicated in its response that the footage could be released after face redaction, he questioned why the MTRCL still withheld the footage given its technological competence to handle the case, not allowing the public to clearly see the situation with discerning eyes.

428. The Vice-chairman provided supplementary information on the paper. He raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the last-term YTMDC had also discussed the “31 August” incident. At that time, instead of sending representatives to attend the meeting, the MTRCL had only provided several low-quality black-and-white screenshots. Therefore, even upon the conclusion of the last-term YTMDC, Councillors had kept on requesting the MTRCL to release the footage on the “31 August’ incident. As a matter of fact, when performing an on-line search by typing the phrase “Prince Edward Station on 31 August” into the search engine, search results showing “people beaten to death” would be returned. Secretary for Security Mr John LEE had dismissed the claim that some persons had been beaten to death on that day. However, when being requested to release the CCTV footage, he had just said that it had not been appropriate to do so. If the MTRCL or the Police still adopted this attitude when responding to public enquiries, public concerns would remain unaddressed amid an atmosphere of “white terror”. Even a century later, probably “people beaten to death” would remain the search results of the keywords “31 August” incident; and (ii) he enquired of the Police whether any arrestees had suffered injuries. Mr John LEE had said in November 2019 that the figure concerned had not been made available. In this connection, he enquired of the Police whether the figure had been updated, and why the Police had no knowledge of whether there had been any persons injured or even dead in the incident. He expected the MTRCL to co-operate with the YTMDC as a platform to allay the concerns about the incident.

(The Hon James TO left the meeting at 6:45 p.m.)

429. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that he had been at the scene, i.e. the concourse of the MTR station, during that night. He enquired of the representatives of the MTRCL whether or not they had watched the footage concerned. The phrase “people beaten to death on 31 August” had become popular among many Hong Kong people ever since. Despite that they had never watched the CCTV footage concerned, they still believed so because indeed, so many innocent people at the scene had witnessed so many unimaginable happenings inside the station on that night - crowds rushing up from the platforms, terrible tone of bells ringing incessantly for over 15 minutes and bloodcurdling sound of screaming of people of different ages. Amid the numerous arrests at the platforms, people had no idea of what was going on and did not know what would happen. They were utterly horrified at the mere sight of quite many police officers chasing after them or violence being meted out to some people unlawfully. Such an enforcement practice was extremely problematic. In such a scary situation and amid repeated attempts of the Police and the MTRCL to conceal the facts, no wonder they had chosen to fully believe in the rumour that someone had been beaten to death in Prince Edward Station during the incident. He hoped that the MTRCL could furnish evidence that would enable Hong Kong people to know about the truth. He believed that this factual evidence would be passed on from generation to generation.

- 73 - 430. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai said that not until the television news footage was re-watched had he realised that the MTRCL had reported to the Police of its own accord. He asked if it was the case.

431. Mr Y C CHAN responded as follows:

(i) The MTRCL was aware that apart from the YTMDC, many other District Councils also had grave concerns over the “31 August’ incident and about whether the CCTV footage recorded on that day could be released. In view of public concerns and the situation at that time, a press conference had been held on 10 September 2019, with issuance of a press release and screenshots taken during different time slots. For matters relating to the retention and release of CCTV footage, he would appreciate Councillors’ understanding and patience that under a very stringent mechanism, the MTRCL could not release the footage freely. Given the gravity of the incident on that day, the MTRCL had, in accordance with the prevailing mechanism, provided the relevant video clips on the “31 August” incident for investigation purpose at the request of investigation units and law enforcement authorities. At this stage, it had no plans to release the footage concerned in the belief that the investigation units and law enforcement authorities were investigating this incident based on the information it had provided. As for the status of investigation, responses had to be sought from the departments concerned.

(ii) Normally, the MTRCL would retain CCTV footage for 28 days. Subject to investigation needs, any relevant footage would be retained for three years. For this case, as the relevant legal proceedings were in progress, to avoid affecting the investigation and legal proceedings, the MTRCL was of the view that it was not appropriate to release the CCTV footage concerned at this stage. His comment might not be agreeable to many Councillors, and some of them might raise objection to this, yet he asked for their pardon because the MTRCL needed to respect the consistent procedures and mechanism for handling CCTV footage.

432. Mr Ernest HO responded that regarding Councillors’ concerns on the longer time frame for re-opening Prince Edward Station after the incident on 31 August as compared with other MTR stations, over the past period of time, quite many stations in the entire MTR network had suffered damage to different extents. After public events, the MTRCL wished to re-open the stations and resume services as early as possible, so as to minimise the impacts on passengers. For many stations, in case of damage to facilities or disruptions to train services, the MTRCL would, wherever possible, carry out emergency repair works within a mere few hours after the last train in the small hours. However, for some stations, it might not be possible to expeditiously resume services and might even entail difficulties in providing limited services, so the MTRCL had no choice but to extend the closure of those stations. For some stations with relatively severe damage, e.g. University Station next to The Chinese University of Hong Kong, a longer time for restoration works was required. This was also true for Prince Edward Station vandalised during that night.

433. Mr David CHAN responded as follows:

(i) The previous damage to other stations was not as severe as Prince Edward Station on the night of 31 August. The situations of Mong Kok Station, Kowloon Bay

- 74 - Station and some other stations in addition to Prince Edward Station had got more serious than before that night. As a result, a large number of station facilities had been damaged during the incidents, which was unprecedented. The MTRCL needed more time for restoration works. As the equipment damaged that night, such as platform screen doors, CCTV, etc. would undermine the operational safety of railways and platforms, the MTRCL needed more time for restoration works and conducting acceptance tests before resuming train services safely. Drawing on this experience, some vandalised stations could now be re-opened on the following day because the MTRCL had speeded up the deployment of manpower and materials. As there were so many damaged entry gates in some stations, the MTRCL had introduced portable ticket scanners on a temporary basis since last November for the convenience of passengers. Besides, for the damaged platform screen doors at Mong Kok Station, as glass screen doors had been out of stock, the damaged portion had been enclosed with metal panels instead. Replacement works would be conducted when the glass screen doors were available.

(ii) In response to the enquiry raised by a Councillor just then about whether the MTRCL had sought assistance from the Police on that day, as a matter of fact, staff members of Prince Edward Station had received reports on conflicts erupted among passengers on a Tiu Keng Leng-bound train on Kwun Tong Line at Platform 3. The train could not leave the platform because its doors could not be closed, and the chaotic situation had continued. Later, a train compartment had even emitted smoke. Under this circumstance, the MTRCL had sought assistance from the Police because it had not been possible for MTRCL’s on-site staff alone to deal with the chaos.

434. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) He concurred with the representatives of the MTRCL that the footage concerned was being used for criminal investigation.

(ii) After the “31 August” incident, 10 complaints against the Police were still under investigation. The written response from the Police had already given a detailed account of what had happened that night, and he hoped that that could clarify the concerns of some Councillors.

(iii) He would also like to take this opportunity to refute allegations that police officers had beaten up members of the public indiscriminately, used pepper spray, cheated the ambulancemen, intentionally delayed medical treatment to the injured, etc. As stated by the HA and the FSD, no one had been killed inside the MTR station that night, and thus no death had occurred. As the field commander, he had been at the scene and could resoundingly confirm that no one had died that night. Such assertions were purely defamatory statements against the Police with the intention of triggering confrontation between the Police and members of the public.

435. Mr HUI Tak-leung said that he always stressed that social disputes stemmed from suspicions or hidden agendas. Taking this agenda item to request the MTRCL to release the CCTV footage from Prince Edward Station taken on 31 August 2019 as an example, given that

- 75 - the MTRCL had just now indicated that there had been a delay in service, members of the public would have expressed their understanding of this if the CCTV footage had been produced as evidence. The present social controversy had arisen because no one knew the truth about this incident. He queried why it should matter that the footage was released when the release of the footage was to allay public concerns. The representatives of the MTRCL had said that the footage under scrutiny had involved legal proceedings. Yet, just then a Councillor from the legal sector had said that the credibility of investigation would not be undermined as long as the faces of people were redacted. Of course, he would trust the assertion from a fellow Councillor who was a lawyer. To avoid further social disputes in the future, the Government or the MTRCL should take the initiative to allay public concerns by releasing the footage. After all, different parties had justified their own views on their own merits. The truth could be revealed only if the footage was released. As such, he would later on vote in favour of the motion on the release of the CCTV footage.

436. Mr LI Owan said that the response from the MTRCL was acceptable to no one. Mr HUI Tak-leung was an empathetic social worker indeed. After all, people should be able to put themselves into others’ shoes. Before the “21 July” incident and the “31 August” incident, people would neither vandalise entry gates or platform screen doors nor express dissatisfaction with the MTRCL. Given that Mr TSANG Tsz-ming had mentioned the term “the Communist Party’s Railway” just then, he was sceptical about whether the MTRCL had ever reflected on why the public had kept saying “people had been beaten to death on 31 August”. The MTRCL could have got away with it by distancing itself from the incidents. Before the incidents, even amid the social movement, passengers would buy tickets or Octopus cards beforehand, and no one would vandalise MTR facilities. He considered that the MTRCL was an amateur who did not know how to run a business, nor did it know what corporate social responsibilities were. For now, the entire community had no trust in the MTRCL. Even though it had been half a year since the incident, Yuen Long Station would be closed again this afternoon. Despite that the Government was a major shareholder of the MTRCL, he hoped that the MTRCL could measure up to an impartial and neutral transport operator through self-reflection. He also queried that MTRCL’s management staff had failed to discharge their duties properly.

437. Mr Ben LAM raised the following views and enquiries: (i) public opinion about the release of CCTV footage on the incident in Prince Edward Station on 31 August was crystal clear. In September 2019, the YTMDC had resolved to write to the MTRCL requesting the release of the footage concerned. Subsequently, LegCo’s Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways had also passed a motion last December requesting the MTRCL to release the footage. In this regard, he questioned why the Government and the MTRCL had been unwilling to release the footage so far; (ii) he asked why the MTRCL still withheld the CCTV footage despite the release of screenshots; (iii) as the MTRCL’s major shareholder with 75% of the shares, the Government could actually order the MTRCL to release the CCTV footage in public interest. He enquired of the District Officer about the possibility of conveying Councillors’ aspirations to the Government, and whether she had done so before; and (iv) he enquired of the Police whether all CCTV materials from Prince Edward Station on 31 August had been collected, and whether investigation had been conducted on the violent incidents that took place on that day, e.g. some police officers or suspected black-clad terrorists without warrant cards had attacked unarmed people; and if so, what the progress of the investigation was.

438. Mr Leo CHU expressed the following views: (i) in the last-term YTMDC, some political parties had supported releasing the CCTV footage, and Mr HUI Tak-leung had also expressed support for this just now, showing that public opinion on the release of CCTV footage

- 76 - from Prince Edward Station taken on 31 August 2019 was crystal clear. Both lawyers and the PCPD had advised that it would not pose a problem as long as the faces of people therein were redacted. Thus, he did not understand why the MTRCL still withheld the footage at this stage, and queried whether it had intended to save face only; (ii) releasing the CCTV footage could reveal the truth, which might do justice to the HKPF; and (iii) he deeply regretted that the FSD had failed to send representatives to answer enquiries at the meeting.

439. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen raised the following views and enquiries: (i) apart from doing business in Hong Kong, the MTRCL as a public utility had the obligation to address territory-wide aspirations having regard to public opinion. The representatives of the MTRCL had said that the handling of CCTV footage had to comply with relevant codes and guidelines. He enquired of the MTRCL whether it had the authority to amend these codes and guidelines, and why it was reluctant to go one step further to accede to the public’s request by revising the guidelines; and (ii) he questioned that the MTRCL had forgotten how Hong Kong people had treated it in the past. Before the “21 July” incident, members of the public had said “add oil” to encourage MTRCL’s staff and assisted in tidying up MTR stations during a number of social movements. They had also helped clean up the place when tear gas rounds had been fired to MTR stations. Nonetheless, the MTRCL did not say anything which it ought to say in respect of the “21 July” incident. In response to the “31 August” incident, the MTRCL had said that some people had stirred up trouble in the MTR station on that day, without mentioning people waving hammers, which was a completely biased statement. After all, what Hong Kong people wanted was justice and evidence. Just then, Councillors from different camps had clearly indicated their support for releasing the CCTV footage.

440. The Vice-chairman said that the public had not treated the MTRCL so negatively before 21 July 2019. The fact that many people had put coins and banknotes on ticket-issuing machines for those who needed to buy tickets had shown that at that time, the public had trusted the MTRCL and had confidence in the protection offered by the MTRCL to ensure a safe journey home. Nevertheless, the public had witnessed MTRCL’s collusion with certain forces during the “21 July” incident. Moreover, the MTRCL had turned a blind eye to police brutality against passengers during the “31 August” incident, but was reluctant to release the CCTV footage to allay public concerns. This explained why public opinion had completely turned against the MTRCL ever since. The public preferred to place trust in lawyers rather than the MTRCL, and the MTRCL had failed to earn public respect and trust because of what it had done. The representative of the Police had just said that no one had been killed in the MTR station. Moreover, the PCPD had indicated that the CCTV footage could be released as long as the faces of people therein were redacted. Given that a direction had already been set for the MTRCL, he queried why it could not accede to such a simple request, thus complicating the issue. The MTRCL should self-reflect on its past actions, and not only that, someone should be held responsible and step down.

441. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he opined that FSD’s response had shown that it felt pressurised. Nevertheless, he would like to put his gratitude to all frontline ambulancemen in record. The Police had falsely claimed that there had been no casualties on that day, and had allowed no one to enter the MTR station to rescue people; (ii) the District Commander had just now said that there had been 68 arrestees on that day. He enquired of the Police how many people in Prince Edward Station had been stopped and searched on that day, how many people had been present at the scene at the same time, how many people other than the 68 arrestees had been injured and how many of them had been injured when the Police had been exercising the so-called police power, and whether the Police

- 77 - had followed up on the medical treatment given to them; (iii) he understood that the representatives of the MTRCL had responded at the meeting in accordance with the management’s decision, but he hoped that after the meeting, the representatives could convey to the management of the MTRCL the request for reconsidering the timely release of all CCTV recordings; and (iv) he had not expected support from Mr HUI Tak-leung when drafting this paper, and he called on all fellow Councillors to support his motion later on.

442. Mr Lucifer SIU raised the following enquiries: (i) whether MTRCL’s policy had stipulated any circumstances under which CCTV footage could be released; (ii) whether the footage was still withheld because the policy did not permit its release or the arrestees were undergoing judicial proceedings, so that even though the MTRCL was well-positioned to release the footage but unable to do so for the reason of the proceedings; and (iii) whether the MTRCL would proactively deal with the “31 August” incident and follow up the case in the future.

443. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that despite that MTRCL’s staff had rescued people beaten up by the white-clad men during the “21 July” incident, the “31 August” incident was a turning point. Although Councillors empathised with the challenges endured by the MTRCL, Councillors from different camps had unanimously requested for the release of the CCTV footage. The representatives of the MTRCL had responded that the footage would be retained for at most three years, while it had already been half a year since the incident. In addition, he requested for details of the footage concerned, e.g. the number of recordings, their respective lengths and the viewing angles of CCTV cameras.

444. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming raised the following views and enquiries: (i) “people beaten to death on 31 August” had become a common phrase. In the firm belief that someone had certainly died during the incident, mourners had kept on offering flowers and burning incense outside Prince Edward Station because the MTRCL had failed to reveal the truth to Hong Kong people. Despite the Police’s constant claim that no one had died, since no one had watched the footage, no one knew the truth. Definitely the representatives of the MTRCL present at the meeting had to respond according to the instructions from the senior management. However, quite many countries such as Australia were in the process of enacting human rights laws, which included the introduction of sanctions against persons who were an accessory to the tyrant’s crimes or engaged in inhumane actions on behalf of a totalitarian state. As far as he understood, the MTRCL had investment projects in Australia. He admonished the MTRCL to pay closer attention to this; and (ii) he enquired of the MTRCL whether the footage concerned would still be retained until it was ready to release it someday in case the recordings remained unreleased three years later.

445. Ms Natalie TSUI said that many television viewers had witnessed on 31 August 2019 that the FSD officers, eager to conduct rescue operation, had spent hours in a vain attempt to gain access into the MTR station. The episode had been traumatic for members of the public because no one would possibly know what the MTRCL and the Police had done. If the MTRCL failed to reveal the truth, this horrendous episode would be embedded in people’s mind forever. Not until 31 August had people realised that the MTRCL which had once been hailed as the best service provider would actually not protect members of the public and close its station any time. She opined that entering a MTR station was just like entering a steel cage which could be locked up by the MTRCL any time. She was frightened whenever she passed by Prince Edward Station on a MTR train, for fear that something bad was going to happen and some people would storm into the train compartment. She urged the MTRCL to release the

- 78 - CCTV footage concerned, enabling the public to know that nothing had happened on 31 August as suggested by the MTRCL, so as to give everyone peace of mind during the Lunar New Year.

446. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai expressed the following views: (i) he reiterated that the MTRCL had been widely respected by the community before the “21 July” incident and the “31 August” incident. He believed that the MTRCL had internally assessed the actual impact of the degree of damage caused by the “31 August” incident and the repair costs of MTR facilities on its annual operating revenue; and (ii) according to a news clip, a police officer had said that there had been nobody injured in Prince Edward Station, which had been later uncovered by the media as a misleading claim. After re-watching the news clips about the “31 August” incident just then, he opined that those police officers storming into the MTR station could not be considered as “raptors” (i.e. members of the Special Tactical Contingent) but “rioters” who chased after and beat passengers. He queried how these police officers could protect Hong Kong people.

447. Mr Leslie CHAN considered that the Government’s obstruction was the major reason why the MTRCL had not been able to release the footage. If it was not the case, he questioned why a transport operator could not even release its own footage. This was attributable to political pressure definitely. After all, the MTRCL was also a victim, and the ultimate source of violence lay in the Police and the Government. In the history of underground railway systems around the world, apart from the sarin gas attack on trains in Tokyo, Japan in 1995, presumably only Hong Kong’s police officers had dared to deploy tear gas at Kwai Fong Station. As a result, commuters dared not ride on Tsuen Wan Line even several days later. Even today, quite many people still had trepidation in the aftermath of the incident. Many people had told him that they had seen grieving ghosts in Prince Edward Station. Amid the spread of this urban legend, the sowing of panic in the community had stemmed from the Police’s discriminatory law enforcement operation. Therefore, he called on fellow Councillors to vote in favour of the motion to request the MTRCL to release the footage.

448. The Chairman said that he was touched by the speeches made by a number of Councillors. This incident had a far-reaching impact on members of the public who had really been traumatised. On 12 September 2019, he had signed a joint-signature document together with Mr YU Tak-po and the Hon James TO requesting the MTRCL to release the CCTV footage concerned. At that time, they were delighted at the support expressed by the Councillors from all other parties and the unanimous endorsement of the YTMDC for requesting the MTRCL to release the CCTV footage. Many members of the public had been aware of YTMDC’s passage of the resolution concerned, and some of them had asked him when the footage would be available for viewing, demonstrating that people had high expectations for this. Yet, amid optimistic expectations, efforts to fight for it on people’s behalf had ended up in vain as half a year had passed since the incident, and it had been almost four months since the passage of the resolution last September. After listening to the comments of the three representatives of the MTRCL, he was extremely disappointed and queried why the MTRCL had made an excuse about being not able to release the CCTV footage merely because the case was under criminal investigation, without paying heed to justice, public aspirations and pressure. If a court order had been issued to prohibit the MTRCL from releasing the CCTV footage, he, as a lawyer, would like to invite the MTRCL to explain to the public when the court order had been issued. It had been reported that persons who had been injured on that day had made civil claims against the Police. However, even civil claim proceedings or criminal investigations were underway, he was not aware of any court orders that prohibited the MTRCL from releasing the CCTV footage. As the Hon James TO had said, there would be no reasonable grounds for withholding face-redacted footage. No wonder Hong Kong people hated the MTRCL so much. The

- 79 - performance of the representatives concerned this day was precisely an accurate reflection of the fact that Hong Kong people had done nothing wrong. He asked the MTRCL to figure out the real reason for withholding the footage.

449. Mr Y C CHAN responded as follows:

(i) The MTRCL would provide CCTV footage to authorised persons. After the “31 August” incident, the MTRCL had already provided the footage concerned to investigation and law enforcement authorities and would facilitate their work wherever possible. Since the MTRCL was not a law enforcement authority, it had no knowledge of specific details of the incident investigation, and could only provide as much information as possible, including CCTV footage. While the MTRCL was aware that the public had a strong desire to know what had actually happened, the MTRCL had consistently adopted this standard for handling CCTV footage under the prevailing mechanism. In response to the concerns expressed by some members of the public on this incident, the MTRCL had already provided CCTV screenshots along with the press release issued on 10 September 2019, with a view to striking a right balance. As the case was still under investigation, the MTRCL did not wish to interfere with the investigation process and legal proceedings at this stage, thus it had decided not to release the CCTV footage.

(ii) He made a clarification about the incident happened in Yuen Long Station on 21 July 2019, saying that the MTRCL had nothing to do with the organisations involved in the incident. On that day, after an unfortunate incident had happened in the station concerned, its staff had already done their best to deal with that extreme emergency case. The MTRCL had definitely no relations with those organisations. If necessary, the MTRCL would provide CCTV footage at the request of law enforcement and investigation authorities.

(iii) Normally, CCTV footage would be retained for 28 days, while footage on special incidents be retained for three years. Regarding the handling of the CCTV footage on the “31 August” incident three years later, the MTRCL had already handed over the footage to law enforcement authorities who would continue to retain the recordings before closing of the case or completion of legal proceedings.

(iv) He thanked Councillors for expressing views on this matter, and expressed gratitude to those speaking positively about the MTRCL out of their cherishment of the company. However, regarding the handling of CCTV footage, he would show respect for the consistent and specific procedures of the company, i.e. handing over the footage to authorised persons only, without exception.

450. Mr Ernest HO responded that as the MTRCL wished to strike a balance between public concerns and the handling of CCTV footage, a batch of CCTV screenshots had been included in the press release issued on 10 September 2019 to disclose the locations of CCTV cameras. In response to public concerns about what had happened on Platforms 3 and 4 at the lowest level of Prince Edward Station on that day, the screenshots of CCTV cameras installed at Platform 3 had already been released. As for the CCTV cameras installed at Platform 4 (i.e. Tsuen Wan Line towards Central), two had been damaged at 10:52 p.m. and 10:53 p.m. that night respectively, so

- 80 - the footage on what had happened thereafter could not be provided. After the incident, some injured persons had been taken to Lai Chi Kok Station. In response to public concerns, the MTRCL had provided the screenshots of CCTV cameras installed in the lifts at Lai Chi Kok Station in the hope of striking a right balance.

451. Mrs Laura ARON added that currently, a mechanism had been put in place to relay YTMDC’s views and motions to relevant bureaux or departments. The YTMDO would take follow-up actions accordingly.

452. Mr Bradley WRIGHT responded as follows:

(i) Seven out of the 68 arrestees had been injured. The persons concerned had been charged with offences such as the possession of offensive weapons, unlawful assembly, etc. The Police would seek legal advice on the vast majority of the cases from the Department of Justice (“DoJ”).

(ii) That night, the Police had received numerous 999 telephone calls reporting violent incidents in the MTR network, and Prince Edward Station was just one of the stations involved. Police officers were facing a high level of violence after entering Prince Edward Station, so they had no choice but to use the amount of force appropriate to handle the incident.

(iii) The Secretary for Security had already responded to the “31 August” incident in detail in the LegCo on 13 November 2019. He referred Councillors to the response concerned.

(iv) The Police would take into account PCPD’s advice during the investigation.

(v) He reiterated that no one had died in the incident. Apart from the Police, the FSD and the HA had also repeatedly made reference to that.

453. The Chairman expressed his wish that this motion be put to a vote as soon as possible. As such, he would like to open up another round of speaking right now and encouraged Councillors to seize this opportunity to speak up.

454. Mr HUI Tak-leung asked Mr CHAN, the representative of the MTRCL, to make clarification. The Chairman had just said that the footage could be withheld only if an injunction order had been granted by the court. However, the Chairman had been quoted by the representative of the MTRCL as having said that it was not appropriate to release the footage as the case was under investigation and judicial review. He was dissatisfied with the representative of the MTRCL for misquoting the Chairman. Councillors had tabled the paper with the straightforward aim of requesting the MTRCL to release the footage. Therefore, the MTRCL only needed to squarely respond as to whether the footage could be released, instead of speaking circuitously, so that the attendees would not waste time sitting in the conference room. If the MTRCL intended to reject YTMDC’s request, it could simply respond that the footage would not be released, instead of misquoting the Chairman. He reiterated that the Chairman’s enquiry directed to the MTRCL was whether or not an injunction order had been granted by the court to prohibit the MTRCL from releasing the footage. The MTRCL was supposed to respond to this enquiry, instead of misquoting the Chairman as saying that the footage could not

- 81 - be released because the case was under judicial review and investigation. He expressed grave discontent with such a reply.

455. Mr Leo CHU pointed out that the representatives of the MTRCL had repeated clichés like “existing mechanism”, “prevailing procedures” and “specific procedures” in their responses just then. Many Councillors were well aware that in view of the specific procedures put in place by the MTRCL, the footage could not be released. In this connection, he asked whether its senior management had ordered the withholding of the footage; if so, Councillors would strongly request the representatives of the MTRCL to relay to the senior management the need to revamp the existing mechanism because beleaguered by its existing mechanism, the MTRCL had been reviled by the public. He sincerely hoped that the representatives of the MTRCL could relay the issue to the senior management, instead of just saying that this issue could not be solved under the prevailing procedures. After all, this was the common wish of Hong Kong people.

456. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that the so-called explanation about the release of CCTV footage given by the MTRCL and the Police sounded like a collusion deal. Under a likely scenario, the MTRCL might claim three years later that the case would be referred to the Police in possession of the footage concerned; nevertheless, the Police might not be willing to take any action, or might wish to return the case to the MTRCL. Thus, both parties ended up shifting responsibilities to each other. He just wanted to watch the footage concerned. Given that the two parties had resolutely advised that no one had died on that day, and the District Commander had just said that only seven out of the 68 arrestees had been injured, he questioned why the footage could not be released in an open and transparent manner. There should not be any further delay.

457. Mr Leslie CHAN said that he had come across the Secretary for Transport and Housing Mr CHAN Fan during a site inspection after the train derailment accident taking place at Hung Hom Station of the East Rail Line in September 2019. When being asked to produce the footage from Prince Edward Station, the Secretary had been so scared that he had turned and walked away at once. For the soon-to-be-commissioned MTR Tuen Ma Line with a station provided underneath his flat, to avoid the recurrence of similar incidents, he called for the release of the footage concerned.

458. Ms Suzanne WU said that the callous MTRCL had been so determined to withhold the footage. She considered that if the footage was not to be released, it was necessary to identify the decision-maker and stop using “mechanism” and “the case being under investigation” as excuses. After all, a mechanism had to be administered and activated by somebody. She asked whether the decision to withhold the footage had been made at the request of the Board of Directors, the management team or the Police; or alternatively, such a decision had been made in accordance with legal advice.

459. Mr Derek HUNG expressed the following views: (i) he recalled that in view of the exceptional nature of the case, the Chairman of the last-term YTMDC had exercised discretion to accept the paper on the “31 August” incident for discussion at the meeting even after the submission deadline. At that time, considering that the incident had a considerable impact on the district, Councillors had asked the MTRCL and law enforcement authorities to provide information; (ii) the representatives of the MTRCL did not agree to release the footage on the ground that the case was under investigation. He opined that the footage must be released unless otherwise ordered by the court; and (iii) despite the necessity of investigation, to address

- 82 - the concerns expressed by members of the public and Councillors, he urged the authorities to speed up the process, so that the footage could be released as soon as possible; otherwise, it would just do nobody any good. As quite a number of departments had been involved, an unequivocal explanation was of the utmost importance.

460. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the District Commander had yet to answer his enquiries on the number of people being stopped and searched since the scene in Prince Edward Station had been cordoned off by the Police on that day, how many of them had reported injuries and whether the Police had validated such injuries. He asked the Police to give a written response after the meeting if the requested information was not available at the moment. On that day, some reporters had witnessed that members of the “Raptor Squad” of the Police had subdued a group of innocent people in the staircase. However, some interviewees who had told the media that they had taken part in the procession and demonstration had been released by the Police; (ii) he requested the MTRCL to release the footage, including those recordings from Tsim Sha Tsui Station and Mong Kok Station, to prove the existence of enforcement actions taken by the Police or otherwise, as well as all recordings about the arrest operation carried out in Lai Chi Kok Station; (iii) he enquired of the MTRCL whether considerable resources had to be deployed to keep a record of all footage. Moreover, he requested the MTRCL to keep a permanent record of the recordings concerned until it closed down; and (iv) he urged the MTRCL to provide a written response after the meeting, failing which Councillors would move a motion again.

461. Mr Isaac HO raised the following views and enquiries: (i) given that the representatives of the MTRCL had been unable to answer so many questions, he would like to know their post titles. Regarding the “31 August” incident, if the MTRCL neither released the footage nor fulfilled its obligations, he believed that the YTMDC would persistently pursue the matter within the current term at the least. If the representatives were unable to answer enquiries at every meeting, it would only waste the time of both parties; and (ii) the Government was the largest shareholder of the MTRCL, and the funds of the Government were from members of the public. Therefore, to address Councillors’ enquiries on its organisation structure or deep-seated problems, the MTRCL had the responsibility to send representatives who were capable of answering the enquiries to attend the meeting. Only in this way could a meaningful conversation be started.

462. Mr Ben LAM raised the following views and enquiries: (i) Prince Edward Station fell within the boundary of his constituency. By casting a vote for him, residents had primarily pinned their hopes on him to follow up on the “31 August” incident. However, it seemed that the MTRCL was not going to release the CCTV footage concerned in the short term. He would definitely follow up on this matter in the coming four years or even throughout his political career; and (ii) he illustrated his point with news photos portraying some classic images on the “31 August” incident. During the discussion of the item concerning the use of tear gas just then, the Police had responded that if members of the public had had expressed their views peacefully and lawfully, police officers needed not use any force. He enquired of the Police about the kind of physical force actually used by the people being pepper sprayed in the incident as portrayed in the photos. They were only ordinary people on the train, who had not even expressed their views. He asked why members of the “Raptor Squad” of the Police had to violently attack those people, but seemingly the middle-aged men waving rods and weapons were immune from arrest.

- 83 - 463. Mr CHUNG Chak-fai said that the MTRCL had claimed that the CCTV footage would be retained, but it could not be released as the case was under investigation, while the Police had indicated that no one had died and some 60 persons had been arrested in the “31 August” incident. In this regard, he urged the department concerned to expedite investigation and set the cases down for trial in a timely manner, so as to address public concerns with the early release of the footage concerned.

464. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai raised the following views and enquiries: (i) although he expected that no one would answer his questions, he still wished to reiterate that being aware that the three representatives of the MTRCL present were merely middle management staff, he would not give them a hard time. Nevertheless, he hoped that they would relay to the senior management that if the MTRCL still withheld the CCTV footage, it would continue to suffer a revenue loss of billions of dollars annually, and that Councillors definitely would not tolerate MTRCL’s annual fare increases; and (ii) he continued to ask the Police why members of the “Raptor Squad” had behaved like rioters and launched an indiscriminate attack against ordinary people on MTR trains.

465. Mr LI Owan pointed out that despite that the “31 August” incident had nothing to do with the representatives of the MTRCL, if the MTRCL obstinately clung to its course, he would pursue the matter further and bombard the HKPF endlessly in the coming four years. Judging from the fact that this incident had given rise to considerable skepticism and concerns, it was just a matter of trust. After all, public concerns could be addressed only if there was a willingness to release the CCTV footage. Given that this incident involved public interest and public governance, if the MTRCL refused to release the footage, the YTMDC would continue to raise questions with its representatives at every meeting.

466. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen raised the following views and enquiries: (i) given that the representatives of the MTRCL had said that the CCTV footage could be provided to designated organisations or institutions, he requested that the YTMDC should obtain the status of recipient institution of the footage by filing an official application with the MTRCL. He hoped that the representatives of the MTRCL present would convey this message to the senior management. In view that certainly, it was necessary to obtain Councillors’ authorisation, he asked the Chairman to handle the matter later on; and (ii) regarding the Police, abundant information had revealed that what happened inside the MTR station had been outrageous. He expressed grave concern over the fact that the criteria employed by the Police in judging whether a person had committed an offence were invisible. By taking a pre-emptive move to enforce the law, police officers had suppressed and inflicted harm on individuals. Some of his acquaintances innocently implicated in the incident had suffered injuries. As such, he enquired about the guidelines and mechanism to justify the Police’s decision to carry out arrest operations or use force that night.

467. Mr Isaac HO said that many people described the “Raptor Squad” as having indiscriminately attacked members of the public on 31 August 2019, but he was not convinced that this was an indiscriminate attack launched by the Police. In this connection, he enquired of the Police whether enforcement action in the eyes of the Police, which was in fact an assault in his eyes, had been taken against specific targets on that day.

468. Mr Lucifer SIU put forward the following enquiries: (i) he pressed the MTRCL for an answer on the existence of a code of practice on public access to CCTV footage under its policy. The MTRCL had responded that a policy had been put in place to release footage to authorised

- 84 - persons and institutions, without mentioning whether there were criteria for public access to recorded footage. Therefore, he requested for a written response. Besides, he enquired about the definition of authorised person and institution according to the MTRCL, and whether only the Government and legal institutions such as the DoJ had obtained this status; and (ii) he enquired of the MTRCL whether proactive efforts would be made to follow up on the “31 August” incident in the future, e.g. releasing the footage after legal proceedings, or alternatively, whether it would simply play an passive role and do nothing unless someone pressed for an answer.

469. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that the pro-establishment Councillors had also agreed that the MTRCL should release the CCTV footage. He enquired whether the YTMDC could take further actions by bringing the case to court. As there was no use in letting members of the public see the repeated failed attempts made by Councillors, he suggested that the Secretariat or Councillors should seek legal advice. Yau Tsim Mong District Councillors were representatives of public opinion in the YTM District. As representatives of public opinion in the immediate neighbourhoods, Councillors had secured the mandate to seek a mandatory injunction against the MTRCL for the release of the footage as a matter of public interest. The representatives of the MTRCL had just said that the footage could not be released because of legal proceedings in progress. If it was the case, they had no other option but would bring a lawsuit.

470. The Vice-chairman expressed the following views: (i) the last-term YTMDC had unanimously endorsed the proposal to request the MTRCL to release the CCTV footage. The several current-term pro-establishment Councillors had also raised a similar request. As such, he suggested expressing this strong wish to the MTRCL by issuing a letter in the name of the YTMDC; and (ii) he believed that Councillors would again table papers on the “31 August” incident six months later for discussion at the YTMDC meeting on 28 July 2020. Therefore, the timely release of the footage concerned could not only uncover the truth but also close the discussion on this issue.

471. The Chairman expressed the following views: (i) he believed that the YTMDC was not supposed to be an authorised person or institution. In view that a Councillor had enquired about the possibility of requesting the MTRCL to grant the status of authorised institution to the YTMDC, he wished to first listen to MTRCL’s response to the definition of authorised person and institution; and (ii) regarding the legal proceedings, he invited the District Officer to seek legal advice from the HAD and the Home Affairs Bureau (“HAB”) accordingly. As he had never seen any District Councils involved in legal proceedings, even if the YTMDC could really institute legal proceedings, he doubted whether it was entitled to apply to the court for access to the CCTV footage.

472. Mr Y C CHAN responded as follows:

(i) By definition, an authorised person was a statutory law enforcement authority or a statutory institution with investigatory powers. As far as the “31 August” incident was concerned, authorised persons included the Police and the IPCC. The MTRCL had already handed over the footage concerned to them and would fully facilitate the related work.

(ii) The most important duty of the MTRCL was to provide uninterrupted train services and properly manage its stations. In view of the outstanding repair

- 85 - works for a few facilities in Prince Edward Station, an all-out effort would be made in this regard. In addition, as local residents had grave concerns over the lift works at Exit A1 of Tsim Sha Tsui Station, strenuous efforts would be made to speed up its progress.

(iii) Regarding the “31 August” incident, at present, the top priority of the MTRCL was to facilitate the investigation launched by the law enforcement authorities concerned by providing the requested information.

(iv) Regarding the mechanism for handling CCTV footage, this was a collective decision adopted by the company. He would appreciate Councillors’ understanding that this was an established practice for handling CCTV footage. As for subsequent arrangements, the MTRCL had taken note of Councillors’ views. Although his response might not be agreeable to everyone, he thanked Councillors for their views.

473. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) He reiterated that 68 persons had been arrested on 31 August 2019, and seven of them had requested for medical treatment. In response to a Councillor’s enquiry about details of any other injured persons, he promised to give a written response when the requested information was available.

(ii) He refuted the allegation that police officers had indiscriminately attacked members of the public. He said that given the very chaotic situation where rioters had fought with each other at that time, after entering the MTR station, police officers had used only the amount of force necessary to restore order. In fact, the Police also rendered assistance in evacuating the remaining members of the public in the station at that time.

(iii) The universal guidelines on the use of force had remained unchanged.

(iv) 6 500 persons had been arrested since the onset of a series of public events. As a result, the Police were overburdened with investigatory work. On the other hand, 68 persons had been arrested in Prince Edward Station during the incident. The Police would make an effort to complete the investigation as early as possible; nevertheless, it was necessary to seek legal advice for the majority of the cases. Among the 68 arrestees, some had been found in possession of objects such as stones, steel beads, petrol bombs, etc., showing their intentions to take part in a riot. In fact, to evade legal sanctions, many so-called innocent people had disguised as ordinary citizens after changing clothes inside MTR train compartments.

474. The Chairman enquired of the District Officer whether an enquiry would be put forward to the HAB about if an application could be filed with the court in the name of the YTMDC, in order to obtain the CCTV footage on the “31 August” incident.

475. Mrs Laura ARON responded that the YTMDO would follow up on the enquiry accordingly.

- 86 - (Post-meeting note: Since only entities who have the status of legal person are entitled to institute legal proceedings, whereas a District Council has not been conferred the legal personality, nor can it act as a party to proceedings under the District Councils Ordinance, Councillors cannot institute legal proceedings in the name of the YTMDC.)

476. The Chairman said that the YTMDC would issue a letter to the MTRCL upon the passage of the motion this day. However, he was absolutely not optimistic about the release of the CCTV footage given that the MTRCL had paid no heed to a similar motion passed by the YTMDC last September.

477. Mr LEE Wai-fung said that in response to his previous enquiry about the number of persons whose personal information had been collected by the Police upon closure of Prince Edward Station, the District Commander had only provided the number of injured persons.

478. The Chairman asked Mr LEE whether he wished to know the number of persons whose personal information had been collected by the Police at the scene on that day.

479. Mr LEE Wai-fung responded that he wished to know both the number of persons whose personal information had been collected by the Police and the number of injured persons on that day.

480. The Chairman suggested that the District Commander should respond to these two questions in writing.

481. Mr Leslie CHAN requested to take a vote by open ballot. There was no objection.

482. The Chairman said that the mover of the motion as set out in YTMDC Paper No. 19/2020 was Mr LEE Wai-fung, and other Councillors whose names appeared on the paper were seconders.

483. The Chairman said that the motion as set out in the paper read:

“This Council strongly requests that the MTR release all CCTV footage of the whole Prince Edward Station incident on 31 August 2019 to allay public concerns.”

484. The Chairman asked Councillors to vote on the motion.

(Post-meeting note: There were only 19 Councillors in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

485. The voting result: 18 votes for the motion (namely the Vice-chairman, Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr CHUNG Chak-fai, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Frank HO, Mr HUI Tak-leung, Mr Derek HUNG, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr LI Owan, Mr Lucifer SIU, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming, Ms Natalie TSUI and Ms Suzanne WU); 0 vote against it; and 0 abstention.

486. The Chairman declared that the motion was passed.

- 87 - 487. Mr HUI Tak-leung said that given that the MTRCL had been indifferent to the motion passed by the last-term YTMDC, he requested to include this item under “Matters Arising” for discussion with the representatives of the MTRCL at every meeting in the future until the footage was released. After all, it was not possible to achieve the goal if Councillors did not intensify the action.

488. The Chairman said that according to the Standing Orders, where the YTMDC made a decision on the subject matter, no further discussion on the matter shall be proposed within six months unless with the consent of the Chairman or more than half of the Councillors. In this connection, he asked if Councillors unanimously agreed to include this item under “Matters Arising”. There being no objection, he announced that this item would be included under “Matters Arising” for discussion at every YTMDC meeting in the future.

(Post-meeting note: On 9 April 2020, the Mong Kok Police District of the HKPF provided ----- supplementary information (Annex 13) on the captioned paper to the Secretariat, which was forwarded to Councillors via email on the same day.)

Item 13: Strong Request That Police and Transport Department Take Stringent Enforcement Actions at Illegal Parking Black Spots in Jordan and Tsim Sha Tsui and Pay Attention to Use of Parking Spaces (YTMDC Paper No. 20/2020)

489. The Chairman welcomed:

(a) Mr HO Yun-sing, District Commander (Yau Tsim) of the HKPF; and

(b) Mr Simon WONG, Senior Engineer/Kowloon District West, and Mr Vincent CHOW, Engineer/Yau Tsim, of the Transport Department (“TD”).

490. Mr Leslie CHAN provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) as he had all along been receiving quite many complaints from local residents, the 12 illegal parking black spots as listed in the paper were by no means exhaustive; (ii) according to the latest complaint received by him, illegal parking had been found near the flyover leading to Elements at Nga Cheung Road adjacent to the Kowloon Station; (iii) as far as his constituency was concerned, illegal parking was utterly rampant in the vicinities of the terminals of Public Light Bus (“PLB”) Route No. 78 at Peking Road, PLB Route Nos. 6 and 8 at Hankow Road, as well as the terminus of New World First Bus Route No. H1 at Hankow Road; nevertheless, the Police’s Traffic Wardens had failed to enforce the law; (iv) illegal parking had also been found at Minden Avenue and Blenheim Avenue, and staff of private car parks had complained to him that illegally parked vehicles had affected the inbound and outbound traffic of car parks; and (v) some residents had complained about the severe congestion at the terminal of Tuen Mun-bound residential routes at Kowloon Park Drive, which had even prevented buses from pulling in the bus stop. In view of inadequate law enforcement efforts made by the Police during this period, the issues would remain unaddressed by the Police if Councillors did not table any paper.

491. Mr Leo CHU provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) he thanked the electorate for monitoring the work of the Council. The tabling of the paper had given rise to numerous feedbacks from the community, and local

- 88 - residents had kept raising illegal parking problems; (ii) there was always no taxi at the cross-harbour taxi stand at Mody Square because illegally parked vehicles had been occupying the entire taxi waiting area; (iii) there were many vehicles illegally parked at the bus stop outside Methodist School at Wylie Road. As the location concerned was in close proximity to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, quite many wheelchair users had no choice but to board on buses in the middle of the carriageway. This situation was highly undesirable; (iv) apart from obstructing traffic, a large number of vehicles illegally parked along the ramp of Gascoigne Road at which Methodist College was located would pose a significant risk to school children. About a year before, a fatal traffic accident had happened at a ramp in North Point because the motorist had failed to pull the handbrake. Therefore, efforts should be stepped up to combat such activity; and (v) a section of King’s Park Rise opposite to The Regalia had remained an illegal parking black spot so far. Besides, there were always a large number of vehicles illegally parked outside King’s Park Recreation Ground, obstructing the only access point of The Regalia and causing a great deal of inconvenience to the residents. He urged the departments concerned to step up efforts to combat the above illegal parking black spots, with a view to ensuring smooth traffic flow and road safety.

492. Mr Isaac HO provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) the vicinity of Carnarvon Road, Kimberley Road and Cameron Road was an area plagued by illegal parking both day and night, and illegally parked vehicles had even occupied two traffic lanes; and (ii) some persons had been operating car parking business by taking advantage of the on-street metered parking spaces at Hillwood Road and Cameron Lane. Despite that he did not want to see people making money from metered parking spaces, given the acute shortage of parking spaces in Tsim Sha Tsui, these valet parking operators could actually help alleviate the problem of traffic congestion, which was really ironic. He considered that it was imperative for the TD to address this problem; instead of letting people use the hidden rules to achieve their own goals, the TD should improve the transport polices and rectify the problem of poor planning.

493. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) valet parking services were offered at Parkes Street as well; (ii) illegally parked vehicles had been found at a section of Kwun Chung Street leading to Canton Road. The parking of a private car and a truck at the location concerned would cause traffic jam along the entire street; and (iii) illegal parking had also been found in the vicinity of Temple Street and at Pilkem Street.

494. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) Hong Kong was characterised by scarcity of land and abundance of vehicles. As a matter of fact, there was a high traffic flow in Tsim Sha Tsui. The Police had faced many challenges in the past seven months, and public events had impacted the work of the Police. As the Police’s establishment was basically calculated based on the security situation of the community, if a large number of officers were assigned to conduct other operations, this would affect the routine work. Given that the public events in the Yau Tsim Police District had shown signs of subsiding, the Police would step up traffic enforcement efforts accordingly.

(ii) Given the large number of illegal parking black spots mentioned by Councillors just now, he invited the Secretariat to provide the list after the meeting. The Police would step up law enforcement efforts at those locations mentioned by

- 89 - Councillors having regard to the actual circumstances.

(iii) Regarding the 12 locations mentioned in the paper, the Yau Tsim Police District had received 521 complaints about illegal parking and vehicle obstruction as well as issuing 2 816 penalty tickets in the period between June and December 2019.

495. Mr Simon WONG responded that the TD was aware of Councillors’ concerns on the illegal parking problem in Tsim Sha Tsui. The TD had all along been maintaining close liaison with the HKPF in this regard. Upon detection of the problem during patrols or receipt of complaints from Councillors, the cases would be referred to the Police as soon as possible for follow-ups. The TD would also request the Police to step up traffic enforcement efforts and even patrol of black spots having regard to manpower deployment. When necessary, the TD would introduce appropriate traffic management measures after taking into account the condition of individual locations, so as to effectively facilitate the Police’s traffic enforcement operations wherever possible.

496. Mr HUI Tak-leung hoped that the Yau Tsim Police District and the Mong Kok Police District would conduct joint law enforcement operations, so as to avoid the situation that after being ordered to leave, vehicles illegally parked in the Yau Tsim Police District would travel to the neighbouring Mong Kok Police District for parking.

497. Mr Derek HUNG said that he had written to the Police to report that illegally parked vehicles had often been found in the periphery of the Kowloon Station, in particular Nga Cheung Road viaduct and the carriageway underneath. The situation had become increasingly rampant in the last two months, and some vehicles had even been parked at the road bend, undermining road safety. An owner’s committee in the affected area had often reported the problem to him, and he had sought assistance from the Police from time to time. In view that police officers might have other engagements occasionally, he suggested increasing the establishment of Traffic Wardens to cope with the existing situation.

498. Ms Natalie TSUI expressed the following views: (i) a section of Ferry Street leading to Saigon Street had often been packed with illegally parked vehicles, causing a tailback towards Canton Road; (ii) every day, over 10 cross-boundary vehicles were parked at Man Sing Street, and some of them even occupied the road bend; (iii) many illegally parked vehicles had occupied both sides of different streets in Man Wah Sun Chuen, and thus, in some cases, a vehicle might collide with another vehicle when moving out; (iv) some people had been making money from occupation of public parking spaces at Man Wui Street. Thus, government revenue had been affected by the illegal parking problem. She considered that it was imperative for the Police and the TD to stringently enforce the law; (v) many elderly people residing in Man Wah Sun Chuen and Jordan used to cross between illegally parked vehicles. As such, she asked the TD and the Police to pay closer attention to these old areas; and (vi) given that a set of traffic lights at Ferry Street had not been working properly for 20 days, pedestrians had to either estimate the duration of pedestrian green time or look at the traffic light on the other side. In this regard, she asked the TD to deal with the issue.

499. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen said that all along, the illegal parking problem was rampant at Portland Street, Prince Edward Road West and Playing Field Road. As many cross-boundary coaches were parked at bus stops, buses had to drop off passengers in the middle lane, posing a significant risk. Despite that the streets concerned were three- or four-lane carriageways, the illegally parked vehicles fully occupying two right lanes had prevented buses from picking

- 90 - up/dropping off passengers on the left side. Due to traffic obstruction by cross-boundary coaches, traffic congestion often happened at the road sections concerned. Thus, property owners upstairs or building OCs had often complained to him about motorists’ frequent honking of horns. He would like to take this opportunity to urge the TD and the HKPF to step up efforts in directing the traffic and dealing with these illegal parking problems. Besides, owing to the unavailability of parking spaces for cross-boundary coaches in the district, these coaches had no choice but to incessantly roam across the district. As a result, other road users such as pedestrians, buses and people who parked their vehicles were seriously affected by traffic obstruction. He hoped that government departments could follow up on this issue.

500. Ms Suzanne WU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) her attempt to invite the District Commander to join a meeting for discussing community security issues had failed so far. She hereby formally urged the District Commander to take livelihood issues such as community security and illegal parking seriously, and hoped that the Police would, as soon as possible, agree to hold discussion with Councillors whose constituencies fell within the Yau Tsim Police District; (ii) recently, she had often received complaints about the increasingly rampant problem of illegal parking at Shanghai Street and Reclamation Street from local residents. Double- or even triple-parked vehicles had caused serious traffic obstruction. There were already many trucks at the road sections concerned, and funnelling the traffic flows of three or four lanes into one lane had aggravated traffic congestion. She enquired about the measures to be adopted to address the occasional loading/unloading needs of the trucks of the Fruit Market. Residents had repeatedly reported the problem to her, and even suggested the disbandment of the Police Force to her, so that more lower-salaried Traffic Wardens could be recruited to issue penalty tickets against parking offenders; (iii) as a vehicle parked outside Prosperous Garden had yet to be towed away upon receipt of three or four penalty tickets, the road had been obstructed when the trucks of the Fruit Market had unloaded goods. It was the entire fault of the Police; (iv) regarding the retail sales issue, many people would park their vehicles behind the Fruit Market and then go inside to buy fruits during weekends. In fact, they did not care about the issuance of penalty tickets. As such, she enquired of the Police about how they would deal with the situation; and (v) to make way for the on-going project of the Central Kowloon Route, Yau Ma Tei Multi-storey Car Park involving some 700 parking spaces would be demolished at the end of this year. By that time, vehicles used to be parked there might be parked on the streets in Yau Ma Tei South. She considered it imperative to provide parking spaces as soon as possible, and that the mere provision of parking spaces at Elements was unrealistic.

501. Mr Isaac HO raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the TD had responded that the law enforcement cases would be referred to the Police for follow-ups, but he believed that the TD’s functions should not simply be confined to making referrals; and (ii) given the acute shortage of parking spaces in the district, he enquired of the TD about its plans to alleviate the problem from the long-term planning perspective.

502. Mr Ben LAM expressed the following views: (i) he presented photos of the traffic black spots in his constituency, and pointed out that before his assumption of office as Councillor, he had repeatedly complained to the government departments about the problem arising from the two cross-boundary coach terminals at the junction of Playing Field Road and Nathan Road, and that the media had covered the story. Despite that the problem had been alleviated whenever complaints had been lodged or there had been media coverage, it was left unsolved actually. If three cross-boundary coaches were parked there in the morning, the road section concerned would be blocked. Given the high people flow at the location, pedestrians had no choice but to walk on the carriageway, and sometimes, even on Nathan Road carriageway, posing a significant

- 91 - risk. Cross-boundary coaches were also parked at the nearby “pub street”, and double-parked vehicles had even been found. In this connection, he hoped that the Government would continue to follow up on the problems concerned; (ii) as many people would drive to Tung Choi Street (also known as the “Goldfish Street”) during weekends, double-parked vehicles were found on the entire street, which had been reported by the media from time to time. Yet, this problem had been left unsolved in recent years; and (iii) a local resident had reported to him through short message service that persistent illegal parking of vehicles at Sai Yee Street near Mong Kok East Station (i.e. in the vicinity of Queen Elizabeth School) during weekends had affected the picking up/dropping off of bus passengers, which had in turn caused lost trips of several bus routes (e.g. Bus Route Nos. 1, 1A and 104). He hoped that the Government would take follow-up actions accordingly. Although he did not expect that the problems could be solved in the short term, he would continue to follow up on the traffic issues in his constituency at the YTMDC meetings in the coming four years.

503. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he asked how many Traffic Wardens in the district were deployable to perform routine duties on a daily basis and whether the manpower concerned could support large-scale traffic enforcement operations against illegally parked vehicles through issuance of penalty tickets or traffic control. At present, only seconded officers from the Customs and Excise Department (“C&ED”) or the Correctional Services Department were deployed to perform anti-riot duties, while Traffic Wardens had not been involved. He requested a written reply from the department concerned if it was unable to respond at the moment; (ii) some seven-seater vehicles with cross-boundary licences had consistently waited for clients at a section of Canton Road near Tsim Sha Tsui, and double and even triple parking was common, especially outside a smartphone shop. He hoped that the department concerned could oblige the vehicles concerned to be parked inside car parks; (iii) in the past, some vehicles had used to be illegally parked at Hoi Ting Road in the morning and at night-time; nevertheless, illegal parking had been detected even in the afternoon since the completion of the West Kowloon Government Offices. He requested the department concerned to send officers to conduct a site inspection; and (iv) regarding the placement of pallets at a section of Waterloo Road near the Fruit Market around the clock, he requested the departments concerned to take follow-up actions. Besides, illegal parking of vehicles was particularly rampant at the location during loading/unloading activities at night-time. Waterloo Road was an essential route for hospital-bound ambulances serving his constituency, and he had received several complaints about ambulances being caught in traffic on their way to hospital. He hoped the departments concerned would follow up on these livelihood issues.

504. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) Tai Kok Tsui was one of the areas in the YTM District hardest hit by the illegal parking problem. Basically, local residents would complain to him about illegal parking of vehicles and traffic congestion whenever he appeared at Tai Kok Tsui Road. Moreover, some trucks would still be parked there for a prolonged period of time after finishing loading/unloading activities. As a result, Tai Kok Tsui Road was congested every day; (ii) vehicles had consistently be parked at the ambulance bay at Tai Tsun Street, where a residential care home for the elderly was on the opposite side. Such a behaviour was unacceptable because parking space for ambulance was unavailable when the elderly people were in need; (iii) given the extreme shortage of parking spaces in Tai Kok Tsui, he requested for more public parking spaces; and (iv) during the previous conversation between him together with fellow Councillors and the principal of Methodist College, it was understood that persistent illegal parking of vehicles on the ramp next to Methodist College had caused a great deal of inconvenience and posed a significant risk to the secondary students. As the location concerned was a site of the HA, the school did not know how to handle the case. He

- 92 - hoped that the departments concerned would pay due attention to the problem as soon as possible.

505. Mr Lucifer SIU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the District Commander had said just now that owing to the deteriorating law and order situation, it was not possible to re-deploy police resources to deal with traffic problems recently. He reiterated that many local residents had criticised the years-long problem arising from cross-boundary coaches operating in his constituency, and that the failure of the departments concerned to combat the incessant selling of coach tickets by a travel agency was the cause of this deep-rooted problem in the community. Therefore, he disagreed with the Police’s response citing police resources; and (ii) he enquired whether Traffic Wardens had to work night shifts. As some cross-boundary coaches had been illegally parked at parking spaces not intended for coach parking at night-time, he hoped that the manpower establishment of Traffic Wardens would be increased, and considered that the penalty charges for illegal parking would be sufficient to cover the staffing costs of additional Traffic Wardens.

506. Mr CHU Kong-wai suggested extending the scope of the motion in the paper to the YTM District.

507. The Chairman corrected that this agenda item did not include a motion.

508. Mr CHU Kong-wai expressed the following views: (i) while he agreed that the penalty charges for illegal parking would be sufficient to cover the staffing costs of additional Traffic Wardens, the problem actually stemmed from a shortage of parking spaces. He suggested that the TD should consider providing parking spaces on the Sai Yee Street site; and (ii) he hoped that the Police and the TD would pay special attention to the serious night-time illegal parking problem at Yim Po Fong Street, Pak Po Street, Hak Po Street and Shantung Street in his constituency because local residents had lodged complaints every night. Besides, there was a case that as police officers had only arrived at the scene about an hour later after receiving a report, the illegally parked vehicle had already left by that time, and the local resident making the report had returned to the scene only to find that police officers had already departed. The local resident was so helpless because it was not possible to solve the problem even after making a report to the Police. He had already referred the case to the Police for follow-ups.

509. Mr LI Owan asked whether only the representatives of the Yau Tsim Police District and the TD were currently present at the meeting, but not the representative of the Mong Kok Police District.

510. The Chairman said that as the paper involved the Yau Tsim Police District only, no representative of the Mong Kok Police District was present at the moment.

511. Mr HO Yun-sing responded that he would mark down the traffic black spots in the Mong Kok Police District, and that the Mong Kok Police District might take follow-up actions in accordance with the minutes as well.

512. Mr LI Owan raised the following enquiries: (i) whether the TD was aware of the fact that illegal parking was impacting the normal traffic every day; if so, the TD was requested to give a specific account of the circumstances under which it would communicate and co-operate with other government departments as well as the actions to be taken; and (ii) whether the TD had knowledge about the usage of parking spaces and the current ratio of population to parking

- 93 - spaces in the YTM District; if the data were available, whether the TD had used the data to evaluate the degree of parking difficulty in the district.

513. Mr HUI Tak-leung said that as illegal parking was a long-standing problem, all fellow Councillors had indicated that the problem was really severe in their own constituencies. He hoped that the Chairman would guide Councillors to compile a list of traffic black spots in their respective constituencies for follow-ups at each TTC meeting, enabling the departments concerned to report on the actions taken and prosecutions instituted at the locations concerned, so as to avoid the problem that the Police were unable to follow up on the locations raised by Councillors.

514. The Chairman considered it an excellent suggestion. He asked Councillors to compile a list of illegal parking black spots within this week and fax it to the Secretariat, so that the Secretariat could forward the list to the two police districts for action.

515. The Vice-chairman said that he would submit the list to the Secretariat in writing for referral to the Police for follow-up actions.

516. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai raised the following views and enquiries: (i) vehicles had often been illegally parked at the junction of Bowring Street and Temple Street, the junction of Woosung Street and Bowring Street, towards the end of Shanghai Street, as well as a section of Bowring Street and a section of Kwun Chung Street leading from Kwun Chung Municipal Services Building; and (ii) he enquired about the number of Traffic Wardens in the current establishment and the feasibility of increasing the establishment.

517. Mr Frank HO raised the following views and enquiries: (i) many vehicles had been illegally parked at Parkes Street, the junction of Woosung Street and Ning Po Street, as well as outside Parkes Street Refuse Collection Point both in the afternoon and at night-time. If necessary, he and local residents could provide the relevant information; (ii) the gate underneath the “Pai Lau” at the junction of Jordan Road and Temple Street was supposed to be closed to ban vehicular access, yet some motorists would unlock the gate and enter the area for parking, using government resources for personal purposes; and (iii) as the nearby motorists were generally reluctant to use Yau Ma Tei Multi-storey Car Park with a large number of parking spaces, its utilisation rate was not high. Given that illegal parking was rampant in its vicinity, he enquired about the availability of long-term solutions.

518. The Chairman said that his constituency straddling Yau Ma Tei and Mong Kok areas was plagued by the illegal parking problem. He had discussed with officers of the Police Community Relations Office of the Mong Kok Police District and furnished them with the necessary information for follow-up actions. He indicated to the District Commander that he was aware of the impact caused by the events in the past seven months on the Police’s traffic enforcement operations against illegally parked vehicles through issuance of penalty tickets, which had in turn led to rampant illegal parking in the district. Most recently, media reports had revealed that traffic enforcement operations against illegally parked vehicles had been taken place in Sai Wan and Aberdeen for seven consecutive days starting from last Saturday, whereby penalty tickets would be issued on the spot, and illegally parked vehicles would even be towed away in serious cases of non-compliance. He suggested that similar large-scale traffic enforcement operations should be conducted in the YTM District, so that parking offenders would be aware that the Police would step up efforts against illegal parking instead of ignoring the problem. The situation of illegal parking had deteriorated as compared with half a year or a

- 94 - year earlier. He invited the District Commander to give consideration to his suggestion.

519. Mr Leslie CHAN expressed the following views: (i) he presented a photo taken from his office showing a coach being illegally parked downstairs, i.e. the parking spaces with railings at kerbside along a section of Hankow Road leading to Haiphong Road. As the motorist had not left a contact telephone number, buses could not enter the bend, causing a tailback along the entire Hankow Road; and (ii) regarding the illegal parking problem at Scout Path adjacent to The Victoria Towers, he had called Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station on the evening of 17 January, but there was no one answering his phone call even after a lapse of 20 minutes. Afterwards, he had dialled 999 to report the case and identified himself as a District Councillor, but police officers had failed to show up at the scene. To be specific, there was no police officer attending to the case between 8:18 p.m. and 10:10 p.m. In fact, it was not a single incident. Previously, after he had reported a case, police officers had not shown up until some 30 minutes later, but the location concerned was only a five minutes’ walk from Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station. At that time, a police vehicle passing by had even failed to stop at his summons. Given that the headway of cross-boundary coaches departing from the location concerned was 15 minutes, the illegal parking problem would undermine road safety, obstruct bus traffic and pose safety risk to local residents crossing the road. He hoped that the vehicles concerned could be parked inside car parks and requested the Police to follow up on the illegal parking problem at Scout Path.

520. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai enquired whether he could send the list via email because he did not have a fax machine, and asked for the email address.

521. The Secretary responded that Mr CHAN could send email to her or the Secretariat’s mailbox.

522. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that the Police had updated the guidelines several months before, whereby the interval between the issuance of the first penalty ticket for illegal parking and the second one had been shortened from two hours to half an hour. He asked the Police whether traffic enforcement efforts had been stepped up through stringent enforcement of the new guidelines, the number of prosecutions instituted upon implementation of the revised guidelines and the number of penalty tickets issued under this new procedure.

523. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) The Police had attached importance to traffic issues. The Police had to simultaneously attend to other matters over the past seven months. Nevertheless, efforts would be stepped up in this regard in future.

(ii) The operations mentioned by the Chairman had been launched by the Western Police District. The Kowloon West Region had often carried out similar operations in the past, but fewer operations had been conducted in recent months. They would take forward initiatives in this regard.

(iii) The Police would follow up on the illegal parking black spots raised by Councillors in accordance with the list provided by the Secretariat, and carry out appropriate traffic enforcement operations in order of priority as soon as possible. Priority would be accorded to high-risk locations. For instance, as just mentioned by a Councillor, elderly pedestrians were vulnerable to road injuries when trucks were parked at places where they frequently walked past. As such,

- 95 - priority would be accorded to those places. Besides, priority would be accorded to the access points of major trunk roads. For the case just mentioned by another Councillor, they would pay attention to the tailback towards Canton Road arising from illegal parking of vehicles. Moreover, priority would also be accorded to places where emergency services would likely be affected in such situations as blocking ambulances from accessing the scene, blocking pedestrians’ sightlines and obstructing fire-fighting, as well as those near fire hydrants and zebra crossings, etc.

(iv) There were 29 Traffic Wardens on shift duty in the Yau Tsim Police District. As they were entitled to days off every week, there were about 10 Traffic Wardens on duty every day.

(v) Regarding the problem arising from vehicles with cross-boundary licences mentioned by Ms TSUI, as several Councillors had also mentioned traffic issues arising from cross-boundary coaches, the Police would take these issues seriously.

(vi) The Fruit Market not only was a very complicated issue but also had its own historical background. The Police alone might not be able to fully address the problem there. A committee led by the YTMDO and comprised the Police had been tasked to monitor issues related to the Fruit Market. Traffic matters were a key area of work of the committee, and the Police would follow up on the work in this aspect. Given that the Fruit Market was an historic place with business operations for many years, striking a right balance was no easy task.

(vii) Regarding the number of prosecutions instituted by the Police after shortening the interval between the issuance of the first penalty ticket for illegal parking and the second one, he did not have the information for the time being. After the meeting, the Police would provide the requested information if available. It was believed that vehicles would rarely stay upon receipt of three to four penalty tickets; nevertheless, if a vehicle caused serious obstruction or posed danger to road users, the Police would tow it away.

(Post-meeting note: The police district concerned does not maintain statistics on the number of prosecutions instituted.)

(viii) The Police were aware of the situation of Methodist College. However, unfortunately, its students had stood in the way of traffic enforcement operations, including using bad language against police officers. If the Councillor of the constituency concerned had the opportunity to communicate and exchange views with the students, he hoped that the Councillor could ask them not to attempt to disturb police officers who were merely performing their routine policing duties and would leave the scene as soon as they finished their job.

(ix) Under the existing arrangement, Traffic Wardens needed not work night shifts. Consideration might be given to this should there be an increase in manpower establishment.

524. Mr Vincent CHOW responded as follows:

- 96 - (i) The TD was aware of and had grave concern over the situation of illegal parking in the district and, if practicable, would uphold the principle of “single site, multiple uses” to provide additional parking spaces on sites granted by way of temporary government land allocation or on “Government, Institution or Community” sites wherever possible.

(ii) The TD would add 120 public parking spaces under the development project at Sai Yee Street. The TD would consider increasing the number of parking spaces in different development projects. The plans submitted by private property developers would also be required to satisfy the higher threshold prescribed in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, so as to increase the supply of parking spaces in the district wherever possible.

(iii) He would refer the case of the traffic lights at Ferry Street raised by Ms Natalie TSUI to his colleagues responsible for the area concerned.

(iv) Noticing that some illegally parked vehicles (such as large vehicles) might obstruct traffic at road bends and junctions, the TD had grave concern over this and would take appropriate actions. For instance, the TD had issued a consultation paper on the proposed designation of the road bend at Hillwood Road leading to Pine Tree Hill Road as a 24-hour restricted zone, with a view to improving the situation. The TD also quoted another example on the proposed designation of Hau Fook Street in Tsim Sha Tsui as a 24-hour restricted zone to facilitate the Police’s traffic enforcement operations in a more effective manner, so as to avoid traffic congestion or obstructing the passage of emergency vehicles.

(v) As he did not have the current ratio of population to parking spaces in the district at hand, a reply would be given to Councillors via the Secretariat after the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: According to TD’s record, there were 34 611 private car parking spaces in the YTM District as at December 2019. With reference to the “Population and Household Statistics Analysed by District Council District (2018 Edition)” compiled by the Census and Statistics Department, the YTM District had a population of 331 900. Assuming that the population of the district remained unchanged, the ratio of population to private car parking spaces was about 9.6:1.)

525. The Chairman suggested that Councillors should compile a list of illegal parking black spots yet to be mentioned so far and fax it to the Secretariat, so that the Secretariat could forward the list to the two police districts within this week, obviating the need to further spend time on the matter at the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat forwarded the lists of traffic black spots submitted by Councillors to the departments concerned on 24 January and 4 February 2020 respectively for follow-up actions.)

526. Mr Leslie CHAN expressed the following views: (i) he suggested that the TD should encourage operators of private car parks in the district to publicise the availability of parking

- 97 - spaces therein. As a matter of fact, despite that there were two car parks adjacent to The Victoria Towers, people not living there might unknowingly park their vehicles at roadside. It was also possible that motorists had no choice but illegally park their vehicles because they were blocked from accessing the car parks due to traffic jams in the vicinities; (ii) he suggested that a relaxed approach should be adopted in traffic enforcement against commercial vehicles loading/unloading goods. Besides, for those motorists who left their private cars unattended, he opined that the vehicles should be towed away as soon as possible; and (iii) regarding the problem of illegal parking of cross-boundary coaches, he urged the Government to ensure a sufficient provision of coach parking spaces in the development project at Sai Yee Street.

527. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he enquired of the TD about the possibility of designating a section of Bowring Street leading to Canton Road as a double-yellow-line zone; (ii) given the current establishment of 28 Traffic Wardens only, he suggested a tenfold increase of manpower because the number of Traffic Wardens was inadequate at present. He had never seen officers on duty in the morning; and (iii) a Councillor had mentioned that no one had answered the phone when he had called the police station. He questioned whether this would attract criticism that the 999 hotline was abused when people had no choice but to dial 999. He asked whether the manpower for handling phone calls in police stations would be increased.

528. Mr Lucifer SIU raised the following enquiries: (i) under what circumstances the number of Traffic Wardens would be increased and what types of data were required to support this; (ii) whether there were data on the occupancy rates of existing car parks in the district and channels to enable motorists to know the real-time occupancy rates of car parks; and (iii) the TD had stated that the number of parking spaces for cross-boundary coaches would be increased only after Councillors of the current term had left office. He enquired about the ways to expedite the handling of similar traffic planning issues.

529. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) as there were more than 20 Traffic Wardens only, the situation was highly undesirable; and (ii) as there had been shifting of responsibility among the TD and the Police on the handling of abandoned vehicles, he urged the departments to look into the current situation.

530. Mr Leo CHU expressed the following views: (i) the District Commander had said that the students of Methodist College were hostile to police officers issuing penalty tickets against illegally parked vehicles. He was aware that the police-community relations had reached the “freezing point”. However, the problem stemmed from distrust towards police officers, posing difficulties to the Police in enforcing the law. He suggested increasing the number of Traffic Wardens, believing that the students would do nothing to stand in the way of the enforcement of Traffic Wardens; and (ii) he was concerned about the availability of public parking spaces. A large number of public parking spaces would be vanished upon the demolition of Yau Ma Tei Multi-storey Car Park. Yet, in most cases, only visitor parking spaces would be added in other places, which were unavailable for use by the general public. As such, he urged the department concerned to pay attention to the difference between public parking spaces and visitor parking spaces.

531. Mr LI Owan raised the following enquiries: (i) he asked the TD whether it had information on the locations suffered from traffic congestion as a result of the existing illegal parking problem in the district; and (ii) his constituency fell within the boundary of the YTM District right next to the Sham Shui Po District. Regarding the road sections connecting to the

- 98 - Sham Shui Po District, he enquired of the TD about the availability of relevant data to show the traffic congestion situation caused by illegal parking during rush hours, or to show the severity of the problem. If the TD was unable to respond at the meeting, it might give a written reply with illustrations after the meeting.

532. Ms Natalie TSUI raised the following enquiries: (i) regarding a car park at Man Wui Street allegedly “generating black money”, she enquired of the Police whether action would be taken; (ii) a travel agency had created its own coach parking bay at shop front at a section of Jordan Road leading to Canton Road. More and more coaches had been parked there ever since. As such, she enquired of the departments concerned about the possibility of taking traffic enforcement actions; and (iii) the TD had indicated that planning would be conducted based on the principle of “one site, multiple uses”. In this connection, she asked if underground car parks could be constructed at certain locations in Jordan, e.g. the underground of the development project at To Wah Road, to achieve the objective of “one site, multiple uses”.

533. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen expressed the following views: (i) large vehicles parked illegally along Prince Edward Road West and Tai Nan Street had caused a tailback on the entire carriageway, which had even extended towards Lai Chi Kok Road. This problem had been persisting for many years. Despite that the TD had already designated the location concerned as a 24-hour restricted zone, the problem remained unsolved. He considered it necessary to step up patrols; and (ii) regarding the adoption of a centralised approach to deal with matters related to cross-boundary coaches, he strongly recommended that government departments should hold discussions and exchange views with the Councillors concerned as early as possible.

534. Mr HO Yun-sing responded as follows:

(i) He would take follow-up actions upon receipt of the list of illegal parking black spots from Councillors.

(ii) Regarding a Councillor’s mention of calls unanswered by the report room, he would definitely follow up on the case.

(iii) Regarding the proposal to increase the number of Traffic Wardens, the Police had been making efforts to increase the establishment; nevertheless, the procedures involved were highly complicated. Only 49 posts had been created for 20 police districts territory-wide in 2018-19, and the additional manpower deployable to each district was limited. They would continue to follow up on the matter. He would like to enlist the support of the Council for an increase in manpower when necessary.

(iv) As for the case concerning “black money” generated from valet parking at Man Wui Street, i.e. making money from occupying parking spaces, as a matter of fact, using government-owned parking spaces to do business was against the law. Despite that it was relatively difficult to collect evidence in this regard, they would take follow-up actions accordingly.

535. Mr Vincent CHOW responded as follows:

(i) The TD strongly encouraged private car park operators to share with it the data on vacant parking spaces in their car parks. The related information could be made

- 99 - available to the public through TD’s mobile application “HKeMobility”. If property developers or private car park operators could share their information, he was confident that the public, including motorists, would absolutely find the information helpful.

(ii) He believed that district engineers were capable of keeping tabs on the illegal parking black spots in their respective districts. The TD would regularly communicate and hold meetings with the HKPF on targeted law enforcement operations against those illegal parking black spots.

(iii) Some comments on the development project at To Wah Road had been collected through discussions with the YTMDC previously. Meanwhile, a review was underway. Upon completion of the review, the TD would further consult the YTMDC when appropriate.

536. The Chairman thanked the representatives of the departments concerned for joining the discussion on this item.

Item 14: Concern over Hong Kong’s Preparedness for and Response to “Wuhan Viral Pneumonia” (YTMDC Paper No. 21/2020)

Item 19: Request That Chief Executive Carrie Lam Immediately Lead Officials to Wuhan, China to Learn about Outbreak of Epidemic (YTMDC Paper No. 26/2020)

537. The Chairman said that the discussion papers of Items 14 and 19 were related to COVID-19. He asked Councillors whether they agreed to discuss the two items together.

538. Mr HUI Tak-leung did not agree to discuss the items together and opined that it would take less time to carry out separate discussion.

539. Mr Derek HUNG considered that it would be more efficient to discuss the two items separately, and the departments concerned could give a reply based on the contents of each paper.

540. The Vice-chairman suggested that the items be discussed together as the subject matters of the two papers were similar.

541. The Chairman said that if Councillors had different views, the matter would be put to vote. However, in view of the tight timeframe, he suggested that the items be discussed together.

542. Mr HUI Tak-leung said that if the Councillors who had submitted the papers did not agree to discuss the items together, the Chairman could not put the matter to vote. Yet, after listening to the views of the Vice-chairman, he agreed to discuss the items together.

543. The Vice-chairman said that the papers mainly focused on the situation of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.

- 100 -

544. The Chairman suggested that the items be discussed together. There was no objection.

----- 545. The Chairman said that the written response of the MTRCL (Annex 14), together with ----- the joint written response of the FHB, the DH and the HA (Annex 15) had been emailed to Councillors for perusal before the meeting. In addition, the representatives of the MTRCL had attended the 1st YTMDC meeting on 7 January and would later provide a written response to the questions raised by Councillors on that day. He then welcomed:

(a) Mr LAM Kwan-hau, District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Mong Kok), and Ms HO Sau-ying, Chief Health Inspector (Yau Tsim) 2, of the FEHD; and

(b) Mrs Laura ARON, District Officer (Yau Tsim Mong) of the YTMDO.

546. Mr HUI Tak-leung expressed his dissatisfaction by complaining that the representatives of the MTRCL attended the meeting for the discussion on Item 12 only but not this item. He requested the Chairman not to set a precedent as it was an insult to Councillors. He had criticised government officers for not attending meetings before. He requested the Chairman to condemn the MTRCL.

547. The Chairman responded that fairly speaking, the representatives of the MTRCL had attended the 1st YTMDC meeting to answer enquiries.

548. Mr HUI Tak-leung reiterated that it was a matter of respect, and said that there was a significant increase in pneumonia cases this week when compared to the previous week, otherwise Councillors did not need to submit the papers.

549. Mr Derek HUNG agreed with Mr HUI Tak-leung, saying that there had been only 48 suspected cases when the paper had been submitted on 10 January, but the number of cases had reached 118 this day. The severity of the situation was reflected as the Under Secretary for Food and Health had visited Wuhan and the Chief Executive and the Secretary for Food and Health had visited the Express Rail Link (“XRL”) station to learn about the development. He did not understand why and found it unacceptable that the MTRCL did not send representatives to attend this meeting to give response again. There was still a lack of gene sequencing report for COVID-19 in China. As arrival and departure registration or submission of health declaration forms had not been put in place, there was an absence of effective monitoring at the border control points in Hong Kong, in particular the airport and the XRL station. In his view, the gatekeeping job had not been well performed, and he hoped that the departments concerned could provide an update on the latest development.

550. Mr CHUNG Chak-fai shared Mr HUI Tak-leung’s views that the situation had been changing and worsening over the past few days. It was undesirable that the MTRCL did not send representatives to the meeting. The latest information revealed that there were 291 confirmed cases, and the epidemic had been spreading to different places in the Mainland as well as overseas. There were 118 suspected cases in Hong Kong. Over the past period of time, many members of the public had snapped up face masks without knowing much about the disease. He hoped that the Government could release more information to Councillors through various channels for onward dissemination to the public. On top of this, death cases were increasing, which had reached six. He hoped that the departments and public organisations

- 101 - could show concern and take follow-up actions as soon as possible.

551. The Vice-chairman provided supplementary information on Paper No. 26/2020, saying Professor YUEN Kwok-yung, Chair of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, had said three hours earlier that COVID-19 might have entered the third wave, which represented that there might be an increase in family cluster cases. He hoped that the Government could properly implement epidemic prevention measures in Hong Kong, otherwise there would be a risk of community outbreak similar to the situation of atypical pneumonia in 2003. Apart from suggesting the Chief Executive to visit Wuhan, he submitted this paper mainly to show concern about whether Hong Kong could perform the gatekeeping job well. The statistics mentioned by Mr CHUNG Chak-fai had proved the severity of the epidemic. The means of transport to and from the Mainland and Hong Kong mainly included XRL trains and aircrafts. While flight passengers must complete a health declaration form on arrival, XRL passengers were not required to do so. The Secretary for Food and Health had also mentioned that the first case in Hong Kong might arise any time. Although the staff of the CHP had visited the Mainland and wished to contact the local departments concerned, their efforts were in vain. He hoped that the Chief Executive could lead principal officials to visit Wuhan to obtain the latest information.

552. Mr LAM Kwan-hau responded that the FEHD had adopted epidemic prevention measures for COVID-19, and had enhanced cleansing and disinfection at the markets, public toilets and refuse collection points under the FEHD. Furthermore, they had stepped up street cleansing. In terms of education, the department had written to market tenants, fixed-pitch hawkers and restaurant licence holders to advise them to enhance personal hygiene, environmental hygiene and food safety. The department would closely monitor the situation of COVID-19 and timely step up cleansing efforts in all aspects.

553. Mrs Laura ARON responded as follows:

(i) She understood that Councillors and the Council were concerned with the development of COVID-19, and said the YTMDO also attached great importance to community response and publicity. The written response of the FHB had set out the major work of the Government, in particular the activation of the Serious Response Level by the Government. Under this level, government departments would implement response measures under their respective purview.

(ii) At the district office level, the YTMDO would disseminate the information on outbreak prevention and the importance of personal hygiene through the community networks of OCs, owners’ committees and resident representatives of the buildings in the district, and carry out publicity at licensed guesthouses, hotels and property management companies through HAD’s network. In addition, the YTMDO would actively disseminate information and prepare hygiene packs through area committees and major district organisations in a bid to enhance the publicity and awareness of epidemic prevention in the community. She would relay the suggestions and views of Councillors to the department.

554. Mr HUI Tak-leung suggested the MTRCL provide sterilisation facilities such as alcohol hand rub at entrances and exits of stations. He considered that government departments should take the lead in providing sterilisation facilities at government buildings.

- 102 - 555. Mr LEE Wai-fung expressed the following views: (i) after YTMDC’s discussion on COVID-19 two weeks earlier, an opportunity to further discuss the item finally came up this day. He thanked the Councillors who had submitted the papers; (ii) he agreed with the suggestion made by the Vice-chairman and hoped that the Chief Executive would visit Wuhan to inspect or understand the situation. According to the practice in China, the higher the rank of officials who made a site visit, the more information could be obtained. Nevertheless, he did not agree with the Vice-chairman that government officials who had conducted a site visit had failed to obtain information, as the government officials had at least obtained more information than if they had not paid the visit. Hence, he believed that it would be more suitable for an official of a higher rank to lead a team to pay a visit there; and (iii) regarding border control, two piers and two railway stations in the district were open to Mainland vessels and trains for travelling to Hong Kong. Although a Councillor had just mentioned that XRL trains would not stop at Wuhan station, in view of the high frequency of XRL trains, it was difficult for the XRL staff to carry out cleansing work, and the worst scenario would be cross-infection, or that virus-contaminated objects remained in train compartments. He hoped that a better approach could be adopted. He also reminded the meeting that Mr WANG Guangfa, the expert at the National Health Commission, was a confirmed case, and urged healthcare staff in any countries or regions to be cautious as they were exposed to the virus at the frontline. It was said that 14 healthcare workers were infected with the virus after contacts with patients, so he urged the public to be cautious.

556. Mr Ben LAM shared two news reports he had read this day. In the first news report, Professor YUEN Kwok-yung had said that Wuhan had become an infected area of novel coronavirus. Members of the public were advised to avoid visiting Wuhan if possible. In the other news report, a travel agency had cancelled the travel tours to Wuhan from the next day to 31 March. He asked at what epidemic level the Government would cease the traffic connection between Hong Kong and the places concerned under the mechanism or legislation currently in place; for example, if the situation of COVID-19 further deteriorated, at what level of severity the Government would cease XRL trains or other means of transport between Hong Kong and Wuhan, and whether people coming from Wuhan would be prohibited from entering Hong Kong.

557. Mr LI Owan said that there were a number of immigration control points in the district, such as the XRL station, Hung Hom Station and vessel service. He asked, under the existing mechanism, whether epidemic prevention or quarantine work was adequate, including whether regular cleansing was carried out. In addition, as the virus might be spread to Hong Kong through the above channels, he hoped to know the communication mechanism currently in place, whether communication was adequate, and whether enhanced communication and epidemic prevention would be considered.

558. The Vice-chairman raised the following views and enquiries: (i) Mr WANG Guangfa had mentioned on 10 January that the epidemic was preventable and controllable in Wuhan on the whole. However, in less than 11 days, he was confirmed infected with COVID-19. This was a good example for reference. As it was unknown whether there would be suspected confirmed cases in Hong Kong 11 days later, it was necessary to put in place epidemic prevention measures covering sea, land and air transport from the Mainland; and (ii) to prevent the epidemic from community spreading, he asked whether the Government would provide guidelines, such as at what epidemic level the EDB would suspend classes. The Government should also step up efforts in education and cleansing. Meanwhile, in places where people congregated, such as the parks, libraries and swimming pools under the LCSD, or the Lunar New

- 103 - Year fairs under the management of the FEHD, further measures against the spread of the virus in the community must be put in place.

559. Mr Derek HUNG expressed the following views: (i) he emphasised the importance of a reporting mechanism and communication. In addition to communicating with the relevant departments in Hong Kong, communicating with the relevant departments in the Mainland was also important. Despite that the XRL had suspended the train service to and from Wuhan, there was connecting transport between Wuhan and its surrounding provinces and cities, and passengers might spread the virus to Hong Kong through different transport interchanges; (ii) he had been to the Kowloon Station to communicate with the station master. As there were large housing estates next to the station with a regular flow of people, he hoped that the Administration could come up with response and preventive measures; and (iii) face masks were in short supply in the market because of the epidemic, and their prices surged more than tenfold. He hoped that the Government could consider distributing face masks to members of the public free of charge subject to their availability and supply, with a view to better assisting members of the public in virus prevention and easing their mind.

560. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that the atypical pneumonia in 2003 had also occurred in the early spring in the YTM District, and he advised the meeting not to take the matter lightly. The Lunar New Year was two days to go, and in the light of the Spring Festival travel season, many Mainland visitors would come to Hong Kong, not necessarily by direct XRL trains but by changing XRL trains at Shenzhen North Station or by cross-boundary coaches. As the World Health Organization had remarked that there was sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus, it was necessary for everyone to stay alert. He asked whether the Kowloon Central Cluster had set aside hospital beds or areas for prompt isolation as a contingency measure. Infected cases were increasing all over the globe, and there might be confirmed cases in Hong Kong any time. He wished everyone good health.

561. Mr Leslie CHAN said that The Victoria Towers in his constituency was located between a cross-boundary coach stop and the XRL station. He had met with the operations staff of the MTRCL the day before and had paid a site visit to the XRL station. It was exceptionally difficult to buy face masks at the XRL station. Although the MTRCL had provided sufficient face masks for staff members and contractors, they were still very worried. Despite the suspension of the train service from Wuhan, passengers could take other means of transport to Shenzhen North Station and change XRL trains to Hong Kong, and risks were high when they returned to Hong Kong after the Lunar New Year. There was not much the MTRCL could do. He urged the departments concerned not to take the matter lightly and inspect the departures from Wuhan only, but to stringently perform their gatekeeping roles at all border control points, including the XRL station, Hung Hom Station, ferry piers and the airport, in order to monitor the arrivals from the Mainland. He hoped that the mistake would not be repeated as it would not only affect Hong Kong but the whole world. He hoped that the Government would take follow-up actions closely and, most importantly, members of the public should wear face masks and the Government should educate the public to wash hands.

562. Mr LEE Wai-fung expressed the following views: (i) he requested all border control points to follow the practice of the airport in which quarantine measures were put in place for both arrivals and departures. He was worried that the virus originally spread from Wuhan would finally be spread from Hong Kong, so the gatekeeping work must be properly performed in the community; and (ii) the FHB should perform its gatekeeping role stringently to ensure an

- 104 - adequate supply of face masks in Hong Kong so as to avoid price gouging. Besides, the C&ED should carry out decoy operations to prevent the sale of substandard surgical masks.

563. Ms Natalie TSUI said that her constituency was next to the XRL station, and many cross-boundary vehicles set down passengers there after arriving at Hong Kong. Apart from Hong Kong people being educated on epidemic prevention, she considered that arrivals should also be educated about the severity of the epidemic and epidemic prevention, such as the use of alcohol hand rub and wearing face masks. As there were members of the public feeding birds and stray cats in different areas, the FEHD should closely monitor the situation because the virus was originated from animals. Public libraries should start using book sterilisers. If Hong Kong became an infected place, the travel industry would suffer a more serious economic loss than before; hence, the Government should be careful that Hong Kong would not become a place spreading the virus. She recalled the experience during the atypical pneumonia and reminded the meeting of the serious consequences brought about by epidemics.

564. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen expressed the following views: (i) a Councillor had just mentioned that the epidemic would reach its peak after the Lunar New Year, but he was of the opinion that it would took place earlier, and the first wave would reach its peak in the coming few days because Mainland-Hong Kong families prepared to return to Hong Kong to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Government departments must keep a close eye on the epidemic prevention measures in the Mainland and Hong Kong in these few days; (ii) as far as he knew, the hospitals in the district and the neighbouring districts were highly utilised. Although the Government had set aside isolation beds, based on past arrangements, hospital beds would occupy corridors and be densely placed. The shortage of beds in public hospitals would result in a higher possibility of infection. The DH should give early consideration to the measures in response to an increase in patients after the Lunar New Year; (iii) he suggested the YTMDO increase communication with the OCs of buildings to remind them to step up cleansing of public places and of the severity of the epidemic; and (iv) regarding the price gouging of face masks, he opined that the YTMDC could consider enhancing the medical support in the community, such as distributing face masks free of charge in the areas in need as soon as possible.

565. Mr CHU Kong-wai indicated that the situation of COVID-19 was said to be more serious than that of atypical pneumonia, and it was estimated that there were more than 1 300 infected cases in Wuhan, while the epidemic had been spreading across the country. Although the Government had activated the Serious Response Level, community alert to the epidemic was not high as compared to that to atypical pneumonia. In Mong Kok and Prince Edward, many members of the public would visit the Mainland to celebrate the Lunar New Year and return to Hong Kong afterwards. In his view, the Government should carry out extensive education in the community, such as educating the public on infection symptoms, the objects not to be touched, etc., and should remind them of the severity of the epidemic at present. District Councils were the frontline community education unit, but Councillors had not received any relevant information, and thus they were not able to provide information for the members of the public who were about to travel to the Mainland or return to Hong Kong. He considered that the departments were derelict of duty. As a Councillor who had to explain the situation to the public, he was unable to provide and explain the points to note to them. He hoped that the departments could give a concrete response as to how to solve the shortage of face masks.

566. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai raised the following views and enquiries: (i) as the price gouging of face masks was serious, he asked whether the Government had any measures to stabilise the supply of face masks; (ii) since COVID-19 was rampant in China, he asked whether the

- 105 - department concerned would enhance street cleansing. As there were many pick-up/drop-off points of cross-boundary coaches in the district and the Mainland people got used to spitting on the street, he asked whether the Government would enhance street washing and increase the relevant penalty; and (iii) many shop operators would dispose of waste indiscriminately after midnight, attracting rats and cockroaches and easily leading to bacteria breeding. He asked the department concerned if overnight street cleansing service would be provided.

567. Mr CHUNG Chak-fai said that according to the latest information, confirmed cases had exceeded 300, and he was worried that the figure would go up exponentially. Although there had not been any confirmed case in Hong Kong so far, he hoped that the FHB would step up the measures, such as holding regular press briefings every day for members of the public to obtain more information so that they would be more concerned about the matter.

568. Mr Leslie CHAN expressed the following views: (i) some hotels in the district would attract a higher number of Mainland visitors. He was aware that many people threw cigarette butts outside B.P. International House, and had notified the FEHD to take action; (ii) he opined that it might be difficult to provide overnight street cleansing service; and (iii) he appealed to fellow Councillors to take note of the black spots in their respective constituencies, such as the places where the Mainland people congregated, and to stay alert and wear face masks.

569. Ms FUNG Miu-ling responded as follows:

(i) After the activation of the Serious Response Level, the LCSD had kept reminding frontline staff of the situation and urging them to protect themselves well.

(ii) The department had enhanced the cleanliness of its venues, such as placing sanitising mats at venue entrances and providing hand washing liquid.

(iii) The department had stepped up prosecutions against littering, spitting, feeding stray cats and birds, etc. in its parks.

(iv) Under the Serious Response Level, the holiday camps of the LCSD would be requisitioned by the DH as quarantine centres when necessary.

570. Mrs Laura ARON responded as follows:

(i) She would relay the concerns and suggestions of Councillors to the departments concerned.

(ii) Regarding the epidemic prevention measures, information flow and information dissemination mentioned by Councillors, the CHP announced the epidemic news of the Mainland and Hong Kong almost every day. From 15 January to 20 January, 10 government reports had been released. As stated in the written response of the FHB, the information was open and transparent. She said that daily press releases were the quickest means of information dissemination to Councillors.

(iii) The YTMDO had conveyed the message of being mindful of personal hygiene to the OCs in the district. She also reminded that publicity of the relevant

- 106 - information at the community level should avoid causing public panic.

(iv) Regarding Councillors’ suggestions on the purchase of personal hygiene items, the YTMDO would forward the suggestions to the departments concerned for follow-up actions.

(v) The YTMDO had not received any instructions on distribution of face masks. If instructions were received, the enquiry centre of the YTMDO would assist in the distribution.

571. The Chairman said that the motion in YTMDC Paper No. 26/2020 was:

“Chief Executive Carrie Lam immediately leads principal officials to Wuhan, China to learn about the epidemic and bring back a detailed analysis report on the virus, so that Hong Kong can take targeted measures on virus prevention and control as soon as possible.”

572. The Chairman asked Councillors to vote on the motion.

(Post-meeting note: There were only 18 Councillors in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

573. The voting result: 17 votes for the motion; 0 vote against it; and 0 abstention.

574. The Chairman declared that the motion was passed. He thanked the representatives of the relevant government departments for joining the discussion on this item.

Item 15: Concern over Damaged Traffic Lights as well as Lost Railings and Gully Gratings (YTMDC Paper No. 22/2020)

575. The Chairman welcomed:

(a) Mr NG Chun-ling, District Engineer/Mong Kok of the Highways Department (“HyD”);

(b) Mr Simon WONG, Senior Engineer/Kowloon District West, and Mr Tony YIP, Engineer/Mongkok and Yaumatei, of the TD;

(c) Mr HO Yun-sing, District Commander (Yau Tsim), and Mr Bradley WRIGHT, District Commander (Mong Kok), of the HKPF; and

(d) Mr CHAN Kin-hong, Engineer/Transport Services 1/1 of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (“EMSD”).

576. Mr CHUNG Chak-fai provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that a local resident had been injured due to accidentally stepping on a gully of which the grating was lost, and he hoped that the departments concerned would address the situation properly and reinstall the gratings. If the gully gratings were stolen illegally, he hoped that the departments

- 107 - concerned would take enforcement actions as soon as possible.

577. Mr HUI Tak-leung provided supplementary information on the paper. He was dissatisfied that the damaged railings had been left unrepaired for a prolonged period of time, and considered that the departments concerned had no excuse to delay such works.

578. Mr NG Chun-ling responded as follows:

(i) A number of public road facilities in the district had been vandalised since June 2019. The HyD had all along kept an eye and followed up on the condition of the damaged road facilities, and repair works had been scheduled successively. Regarding repair works, in view of the removal or disassembly of a large number of roadside railings earlier, the HyD had urgently arranged temporary restoration works, primarily setting up caution barriers at locations where railings had been removed with plastic tapes and plastic chains to ensure the safety of road users. The TD was inspecting the locations of railings at different junctions, while the HyD would carry out repair works according to priority, such as those posing a relatively high road safety risk (e.g. the railings at light signal crossings) would be dealt with first. Thereafter, the HyD would successively arrange to repair the remaining damaged railings based on the practical needs of traffic management.

(ii) Moreover, when the HyD found that a gully grating was missing during inspection, restoration or reinstallation works would be carried out as soon as practicable; however, in view of the relatively large number of missing gully gratings recently, it might not be possible to carry out immediate restoration or reinstallation works occasionally due to insufficient stock. Should this happen, the HyD would arrange placement of traffic cones at locations where gully gratings were missing as a temporary measure to alert road users to take extra care and pay attention to road safety when driving through the areas.

579. Mr Simon WONG responded that as said by the representative of the HyD, the TD had been maintaining close communication with the HyD. For locations with damaged railings, the TD would coordinate with the HyD in prioritising repair works at locations posing road safety risks, and at the same time reviewing on the locations where removal of railings was required in response to the change of walking environment.

580. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) The Police were also concerned about the vandalism of communal facilities as this would undermine the safety of pedestrians and other road users. The Police strongly condemned the violent acts resulting in damaged traffic lights as well as missing railings and gully gratings.

(ii) The Police would deploy traffic police officers to direct the traffic at strategic road junctions in the district to ensure the safety of motorists and pedestrians. If there was no deployable manpower, the Police would place road signs to remind motorists to adjust their vehicular speed. The Police would also coordinate with other departments in installing temporary pedestrian lights, which had been in use over the past few months.

- 108 - 581. Mr CHAN Kin-hong responded that over the past six months, about over 700 sets of traffic lights had been vandalised territory-wide, and repair works had been completed in late last December. However, different types of vandalism had been inflicted upon traffic lights in different districts again over the past three weeks, while a small number of traffic lights in Mong Kok had also been damaged in late last December, for which the EMSD had immediately deployed workers to carry out emergency repair works. Given the pervasiveness of vandalism and the relatively large number of damaged traffic lights, the EMSD had been closely following up with the material suppliers to urge them to expedite delivery. Meanwhile, the EMSD would continue with the repair works for individual traffic lights with missing parts, but it could only be done gradually due to the limited availability of parts.

582. Mr Leslie CHAN said that some traffic lights in his constituency had been damaged or missing. He had conducted site inspections and called 1823, but he did not understand why repair works had yet to be properly carried out at certain locations, e.g. the set of traffic lights opposite to his office at the junction of Nathan Road, Haiphong Road and Humphreys Avenue. In addition, a whole set of pedestrian lights in Tsim Sha Tsui had been damaged, but he could not remember the exact location and would provide supplementary information after the meeting. Also, he did not understand why the case reported by him concerning a set of traffic lights in the middle of the refuge island at Haiphong Road damaged for two months had been left unrepaired so far. In view of the high pedestrian flow due to the coming New Year, he requested the departments concerned to expedite repair works. He would express gratitude to repair workers whenever he came across them working on the street. What angered him most was that police officers had come to order him to leave when he had volunteered to direct the traffic as the traffic lights had been damaged, but thereafter the police officers had simply left the scene without rendering assistance, which was unacceptable.

583. Mr Derek HUNG expressed the following views: (i) according to the department concerned, the previous social movement had caused damage to over 700 sets of traffic lights. He understood that the departments concerned had been carrying out repair works. Given the vehicle-pedestrian conflicts at some traffic light controlled crossings at busy road sections, he requested the departments concerned to accord priority to those damaged traffic lights at high-risk road sections. Besides, he also noticed that it might take time to order replacement parts for some traffic lights of old models; (ii) he thanked all the departments concerned for deploying additional staff to cope with the unexpected circumstances, and he understood that this had gone beyond their routine duties; and (iii) quite a number of kindergartens and schools in the vicinity of his constituency were facing danger due to the damaged facilities. He hoped that vandals would refrain from repeating similar behaviours in future because such behaviours would neither benefit members of the public nor the parties involved, but overburden various departments with extra workload. Money was not an issue, but the impact on the public and road safety was what really mattered. Quite a number of Councillors had also mentioned just now that the damaged pedestrian lights had caused a significant impact.

584. Mr LI Owan said that he and Mr TSANG Tsz-ming had often received complaints from local residents about the faulty street lights at a section of Tai Kok Tsui Road underneath West Kowloon Corridor. Some street lights had been found seriously damaged previously, and although they had been repaired at present, the problem had persisted for over a month even though it had nothing to do with the current social events. They had received a reply from the department concerned stating that the cause was defective earthing cables. He enquired of the department about the normal lead time for repair works involving defective earthing cables. According to his observation, it would take more than one to two months to repair the lights.

- 109 - The lack of on-street or under-flyover lighting would affect the law and order situation of Tai Kok Tsui. He had relayed the law and order issue, which had aroused grave concern in the community, to the Mong Kok Police District. He enquired of the department concerned whether it had been aware of the earlier situation, and about the lead time required for the repair of street lights procedurally, in particular the street lights at the section of Tai Kok Tsui Road underneath West Kowloon Corridor.

585. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai expressed the following views: (i) he was concerned about a section of railings opposite to Tak Sun School. Some parents had complained why repair works had yet to be carried out, worrying that their children might dash across the carriageway; (ii) he was concerned about the condition of pavements with so many pavers being dug out. HyD’s contractor had re-paved the pavements with concrete, but pedestrians were prone to trips and falls on the uneven ground, and more than 10 local residents had lodged complaints to him so far. As such, he queried HyD’s acceptance standard, which was out of place; (iii) he suggested that the HyD should not bury manhole covers of cables or other underground utilities with concrete during repaving works, so as to prevent hindrance to maintenance; and (iv) the soil in the planting hole of a tree in the district had been buried under concrete. Although the tree had been removed, he was of the view that it was unnecessary to bury the soil under concrete.

586. Mr CHUNG Chak-fai said that according to the past communications with the HyD, he was aware that the manpower for repairing traffic lights or reinstalling gully gratings was relatively insufficient, and that there was a need to procure or replenish parts. In view that the situation persisted, he suggested that the HyD should procure more parts. While repair works for traffic lights might require the facilitation of the Works Division, it would not take long to complete the simple task of putting back gully gratings. He hoped that the Government would expeditiously tackle the problem by increasing the stock level of gully gratings, so as to prevent residents from getting injured at the locations where gully gratings were missing, and avoid bumpy journeys for motorists or even the occurrence of serious traffic accidents.

587. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) regarding the issue of traffic lights, prior to his official assumption of office, he and several fellow Councillors had submitted papers and issued letters to the departments concerned, including the TD and the Police, but some of their responses had not been satisfactory. As long as the Police were concerned, the case had been left unhandled until some time later; (ii) he would like to make a correction to Mr LI Owan’s remark, indicating that the street lights in question should actually be located underneath the Tai Kok Tsui Road flyover and on the flyover respectively. He asked the department to give a detailed account of the defective earthing cables; (iii) a resident had just sent him a photo of a damaged button on a pedestrian crossing control box outside the entrance of a supermarket at Tai Kok Tsui Road. He believed that this had nothing to do with social events, and suggested that the department should use more durable or better quality materials; and (iv) noticing that wire mesh had been retrofitted to some traffic lights at the main junctions in Mong Kok, he suggested the wider adoption of this method as it was better than using light hoods.

588. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) in view of the damaged traffic lights, they had directed the traffic at Nathan Road time and again. He recalled a most ridiculous incident in which an Emergency Unit (“EU”) vehicle had stopped in front of HSBC Building Mongkok, but the police officers had failed to render assistance in traffic control. When they had assisted in directing the traffic, the police officers had just neglected them. Later, a fire engine had arrived at the scene, and they had continued to direct the traffic as it had

- 110 - been so congested. At that time, as some members of the public had taken photos of the scene with their smartphones, the police officers had ordered them to leave. Yet, the police officers had still failed to direct the traffic after dispersing the crowd; and (ii) when he and the Hon James TO had followed up on the replacement of triangular gully gratings with square-hole ones around 2017, the HyD had at that time stated that the triangular gully gratings would be stored up. As such, he enquired whether that batch of gully gratings in stock could be used to replace the missing ones, or whether they had already been destroyed.

589. Mr CHU Kong-wai expressed the following views: (i) regarding the issue of damaged traffic lights, railings, gully gratings, etc., he opined that for the Government, the most direct way to tackle the problems arising from the earlier social movement was to respond to public aspirations, the root causes of all these incidents. He also considered that there were omissions and even biases for the three Councillors submitting the paper to merely propose to restore the damaged facilities to their original condition, without mentioning the root causes of these incidents; and (ii) given that the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street, the junction of Argyle Street and Sai Yee Street, as well as the junction of Nathan Road and Shantung Street in his constituency were vandalism hotspots, some fellow Councillors had requested the Police to attend the scenes when incidents took place, but he considered that this would cause serious obstruction to vehicular traffic. He asked whether the Police could undertake to deploy manpower to handle such situations and, if so, when police officers would be deployed to the scenes. Many residents had said that there were no police officers on duty during rush hours, and that some enthusiastic members of the public volunteering to direct the traffic had been repeatedly ordered to leave by police officers, but these police officers had simply left the scene afterwards. He had the above experience at Argyle Street before.

590. Mr Isaac HO believed that similar cases of damage had involved many places. He enquired of the YTMDO about the possibility of referring the locations that Councillors had expressed concerns to the departments concerned within this week for follow-up actions.

591. The Chairman said that Councillors could submit a list to the YTMDO, which would be forwarded to the police districts or departments concerned for follow-up actions.

(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat forwarded the lists of locations with damaged facilities from Councillors to the departments concerned for follow-up actions on 24 January and 4 February 2020 respectively.)

592. Ms Natalie TSUI expressed the following views: (i) she appreciated HyD’s installation of plastic chains on damaged railings. Citing Ferry Street as an example, she said that in the past, pedestrians had to walk to the end of the street to cross the road, but damaged railings had made jaywalking possible. Therefore, a buffer could be provided to separate pedestrians from the road after installing plastic chains on damaged railings. Given that there were fewer protests in some areas at present, she suggested reinstalling metal railings for better protection. Moreover, some jaywalkers would tear off the plastic chains and cross the road through the openings of railings, which was very dangerous; (ii) the department concerned had repaved the pavements with concrete at places where pavers had been dug out. Given the uneven concrete surface, if tripped and fell, elderly passers-by would suffer serious injuries; (iii) the traffic lights at Man Wah Sun Chuen, in particular the ones at a section of Jordan Road near Saigon Street had been out of service for many days. If replacement parts were unavailable for repair works, she suggested providing a set of temporary traffic lights at the location for directing the traffic. The traffic light outage there had already persisted for 20 days; and (iv) every day, pedestrians from

- 111 - Austin Station gained access to Man Wah Sun Chuen via a lane near Man Wui Street. As the lampposts faced Man Wah Sun Chuen, the lane with an uneven ground was poorly illuminated, posing a significant danger to passers-by. As such, she hoped that the EMSD would install additional street lights to facilitate pedestrian passage.

(Mr HUI Tak-leung left the meeting at 10:48 p.m.)

593. The Chairman asked Councillors not to further put forward individual cases at the meeting, and invited them to submit a list to the YTMDO, which would be forwarded to the departments concerned for handling.

594. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen said some people residing at Nathan Road had told him that the spotlights constantly switched on at Mong Kok Police Station had caused a certain degree of visual barrier to motorists travelling through the area. Despite that this issue had not resulted in any traffic accidents so far, whereas there was a need for the Police to use such ancillary facilities when performing their duties, he opined that the impact of these facilities on residents could be reduced in the absence of social events. After all, spotlights being constantly switched on would not help reduce the occurrence of social events but undermine driving safety. He hoped that while repairing the different facilities in the district, the Government would also pay attention to the impact of the facilities on local residents.

595. Mr Ben LAM said that at present, the HyD repaved the pavements with concrete after pavers had been dug up, and pavers would no longer be used. Apart from aesthetics, pavers were adopted because they could be dug up with ease when dealing with underground cables or drains. He asked whether concrete as a substitute for pavers would cause any problems.

596. Mr Leslie CHAN said that he did not totally agree with Ms Natalie TSUI’s view that all metal railings should be reinstalled, but considered that only some metal railings should be reinstalled, while the railings at some road sections should be removed instead because pedestrian movement on those narrow road sections had been hindered. Some local residents had said that in the absence of railings, it was easier and safer for them to walk on the streets which were no longer crowded with pedestrians. For instance, there was smoother pedestrian movement at the pavements without railings opposite to The Peninsula Hong Kong and Chungking Mansions. He hoped that government departments would take into account the individual situation of each location when reinstalling the railings.

597. Mr CHU Kong-wai agreed that some road sections did not need railings at all. As a case in point, some residents of buildings at the junction of Nelson Street and Sai Yee Street had complained to him about the narrow road section there, but unfortunately, the railings at the location had yet to be removed.

598. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) he recalled that when he had passed by Mong Kok about two or three weeks before, he had seen police officers ordering pedestrians to return to the narrow pavement. If the pavement had no railings, it could accommodate more pedestrians. Pneumonia was of course another concern. After all, given the relatively narrow pavements in the district, he called on frontline uniformed police officers to pay attention to this; and (ii) he hoped that the pavements could be repaved with pavers because if local residents tripped and fell on concrete surface, they would suffer critical injuries.

599. Mr LEE Wai-fung said that he had walked from Tsim Sha Tsui to Jordan and vice versa

- 112 - several times the previous night, and found that some concrete pavement surfaces were uneven, probably because the HyD had needed to repave those pavements with concrete in a rush. Despite this, for now, if time permitted, he called on the department to review whether there were situations of uneven grounds, multiple concrete layers or concrete overflowing onto carriageways at the pavements concerned.

600. The Chairman raised the following views and enquiries: (i) regarding the concrete pavements, Councillors understood the immediate need to repave pavements with concrete after pavers had been dug up at that time, but the paving technique was far from satisfactory. He had often received complaints from local residents that elderly people were prone to falls on the uneven pavements, especially at a poorly paved section of Nathan Road near Pitt Street and Dundas Street. He hoped that the HyD would deploy staff to conduct a site inspection and carry out levelling works at the road sections concerned; and (ii) the original paving blocks were eco-pavers for providing environmental benefits. He asked whether the current measure was of a temporary nature or would be maintained in the long run; if it was a temporary one, when the department would repave the pavements with eco-pavers, whether such works would only be carried out after the community had been restored to peace, and whether there was a timetable for repaving works with the use of eco-pavers. He agreed that it might not be necessary to reinstall all railings. As the department had previously indicated that it would take a long time to reinstall the railings, which might not be completed until the end of this year, he asked why it would take so long to complete the works.

601. Mr NG Chun-ling responded as follows:

(i) Regarding the faulty street lights at Tai Kok Tsui Road underneath West Kowloon Corridor, as far as he knew, the repair works had been completed, and the problem might involve earthing cables. As the repair works were carried out by the colleagues of the Lighting Division, he had no information at hand. He would contact the subject officer after the meeting, and then reply to Councillors.

(ii) Regarding the railings near Tak Sun School, given that damaged railings might pose road safety risks to the school children passing there, the department would accord priority to the location when reinstalling railings.

(iii) Regarding the temporary restoration works after the removal of pavers, Councillors had mentioned that the concrete paving technique was far from satisfactory. In view of the large number of sites to be restored within a tight timeframe at that time, the department wished to strike a balance between ensuring the safety of road users and completing the urgent temporary repair works in a short period of time so as to resume normal traffic as soon as possible. As a result, uneven concrete pavements had been found at some locations. The department had taken note of the situation already, and had instructed the contractor to follow up on the road sections concerned and carry out improvement works as soon as possible.

(iv) Regarding the replacement of triangular gully gratings with square-hole ones at pedestrian crossings earlier, as wheelchair users or ladies wearing high-heel shoes were prone to trips and falls or the ladies’ heels were easily stuck in grate gaps, the department had at that time replaced the old gully gratings at pedestrian crossings with square-hole ones. The original gully gratings were being stored

- 113 - in the warehouse. Where appropriate, the department would use the gully gratings stored in the warehouse to carry out restoration works.

(v) Regarding the poor illumination at Man Wui Street, he would refer the case to the colleagues of the Lighting Division for follow-up actions after the meeting.

(vi) The department had temporarily repaved pavements with concrete out of consideration for the social movement and public safety, as well as in response to security requirements. The current repair works were temporary in nature. In the future, the HyD would review the need to optimise and enhance the design standards of pavers by taking into account various factors as appropriate, so as to reduce the likelihood of pavers being removed.

602. Mr Tony YIP responded as follows:

(i) In regard to temporary traffic lights, as the repair of vandalised traffic lights took time, temporary traffic arrangements had been implemented at certain junctions. Temporary traffic lights had earlier been set up at three major junctions, i.e. the junction of Nathan Road and Waterloo Road, the junction of Nathan Road and Mong Kok Road, and the junction of Nathan Road and Argyle Street. However, since temporary traffic lights had their limitations, e.g. a lane had to be closed for placing the traffic lights, they might not be suitable for smaller junctions as traffic would be affected by lane closure. If traffic lights had been vandalised, temporary traffic lights would be set up at suitable junctions according to different situations.

(ii) In regard to railings, the TD would discuss with the HyD. Since numerous railings in the district had been removed, the HyD had added yellow plastic chains to the locations of the railings as a temporary measure. Moreover, the TD and the HyD had been carrying out repair works in the order of priority. Railings at the sides of junctions and in the middle of main carriageways would be handled with priority. To cater for the development of the district, the TD was currently reviewing the necessity for some of the railings by taking into account the changes in pedestrian environment. The review was expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year.

603. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) He expressed his understanding of and thankfulness for Councillors’ and members of the public’s assistance in directing the traffic. However, he called upon members of the public not to do so as they had not received any training on traffic control and that might endanger the safety of themselves and other road users.

(ii) In regard to the distribution of resources in repair works, the Police would coordinate with different departments to accord priority to the busiest road sections.

(iii) The Police had been collaborating with other departments to explore ways to improve the designs of traffic lights and traffic control boxes so that they would not be vandalised easily.

- 114 -

(iv) The spotlights at Mong Kok Police Station were used for the purpose of defence. Traffic had usually been brought to a halt before the spotlights were on because large crowds had been gathering on the roads or barricades had already been set. He would examine if the direction of the light beams would affect motorists and the residents in the vicinity.

604. Mr CHAN Kin-hong replied that in regard to the vandalised traffic lights, the department had urged the suppliers to supply the parts as soon as possible. In the past, the suppliers had been used to deliver the goods in bulk, but at present the department would urge the suppliers to deliver the goods in small batches once they had stock, so that the repair works could commence as soon as possible. The department would also assemble the parts of the vandalised traffic lights as far as possible to expedite the repairs. If Councillors required the department to carry out follow-up actions at certain junctions immediately, they could call the maintenance service hotline (telephone no.: 2333 3762) or write to the department.

605. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that since three current-term Councillors had the same Chinese surname “朱”, and coupled with the fact that the meeting had lasted for over 10 hours, if departmental representatives addressed these Councillors by their surname only, the Councillors concerned in such a state might not realise whether he/she was the intended addressee or not. In this connection, he asked the departmental representatives to address Councillors by their full names from then on. Not only would this allow them to get better acquainted with each other but also help Councillors stay focused.

606. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming said that the street lights in Ivy Street Rest Garden, Tai Kok Tsui often flickered and then went off. He asked whether the street lights there shared the same system with the faulty street lights underneath the flyover at Tai Kok Tsui Road in view of their proximity to each other, and whether the problem was also caused by defective earthing cables.

607. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai raised the following views and enquiries: (i) given that the contractor had buried the manhole covers of underground utilities with concrete during the repaving works, he asked whether the department concerned would instruct the contractor to carry out rectification works; and (ii) he asked whether the department concerned had assigned officers to conduct on-site supervision of the contractor’s works during the first repaving project, and whether the contractor was paid before or after the completion of works.

608. Mr Leslie CHAN said that he had previously directed the traffic in Tsim Sha Tsui. Despite his fluorescent clothing and relevant training, the police officers had been very rude to him upon arrival at the scene by police vehicle. Waving their batons, they shouted at him to leave. He queried the need to show sheer hostility if the objective was to ensure public safety. He hoped that the Police would duly reflect on why the police-community relations had soured considerably.

609. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen expressed the following views: (i) he requested the Police to set aside manpower for implementing traffic control measures should traffic obstruction recur. After all, despite a seemingly slow-moving traffic, it did not mean that a congested junction posed no danger. In this regard, he opined that it was crucial for the Police to ensure public safety, and that traffic control should not be conducted by members of the public. The Police should put in place plans to deal with the traffic impact brought about by social events in the district; and (ii) regarding the Police’s response that the possibility of motorists being affected by

- 115 - the spotlights at Mong Kok Police Station would be explored, he considered it an inappropriate assessment approach. The Police should consider the benefits of installing spotlights on day-to-day operations, instead of removing the spotlights due to the reason that light beams had caused nuisance to others. The nearby residents did not understand the purpose of the spotlights because the street within the spotlight coverage area was empty, whereas the light beams had simply been directed to the residential units on the opposite side of Nathan Road. He hoped that the Police would duly consider the necessity of this measure from the operational and deployment perspectives.

(Mr Derek HUNG left the meeting at 11:25 p.m.)

610. Mr NG Chun-ling responded that the street lights opposite to Ivy Street Rest Garden were probably under the purview of the LCSD, the department responsible for the lighting of the garden, but the actual situation could only be made clear after a site inspection. As for Mr CHAN Tsz-wai’s comment on the possible spreading of concrete onto some manhole covers, the department would conduct site inspections and take follow-up actions after the meeting. As the urgent repair works had been carried out in a tight timeframe, the condition of pavements at some locations was not satisfactory, and the contractor was obligated to take follow-up actions. He reassured Councillors that the department would instruct the contractor to complete all follow-up works, including levelling the uneven grounds.

611. Mr Tony YIP responded that he was pleased to hear Councillors’ views on the removal of some railings. The TD was conducting a review, and would explore whether some railings could be removed to enhance pedestrian comfort by making reference to Councillors’ comments.

612. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) He reiterated that the Police had already put in place a comprehensive plan to cope with post-protest situations, and would accord priority to the busiest road junctions in the deployment of resources for implementing traffic control measures. The Police would also work on matters relating to the prioritisation of repair works for traffic lights and junction facilities in collaboration with other departments.

(ii) Normally, the Police would use spotlights only when a police station was under attack, and usually traffic had already come to a halt under this circumstance. As the District Commander, he had the responsibility to protect the safety of police officers in the police station and passers-by. He would examine the need to adjust the tilt angle of the spotlights to avoid causing nuisance to residential buildings.

613. The Chairman thanked the representatives of the government departments concerned for joining the discussion on this item.

(Post-meeting note: The Mong Kok Police District of the HKPF provided supplementary ----- information (Annex 13) on the above paper on 9 April 2020, which was emailed to Councillors by the Secretariat on the same day.)

- 116 - Item 16: Request That Police Explain Patrol Arrangements in Tai Kok Tsui, Charming and Olympic and Step up Efforts in Maintaining Law and Order Therein (YTMDC Paper No. 23/2020)

----- 614. The Chairman said that the written response (Annex 16) from the Mong Kok Police District of the HKPF had been sent to Councillors for perusal before the meeting. He then welcomed Mr Bradley WRIGHT, District Commander (Mong Kok) of the HKPF.

615. Mr LI Owan provided supplementary information on the paper and raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he requested the Police to give an account of the patrol arrangements in the constituencies of Tai Kok Tsui, Charming and Olympic, and to improve the law and order situation in the district. Over the past two months, the law and order situation in Tai Kok Tsui area was far from satisfactory; (ii) he asked Mr Bradley WRIGHT whether he was aware of the deteriorating law and order situation in Tai Kok Tsui area; if so, whether the Police had reduced patrol manpower due to the recent social movement; and (iii) he asked whether Mr Bradley WRIGHT knew the sources of crime.

616. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that illegal gambling activities had become increasingly rampant over the past few months, especially at Ivy Street. He had repeatedly reported to the Police when local residents had sought assistance from him. Last night, after receiving a report, an EU vehicle had arrived at the scene of a gambling den 20 minutes later and deliberately honked the horn to disperse the illegal gamblers; however, the illegal gamblers had returned to the den and continued gambling as soon as the police officers had left the scene. He considered that illegal gambling was one of the causes of the deteriorating law and order situation. Actually, an illegal gambler had told him that in no time thousands of dollars could be won by the winner of a gambling game. He was worried that persons with a really big sum of money won from gambling at late night might attract crimes.

617. Mr LEE Wai-fung provided supplementary information on the paper. He understood that the Police required police officers on call to cope with possible riot situations; nevertheless, patrols should still be conducted. Despite manpower constraint, the Police had to take in account the policing needs of different aspects. He enquired of the Police about the availability of sufficient police resources and whether EU vehicles had been deployed to conduct patrols, with a view to maintaining law and order.

618. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) Barricades had been set on Sai Yeung Choi Street in Mong Kok earlier on, and the scene had already been cleared up and resumed order.

(ii) Over the past seven months, the Police had encountered severe operational difficulties and there had been an extremely high demand for manpower. The Police would endeavour to carry out core duties, i.e. ensuring community safety and restoring community harmony.

(iii) Many districts in Hong Kong, including the Mong Kok Police District, had seen rising crime rates in the second half of 2019. In 2019, the crime rate of the Mong Kok Police District had increased by 7.9%. He would give a detailed

- 117 - account of the overall law and order situation at the District Fight Crime Committee meeting in February, and was more than willing to send a copy of relevant papers to the YTMDC. The area with the largest increase in crime rate was the vicinity of Dundas Street, Tong Mi Road, Argyle Street and Yim Po Fong Street rather than the constituencies of Tai Kok Tsui, Charming and Olympic.

(iv) The Police adopted different patrol formats, e.g. patrol operations conducted by EUs, Patrol Sub-units, plainclothes officers, etc. The Police would make every effort to maintain patrols and intelligence gathering round the clock by flexibly deploying limited resources.

(v) Last year, the service performance of the Police in responding to 999 emergency calls had fulfilled the target by 90%. He understood that local residents had grave concerns over miscellaneous offences, especially the illegal parking problem in Tai Kok Tsui. Despite the availability of a list of illegal parking black spots, the Police wished to draw Councillors’ attention to the fact that illegal parking black spots were ubiquitous in the entire Mong Kok area. On top of a growing number of vehicles, there was no increase in the number of parking spaces. A record-breaking number of 120 000 traffic tickets had been issued in the Mong Kok Police District in 2018. Nevertheless, in the absence of traffic improvement measures from the technical perspective and amendments to the existing licensing arrangement, it would be difficult to resolve the illegal parking problem completely.

(vi) Attendance books were placed at six locations in Tai Kok Tsui, and the Police would conduct annual reviews on the locations of attendance books. He undertook that after this meeting, the Police would further review the locations of attendance books, with a view to stepping up efforts in responding to the concerns of the community.

(vii) After social order was restored in the coming few months, the Police would fully resume operations to combat prostitution, illegal gambling, drugs activities and other crimes jeopardising community harmony in the Mong Kok Police District. He hoped that the YTMDC and the Police could deal with livelihood issues in a concerted effort. He would share measures to reduce crime rates at the next meeting.

619. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that a large number of anti-riot police officers patrolled his constituency at night, and basically, all EU vehicles passed by Argyle Street, Nathan Road, Shantung Street, Soy Street and Dundas Street. Nevertheless, only a few police officers carried out patrols during daytime. At present, there was an increasing number of “7-day robbery gangs” from the Mainland, who were active at Fa Yuen Street, Sai Yee Street and Soy Street in the district. Their modus operandi was that middle-aged women seduced middle-aged and elderly men and then robbed them. Mong Kok Police Station had already recorded such robbery cases. As the majority of these cases had taken place in his constituency, he strongly requested that Mong Kok Police Station should deploy sufficient manpower for daytime patrols with a view to eradicating similar crimes. He considered that only patrols could increase the cost of the “7-day robbery gangs” in committing crime, thereby deterring crime effectively. The current situation was that in the absence of police patrols, the only thing members of the public could do was to report to the Police when a robbery took place, which was putting the cart

- 118 - before the horse. He requested Mong Kok Police Station to squarely address this issue.

620. Mr Leslie CHAN raised the following views and enquiries: (i) there had been an increasing trend in the number of burglaries in Tsim Sha Tsui recently. Regarding a burglary taken place at an apartment in Star Mansion at Minden Avenue, the victim said that the police officers had adopted a half-hearted attitude when handling the case. As such, he asked whether the police officers in charge of the case could be replaced; and (ii) recently, there were also complaints about the occurrence of quite a number of newsstand burglaries, including several newsstands at the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier and the one opposite to the Antiquities and Monuments Office. He hoped that the Police would pay close attention to the burglary problem in the district, in particular towards the end of the year.

621. Mr LI Owan expressed the following views: (i) he said that residents had grave concerns over the law and order issues. It was hoped that the Government could tackle livelihood issues, including the law and order issues in the district, as soon as possible. Instead of a domestic burglary, the case reported earlier had taken place in a street shop. Besides, possible sex crimes had also concerned women on their way back home greatly, so he hoped that the Police could squarely deal with the law and order issues in the district; and (ii) he requested the Mong Kok Police District to step up enforcement efforts against illegal parking. As residents had grave concerns over the illegal parking problem at Fuk Lee Street, Chui Yu Road and Tai Kok Tsui Road, etc., he hoped that the Police could step up patrols to enhance the deterrent effect.

622. Ms Natalie TSUI said that quite a number of restaurants in Man Wah Sun Chuen operating until early hours of the morning had recently become the targets of burglaries and thefts committed by South Asians, Mainlanders and locals. In addition, brawls would break out in a new pub at Man Wah Sun Chuen at night. The problem of illegal parking of vehicles had also been found in Man Wah Sun Chuen, but police officers rarely patrolled there. Since it was towards the end of the year, she hoped that the Police would pay closer attention to Man Wah Sun Chuen and step up enforcement efforts.

623. The Chairman thanked Councillors for their efforts in raising the law and order issues in their respective constituencies. Nevertheless, as the discussion paper pertained to the constituencies of Tai Kok Tsui, Charming and Olympic, he asked Councillors to concentrate their discussion on matters relating to the constituencies concerned, and keep their speaking on the issues of their respective constituencies as concise as possible.

624. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai said that drunken brawls had broken out in Bowring Street in his constituency, and hoped that the Police would step up enforcement efforts.

625. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) apart from the crimes mentioned by fellow Councillors, he called on the Police to pay attention to an incident in which a hawker doing business with a wooden cart had been robbed of eggs. Despite a seemingly minor incident, the wooden cart was an valuable asset to the old hawker for making a living; after all, losing the eggs and the money-making equipment in a split second was a real concern for the victim; (ii) as the Police had merely issued several penalty tickets and ended the operation after the EU vehicle had dispersed the illegal gamblers the day before, he considered the situation not satisfactory; and (iii) he considered that the current situation stemmed from the extremely uneven distribution of police resources. On a Sunday, he had witnessed more than 20 police officers standing idle near Bank Centre, who had just turned a blind eye to jaywalkers

- 119 - crossing the street from the space between two EU vehicles. The situation was utterly undesirable. If these police officers could have been deployed to patrol Tai Kok Tsui, the situation would be completely different.

626. Mr LEE Wai-fung expressed the following views: (i) he said that the crimes in the constituencies of Tai Kok Tsui, Charming and Olympic might be trivial matters from the Police’s point of view, but some culprits had gone so far as to rob household supplies. As far as Charming constituency was concerned, the street prostitution problem had become increasingly rampant in Pitt Street as well as the road sections between Canton Road and Temple Street. Sex workers soliciting clients on the street had become more common, probably owing to a reduction in the number of clients amid the recent social issues; and (ii) he understood that the Police had put in place a deployment plan; nonetheless, he suggested that police officers on call but not required to remain on emergency standby should return to their beats. Alternatively, the Police might formulate plans that would enable police officers on call to simultaneously cope with general security needs.

(Mr CHUNG Chak-fai left the meeting at 11:58 p.m.)

627. The Vice-chairman raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he was of the same view that the current deployment plan of the Police had unduly focused on possible areas of public events, while overlooking residential areas such as Hoi Fu Court and Park Avenue in his constituency, where the number of uniformed police officers deployed for conducting patrols had been significantly reduced; and (ii) he enquired of the Police whether year-end publicity activities would be carried out in collaboration with Councillors of local constituencies as in previous practice.

628. Ms Suzanne WU expressed the following views: (i) robberies had taken place in goldsmiths and amusement game centres in the district. She had already raised the problem to frontline police officers at that time. The Police had stated that patrols would no longer be conducted in teams of two for fear of being ambushed. Yet, she had witnessed nine police officers on patrol together. The residents were dissatisfied with the Police’s current enforcement against illegal parking of vehicles and other offences; (ii) she said that the problem mentioned by Mr CHU Kong-wai had also happened at Temple Street. After sex workers had successfully persuaded their clients not to bring their personal belongings to the bathroom when taking baths, culprits would sneak into the units and steal the valuable personal belongings while their accomplices would act as lookouts downstairs. For such cases, the sex workers did not work with the culprits as a gang. Given the frequent occurrence of such cases, even the nearby shopkeepers and residents were very familiar with the modus operandi of the culprits. She therefore did not believe that the Police had no knowledge about this. In the light that the victims of these cases might not be willing to seek assistance from the Police, she urged the Police to combat such crimes; and (iii) she had immediately invited representatives of the Yau Ma Tei police district to a meeting via the Police Community Relations Office of the Kowloon West Region after a goldsmith robbery, but the Police had not replied so far. Even though the Yau Tsim Police District had promised to send officers to join her previous meeting when she had met the representatives of the Mong Kok Police District, they failed to show up eventually. She condemned the above irresponsible behaviour of the Yau Tsim Police District, whose representatives had already left this meeting right now.

629. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that a knife attack had happened opposite to CTMA Centre at Sai Yeung Choi Street South several days before, and the victim’s innards had fallen out. On

- 120 - that day, when he had been handling the case on the scene at around 3:00 p.m., an affray had taken place one block away from the crime scene, reportedly a triad society clean-out. He had witnessed the wounded person being taken away in ambulance. At that time, there had not been any police officers handling that affray case at the scene. He felt extremely worried about the situation that no police officer had arrived at the scene to deal with the triad society clean-out by violent means in the busy area of Mong Kok. As such, he urged the Police to resume regular patrols.

630. The Chairman was highly concerned about the climbing crime rates in Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei. In the last month or so, there had been at least five robbery cases reported in the district. He believed that most probably, the rapid increase in the number of robberies was directly correlated with the unavailability of uniformed police officers for foot patrols. In this regard, he called on the Police to squarely deal with this issue. He understood that the Police needed to deploy manpower to deal with social issues, but opined that patrols should not be totally suspended. According to his observation, the situation had improved at present, and he had personally seen uniformed police officers on patrol. He was of the view that the current patrol arrangement of teaming up eight or nine police officers was not as effective as teams of two, and assigning police officers in small teams to patrol different places would enhance efficiency. As the suspension of patrols for a prolonged period of time had attracted negative repercussions from the community, the situation was worrying.

631. Mr Bradley WRIGHT, in English, responded as follows:

(i) In regard to the situation of Tsim Sha Tsui, he would refer the cases to the District Commander (Yau Tsim).

(ii) As for the enquiries on the deployment of police officers in the Mong Kok Police District, he clarified that a large number of police officers had been deployed at strategic locations in response to the intelligence obtained revealing the possible staging of public events at those locations. Therefore, the objective of assigning a large number of police officers on call was to prevent the situation from going astray.

(iii) The Police would take burglaries and robberies seriously, and were now making efforts to bring the situation under control.

(iv) The Police were aware of the existence of prostitution and frauds, and had in fact smashed quite a number of fraud syndicates in the past few weeks.

(v) The Police were gravely concerned about burglaries as such cases would disturb the daily lives of members of the public. The Police and the YTMDO would jointly launch a number of projects, e.g. the “Project Safe Yau Tsim Mong” aiming to improve the security of buildings, especially “three-nil” buildings.

(vi) He reiterated that after social order was restored in the coming months, the Police would increase the frequency of patrols by uniformed police officers.

632. The Chairman thanked the representative of the HKPF for joining the discussion on this item. He suggested discussing item (1) under “Any Other Business” first. There was no objection.

- 121 -

Item 22: Any Other Business

(1) Market Management Consultative Committees of Public Markets Managed by FEHD

633. The Chairman said that the FEHD had earlier emailed the Secretariat to invite the YTMDC to recommend Councillors to join the Market Management Consultative Committees of the public markets in the district. Among the six public markets in the district, in addition to the Councillors of the constituencies in which the markets were located, the FEHD suggested the YTMDC recommend one or two more Councillors to each committee to serve as members. The Chairman invited Councillors to discuss the suitable Councillors to be recommended.

634. After discussion, the Councillors to be recommended were as follows:

Market Name Councillors recommended by YTMDC Kwun Chung Market Ms Natalie TSUI and Mr CHAN Tsz-wai Yau Ma Tei Market Ms Suzanne WU Haiphong Road Temporary Market Mr Isaac HO Fa Yuen Street Market Mr Ben LAM and Mr Lucifer SIU Tai Kok Tsui Market Mr LI Owan Mong Kok Cooked Food Market Mr LEE Wai-fung

635. Mr LAM Kwan-hau thanked Councillors for successfully electing the representatives of Councillors in the Market Management Consultative Committees. He said that committee meetings would be held once every three months and letters would be issued to Councillors to invite them to attend meetings.

Item 17: Enhanced Transparency of District Council to Facilitate Public Scrutiny (YTMDC Paper No. 24/2020)

636. Mr Ben LAM briefly introduced the paper.

637. Mrs Laura ARON responded as follows:

(i) She understood the concerns and requests of Councillors about enhancing the transparency of the YTMDC. This item had also been discussed at the briefing session for Councillors earlier. Currently, the operation of the YTMDC was fairly transparent. Members of the public could obtain various types of information of the YTMDC from its website (such as agendas, papers, audio recordings and minutes of meetings), and observe the meetings. When

- 122 - important issues were discussed at the meetings of the YTMDC, they received extensive reporting by the media, including television and electronic media.

(ii) On live broadcasts, in fact, according to the model text of the District Council Standing Orders, members of the public observing meetings were not forbidden to broadcast live the meetings but were only prohibited from disrupting the conduct of the meetings. At present, the YTMDC allowed members of the public who observed meetings to broadcast live the meetings provided that the meetings were not disrupted. It was fairly common for members of the public observing District Council meetings to broadcast the meetings live.

(iii) Regarding the suggestion of live broadcasts of YTMDC meetings, the YTMDC had to consider the specific requirements of live broadcasts, such as the specifications and channels for live broadcasts, as well as the hardware, technical support and other ancillary facilities required. After a specific proposal on live broadcast arrangements had been raised by the YTMDC, the Government would study the feasibility of the proposal and examine its impact on manpower and resources in order to make suitable arrangements.

(iv) Regarding the documents related to fund applications, according to the Manual on the Use of District Council Funds, documents submitted by grantees, such as application forms, reimbursement claims and related supporting documents, can be released for public inspection provided that any disclosure of personal data shall be in accordance with the requirements of the relevant ordinances.

(v) As regards the YTMDC, the Secretariat would upload a summary of the information on the applications for YTMDC Funds onto the website of the YTMDC. In addition, members of the public could make requests to the Secretariat for inspection of the documents submitted by grantees. As to whether to upload all funding-related information onto the website, the YTMDO needed to examine the existing resources before making a decision. The YTMDO had earlier explained to Councillors that there was an acute shortage of manpower in the Secretariat. Besides, a number of plans had been put forward by the committees and working groups of the current-term YTMDC, which had an impact on the YTMDO’s resources. She hoped that Councillors could give room to the YTMDO to review the use of resources before deciding how to increase the transparency of the YTMDC.

638. Ms Suzanne WU expressed the following views: (i) Councillors understood that the suggestion involved the use of funds, and were concerned about funding allocation and the use of resources. She suggested the HAD discuss with the Financial Secretary in the new financial year the allocation of additional funds for providing further manpower and facilities to enhance the transparency of District Councils. If resources were allocated from the existing funds, there would be a cap on the percentage of fund allocation, and it would not be fair to the existing activities. She considered that the HAD had the responsibility to solicit additional resources from the Government to enhance the transparency of District Councils; and (ii) based on her study on YTMDC Funds, she found that the information on the allocation of YTMDC Funds were mainly filed as meeting minutes, but it was difficult for members of the public to keep track of different activities through the words in meeting minutes and to examine whether there were any problems. She suggested providing additional webpages on the YTMDC website to upload

- 123 - the information on works projects and community involvement projects, including activity proposals, photos and reports, so that members of the public could know the details easily. Activity reports were made available for public inspection, but members of the public must inspect the reports at the YTMDC in person while no web browsing was available.

639. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen expressed the following views: (i) he suggested the HAD consider coordinating with the Innovation and Technology Bureau (“ITB”) to broadcast live all District Council meetings, so that members of the public could learn the meeting details more conveniently; (ii) as regards papers, the application forms for District Council Funds were uploaded onto the websites of some District Councils (such as the Sham Shui Po District) for public inspection. Although it was not easy to search and browse the information online, at least members of the public could look for the information in different terms and years of those District Councils online. Councillors had made enquiries on 40 applications for YTMDC Funds at the 1st YTMDC meeting. Although members of the public could listen to the discussion through audio records, they were unable to understand the crux of the issues without funding application papers, and they would also have difficulties in understanding the discussion; and (iii) regarding resources, he suggested considering the use of ITB’s reserves and increasing the resources of District Councils.

640. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) he did not believe that the Government was lacking resources. When compared with the LegCo with live broadcasts of meetings, the scale of District Councils was smaller and their conference rooms were smaller as well, so he considered that it would actually be a regression if District Council meetings were unable to be broadcast live; (ii) apart from the meetings of the YTMDC/committees/working groups, he opined that live broadcasts of the meetings of area committees should also be considered because many members of the public did not have much understanding of area committees or were even not aware of their existence; and (iii) after the first YTMDC meeting, many members of the public had criticised Councillors for endorsing the funding allocations. Hence, he considered that the papers on YTMDC Funds uploaded onto the YTMDC website should be more comprehensive to facilitate public inspection.

641. Mr LI Owan expressed the following views: (i) the technical requirements and costs for live broadcasts were not high. In actual operation, only some cameras similar to closed-circuit television cameras were required at the conference room. He hoped that the District Officer could relay the views to the HAD; and (ii) as mentioned by the District Officer, audio records and papers of meetings were uploaded onto the YTMDC website, but he considered that videos were more lively and could attract members of the public to concern themselves with District Council affairs.

642. Mr LEE Wai-fung raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he asked whether live audio broadcasts were feasible with the current technology. The Councillors of the last-term YTMDC had already made a request for live broadcasts. He asked whether the HAD had a timetable to carry out review and inform Councillors of the result; and (ii) he suggested the Secretariat invite the Radio Television Hong Kong to broadcast live the YTMDC meetings.

643. Mr LI Owan asked the District Officer whether she would give a response.

644. Mr CHU Kong-wai asked that if the Government had difficulties in taking forward the suggestion of Mr LEE Wai-fung, whether it would invite the co-operation of media agencies. For example, the HAD allocated funds to media agencies for broadcasting live the meetings and

- 124 - posting the hyperlinks onto the relevant websites. The cost for this approach might even be lower than that for broadcasting live the meetings by the Government, and it would be easier to invite web media to make live broadcasts through tendering.

645. Mr Ben LAM hoped that in the long run, there could be live broadcasts from multiple angles, or the web media could be invited to make live broadcasts through tendering. In the short run, he suggested using YTMDC Funds to purchase mobile phones and phone stands for the Secretariat staff to make official live broadcasts.

646. Mr Leslie CHAN raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the Wi-Fi network at the conference room could not be connected after midnight, and he hoped to draw the attention of the YTMDO to the matter; and (ii) he agreed with enhancing the transparency of the YTMDC and suggested the YTMDC hold public hearings.

647. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai said that some residents had suggested making reference to the practice of the United States that when opinions on a single item were collected from a certain number of members of the public in the district, a meeting must be convened for the item. He asked whether this approach was feasible.

648. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming suggested that public hearings be held by working groups on a pilot basis first and a decision on whether to implement the practice be made in the following year.

649. The Chairman said that he, together with the Chairmen and the Vice-chairmen of 16 other districts, would meet with the Financial Secretary the following day. A common request put forward by them was the allocation of funds by the Financial Secretary to District Councils for live broadcasts and public hearings.

650. Mrs Laura ARON said that the Government had to take other factors into account, for example, Councillors could make live broadcasts via their personal social media accounts, but there was no such function on the YTMDC website, and the YTMDC had no social media account. If the suggestion was to put forward, the information technology systems for the 18 districts had to be standardised by the HAD. She hoped that Councillors could provide further details of the suggestion, including the specifications and channels for live broadcasts, as well as the hardware, technical support and other ancillary facilities required.

651. The Chairman said that the motion in the paper was:

“ (1) To set up an official live video system to broadcast big and small meetings of the YTMDC for real-time viewing or reviewing after the meetings by members of the public.

(2) To upload to the YTMDC website all papers related to funding applications (including specific application forms submitted by organisations, but personal privacy data may be redacted) to show clearly the itemised budget and receipts, with a view to enhancing transparency, being accountable to the public and making proper use of public money.”

652. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming requested to vote by open ballot. There was no objection.

- 125 - 653. Mr Leslie CHAN opined that the content of item 1 of the motion should be “…for real-time viewing and reviewing after the meetings by members of the public.”

654. The Chairman said that the word “or” in the present motion meant that both real-time viewing and reviewing after the meetings were possible. He asked Councillors to vote on the motion.

(Post-meeting note: There were only 16 Councillors in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

655. The voting result: 15 votes for the motion (the Vice-chairman, Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Frank HO, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr LI Owan, Mr Lucifer SIU, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming, Ms Natalie TSUI and Ms Suzanne WU); 0 vote against it; and 0 abstention.

656. The Chairman declared that the motion was passed.

Item 20: Strong Request That Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establish Independent Commission of Inquiry to Thoroughly Inquire into Clashes between Police and Public and Hong Kong Police’s Abuse of Power and Arbitrary Arrest Arising from Amendment to “Extradition Ordinance” (YTMDC Paper No. 27/2020)

657. The Chairman said that the written response from the Mong Kok Police District of the ----- HKPF (Annex 17) had been emailed to Councillors for perusal before the meeting. He then welcomed Mr Bradley WRIGHT, District Commander (Mong Kok), and Ms Joel CHEUNG, Police Community Relations Officer (Mong Kok District), of the HKPF.

658. Mr LEE Wai-fung provided supplementary information on the paper and raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he asked why the Chief Executive’s Office and the Security Bureau did not send representatives to the meeting; (ii) various parties considered it necessary to establish an independent commission of inquiry because an independent review committee did not have statutory power to carry out investigations; and (iii) he emphasised that the independent commission of inquiry they requested did not aim at investigating the Police only as said by the Chief Executive, rather they wanted to know all circumstances surrounding the incidents and the culprit of social dissension.

659. Mr LI Owan provided supplementary information on the paper. He did not agree that there was no police brutality as stated by the Police. He was a victim and had been brutally treated by police officers in the Yau Tsim Police District. Although the senior management of the Police said that there was no police brutality, he hoped that police representatives could give an explanation and a full account of the incident.

660. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) whether there was police brutality should not be determined by the Police. As investigation had not been carried out, it was uncertain who the rioters were; and (ii) on 31 December last year, he, Mr LI Owan and Mr LEE Kwok-kuen had been treated brutally by police officers outside Mong Kok Police Station. They had attempted to ease the emotions of

- 126 - the members of the public at the scene only, but police officers had shined strong light at their eyes and shouted at them, which was highly unreasonable. Subsequently, a police officer of the Mong Kok Police District had said that as it had still not been 1 January, they had not been Councillors yet and thus being ignored.

661. Mr Leslie CHAN provided supplementary information on the paper. He had simply directed the traffic at the scene but had been rudely treated by the Police. If the Police would like to improve their image, they should do their job properly, rather than simply bullying young people. The Police had suddenly fired tear gas rounds in Central last Sunday. In Tsim Sha Tsui Pier, when several young people passed by, the Police would pull them to a corner impolitely for a search. The “anti-extradition to China” movement had evolved into clashes between the Police and the public solely because of the Chief Executive.

662. Mr CHU Kong-wai provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) during the processions in the YTM District, whenever he walked past Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station, police officers would provoke passers-by with loud speakers nonstop. He would like to know the ranks of the police officers concerned, and whether their duty was to provoke passers-by; (ii) strong light from Mong Kok Police Station would shine at the public. Sometimes anti-riot police officers surged forward and ran to Shantung Street when there was no protestor at Nathan Road, and then dispersed to different streets to catch members of the public. He said that police officers at Nathan Road were unable to see the situation at Shantung Street, and considered it an acting-out behaviour; and (iii) on the night of the New Year’s Eve, on 1 January and many other days, he had held his District Council member card at protest scenes but had been shoved by police officers wearing the uniform of the Police Community Relations Office and repeatedly asked to step back and widen their distance. He queried that the Police Community Relations Office should be tasked to communicate with the Councillors of the constituencies concerned at protest scenes rather than driving away the Councillors.

663. The Vice-chairman provided supplementary information on the paper and expressed the following views: (i) Councillors from different political parties all agreed with the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry, so he considered it unnecessary to discuss the item; and (ii) many Councillors planned to make efforts in coordination and communication when public events took place in the district in the Lunar New Year. He asked for the contact point in this aspect.

664. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai provided supplementary information on the paper. He supported the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry. He recalled that after displaying a flag to give warning at Chi Wo Street (the main street), the Police had fired tear gas rounds at Cheong Lok Street (an inner street) in which he had located indiscriminately, but the members of the public there had no knowledge of the warning. He suggested that the Police give warning to the members of the public at inner streets with loud speakers.

665. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry was not simply a public demand, while the aim of its establishment was to find out what procedures the Police had to follow when performing their duties, whether there were problems with the procedures, whether the Police had used excessive force, whether they aimed at the right targets, how to deal with the situation that innocent parties were involved, and whether the Police had taken appropriate approaches to deal with different social events. He did not have any pre-set answers to the above questions, and considered that objective information was required to determine whether the Police was at

- 127 - fault. Hence, he hoped to have an impartial platform for the YTMDC to carry out discussion based on the above information.

666. Mr Isaac HO provided supplementary information on the paper. He said that on the night of the Christmas Eve, a young man had fallen from a building at a restaurant next to Changsha Street Sitting-out Area in Mong Kok. At that time, he had been at a location one street away, seeing the young man lying in the park. More than 30 anti-riot police officers had been at the scene and had prohibited voluntary first-aiders from entering the scene for performing first aid, causing a huge uproar. During the argument, the Police had suddenly allowed voluntary first-aiders to enter the scene. In his view, it would take time for ambulances to arrive during public events, and under those circumstances, trained first-aiders would be the best choice. However, he had witnessed the Police thwarting these first-aiders from performing first aid on more than one occasion. He asked the Police about the code or judgment upon which their decision was based to hinder the first-aiders who were not government officers but had received professional training from performing first aid.

667. Mr Lucifer SIU provided supplementary information on the paper. He asked whether the guidelines for frontline police officers had been changed. On 19 January, a member of the public whose leg had been sprained after being pushed by police officers at Ngo Keng Kiu had been comforted by them, which had never happened before. In addition, police officers had recently started to display their operational call signs while the number of police officers not wearing face shields had increased. He asked whether those were consistent and persistent changes. If frontline police officers did not follow the guidelines, how the public could make a complaint, e.g. what evidence had to be provided.

668. Ms Natalie TSUI provided supplementary information on the paper. She said that since the start of the “anti-extradition to China” movement in last June, suicide cases had reached several thousands, but all those cases had been regarded as non-suspicious cases. She considered that independent investigation in this aspect was required.

669. Mr Bradley WRIGHT gave the following response in English and Ms Joel CHEUNG provided on-site interpretation:

(i) The motion in the paper was related to the request for the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry. The written response of the Police had stated the Police’s stance. (ii) The Police had put in place a mechanism for complaint investigation. Since June last year, the CAPO had set up a special investigation team to deal with the complaints related to civil disorder. (iii) He would not respond to the specific cases brought up by Councillors at the meeting. However, if Councillors had evidence, they could submit the evidence to him, Police Community Relations Officers or the CAPO. (iv) 90% of police officers had received first-aid training and would readily provide first-aid service to the injured people. (v) In the Lunar New Year, he would be on site to deal with social events. He welcomed Councillors to express their views to him or Police Community Relations Officers by then.

- 128 - (vi) After major operations, the Police would carry out after-action reviews on equipment, tactics, media response, public concerns, etc., with a view to increasing operational efficiency.

670. Mr Isaac HO cast doubt on the Police’s response that they would definitely perform first aid on injured people right away, and considered the statement ridiculous. He pointed out that in the incident at Changsha Street Sitting-out Area on Christmas Eve, the Police had only set up a defence line to obstruct the entry of first-aiders but no one had performed first aid on the injured person. Only after at least 15 minutes, the Police had asked the first-aiders whether they had confidence in dealing with the case and allowed them to enter. He had only witnessed a situation contrary to the duty obliged to be performed by police officers as mentioned by the District Commander.

671. Mr Ben LAM said that members from the pro-establishment camp including Dr Hon CHIANG Lai-wan and Mr Jasper TSANG also agreed with the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry; hence, he considered it unnecessary for the Government to insist on the matter. In his view, the Chief Executive reacted slowly in the “anti-extradition to China” movement. When members of the public had requested that the “extradition to China” bill be withdrawn, the Chief Executive had indicated bill suspension only. When the bill had been withdrawn, the Chief Executive had been unable to respond to the public’s request for a probe into police brutality. At present, the public hoped that an independent commission of inquiry could be established, but the Government indicated that only an independent review committee would be established. He considered that an independent commission of inquiry must be established as soon as possible, otherwise public anger would not be pacified. In their written response, the Police said the mechanism of making complaints against the Police was a well-established mechanism, but in the seven months of the “anti-extradition to China” movement, no police officers had been prosecuted or arrested for abusing the power of arrest, but rather a police officer had been arrested after posting materials on a Lennon Wall. It could be seen that the mechanism of monitoring and making complaints against the Police was unreliable, and there were no checks and balances on police brutality.

672. Mr Leo CHU raised the following views and enquiries: (i) the international community noted that the police monitoring mechanism in Hong Kong could not effectively provide a way out for this social movement. A few months before, members of the Expert Panel of the IPCC had collectively withdrawn. The interim report of the IPCC should have been published recently but its publication kept delaying. The Chief Executive had turned an independent commission of inquiry into an independent review committee, but the public had repeatedly pointed out that a committee without investigation power was unable to investigate this movement. The former Chief Justice Mr Andrew LI had refused to take up the chairmanship of the independent review committee, which revealed that the committee was not recognised by community dignitaries; and (ii) he appreciated that District Commander (Mong Kok) was still present after 1:00 a.m. to answer Councillors’ questions. As the District Commander had just mentioned that the Councillors at the scene could approach the Commander directly if they had any questions, he would like to know whether this arrangement would also apply to the Yau Tsim Police District.

673. Mr CHAN Tsz-wai said that he was completely disappointed with the Police. As seen from his live broadcast, police officers had been very impolite to him, only without firing tear gas rounds at him.

- 129 - 674. The Vice-chairman raised the following views and enquiries: (i) he considered that an independent commission of inquiry must be established. The former Chief Justice Mr Andrew LI had been invited to chair the independent review committee, but he had turned it down and pointed out that only an independent commission of inquiry with statutory power could result in social reconciliation. The Government had also invited Professor Anthony CHEUNG, the former Secretary for Transport and Housing, to assume the chairmanship, but he had also turned down the invitation and suggested establishing an independent commission of inquiry. Professor LAU Siu-kai, Vice President of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, had said that he would not join the independent review committee even if he was invited by the Government. These cases showed that the pro-establishment camp, community dignitaries and the general public all considered it meaningless to establish an independent review committee; and (ii) he asked whether District Commander (Mong Kok) considered that there was police brutality, and whether a police officer at his rank could control frontline officers. He had seen the situation that a commander had told frontline police officers to set a defence line but the officers had still pushed forward. He asked whether the Commander considered that he had the power to control frontline police officers.

675. Mr LEE Wai-fung expressed the following views: (i) he thanked the police representatives for still staying at the meeting after 1:00 a.m.; (ii) he emphasised that the independent commission of inquiry requested by them would not investigate the Police alone, and he believed that the Police would not refuse the investigation requested by them, because the commission could find out what had happened and the causes of clashes; (iii) as the police officers at the scenes should be in a state of alert, he questioned whether there was any manpower for performing first aid. He considered that if some persons at the scenes could demonstrate that they had the qualification for first-aid care and were more competent than police officers, they should be allowed to perform first aid on the party concerned; and (iv) he hoped that there would not be any clashes in the community in the Lunar New Year. The Police might deploy the police officers of other police districts to this district. According to his observation, the police officers of this police district were more polite than those deployed from other police districts, but the District Commander of this police district had to be accountable for the clashes caused by the police officers deployed from other police districts. Therefore, he hoped that the District Commander could communicate with the police officers of other police districts in advance before the Lunar New Year.

676. Mr Leslie CHAN said that regarding police brutality, a young woman outside Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station whose eye had been shot by a bean bag round left him with the deepest impression. The incident was captured in photos and videos, but the Police still claimed that it was not caused by them. People knew very well that who had shot the young woman, so he hoped that the Police would not avoid the compensation and apology requested by the public any more.

677. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen considered that it was meaningless to further talk about different incidents to illustrate police brutality. The police representatives present at the meeting were competent police officers, and the community was in need of police officers who were restrained, disciplined and accountable to the public. He asked the District Commander how to alleviate the public dissatisfaction over the Police. In his view, what had triggered the anger of Hong Kong people the most was that the Police, a law enforcement department, harboured police officers. Over the past few months, members of the public had the impression that the Police would justify their acts when incidents occurred, rather than doing justice. The major reason for establishing an independent judicial authority to investigate the Police was that the

- 130 - harbouring and injustice situations had reached such an extent that members of the public no longer trusted the judicial authority.

678. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming expressed the following views: (i) the HKPF had once been a world renowned police force, and members of the public had once believed that the Police would fight crimes and protect the public. However, the image of the Police in the public’s eyes had been tarnished during the past half a year, and the Police had irritated both the ethnic and non-ethnic Chinese people in Hong Kong; (ii) he commended the two police representatives for giving responses at the meeting with patience at this moment. However, he expressed disappointment at the leaving of District Commander (Yau Tsim) and his responses in the afternoon; and (iii) he appreciated that District Commander (Mong Kok) had the courage to provide assistance at the scene in the Lunar New Year, and hoped that the District Commander would actually do so; and (iv) nearly all members of the IPCC were “peers” of the Police, which would affect the investigation. He considered that regarding who were right and who were wrong, the independent commission of inquiry would come up with the result after investigation. Hence, he hoped that the Police could face up to the situation with courage and work in an open and transparent manner.

679. Mr Lucifer SIU believed that the police representatives could feel that Councillors had become friendlier, and it was because the representatives had demonstrated sincerity. However, some members of the public still received unfriendly treatment from frontline police officers in Mong Kok, and he considered that both sides had to rebuild ongoing relationship with each other with trust. The recent performance of the Police had been improved, and he believed that with ongoing improvement, public trust could be rebuilt.

680. Ms Suzanne WU said that since the beginning of the “anti-extradition to China” movement, the aspiration of most members of the public having taken part in processions was “Five Demands, Not One Less”. The establishment of an independent commission of inquiry was a demand that was comparatively easy to grant, which would also provide a basis for other demands. This was a key item, otherwise it would be meaningless to withdraw the bill earlier, and it would also be impossible for the other demands to be achieved. The Police should not give up the opportunity of rebuilding the relationship with the public and gradually responding to public demands through an independent commission of inquiry. As the IPCC and the Expert Panel were unable to live up to public expectations, except establishing an independent commission of inquiry, no other options would be accepted.

681. Mr LI Owan raised the following views and enquiries: (i) even if an independent commission of inquiry was established, public anger would not be pacified. Public anger did not originate from the Police alone. He queried whether the Police could control frontline police officers; (ii) he said, in English, that the Police had raided the university campus, putting many young people in a state of anger and despair. This was a serious social problem; and (iii) the matter could not be resolved simply through establishing an independent commission of inquiry, and it was difficult to afford to arouse public anger. District Commander (Mong Kok) had the courage to attend the meeting, but unfortunately, many members of the public in Hong Kong did not see this scene. Public anger had reached its peak, and he strongly believed that frontline police officers would not be under the control of the two police representatives. He asked what mechanism was in place to control frontline police officers, or whether the two representatives were controlled by frontline police officers on the contrary.

682. Mr Bradley WRIGHT gave the following response in English and Ms Joel CHEUNG

- 131 - provided on-site interpretation:

(i) He reiterated that the written response of the Police was still valid. The Police had confidence in the investigation of the CAPO and the monitoring of the IPCC. The HKPF had set up a special duty team to investigate the complaints related to the social events since June last year. He understood the feelings of Councillors. After each YTMDC meeting, he would relay the views of Councillors to the senior management and frontline police officers. (ii) They remained at the meeting as of the present moment in the hope that Councillors would accept the goodwill gesture of the Police. They aspired to work with Councillors to rebuild connection with the community so as to provide convenience for the Police in handling livelihood and community issues affecting the residents of Mong Kok.

683. The Chairman said that the motion in YTMDC Paper No. 27/2020 was as follows:

----- 684. The Chairman said that a Councillor had moved the amended motion (1) (Annex 18) in respect of the original motion. The amended motion was as follows:

“This Council strongly requests the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to establish an independent commission of inquiry to thoroughly inquire into social conflicts, clashes between the Police and the public, and Hong Kong Police’s abuse of power and arbitrary arrest arising from the amendment to the ‘Extradition Ordinance’, including but not limited to those happened in YTM District and those which had affected the lives of residents in YTM District: Review the firing of a large number of tear gas canisters in the vicinity of Nathan Road, find out the truth in MTR Prince Edward Station on 31 August, direct shooting of the mosque in Tsim Sha Tsui by a water cannon vehicle and other problems.”

685. The Chairman said that according to the Standing Orders, Councillors would vote on the amended motion (1). If the amended motion (1) was passed, no further voting on the original motion shall be required.

686. Mr Leo CHU moved an amendment to the amended motion (1) to add “siege of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University”.

687. Mr LEE Wai-fung suggested that the Councillor concerned move the amended motion (2) in writing immediately.

688. The Chairman asked Councillors whether they did not agree to the amended motion (1).

689. Mr LEE Wai-fung considered that the amended motion (2) should be put to vote first.

- 132 -

690. The Secretary quoted Article 20 of the Standing Orders that “A motion which is to amend another motion must be decided upon by the Council (by ballot if necessary) before the motion (whether amended or not) is put to the meeting for voting. If there is more than one motion to move amendments, they should be dealt with in the order they have been moved.” According to the literal meaning, Councillors should first agree to amend the amended motion (1) before voting on the amended motion (2).

691. The Chairman suggested following the Standing Orders. He asked Councillors whether they did not agree to the amended motion (1).

692. Ms Suzanne WU said that she had moved the amended motion (1), and asked whether there would be a problem if she objected to the amended motion she had moved.

693. The Chairman responded that she could raise no objection to the amended motion (1) she had moved.

694. Ms Suzanne WU asked how to deal with the seconders of the amended motion (1).

695. The Chairman suggested that they withdraw the amended motion.

696. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen suggested voting on the amended motion first, and then the Councillor move a further amendment to the amended motion and Councillors vote on the further amended motion.

697. Mr LI Owan suggested dealing with the amended motion moved by Ms Suzanne WU first, and then Mr Leo CHU move a further amended motion for voting by Councillors.

698. The Chairman asked Councillors to vote on the amended motion (1). Councillors requested to vote by open ballot.

(Post-meeting note: There were only 16 Councillors in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

699. The voting result: 15 votes for the amended motion (1) (i.e. the Vice-chairman, Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Frank HO, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr LI Owan, Mr Lucifer SIU, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming, Ms Natalie TSUI and Ms Suzanne WU); 0 vote against it; and 0 abstention.

700. The Chairman asked Councillors whether they agreed to the amendment to the amended motion (1). There was no objection. He asked Councillors to vote on the amended motion (2).

(Post-meeting note: There were only 16 Councillors in the conference room. The Chairman did not vote.)

701. The voting result: 15 votes for the amended motion (2) (i.e. the Vice-chairman, Mr Leslie CHAN, Mr CHAN Tsz-wai, Mr CHU Kong-wai, Mr Leo CHU, Mr Isaac HO, Mr Frank HO, Mr Ben LAM, Mr LEE Kwok-kuen, Mr LEE Wai-fung, Mr LI Owan, Mr Lucifer SIU, Mr TSANG Tsz-ming, Ms Natalie TSUI and Ms Suzanne WU); 0 vote against it; and 0 abstention.

- 133 -

----- 702. The Chairman declared that the following amended motion (2) (Annex 19) was passed:

Item 21: Progress Reports

(1) District Management Committee (YTMDC Paper No. 28/2020) (2) YTM Area Committees (YTMDC Paper No. 29/2020)

703. Councillors noted the progress reports.

Item 22: Any Other Business

(2) Community Care Fund Digital Television Assistance Programme

704. The Chairman said that the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (“HKCSS”) had issued a letter to the YTMDC earlier to introduce the “Community Care Fund Digital Television Assistance Programme” (application deadline: 15 July 2021) and invite the YTMDC to help promote the programme in the community. The letter and promotional materials of the programme were placed on the table.

705. The Chairman asked Councillors to note the relevant information. The HKCSS would send staff to attend a YTMDC meeting to briefly introduce the programme if necessary.

(3) Invitation to YTMDC to Nominate Representatives to Serve as Members of Steering and Advisory Committees for the Yau Tsim Mong Multicultural Activity Centre under the Signature Project Scheme (YTM District)

706. The Chairman said that at the last meeting, the Council had resolved to designate Mr Frank HO and Ms Natalie TSUI as members of the Steering Committee for the YTM Multicultural Activity Centre, as well as Mr CHAN Tsz-wai as a member of the Advisory Committee. After that meeting, Ms Natalie TSUI and Mr CHAN Tsz-wai had expressed their intention to swap their memberships in the respective committees, to the effect that Mr Frank HO and Mr CHAN Tsz-wai would serve as members of the Steering Committee whereas Ms

- 134 - Natalie TSUI would serve as a member of the Advisory Committee. Councillors agreed to revise the nomination list.

707. The Chairman said that regarding item (2) under “Any Other Business”, a Councillor had suggested inviting the HKCSS to send staff to attend a YTMDC meeting to briefly introduce the “Community Care Fund Digital Television Assistance Programme”. In this regard, he proposed to invite the representatives concerned to attend the next meeting to briefly introduce the programme. There was no objection.

(4) Request for Provision of Lennon Walls or Message Boards in Community

708. Ms Suzanne WU briefly introduced the paper. She said that there was a need to set up Lennon Walls or community opinion boards in society, and that District Councils should promote and protect these spaces for expression of views. She suggested tabling the proposal to a Full Council meeting upon discussion by the DFMC.

709. Mr TSANG Tsz-ming supported the captioned proposal. As the Chairman of the current-term DFMC, he welcomed committee members’ discussion on the said proposal at DFMC meetings. He opined that Lennon Walls were not just for the use of some people but for all to express any views. Some local residents had said to him that the provision of Lennon Walls spearheaded by the Government or District Councils could reduce the risk of arrest and enable the public to express their views with peace of mind.

710. Mr Leslie CHAN said that some residents living in Tsim Sha Tsui and the vicinity of Kowloon Station had told him their wish for the provision of Lennon Walls or community opinion boards by the Government for the promotion of YTMDC activities or expression of public opinion. At present, the YTMDC notice boards were merely used for displaying photos of Councillors. He considered it not very meaningful, and suggested that to start with, the YTMDO should consider changing the uses of the above notice boards first.

711. Ms Natalie TSUI supported the captioned proposal. At present, Councillors who wished to put up promotional posters at private places had to obtain the prior consent of the relevant building management committees or OCs. She was of the view that the provision of community opinion boards would enable people with different political views to express their opinions in a safe and hygienic environment at fixed locations, without the hassle of getting around posting information about their opinions nor the fear of being prosecuted by FEHD’s staff.

712. Mr LI Owan said that he did not oppose the provision of Lennon Walls in principle, but opined that further consideration should be given to its naming. Upon discussion with local residents on the above matter, he had reservations about the name of “Lennon Walls” because if the next-term YTMDC was dominated by pro-government parties, residents would be in no position to intervene or resist even if it was proposed to set up “Patriotic Walls” or “Communist Walls”. In his opinion, due consideration should be given to the use of district allocation for purposes that carried such a strong political message. In view of this, he suggested setting up “District Councillors’ Notice Boards” or “Community Opinion Boards” to be managed by Councillors and their ward offices themselves, enabling Councillors to express their views and conduct publicity through the notice boards, which could not only serve as a communication channel between Councillors and local residents but also be in line with the objectives of

- 135 - community building.

713. Mr YU Tak-po considered that Mr LI Owan’s suggestion was feasible. Currently, there was no dedicated notice board for Councillors. The provision of notice boards managed by Councillors of local constituencies would save manpower and resources of the YTMDO. Councillors could disseminate information on their work in the Council through the notice boards, whereas members of the public could express their views at authorised locations, thus reducing the likelihood of clashing with the Police or people with different views.

714. Mr LEE Wai-fung supported the captioned proposal, saying that as quite many local residents and local stakeholders preferred to write down their views and feelings, the provision of community opinion boards could facilitate the collection of different views by Councillors. In addition, he pointed out that as the removal of publicity materials fell within the ambit of FEHD’s duties, the Police should recognise its own responsibilities instead of overstepping the boundaries of their authority.

715. Mr Lucifer SIU suggested that the details, including naming and management issues, should be discussed at a DFMC meeting in order to speed up the discussion on this item.

716. Mr CHU Kong-wai said that the YTMDC should actively respond to people’s aspirations for freedom of speech and unobstructed expression of opinions in the community. He shared Mr Lucifer SIU’s view that specific details should be discussed at DFMC meetings.

717. Mr LEE Kwok-kuen considered that the provision of community opinion boards was the common wish of the general public. All along, a platform for members of the public to express their opinions and exchange their views was lacking in the community. The provision of community opinion boards could enable people to express their views on various areas of interest apart from political issues. He expected that in the future, Councillors would be solely responsible for the collection of views and maintenance of the notice boards, while the public would take the lead in content contribution, so that people with different stances could peacefully and lawfully express their views through the notice boards.

718. The Chairman said that as mentioned by the submitter of the paper, only the contents of the paper would be discussed at this meeting, while technical and funding details, etc. would be referred to the DFMC for follow-ups.

719. Mrs Laura ARON responded that a stand had yet to be taken since she had just received the paper. If Councillors intended to hold discussions on the matter at DFMC meetings and utilise the funding for district minor works (“DMW”) projects, they should pay attention to the guidelines on the use of DMW project funds, which specified that the programme “targets at improving local facilities, living environment and hygiene conditions in the territory”. Whether or not the provision of community opinion boards fell within the above ambit of funds should be discussed in detail on appropriate occasions.

720. Ms Suzanne WU said that she was also aware of the issue mentioned by the District Officer concerning the ambit of DMW project funds. If the DFMC decided after detailed discussion that other types of District Council funds should be utilised to provide the facilities concerned, further proposals could be made to the YTMDC by then. She hoped that her proposal could be implemented, but it did not mean that the DFMC be obliged to undertake monitoring or allocation of funds.

- 136 -

721. The Chairman concluded that Councillors agreed that the captioned proposal be followed up by the DFMC.

(5) Meeting of Subcommittee on Issues Relating to the Development of Chinese Medicine under Panel on Health Services on 24 February 2020 Concerning Chinese Medicine Development

722. The Secretary said that the LegCo had issued letters to the chairmen of District Councils, inviting District Councils to send representatives to attend the captioned meeting to express their views and/or submit representations.

723. Mr Leslie CHAN added that District Councils might as well delegate representatives to attend LegCo’s public hearings intended for public attendance. He had previously signed up for public hearings in the name of his ward office, but had often been asked by the LegCo Secretariat if he would be attending the hearings on behalf of the YTMDC. To avoid confusion, he suggested that the Chairman of the YTMDC or chairmen of its committees/working groups should decide who would attend the relevant LegCo meetings in future.

724. Mr LEE Wai-fung suggested that Councillors who volunteered to attend the captioned meeting on behalf of the YTMDC should contact the Secretariat after the meeting. There was no objection.

725. There being no other business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 2:35 a.m. on Wednesday, 22 January 2020. The next meeting would be held at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 31 March 2020.

Yau Tsim Mong District Council Secretariat February 2020

- 137 - Only Chinese version is available Annex 1 Only Chinese version is available Annex 2 Only Chinese version is available Annex 3

致油尖旺區議會秘書處：

首先，衷心感謝油尖旺區議會多年來給予本機構無限的支持，好讓本機構多年來能夠舉辦不同類型的課程

給予油尖旺區內的兒童及青少年參與。由於數月來社會運動影響，於2019九年11月中旬開始，九龍油尖旺區內

的的示威活動愈演愈烈，更爆發了罷工潮，以致區內交通、治安及周邊環境都受到嚴重影嚮。基於家長憂慮及

學員安全情況下，本機構於2019年度申請之油尖旺區議會撥款計劃課程編號YTMCB190319「Fitness X Hockey

訓練班」早於2019年11月19日本機構已決定取消2019年11月20日及22日之課堂並曾以電話及去信通知貴處。

從附件中的「康樂及體育設施使用條件」第5點可見，本機構於2019年9月份所繳交全數的場地租用費用沒法退

回之外；附件中的「教練合約」第8點亦可同樣清楚列明並非天氣因素下取消課堂，所以本機構依然要支付教

練酬金給予教練及教練助理。

除此之外，計劃內獲批資助物資橡筋帶，基於人為疏忽，於課程的最後一堂教練已經全部送出給所有學生

作回家練習之用。當本機構其他職員發現之時，已經為時已晚，無法取回所贈送出去的橡筋帶。此事實屬本機

構疏忽。為表歉意，因此特意致函到貴處解釋及誠心致歉。本機構深明所有獲資助物資應保留日後課程之用，

不應當贈品送出給予參加者。望貴處可發還橡筋帶之資助額，本機構確保日後不會再犯同樣錯誤！本機構一

向致力舉辦不同種類的運動課程，為區內不同種族、不同背景的兒童及青少年提供課外活動和推廣運動的重要

性，因此，每一分一毫對於本機構都非常之重要，還望貴處能就以上三點酌情處理。

敬祝鈞安沙鷹體育會活動主管萬兆威敬上二零二零年一月二十日

No. 86 Woo Sung Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon,, Hong Kong Mail: P.O.Box No.70270, Kowloon Central Post Office Tel： 2698 3372 Fax：2698 3707 康樂及體育設施使用條件

1. 除非事先獲得管理人員批准，否則所租訂設施只可作其指定用途。租用人如擬使用設施進行其

他活動，須在租訂設施前徵詢場地管理人員的意見，並徵得其同意。未經事先同意，管理人員

可拒絕租用人在用場時把設施作其他用途。

2. 所有使用者均須穿着合適的服裝和運動鞋，並須使用合適的器材、所需保護裝備，以及遵守有

關運動／活動的所有安全規則和使用條件。

3. 本機構活動範圍內嚴禁吸煙，隨地吐痰，飲用任何含酒精飲品或發出尖叫滋擾他人。

4. 所租訂段節／時間結束後，所有使用者必須離開活動範圍，並須同時交還一切租用／借用的器

材。逾時者將需補付租用場地的原價費用。

5. 如租用人申請更改已作實的租訂時間，本機構將視作取消租訂，已繳費用會被沒收。

6. 本機構保留權利，可拒絕／取消租訂安排而無須事先通知租用人，並可限制進入場地的使用者

及／或觀眾的人數，或以衞生理由或任何其他理由拒絕任何人進場，以及／或加入其他有關使

用康樂及體育設施的條件。

7. 請勿破壞場地設施及用具，並小心使用。任何租用用具，不可轉讓第三者使用。如有任何損毀，

必需承擔賠償金額。

8. 請使用儲物櫃儲存個人物品。如有任何個人物品及財產損失，本機構恕不負責。

9. 使用者必須使用本機構提供的設施。未經本機構許可，不得私自攜帶任何影音設施或器材進入

本公司場地。

10. 未經本機構許可，使用者不得在場地範圍內擺放任何物品或張貼指示、通告或任何宣傳物品。

No. 86 Woo Sung Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon,, Hong Kong Mail: P.O.Box No.70270, Kowloon Central Post Office Tel： 2698 3372 Fax：2698 3707 教練合約

致 Mr. TSO TSZ FUNG ：

感謝閣下為本機構 FITNESS X HOCKEY 訓練班擔任教練一職，並雙方同意下在

課程完結後，本機構將給予每小時港幣 $260 作為閣下之教練酬金，並請閣

下遵守並不得違反以下課堂細則：

1. 不得遲到或無故缺席，務必在課堂前最少 15 分鐘到達場地作準備。如有事需請假，

必須最少提前 5 天向本機構提出。

2. 課堂完結後，應確保所有學生全部安全離開後，方可離開場地。

3. 不得擅自與學生更改上課時間。

4. 不可與學生有任何身體接觸。

5. 每次課堂完結時，請確保場地和用具完好無缺情況下交還。

6. 課程期間請注意言行舉止，不可在學生面前有任何不良行為及粗言穢語。

7. 如課堂前兩小時因天氣惡劣而取消課堂，本機構將不會向閣下支付當天的教練酬

金。

8. 如因本機構個別因素而取消課堂，閣下當天的教練酬金仍可計算在內。

2019 年 9 月 23 日

No. 86 Woo Sung Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon,, Hong Kong Mail: P.O.Box No.70270, Kowloon Central Post Office Tel： 2698 3372 Fax：2698 3707 教練合約

致 Ms. CHENG SUM CHING ：

感謝閣下為本機構 FITNESS X HOCKEY 訓練班擔任教練一職，並雙方同意下在

課程完結後，本機構將給予每小時港幣 $160 作為閣下之教練助理酬金，並

請閣下遵守並不得違反以下課堂細則：

1. 不得遲到或無故缺席，務必在課堂前最少 15 分鐘到達場地作準備。如有事需請假，

必須最少提前 5 天向本機構提出。

2. 課堂完結後，應確保所有學生全部安全離開後，方可離開場地。

3. 不得擅自與學生更改上課時間。

4. 不可與學生有任何身體接觸。

5. 每次課堂完結時，請確保場地和用具完好無缺情況下交還。

6. 課程期間請注意言行舉止，不可在學生面前有任何不良行為及粗言穢語。

7. 如課堂前兩小時因天氣惡劣而取消課堂，本機構將不會向閣下支付當天的教練酬

金。

8. 如因本機構個別因素而取消課堂，閣下當天的教練酬金仍可計算在內。

2019 年 9 月 23 日

No. 86 Woo Sung Street, Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon,, Hong Kong Mail: P.O.Box No.70270, Kowloon Central Post Office Tel： 2698 3372 Fax：2698 3707 Only Chinese version is available Annex 4 Only Chinese version is available Annex 5

Only Chinese version is available Annex 6

區盤二

開支項目的最高資助額須知事項：如區議會授意非特定團體舉辦指定的活動，特定團體最高資助額將適用於該項指定活動 c

分類編號開支項目非特定團體／互委會／特定團體適用於地區特色活動業主法團／業委會最高資助額最高資助額最高資助額宣傳及印製 1.1 海報設計及印製（每張不超過6元）主1 共*1·1PQ元 hτ鈞。LJOO元 �800元 1.2 請東（每套不超過品4.6元）息。（岫460元去。00460元 fr.G8{)920元 1.3 人場券l每張五超過0.8元） j手。tl」OO元卡§00400元山期）800元 1.4 官傳單張（每張不超過＋Q.5元）生叫岫）00元主뚄00元出騙行00元 1.5 橫額（每幅不超過§00265元）且似的950元主BG8950元 �l.900元 1.6 展板製作（每塊不超過500元） 7,200元 10,000元 20,000元 1.7 問卷印製（每份不超過2元） 2,000元 2,000元 4,000元 1.8 報告書（謂杏研究）（每本不超過10元） 5,000元 5,000元 10,000元 1.9 場刊（每份不超過4元） 3,000元 3,000元 6,000元 1.10 小冊子（每份不超過3元） 1,500元 1,500元 3,000元 1.11 參加表格／章程 1,000元 1,000元 2,000元 1.12 參加證／襟章（每個不超過3元） 900元 900元 1,800元 1.13 影印 200元 200元 400元 1.14 營刊（每本不超過2元） 400元 400元 800元 1.15 郵費預期參加人數兩倍或1,000 1,000份x每份根據香港 2,000份x每份根據香津份（以較低者為準）x 每份郵政的所需郵費政的所需郵費根據香港郵政的所需郵費 1.16 設計及造稿 1,000元 1,000元 2,000元

撥款指引(Rev 司20-l-92且） I

Only Chinese version is available Annex 7

強烈要求政府公佈催淚氣體及水炮車成份，並公開政府油尖旺區各部門在警察施放催淚彈及水炮車後的街道、學校及社區會堂等地的清潔指引，以及有關工人（例如清潔工人）處理時的防護措施

多謝油尖旺區議會多位議員就上述標題事宜提呈文件，並要求食物環境衞生署（下稱「本署」）作出回應。本署現就文件提出的相關問題及建議綜合回覆如下：

本署一向關注公眾地方的環境衞生情況，並提供日常的街道潔淨服務。在大型公眾活動過後，本署會在路面情況容許下，調派員工及街道潔淨服務承辦商員工（包括清潔工人），盡快提供街道潔淨服務，並增加清洗受影響街道的次數。本署已向屬下員工和潔淨服務承辦商發出工作指引（附件一），當中包括清理化學物品殘留物需注意的事項及個人防護裝備。其中，指引訂明承辦商應進行風險評估，並採取適當的預防措施，包括向清潔工人提供足夠及合適的個人防護裝備，以提供街道潔淨及清洗服務。在工作時，清潔工人需戴上口罩、手套、手袖、防滑水鞋，如風險評估認為有需要，應戴上 N95(或同級)口罩、眼罩及帽等。在清潔工人的要求下，承辦商亦應向清潔工人提供 N95(或同級)口罩。

如受影響的公眾地方懷疑有化學物品的殘留物，切勿使用高壓熱水洗濯機或高速清洗盤清洗路面，避免重新揚起殘留微粒。此外，在採用洗街車灑水沖洗街道時，須將洗街車的輔助工作引擎關掉或控制噴嘴的水壓輸出率調低至最少，以免揚起殘留微粒。清潔工人在工作時如發現有彈藥、彈殼、危險品或化學廢料必須通知分區潔淨組人員，本署會轉介警方或相關部門處理。如任何人因接觸化學物品的殘留物而持續感到不適，應諮詢專業醫護人員的意見。另外，本署的公眾潔淨服務合約訂明承辦商必須遵守所有與履行服務合約有關的法例，包括《職業安全及健康條例》（第 509 章）及其附屬規例，並須為僱員提供足夠個人防護衣物、裝備、安全培訓和合適的工作安排等。本署人員亦有進行定期和突擊巡查，以查核承辦商的服務表現。

至於非公眾地方，則應由場地擁有人／管理人員提供潔淨服務。衞生署已發出有關催淚煙的健康資訊（附件二），並上載至衞生防護中心網頁。有關的健康資訊詳列市民在接觸催淚煙後的處理方法，以及有關進行清潔的建議程序。在食物安全方面，食安中心已在其網站給市民提供就催淚煙或其他污染物與食物安全的資訊（附件三），市民可參考食安中心的建議。另外，食安中心亦為食物業界提供指引（附件四），為了減少食物受污染物，包括催淚煙的化學物質的污染，建議食物業界應把食物妥為貯存於適當地方，例如在清潔及已蓋好的食物容器內，以減低食物受污染的風險。

有關催淚煙或其他污染物及如何處理受污染的食物。一般來說，食物可能受環境中的不同物質污染，而污染物會否對食物安全構成影響則視乎多種因素，例如食物的貯存情況、食物暴露於污染物的時間、污染物的濃度等。為減低食物受污染的風險，食物須妥為貯存於適當地方，例如在清潔及已蓋好的食物容器內。當然，在一般情況下以流動水清洗一些食物，如水果或蔬菜，可減少食物表面的污染物。如懷疑食物受到污染或有異樣，為審慎起見，便不應進食。

食物環境衞生署油尖區及旺角區環境衞生辦事處 2020 年 1 月食物環境衞生署向其僱員及潔淨服務承辦商發出的指引

食物環境衞生署發出給街道潔淨服務承辦商的建議指引的文本如下:

承辦商應按照分區潔淨組人員的指示在有關地點的情況恢復正常後，才安排恢復公眾潔淨服務。

如有關大型公眾活動地點有可能遺留化學物品的殘留物，承辦商應進行風險評估，並採取適當的預防措施，包括向清潔工人提供足夠及合適的個人防護裝備，以提供街道潔淨及清洗服務。在工作時，清潔工人需戴上口罩、手套、手袖、防滑水鞋，如風險評估認為有需要，應戴上N95(或同級)口罩、眼罩及帽等。在清潔工人的要求下，承辦商亦應向清潔工人提供N95(或同級)口罩。

如受影響的公眾地方懷疑有化學物品的殘留物，切勿使用高壓熱水洗濯機或高速清洗盤清洗路面，避免重新揚起殘留微粒。此外，在採用洗街車灑水沖洗街道時，須將洗街車的輔助工作引擎關掉或控制噴嘴的水壓輸出率調低至最少，以免揚起殘留微粒。

清潔工人在工作時如發現有彈藥、彈殼、危險品或化學廢料必須通知分區潔淨組人員，本署會轉介警方或相關部門處理。

如任何人因接觸化學物品的殘留物而持續感到不適，應諮詢專業醫護人員的意見。衞生防護中心 - 催淚煙的健康資訊 Page 1 of 1

（附件二）

健康資訊

主頁 > 健康資訊 > 健康及衞生 > 催淚煙的健康資訊

催淚煙的健康資訊

2019年11月7日催淚煙是驅散人羣的裝備，而很多化學物可用作催淚煙。

接觸催淚煙後一般可出現的徵狀包括眼睛和其他黏膜有刺痛及灼熱感覺、流眼水、流涎、流鼻水、胸悶、頭痛、噁心、皮膚有灼熱感覺及紅斑等等。這些徵狀通常會在接觸後的短時間內消失。現時就催淚煙對人體長期健康影響的資料及文獻有限，但有研究指催淚煙可對生理和心理健康有持續的影響，特別在兒童、長者、患呼吸系統疾病或有敏感情況的人士等。一般而言，催淚煙對人體健康的影響視乎多種因素，例如催淚煙內的具體化學成份、所暴露的時間和劑量、暴露途徑、個人的健康狀況，以及暴露時所處的環境等。

市民如果身處有催淚煙的地方應盡快離開。皮膚接觸到催淚煙後亦應用大量清水和肥皂徹底清洗，並更換受污染的衣物，而眼睛若有不適可用大量的清水或生理鹽水沖洗。如身處於室內地方而附近有催淚煙發放，應關閉所有門窗，並關上空調，及可用濕布封上門窗隙罅。

就哺乳媽媽接觸催淚煙後要隔多久才能餵哺母乳，現時並沒有相關的國際指引。根據醫院管理局毒理學專家的意見，催淚氣體中含有的活性化學物質會在接觸到黏膜時分解，因此這些化學物質在母乳中累積的機會甚微。專家建議基於謹慎起見，在接觸催淚氣體後一至兩小時應避免母乳餵哺，這建議時間視乎暴露於化學物質及因暴露時距離增加而有稀釋結果而定。此外，在接觸嬰兒或進行母乳餵哺前，哺乳媽媽應更換衣服及徹底清洗頭髮和皮膚，避免嬰兒有機會接觸到任何催淚氣體的殘留物。

在家居清潔催淚煙殘留物時，盡量使用一次性清潔物品，並戴上適當的個人防護裝備，例如口罩、橡膠手套、膠圍裙等。受污染的表面一般可使用肥皂水浸濕的布抹，而不應使用熱水以免令殘留物蒸發。同時，要避免重新揚起殘留微粒，因此，不應使用高壓水槍及掃把等工具，亦不應使用電風扇。在清潔完成後，應把一次性清潔物品妥善包妥後(例如放進密封的膠袋)才棄置。

如有任何人士因接觸催淚煙霧而持續感到不適，應諮詢專業醫護人員的意見。

有關催淚煙或其他污染物與食物安全的建議，市民可瀏覽食物環境衞生署食物安全中心網頁 (https://www.cfs.gov.hk/tc_chi/index.html) > 熱門話題 > 給市民有關污染物與食物安全的建議。

https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/healthtopics/content/460/102308.html 17/1/2020 （附件三）

給市民有關污染物與食物安全的建議

背景鑑於近期社會事件，有市民關注食物可能受到催淚煙或其他物質污染。食物安全中心提供以下建議供市民參考。

污染物與食物安全一般來說，食物可能受環境中的不同物質污染，而污染物會否對食物安全構成影響則視乎多種因素，例如食物的貯存情況、食物暴露於污染物的時間、污染物的濃度等。

給市民的建議  食物須妥為貯存於適當地方，例如在清潔及已蓋好的食物容器內，以減低食物受污染的風險。  如身處於室內地方而附近有催淚煙發放，應關閉所有門窗，並關上空調，及可用濕布封上門窗隙罅，以減低室內受到污染的機會。事發後應留意食物包裝是否完好，並檢查食物有否受到損壞或污染；如懷疑食物受到污染或有異樣，為審慎起見，便不應進食。  在一般情況下以流動水清洗一些食物，如水果或蔬菜，可減少食物表面的污染物。但如懷疑食物受到污染或有異樣，為審慎起見，便不應進食。  有關催淚煙對人體健康的影響，可瀏覽衞生署衞生防護中心網頁 (https://www.chp.gov.hk/tc/index.html)主頁>健康資訊>健康及衞生> 催淚煙的健康資訊（附件四）

給給給業界給業界業界業界有關有關有關有關催淚煙催淚煙催淚煙催淚煙或其他或其他或其他或其他污染物與食物安全污染物與食物安全污染物與食物安全的建議的建議的建議的建議

背景背景背景鑑於近期社會事件，一些食肆和食品零售店關注其售賣的食物或採用的食用材料可能受到催淚煙或其他物質污染。食物安全中心提供以下建議供業界參考。

污染物與食物安全一般來說，食物可能受環境中的不同物質污染，而催淚煙或其他污染物會否對食物安全構成影響則視乎多種因素，例如食物的貯存情況、食物暴露於污染物的時間、污染物的濃度等。

食物安全中心食物安全中心的建議的建議的建議的建議食物須妥為貯存於適當地方，例如放在清潔及已蓋好的食物容器內，以減低食物受污染的風險。如食肆或食品零售店附近有催淚煙發放，應關閉所有門窗，並關上空調，及可用濕布封上門窗隙罅，以減低室內受到污染的機會。事發後應留意食物包裝是否完好，並檢查食物有否受到損壞或污染；如懷疑食物受到污染或有異樣，為審慎起見，便不應進食。在一般情況下以流動水清洗一些食物，例如水果或蔬菜，可減少食物表面的污染物，但如懷疑食物受到污染或有異樣，為審慎起見，便不應進食。

此外，業界應時刻遵守「食物安全五要點」，包括精明選擇（選擇安全的原材料）、保持清潔（保持雙手及用具清潔）、生熟分開（分開生熟食物）、煮熟食物（徹底煮熟食物）與安全溫度（把食物存放於安全溫度），以保障食物安全。附件八 (譯文)

議程項目第 11 項

書面回覆

2020 至 2023 年度油尖旺區議會

第二次會議

關注催淚彈對富榮花園及彌敦道以西 (旺角到油麻地段)一帶的影響

1. 警方有法定責任維護公眾安全及公共秩序。當出現違法堵塞道

路、癱瘓交通、非法集結和暴力衝擊警方防線等情況，嚴重威脅公共

秩序和公眾安全時，警方有責任採取適當行動維護法紀，保障社會安

寧。當然，如果市民以和平合法的方式表達意見，警方根本無須使用

任何程度的武力。

2. 警方使用催淚彈的目的是驅散人群，在警方與暴徒之間製造距

離以控制場面，從而恢復公共安全及公共秩序。警方使用催淚彈，是

為了應對當時的情況，使用的地點及程度均取決於當時暴徒的暴力行

為，同時亦須要確保警務人員及其他守法市民的安全。

3. 警方理解社會對在民居附近施放催淚彈的關注，在使用催淚彈

前，總是會盡量顧及受影響人士的安全及利益。在每次行動前，旺角

警區都會盡可能透過各種渠道與附近一帶的大廈管理處、商戶、交通 1 (第 2 頁)

營辦商及老人院等保持緊密聯繫，提醒他們警方就附近擾亂公眾秩序

的活動可能作出的行動，以便他們採取適當的預防措施。

4. 行動期間，警方亦會透過社交媒體和新聞公報，呼籲附近一帶

的居民留意情況，每次警方都會發出口頭警告及展示警告旗幟。

5. 有關市民關注催淚煙對環境及人體健康的影響方面，衞生署已

將有關催淚煙的健康資訊上載至衞生防護中心的網頁，以供市民參

考。而於 2019 年 11 月 27 日，保安局局長亦已在立法會上就此項議題

作出詳盡回應。

香港警務處

2020 年 1 月 Annex 8

AGENDA ITEM 11

(Written Submission)

Yau Tsim Mong District Council 2020-2023

2nd Meeting

Concern over Impact of Tear Gas on Charming Garden and West of Nathan Road (Mong Kok to Yau Ma Tei)

1. The Police have a statutory duty to maintain public safety and public order. When public order and public safety are severely threatened by situations such as assault, fights, arson, illegal blockage of roads, traffic being paralysed, unlawful assemblies and violent charging of police cordon lines, the Police have an obligation to take appropriate actions to maintain law and order and safeguard the public peace. It goes without saying that if any persons express their views in a peaceful and lawful manner, there would be no need for the Police to use any level of force.

2. The purpose of the use of tear gas is to disperse a large unlawful gathering of people, create distance between the Police and the rioters and control the situation so as to restore public safety and public order. The 1 use of tear gas by the Police will be in response to the prevailing situation, the location and extent of its use depended on rioters’ violent acts and simultaneously the need to ensure the safety of police officers and the law abiding public.

3. The Police understand the community's concerns about the use of tear gas near residential areas, and always take into account the safety and interests of the affected people as far as possible before using tear gas. Before each operation, the Mong Kok District has, as far as possible, maintained close contact with the nearby building management offices, commercial tenants, transport operators and elderly homes through various channels to alert them of the Police's possible actions in relation to the nearby public disorders so that they can take appropriate precautionary measures.

4. During such operations, the Police will also appeal to residents in the vicinity to pay attention to the situation through social media and press releases, and on each and every occasion warnings, both verbal and by use of warning flags, are given.

2 5. With respect to the community’s concern about the impacts of tear gas on the environment and an individual’s physical health, the

Department of Health has uploaded health information on tear gas to the

Centre for Health Protection webpage for public references and on 27th

November 2019, the Secretary for Security gave a lengthy reply on this topic in the Legislative Council.

Hong Kong Police Force

January 2020

3 Only Chinese version is available An nex 9

九龍中醫院聯網的求診人次

公立醫院自去年六月起有接獲市民在大型聚眾事件受傷或身體不適到醫院管理局（醫管局）轄下急症室求診。個別個案曾接觸催淚煙或藍色液體而一般出現輕微的呼吸系統和皮膚不適的症狀，並沒有嚴重的身體影響。他們在急症室進行清洗及接受治療後，大部分可即時出院。

截至本年一月一日的統計，九龍中醫院聯網轄下的廣華醫院及伊利沙伯醫院由去年六月九日起至十二月三十一日因參與公眾活動受傷而求診的人數為 700 人。至於上述期間因有關氣喘/哮喘前往普通科門診及專科門診的求診人次，本局沒有作特別分類統計。

感謝貴會對公共醫療服務的關注。本局十分抱歉未能派員出席貴會於一月二十一日舉行的會議。

醫院管理局二○二○年一月 Only Chinese version is available Annex 10

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N95( )

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3 （附件）

N95

4 附件十一 Annex 11 附件十二

(譯文)

議程項目第 12 項

書面回覆

2020 至 2023 年度油尖旺區議會

第二次會議

強烈要求港鐵公開所有 2019 年 8 月 31 日太子站事件的

閉路電影片段以釋公眾疑慮

1. 8 月 31 日晚上約 10 時 45 分，大量配備頭盔和防毒面具的黑

衣暴力示威者在太子站內集結，並與車廂內的其他乘客發生衝突和打

鬥。根據新聞報導和網上片段，包括長者以內的乘客遭到暴力示威者

欺凌、毆打和襲擊，暴力示威者甚至在車廂內使用滅火筒，使站內陷

入一片混亂，危及無辜乘客的人身安全和生命。

2. 有鑑於此，港鐵公司作出廣播要求乘客離開車廂及車站，同

時要求警方支援。應港鐵公司及 999 緊急求助電話的要求，警方調派

人員進入太子站內，制止暴力行為、拘捕違法人士及保護生命。

1 (譯文)

3. 警察進入車站後，抵達月台及進入車廂時受到暴力示威者攻

擊。暴力示威者利用雨傘及其他物品襲擊警務人員。鑑於現場情況，

警務人員別無選擇，唯有使用武力驅散暴徒及制服有關人士。

4. 警方隨後在太子站進行調查，並拘捕共 68 人，涉嫌干犯包括

「非法集結」、「刑事毁壞」和「藏有攻擊性武器」等罪名。警方在

行動中檢獲汽油彈、鐳射鎗、彈叉、鋼珠、頭盔及防毒面具等武器和

裝備。同時，警方亦協助安全疏散了數以百計的無辜市民。

5. 一如以往，警方致力協助提供救護服務，以確保能夠迅速為

傷者提供醫護服務。然而，由於站內的秩序、以至太子站一帶的路面

情況非常混亂，港鐵公司須要關閉太子站。當警方知悉有救護車被調

派到現場協助受傷人士時，便立即與消防處及港鐵公司進行協調，安

排救護員進入港鐵站內盡快為傷者進行治理。與此同時，擁有急救資

格的警務人員亦立即為有需要人士進行治理。

2 (譯文)

6. 隨著當晚事態發展，警方評估太子站附近並不安全。基於安

全考慮，港鐵公司安排特別班次列車將傷者、被捕人士及消防處人員

送往荔枝角站，隨後轉送明愛醫院及瑪嘉烈醫院治理。

7. 同一時間，旺角警署遭四千餘名憤怒的群眾包圍，警方召回

調派至太子站的人員保護警署，事件持續數小時。警方在整個事件中

使用了必要的最低武力，以恢復太子站內及附近一帶的秩序。

8. 警方希望藉此機會再次向散播假消息的市民大眾及網民重申：

太子站內無人死亡。事實上，醫院管理局和消防處已經在不同場合再

三澄清此事。說有人死亡的指控失實，完全是子虛烏有的惡意謠言，

意圖抺黑警隊，製造更多社會矛盾。

9. 警方的刑事調查工作仍在進行中，包括檢視相關片段。由於

有關資料很可能成為刑事審訊中的證據，因此現時不適合作出進一步

評論。

3 (譯文)

香港警務處

2020 年 1 月

4 Annex 12

AGENDA ITEM 12

(Written Submission)

Yau Tsim Mong District Council 2020-2023

2nd Meeting

Strong Request That MTR Release All Closed Circtit Television Footage of Prince Edward Station Incident on 31 August 2019 to Allay Public Concerns

1. At 10:45 p.m. or so on August 31, a large number of violent protestors dressed in black with helmets and gas masks gathered inside

Prince Edward Station, and had disputes and fights with other passengers in the train compartments. From the new reports and video clips on the internet, violent protestors bullied, assaulted and attacked passengers including the elderly, and even used fire extinguishers inside the train compartments, bringing chaos to the station and creating a situation where the safety and lives of innocent passengers was placed at risk.

2. In view of this situation, the MTR Corp. made a broadcast to request passengers to leave the train compartments and station, and at the same time required assistance from the police. Upon request from the

1 MTR Corp. and incoming 999 calls, the officers were deployed to Prince

Edward Station in order to stop the violent acts, arrest the offenders and protect life.

3. Upon entry to the station, Police officers were attacked by the violent protesters when they arrived at the platform and entered the train compartments. Violent protesters used umbrellas and other objects to assault the police officers. In view of the situation at the scene, the police officers had no alternative other than to use force to disperse the rioters and get the persons concerned under control.

4. In the subsequent follow-up enquiries at Prince Edward Station,

Police arrested a total of 68 persons for offences including "Unlawful

Assembly", "Criminal Damage" and "Possession of Offensive

Weapon". During the operation, the Police seized weapons and gears such as petrol bombs, laser guns, slingshots, steel pellets, helmets and gas masks. Yet at the same time, we had facilitated the safe evacuation of hundreds of innocent persons.

5. As always, the Police endeavoured to facilitate the provision of

2 ambulance services, ensuring that prompt medical care was given to the injured. However, with severe disorder in the station and also on the surface in vicinity of the Prince Edward Station, the MTR Corporation had to close the Prince Edward Station. On receiving information that ambulances were being deployed to the scene, the Police immediately coordinated with the Fire Services Department and the MTR Corporation to have ambulancemen sent in to provide treatment for the injured as soon as possible. Simultaneously, police officers who are qualified first aiders gave immediate care to those in need.

6. The police assessment as the evening progressed was that safety in the vicinity of the Prince Edward Station was compromised. For the safety of the injured, arrestees, and the Fire Services Department officers, they were sent to the Lai Chi Kok Station by a special train arranged by the MTR Corporation, and were subsequently sent to the Caritas Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital for treatment.

7. At the same time officers from Mong Kok Police Station withdrew from Prince Edward Station in order to secure the Station which

3 had now been surrounded by a violent crowd of some 4,000 persons which continued for several hours. Throughout the incident police had used the minimum force necessary in order to restore order in the station and environs.

8. Police would like to take the opportunity here to once again reiterate to the general public and netizens spreading fake news that there were no fatalities in Prince Edward Station. Indeed, the Hospital

Authority and the FSD have repeatedly stated the same on numerous occasions. Such groundless allegations of saying that persons had died are total frabrications and malicious with the intention being to smear the

Police Force and create yet more conflicts in society.

9. The Police's criminal investigation is still underway, including reviewing the relevant digital footage. Such information may likely be of evidential value in any criminal proceedings and it is inappropriate to comment any further at this time.

4 Hong Kong Police Force

January 2020

5 附件十三

(((譯本(譯本譯本譯本))))

202020202020至至至 202320232023 年度油尖旺區議會第二次會議

旺角警區旺角警區旺角警區跟進事項旺角警區跟進事項跟進事項跟進事項

議項十二議項十二議項十二：議項十二：：：

就 2019 年 8 月 31 日的受傷人數，根據警方紀錄，當日 68 名被

捕人士當中，有 7 人報稱受傷及被送往醫院接受治療。另外，翻查媒

體報導，醫院管理局曾於 2019 年 9 月 110 日公開表示，2019 年 8 月

31 日至 2019 年 9 月 2 日期間，共有 46 人由各區到醫院急症室求醫。

該 46 名人士有機會涉及 831 事件，當中或曾被暴徒傷害，或於

逃避或抗拒拘捕時意外地受傷。但是，沒有以上人士提供更多資料，

並不能為事件作一個合理的總結。

議項十五議項十五議項十五：議項十五：：：

就有關旺角警署射燈造成行車安全的提問，旺角警署外共安裝

18 盏射燈，其中兩盏照向通菜街、4 盏照向太子道西、7 盏照向彌

敦道及 5 盏照向運動場道。射燈的設置目的主要為警署附近路段加

強照明。警區會定期檢視署內射燈設備的強度及照射方向，而事實

上於安裝階段，警區已盡量減少殘留光線對附近居民的影響。

有見近日社會情況有所改善，警署射燈的使用率亦見減少，希望這個對各界有益的趨勢可以持續。

議項十六議項十六議項十六：議項十六：：：

就大角咀的巡邏安排，現時大角咀一帶共有 6 本簽到簿，位置

包括大角咀道、埃華街、福利街、海富苑、富榮花園，以及奧海

城。上述簽到簿的位置吻合最新的罪案趨勢，本警區會定期檢視簽

到簿位置，同時配合適當的人手安排及策略性部署以預防和打擊罪

案。

另外，以下為旺角警區旺角警區旺角警區202020202020 年年年 111 月至月至月至 222 月的月的月的主要月的主要主要主要罪案數字罪案數字罪案數字罪案數字：

202020202020年年年 111 月月月

罪案性質案件宗數偵破宗數

行劫 4 2

爆竊 52 6

搶掠 5 1

未獲授權而取用運輸工具 10 1

車內盜竊 17 4

扒竊 22 10 202020202020年年年 222 月月月

罪案性質案件宗數偵破宗數

行劫 5 2

爆竊 31 1

搶掠 3 1

未獲授權而取用運輸工具 2 0

車內盜竊 11 1

扒竊 4 1

交通定額罰款通知書 2020 年 1 月 2020 年 2 月

5,015 9,229 Annex 13

2020-2023 YTM District Council 2nd Meeting

MKDIST Follow-up Information

Agenda 12

Regarding the number of injured person recorded on 31st August 2019, seven among the 68 arrested persons requested for medical treatment and were sent to hospital subsequently. In a public speech made by the Hospital Authority on 10th September 2019, 46 people have sought for medical treatment at hospitals on their own from 31st August, 2019 to 2nd September, 2019.

As such it may be case that some of these 46 persons were involved in the 8:31 incident and had been injured by the rioters or inadvertently injured whilst trying to evade police arrest or resist arrest. However, without these persons coming forward to provide more details, no conclusions can reasonably be drawn. Agenda 15

18 flood lights were installed at the Mong Kok Police Station, with 2 facing Tung Choi Street, 4 facing Prince Edward Road West, 7 facing Nathan Road and 5 facing Playing Field Road. The flood lights were installed to enhance visibility of the major road junctions around the Police Station. The power and lighting direction of the flood light would be reviewed regularly and during the installation phase, efforts had been made to reduce residual light pollution to nearby residents.

With the improving law and order situation, the need to use these lights has decreased significantly and it is hoped that this trend would continue for the benefit of all. Agenda 16

There are six Police visiting books in Tai Kok Tsui area, covering Tai Kok Tsui Road, Ivy Street, Fuk Lee Street, Hoi Fu Court, Charming Garden and Olympian City. The locations of the visiting books were appropriate in view of the current crime trend and would be regularly reviewed.

The figures of the key crimes in Mong Kok District from January to February 2020 is as below: January 2020 Offence Reported case(s) Detected case(s) Robbery 4 2 Burglary 52 6 Snatching 5 1 TCWA 10 1 Theft from Vehicle 17 4 Pickpocket 22 10 February 2020 Offence Reported case(s) Detected case(s) Robbery 5 2 Burglary 31 1 Snatching 3 1 TCWA 2 0 Theft from Vehicle 11 1 Pickpocket 4 1

Fixed Penalty Tickets January 2020 February 2020 5,015 9,339 Only Chinese version is available Annex 14

Only Chinese version is available Annex 15

附件十六

(譯文)

議程項目第 16 項書面回覆 2020-2023 年度油尖旺區議會

第二次會議

要求警方交代大角咀、富榮及奧運區內巡邏安排及加強區內治安

1. 警方知道旺角警區的罪案情況，尤其是 2019 年下半年上升的

罪案數字，罪案增加的其中一個原因，很可能是因為暴亂事件，導

致執行日常看守和監視職務的警務人員減少。

2. 警方將會繼續策略性調派警隊人手，巡邏有關黑點，並採取

積極措施，應付最新的罪案趨勢。未來一年，警方將在區內採取針

對入屋犯法、街頭賣淫、街頭騙案及違例泊車的大型行動，目的是

為了盡快恢復社會秩序。

香港警務處

2020 年 1 月

1 Annex 16

AGENDA ITEM 16

(Written Submission)

Yau Tsim Mong District Council 2020-2023

2nd Meeting

Request That Police Explain Patrol Arrangements in Tai Kok Tsui, Charming and Olympic and Step up Efforts in Maintaining Law and Order Therein

1. The Police is aware of the crime situation in Mong Kok Police

District, particularly the uprising crime figures in the second half of 2019.

The shrink in Police manpower on normal watch and ward duty due to the civil disorder is probably one of the reasons in such increase.

2. The Police will continue to ensure strategic deployment of resources to problematic areas and take proactive measures against emerging trends. In the coming year, large scale operations targeting burglary, street prostitution, street deception and illegal parking would be mounted in the area, with an aim to restore law and order in the community soonest.

1 Hong Kong Police Force

January 2020

2 附件十七

(譯文)

議程項目第 20 項

書面回覆

2020 至 2023 年度油尖旺區議會

第二次會議

強烈要求香港特別行政區政府成立獨立調查委員會

徹查由《引渡條例》修訂所引起的

警民衝突及香港警察濫權濫捕問題

1. 根據香港法例第 604 章《獨立監察警方處理投訴委員會條例》(下稱《監警會條例》)，獨立監察警方處理投訴委員會(下稱「監警會」)的法定職能包括觀察、監察和覆檢投訴警察課處理和調查須匯報投訴的工作，並就投訴的處理和調查提出建議。監警會亦可在警隊採納的常規或程序中，找出已經或可能會引致須匯報投訴的缺失或不足之處，並向警隊及/或行政長官提出建議。就投訴警察的制度而言，有關制度是一個行之有效的兩層法定架構。制度的第一層是負責接收及調查投訴的警隊投訴警察課﹔制度的第二層是法定機構---監警會。

2. 兩層投訴制度根據《監警會條例》有效運作，有清晰的法律基礎，可確保投訴警察的個案都能得到公平公正的處理。

3. 自今年六月九日至今，香港發生了超過 800 場示威、遊行和公眾集會。因應公眾對警方在大型公眾活動中的執法行動的關注，監警會根據《監警會條例》賦予的權力，主動審視自六月九日起在本港發生的大型公眾活動及警方採取的相應行動，並為此成立了專案組和國際專家小組。監警會將分階段向公眾公布進展，並已表示將竭力就審視工作向行政長官提交首個階段報告及公布詳情。

1 (譯文)

4. 警方將一如以往繼續全面配合監警會的工作及所有其他由政府指示的措施。

香港警務處 2020 年 1 月

2 Annex 17

AGENDA ITEM 20

(Written Submission)

Yau Tsim Mong District Council 2020-2023

2nd Meeting

Strong Request That Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establish Independent Commission of Inquiry to thoroughly Inquire into Clashes between Police and Public and Hong Kong Police’s Abuse of Power and Arbitrary Arrest Arising from Amendment to “Extradition Ordinance”

1. Under the Independent Police Complaints Council Ordinance

(IPCC Ordinance) (Cap. 604), the statutory functions of the Independent

Police Complaints Council (IPCC) include observing, monitoring and reviewing the handling and investigation of reportable complaints by the

Complaints Against Police Office (CAPO) and making recommendations on the handling and investigation of complaints. IPCC may also identify any fault or deficiency in any practice or procedure adopted by the Police that has led to or might lead to reportable complaints, and make recommendations to the Police and/or the Chief Executive

(CE). The mechanism of making complaints against the Police is a

1 well-established two-tier statutory mechanism, with the first tier being

CAPO of the Police which receives and investigates complaints; and the second tier being IPCC which is a statutory body.

2. The two-tier complaint mechanism operates effectively under

IPCC Ordinance, which provides a clear legal basis to ensure that complaints against the Police will be handled in a fair and just manner.

3. Since June 9 this year, more than 800 protests, processions and public assemblies have been staged in Hong Kong. In response to public concerns regarding law enforcement actions by the Police in major public order events (POEs), IPCC has, pursuant to the powers conferred by

IPCC Ordinance, proactively initiated a study on the major POEs in Hong

Kong since June 9 and the corresponding actions taken by the Police, and established a Special Task Force and an International Expert Panel to this end. IPCC will announce the progress of the study by phases, and has stated that it would endeavour to submit the preliminary report of the study to the CE and publish the relevant details.

2 4. The police have and will continue to cooperate fully with the

IPCC and any other measures directed by the Administration.

Hong Kong Police Force

January 2020

3 Only Chinese version is available Annex 18 Only Chinese version is available Annex 19