LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3895

OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Wednesday, 8 January 2020

The Council met at Eleven o'clock

MEMBERS PRESENT:

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

THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN

THE HONOURABLE LEUNG YIU-CHUNG

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

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

PROF THE HONOURABLE JOSEPH LEE KOK-LONG, S.B.S., J.P.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3896 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

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

THE HONOURABLE CLAUDIA MO

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

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

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

THE HONOURABLE WU CHI-WAI, M.H.

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

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

THE HONOURABLE CHARLES PETER MOK, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHI-CHUEN

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

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

THE HONOURABLE KENNETH LEUNG

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

DR THE HONOURABLE KWOK KA-KI

THE HONOURABLE KWOK WAI-KEUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE DENNIS KWOK WING-HANG

DR THE HONOURABLE FERNANDO CHEUNG CHIU-HUNG

DR THE HONOURABLE HELENA WONG PIK-WAN

THE HONOURABLE IP KIN-YUEN

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3897

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

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

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

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

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

THE HONOURABLE CHUNG KWOK-PAN

THE HONOURABLE ALVIN YEUNG

THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WAN SIU-KIN

THE HONOURABLE CHU HOI-DICK

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

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

THE HONOURABLE HO KAI-MING

THE HONOURABLE LAM CHEUK-TING

THE HONOURABLE HOLDEN CHOW HO-DING

THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-FAI, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE SHIU KA-CHUN

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

THE HONOURABLE YUNG HOI-YAN, J.P.

DR THE HONOURABLE PIERRE CHAN

THE HONOURABLE CHAN CHUN-YING, J.P.

3898 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

THE HONOURABLE TANYA CHAN

THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE HUI CHI-FUNG

THE HONOURABLE LUK CHUNG-HUNG, J.P.

THE HONOURABLE LAU KWOK-FAN, M.H.

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

DR THE HONOURABLE CHENG CHUNG-TAI

THE HONOURABLE KWONG CHUN-YU

THE HONOURABLE JEREMY TAM MAN-HO

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

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

THE HONOURABLE CHAN HOI-YAN

MEMBER ABSENT:

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

PUBLIC OFFICERS ATTENDING:

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

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

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3899

THE HONOURABLE JOHN LEE KA-CHIU, S.B.S., P.D.S.M., J.P. SECRETARY FOR SECURITY

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

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

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

THE HONOURABLE PATRICK NIP TAK-KUEN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS

CLERKS IN ATTENDANCE:

MR KENNETH CHEN WEI-ON, S.B.S., SECRETARY GENERAL

MISS ODELIA LEUNG HING-YEE, DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL

MS DORA WAI, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL

3900 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Will the Clerk please ring the bell to summon Members to the Chamber.

(After the summoning bell had been rung, a number of Members entered the Chamber)

PAPERS TO BE LAID ON THE TABLE OF THE COUNCIL

The following papers were laid on the table under Rule 21(2) of the Rules of Procedure:

Subsidiary Legislation/Instruments Legal Notice No.

Exemption from Profits Tax (Feed-in Tariff Scheme) Order ...... 190 of 2019

Business Registration (Amendment) Regulation 2019 ...... 191 of 2019

Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Air Pollution) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2019 ...... 192 of 2019

Statutes of the University of Hong Kong (Amendment) Statute 2019 ...... 193 of 2019

Road Traffic (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulation 2020 ...... 1 of 2020

Road Traffic Ordinance (Amendment of Section 102I(3)(b)) Order 2020 ...... 2 of 2020

Other Paper

Insurance Authority Annual Report 2018-19 (including Financial Statements and Independent Auditor's Report)

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3901

URGENT QUESTIONS

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Urgent questions.

Apart from six oral questions for this meeting, with my permission, three urgent oral questions will be asked by Ms Alice MAK, Ms Elizabeth QUAT and Dr KWOK Ka-ki respectively under Rule 24(4) of the Rules of Procedure.

The three urgent questions all concern the HKSAR Government's measures in response to the occurrence of pneumonia cases with unknown cause in Wuhan.

I will call upon the three Members to ask their urgent questions one by one and the public officer to reply to each of the questions. Then, I will invite the three Members to ask supplementary questions. Afterwards, other Members may ask supplementary questions.

Members who wish to ask supplementary questions please press the "Request to speak" button as early as possible, so that we can estimate when the urgent questions will end and the first oral question will start.

Having regard to the situation, I will as far as possible allow Members to ask supplementary questions if they so wish. To allow more Members to ask questions, questions raised by Members should be as concise as possible. Members should not make arguments when asking questions.

First urgent question.

Issuing expeditiously guidelines on treating viral pneumonia

1. MS ALICE MAK (in Cantonese): Recently, several dozen cases of viral pneumonia have occurred in Wuhan. As the cause of the disease is unknown, quite a number of Hong Kong people are in panic. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council of the disease's latest pathological information that it has grasped so far (including the causes of the disease, symptoms, transmissibility and treatment methods), and whether it will expeditiously issue to health care personnel work guidelines on treating such disease and provide them with adequate protection measures??

3902 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): President, the Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health received notifications from the National Health Commission ("NHC") on 31 December 2019 and 3 and 5 January 2020 respectively regarding the cluster of pneumonia cases recently identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province. According to the NHC, a number of viral pneumonia cases with unknown cause have been identified through disease surveillance since December 2019. Symptoms were mainly fever while a few had presented with shortness of breath.

According to the latest information available, there was a total of 59 cases, with no fatal cases (as of 5 January 2020). At present, all patients are receiving treatment in isolation, while 163 close contacts are under medical surveillance. So far none of them have developed abnormal symptoms such as fever. The tracing of close contacts is still ongoing. Epidemiological investigations reveal that some patients are business operators at a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan. So far, investigations by the Mainland authorities found no evidence of definite human-to-human transmission and no health care workers have been found infected. While the causative pathogen and cause of infection are still under investigation, respiratory pathogens such as influenza viruses, avian influenza viruses, adenovirus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome have been ruled out as the cause.

First of all, I would like to reiterate that no serious pneumonia case related to those in Wuhan has been detected in Hong Kong so far. Due to the frequent flow of travellers between Hong Kong and Wuhan, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region attaches great importance and stays alert of the latest situation of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. In tackling the outbreak, the Government adopts three principles, namely making prompt responses, staying alert and working in an open and transparent manner. In fact, the Food and Health Bureau has held a number of meetings with relevant Policy Bureaux, departments, the Hospital Authority ("HA") and experts over the past week, i.e. since 31 December of last year to examine the prevention measures taken in Hong Kong in response to the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Relevant departments have also been reminded to increase their vigilance and be well-prepared to ensure that relevant contingency measures could be implemented as early as possible when necessary to safeguard public health. Besides, the Food and Health Bureau has held a number of press conferences to provide the public with immediate updates on the development of the disease and the work of the Government. The Government's work in response to the disease includes the following areas:

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3903

(1) strengthen health measures at ports, as well as various government venues and facilities;

(2) launched on 4 January 2020 the Preparedness and Response Plan for Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance ("Preparedness and Response Plan"), with the Serious Response Level activated with immediate effect;

(3) published in the Gazette today an amendment to the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 599) ("the Ordinance") to include "Severe Respiratory Disease associated with a Novel Infectious Agent" as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease set out in Schedule 1 to the Ordinance through the Prevention and Control of Disease (Amendment) Regulation 2020 and the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Amendment of Schedule 1) Notice 2020, thereby vesting the Department of Health with the statutory powers to, among other things, put the contacts under quarantine and isolate the infected patients;

(4) activated the Serious Response Level in public hospitals on 4 January, 2020, and HA has implemented a series of response measures to enhance monitoring and infection control in public hospitals and clinics; and

(5) enhance risk communication on all fronts including all local stakeholders, Mainland authorities and the World Health Organization.

I will introduce the measures in detail in my oral reply to other urgent questions.

Regarding Ms Alice MAK's question, while there is currently no full understanding of the cause of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, HA's frontline health care staff would provide appropriate treatment having regard to the clinical condition and testing results of patients, and would carry out response measures with the availability of further information. HA's frontline health care staff would conduct risk assessment on its patients in accordance with HA's established clinical criteria, i.e. fever, travel record, occupation, contact history and whether there is any clustering phenomenon, and so on. HA has reminded 3904 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 frontline health care staff to pay special attention. Patients with the presentation of fever and acute respiratory infection or pneumonia, who have been to Wuhan within 14 days before the onset of symptoms, would immediately be sent to negative pressure isolation room for treatment. Airborne, droplet and contact precautions would be implemented on these cases, and health care staff would wear appropriate personal protective equipment with regard to relevant precautionary measures.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Second urgent question.

Immediate measures to curb the spread of an epidemic in Hong Kong

2. MS ELIZABETH QUAT (in Cantonese): President, several dozens of pneumonia cases with unknown causes have occurred recently in Wuhan, and there have been successive reported cases in Hong Kong of persons with a travel history to Wuhan showing related symptoms. In this connection, will the Government immediately raise the response level further, issue a travel alert for Wuhan, and step up the work on epidemic notification with the Mainland?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): President, in reply to the question raised by Ms Alice MAK, I have briefly reported the latest development of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province and the major areas of work undertaken by the Government over the past week. Now, I am going to elaborate Government's preparedness and response plan and relevant work on liaison with the Mainland on the disease.

Activation of Serious Response Level

In view of the latest situation of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the Government devised the Preparedness and Response Plan for Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance ("the Preparedness and Response Plan") last week. The Preparedness and Response Plan was launched on 4 January 2020, with the Serious Response Level activated with immediate effect.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3905

The Preparedness and Response Plan sets out the Government's preparedness and response plan in case of an outbreak of Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance where a three-tier response level is adopted. Three response levels, namely Alert, Serious and Emergency, will be activated based on the risk assessment of the Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance that may affect Hong Kong and its health impact on the community.

Upon the risk assessment of the cluster of cases of viral pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan reported by the National Health Commission ("NHC"), the Serious Response Level was activated, under which the immediate health impact caused by Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance on local population is moderate.

In fact, to enhance the overall preparedness and response for public health crises for communicable diseases with public health significance, the Department of Health ("DH") has developed contingency plans and conducted exercises and drills to test the capacity of relevant government departments and organizations to cope with possible major outbreaks of infectious diseases and public health emergencies, in order to enhance the awareness, preparedness and the ability of the community and health care personnel to detect and respond to possible epidemics. As a communicable disease could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease, the Centre for Health Protection ("CHP"), in collaboration with many other government departments and organizations, held a public health drill exercise code-named "Sunstone" to test the Government's capacity regarding a novel disease in June 2018.

Travel Health Advice

Regarding travel alerts, the Outbound Travel Alert ("OTA") System set up by the Security Bureau aims to help people better understand the possible risk or threat to personal safety in travelling to 88 countries/territories that are popular travel destinations for Hong Kong residents, which do not include the Mainland. When there are incidents in these countries/territories which may affect the personal safety of Hong Kong residents, the Security Bureau will assess and consider the need to issue an OTA taking into account factors such as the nature (e.g. whether it is targeted at travellers), level and duration of the threat. Should 3906 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 there be public health reasons, based on the alert level as advised by the Food and Health Bureau and CHP of DH, the Security Bureau will issue an OTA on countries/territories which are seriously affected by infectious diseases to help the public better understand the possible health risks.

As a matter of fact, based on the available information, the World Health Organization ("WHO") has advised against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China, and has not recommended any specific measures for travellers. As recommended by WHO, in case of symptoms suggestive of respiratory illness either during or after travel, travellers are encouraged to seek medical attention and share travel history with health care personnel. To provide more information for the public's attention when travelling outside Hong Kong, the Security Bureau has uploaded the travel health advice from DH onto its web page on OTA.

Liaison with the Mainland

As regards the liaison and communication with the Mainland, the Government has been maintaining close liaison with the Mainland authorities on various fronts. As early as in 2005, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed a "Co-operation Agreement on Response Mechanism for Public Health Emergencies" with the Mainland's former Ministry of Health and the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region. CHP has been maintaining close liaison with NHC under the established mechanism which requires Hong Kong and the Mainland to notify one another on surveillance data on infectious diseases, emergency public health incidents and responses to major infectious diseases. CHP will continue to maintain close liaison with NHC and closely monitor the latest development of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. CHP will timely update the surveillance criteria and testing strategies in accordance with the latest situation, and provide health information for the public in a timely manner.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Third urgent question.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3907

Enhancing the measures to cope with an epidemic outbreak

3. DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): President, recently, there has been an outbreak of pneumonia with unknown causes in Wuhan, and some of the patients are operators in a seafood wholesale market. As the flow of residents between Wuhan and Hong Kong will increase with the approach of the Lunar New Year, there are worries that the disease will spread to Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government take the following measures immediately: enhancing the prevention of the epidemic at the boundary control points (including the deployment of staff to board the planes and Express Rail Link trains coming from Wuhan to carry out quarantine work), stepping up the prevention of the epidemic at the local level (including the enhancement of the disinfection and cleansing work at wet markets), and devising a plan for public hospitals to cope with the epidemic outbreak amid the influenza surge?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): President, the Government has adopted various immediate measures after an outbreak of pneumonia with unknown causes in Wuhan. These measures include:

Strengthening port health measures.

Prevention measures at boundary control points are important elements in tackling communicable diseases. Both the Food and Health Bureau and the Department of Health ("DH") attach great importance to the work on port health measures. Regarding the cluster of pneumonia cases identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, the Port Health Division has, in addition to regular measures, put in place enhanced measures at all boundary control points since 1 January 2020, with particular attention to incoming flights and Express Rail Link ("XRL") trains from Wuhan. Major measures are as follows:

(1) immediate referral of inbound travellers with relevant symptoms and travel history to public hospitals for treatment in isolation and follow-up;

(2) advised the MTR Corporation Limited, the Airport Authority and relevant airlines to enhance the cleaning and disinfection for incoming XRL trains and flights from Wuhan. Cleaning of the XRL West Kowloon Station and the airport terminal buildings has also been stepped up;

3908 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(3) put in place an additional infrared thermal imaging system in the Hong Kong International Airport ("HKIA") designated for checking the body temperature of inbound travellers from Wuhan starting from 3 January 2020;

(4) deployed additional manpower at the XRL West Kowloon Station for checking the body temperature of inbound travellers starting from 3 January 2020. With effect from 6 January, during the arrival of the two XRL trains that have stopped at Wuhan, all inbound travellers will have their body temperature checked by hand-held infrared thermometers to ensure that the body temperature of individual travellers from these two trains is monitored; and

(5) stepped up the promotion of health messages about the prevention of pneumonia and respiratory tract infection for inbound and outbound travellers at the HKIA and the XRL West Kowloon Station. Health promotion at boundary control points is also enhanced through broadcasts and pamphlets, etc. to remind inbound and outbound travellers to take heed of the preventive measures and maintain good personal and environmental hygiene. When travelling outside Hong Kong, one should avoid visiting wet markets, live poultry markets or farms. Travellers are also reminded to wear surgical masks, seek medical advice and report their travel history to their doctors when they have a fever or respiratory symptoms.

The Port Health Division will maintain close communication and collaboration with stakeholders of all boundary control points and provide timely updates on the situation and related measures.

Enhancing environmental hygiene

The Government has enhanced full cleaning of all of its venues and facilities. For example, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD") will step up the cleaning schedule of their facilities with 1:99 diluted bleach. Other departments, such as the Transport Department and the Housing Department, will also step up cleaning at public transport interchanges, public transport carriers, public housing estates, etc.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3909

FEHD will step up the cleaning of public facilities under its management, including public markets, cooked food centres, hawker bazaars, public toilets and refuse collection points. FEHD also disseminates information to the trade associations of the food industry and reminds the operators of food premises to keep their food premises and equipment clean, as well as to maintain hygiene practices in handling food. Holders of hawker stalls are also urged to clean up their stalls.

Preparation during Influenza Season

First, I would like to give an account on the work of the Hospital Authority ("HA") in tackling seasonal influenza during the seasonal influenza season. The Government has been encouraging the public to receive seasonal influenza vaccination as early as possible. To cope with the surge in service demand that may happen during the winter influenza season, HA started to make preparations in July last year and allocated around $732 million to hospital clusters in advance to facilitate the early preparation by frontline management staff on manpower and supporting arrangement. In order to increase service capacity, HA is opening 506 new beds in 2019-2020 and has reserved resources for hospitals to open around 900 temporary beds according to operational needs during winter surge.

Regarding manpower, HA will offer higher pay rate to locum doctors providing services at Accident and Emergency ("A&E") sessions and General Outpatient Clinic ("GOPC") sessions during winter surge. The locum recruitment has also been extended to Radiographers, Physiotherapists, Optometrists and Medical Laboratory Technologists since December 2019. Besides, HA has enhanced the arrangement of Special Honorarium Scheme of winter surge by phases to strengthen its manpower.

In addition to the existing 13 GOPCs providing services on public holidays, four GOPCs will also provide services on particular days during long holidays, covering 17 districts in Hong Kong.

In addition, in response to the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, HA activated Serious Response Level on 4 January 2020, and subsequently held a Central Command Committee meeting, chaired by Chief Executive of HA, to review the response measures and allocation of resources in each hospital cluster with seven Cluster Chief Executives of HA, such as monitoring the supply of personal protective equipment, deploying manpower in a timely manner, and reviewing non-emergency service arrangement. The Cluster Chief Executives 3910 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 will closely monitor the service situation of each public hospital and implement a series of enhanced surveillance and infection control measures in public hospitals and clinics. Public hospitals have completed the widest opening of the fresh air dampers in the air handling equipment in the waiting areas of the A&E departments to achieve higher fresh air rate, and have completed wheeling in mobile High Efficiency Particulate Air filter units to augment the total air change rates in A&E waiting areas. Laboratory testing services have also been enhanced with a view to obtaining testing results as soon as possible for arrangement of suitable treatment for patients. More stringent infection control measures, including restrictions on visiting arrangement, are enforced in public hospitals. Visitors to public hospitals and clinics are required to put on surgical masks and perform hand hygiene before and after visiting patients. As regards personal protective equipment, such as surgical masks and N95 masks, the current stockpile is adequate for at least three months' consumption. Meanwhile, HA will maintain close liaison with the suppliers to ensure sustainable supply of protective equipment. HA will closely monitor the utilization of isolation beds in the seven clusters and arrange bed deployment in a timely manner.

MS ALICE MAK (in Cantonese): President, the Secretary has mentioned a number of measures in her replies to the urgent questions asked by three Honourable colleagues, including precautionary measures and the increase of manpower in public hospitals, and so on. Though the Secretary has stressed repeatedly that there is no confirmed case in Hong Kong at present, may I ask the Secretary, in the unfortunate event of such cases being identified in Hong Kong, what measures the Government will have in place to prevent a community outbreak of the disease? We are most anxious about the spreading of the disease in the community. How can a community outbreak be prevented?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Ms Alice MAK for her supplementary question. In fact, we have held internal discussions about this. On the one hand, we have raised the response level to "serious", and on the other, once a confirmed case and a community outbreak are detected, the response level will be raised further after a risk assessment and various measures will be implemented. Precisely because of the need to enhance the coverage of surveillance, the authorities have published in the Gazette today an amendment to the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 599) and its subsidiary legislation to provide a legal framework for the prevention and control of LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3911 infectious diseases with significant impact on public health, thereby addressing the existing problem. This will provide a legal basis and framework for preventing patients from leaving hospitals and requiring notification and surveillance. We hope to do better in this aspect.

Certainly, in view of the significant impact on public health, in the event of occurrence of this type of infectious disease, all citizens and society as a whole will have to counter it together. Moreover, upon the activation of the Serious Response Level, I have chaired a meeting of the Steering Committee on Serious Response Level attended by various Policy Bureaux and government departments, such as the Education Bureau, the Social Welfare Department and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and so on, so that they may share reminders about the facilities in their respective purviews and step up the cleansing work of their facilities. The city as a whole will stay alert.

Definitely, HA will also step up the response capacity and measures of the public sector system. In fact, the public sector system and CHP have maintained a high level of vigilance. If any confirmed case is detected, proper response measures will be launched, and in the surveillance and identification of causative pathogen in laboratories, in particular, the work will be sped up. The University of Hong Kong ("HKU") has also rendered assistance. Once questionable cases are identified by the Government Laboratory, the Department of Microbiology of HKU will help to conduct high-end tests.

MS ELIZABETH QUAT (in Cantonese): President, during this period, the public are particularly concerned about this issue.

Secretary, the questions which I received most frequently are: Is the manpower of health care staff and the provision of beds adequate, can they buy the masks they need and should they visit Wuhan? Some members of the public told me that they have joined tours or bought air tickets to visit Wuhan during the Chinese New Year, or that their employers have requested them to make duty visits to Wuhan. Now, many people do not dare to take this risk and want to cancel these trips, yet it seems very difficult to do so. Hence, they have requested me to ask a question about the travel alert.

In respect of these questions, does the Secretary have any clearer advices and guidelines, telling members of the public whether they should travel to Wuhan and how they can buy masks?

3912 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Ms Elizabeth QUAT for her supplementary question.

Regarding the response plan at the present stage, the Government definitely has to do a good job in the provision of facilities, as well as the reporting and notification of diseases. As for the concerns of the public, CHP of DH has designed a feature web page for this purpose to step up the monitoring of the situation of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, and to provide some "health advice" to the public, including some "travel advice".

As I mentioned just now, in the web page on OTA of the Security Bureau, DH has also provided some advice, so that the public may have access to more information when they have questions.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Ms QUAT, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MS ELIZABETH QUAT (in Cantonese): The public cannot buy the masks they need. What can they do?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): President, in respect of masks, we notice from certain reports that there is a great public demand for surgical masks, and DH has made enquiries with the H.K. General Chamber of Pharmacy Ltd ("GCP") about the situation.

As for the public sector, the supply of equipment under HA and DH is sufficient for meeting the needs of health care staff and members of the public visiting hospitals. As I said earlier, the current stockpile is adequate for at least three months' consumption. Regarding the buying of masks by members of the public, GCP says that the current supply is slightly tight, yet drug stores have already placed their orders through various channels, and it is hoped that the supply will be resumed as soon as possible within the next two weeks.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3913

Ms Elizabeth QUAT also asked about the manpower of health care staff. Certainly, during the seasonal influenza season, the manpower of health care staff is tight. Yet, as I mentioned earlier, in addition to the contingency plan originally designated for dealing with the seasonal influenza season, HA will vigorously recruit full-time, part-time and locum heath care staff to cope with the seasonal influenza season. Nonetheless, adding to it the challenge this time around, I have urged HA to explore the possibility of stepping up certain targeted measures for wards and A&E departments bearing extremely great pressure, so as to alleviate the pressure faced by colleagues.

DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): President, the medical profession determines the urgency of a disease according to three criteria: first, whether it is new; second, whether it is contagious; and third, the number of deaths.

According to current data, there are 59 cases in Wuhan, 7 of which being severe. There are 30 suspected cases and no confirmed cases in Hong Kong. Strictly speaking, the situation does not meet the three criteria, but the actual figures may be greater. Why am I saying this? SARS broke out in November 2002 in the Mainland before spreading to Hong Kong a few months later and infecting a number of people. The Government stated that the situation this time around is very serious, hence it published in the Gazette mandatory notification of suspected cases. However, unlike in Macao and Taiwan, the Government has not adopted on-board screening, nor does it require passengers to complete health declaration forms. All it has done was gazettal of the notification requirement.

President, I asked the Secretary whether there is sufficient manpower, to which the Secretary replied that there is. This is the situation in the A&E Department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital last night: 1.5 nurses for 60 patients who had to wait 20 hours before admission to the wards. It will be Chinese New Year in two weeks. At present, the occupancy rate of hospital wards is 130%. The highest occupancy rate in history is 160%. Yet, all the Government has done is publishing the requirement in the Gazette.

I have consulted frontline doctors. They said the Government is ignorant of everything, including the type of virus and the genetic sequence. If a patient having fever arrives in Hong Kong from Wuhan, the doctor can only order 3914 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 isolation of the patient. The doctor does not know what disease the patient is infected with as a diagnosis is not possible without the genome. Five days later, the patient asks the doctor if he can be discharged, but the doctor is not sure. How can the doctor discharge the patient without knowing what disease he is suffering from? So, it continues to make …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr KWOK Ka-ki, please come to your supplementary question direct.

DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): President, I am coming to my supplementary question now. The Hospital Authority ("HA") said the number of isolation hospitals beds can be increased from 400 to 1 400. Given the terrible situation in the A&E departments, the Secretary is lying if she still claims that there is sufficient manpower. Basically, there is not sufficient manpower to take care of 400 under-equipped beds. Doctors ask the Secretary whether she can clearly explain this disease because it is very strange. We do not understand it …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr KWOK Ka-ki, if you still do not come to your supplementary question direct, I will …

DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): President, please let me finish putting my question first …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I let you put your question, but you have yet to come to your supplementary question after three minutes.

DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): Alright. Last year, more than 300 people died from influenza. The disease under discussion now has not caused any death yet. The figure in the Mainland surprised us. More than 300 deaths were recorded in Hong Kong in a year, yet only 143 deaths were recorded in a year in the entire China …

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3915

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr KWOK Ka-ki, this is the last warning. If you still do not come to your supplementary question direct, I will stop you from speaking.

DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): President, I ask my supplementary question now. I would like to ask the Secretary and Chief Executive Carrie LAM to do one thing. A motion was passed by the Eastern District Council yesterday, urging them to go to Wuhan to find out more about this virus, and then tell us its genome and diagnostic criteria so that Hong Kong can make preparations, instead of remaining ignorant and relying on conjecture.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr KWOK Ka-ki for his suggestion. HA has always acknowledged the manpower shortage during the influenza peak season. For this reason, it has accelerated its internal procedures since July last year (that is, about half a year ago) and provided resources to the clusters as early as possible, so that contingency measures can be taken. In response to the influenza peak season, the Government has increased the subsidy for influenza vaccination and extended its coverage, with a view to reducing the number of people suffering from influenza during the peak season through preventive efforts, thereby alleviating the pressure on HA.

As I have pointed out just now, on top of the contingency measures taken in response to the influenza peak season, HA has sufficient facilities and manpower in isolation wards to cope with the cluster of new pneumonia cases in Wuhan. However, if the situation persists, HA will have to take countermeasures and make deployments. Hence, I have urged HA to review the regular measures taken by departments under pressure, such as the A&E departments or the medical wards, in order to alleviate the pressure on their staff when enhanced surveillance cases need to be addressed. HA has undertaken to conduct the review. To my understanding, they will hold a meeting today to discuss the issue.

As for the pathogens and information mentioned by Dr KWOK just now, the Department of Health has all along maintained close communication with the National Health Commission. An agreement was signed with the Mainland and Macao as early as in 2005 on the notification and response mechanism for public health emergencies. We will certainly make enquiries and request further information in the event of an emergency. This communication is effective. 3916 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

So, we will keep monitoring the situation and maintain further communication with them when necessary. The Serious Response Level has been activated, meaning the risk level has been raised to medium after evaluation. Contingency and monitoring measures have also been enhanced accordingly. We will pay attention to the situation in Hong Kong and review the need to enhance relevant measures, as well as providing timely information to the public.

(Dr KWOK Ka-ki indicated his wish to ask a follow-up question)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr KWOK, you have asked a multi-barrelled question. Which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

DR KWOK KA-KI (in Cantonese): I have asked a question very clearly. I asked her if she would ask Carrie LAM to go with her to Wuhan to clearly find out what happened, so that Hong Kong would not be kept in the dark … I asked her whether she would do it or not.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr KWOK, you have already pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Please sit down. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): President, I have nothing to add. As I said just now, we have an established mechanism with NHC in respect of information and reporting. We will consistently review this mechanism, and if it is found that more information is required, we will further communicate with them in order to find out in what ways we can obtain more information.

(Dr KWOK Ka-ki indicated his wish to further raise a question)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr KWOK, your supplementary question has been answered. If you are not happy with the Secretary's reply, please follow it up on other occasions.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3917

MR IP KIN-YUEN (in Cantonese): President, regarding the current situation, I have received some news from schools. First, a student fell sick after returning to Hong Kong from an exchange activity in Wuhan, but whether or not he has contracted this type of disease is of grave concern to all. Second, a head of school asked me how he can buy masks now because he found it tremendously difficult to do so.

In view of the risks of the epidemic faced by the schools now, can the Secretary tell us what measures and steps should be taken by schools? What assistance can the Bureau provide to address the difficulties faced by schools? In particular, the Education Bureau issued a notice some time ago requiring teachers and students to not put on masks in schools. In this regard, what is the position of the Government now? Can the Government give a clear explanation?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr IP Kin-yuen for his supplementary question. In the light of the situation of the cluster of viral pneumonia cases with unknown cause in Wuhan, the Centre for Health Protection ("CHP") of the Department of Health ("DH") has written to the Education Bureau, and the Education Bureau has also taken part in the interdepartmental steering committee chaired by me. Firstly, they are aware of the current situation; secondly, as far as I understand it, after DH had written to the Education Bureau, the Education Bureau wrote to all heads of schools on 3 January to remind them of the current situation and call on them to maintain a high level of vigilance. Besides, some guidelines were also recapitulated, such as those about hand hygiene or how to handle students when they are not feeling well, and some health advice and guidelines were also provided.

In view of the current situation, DH has provided some health advice on the use of masks, including how to wear a mask properly. Generally speaking, members of the public should put on masks when they are ill or when they are visiting a hospital or feeling sick. Therefore, in the light of the current situation, some advice on public hygiene is set out in our letter to the Education Bureau and also in the letter from the Education Bureau to schools.

As for the supply of masks, we will review the situation to ascertain whether there is a shortage in the market. As I said earlier on, DH has communicated with the business chamber of pharmacy and the latter said that 3918 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 while the current supply was a bit tight, they had already placed orders and so, replenishment would be arriving in Hong Kong. We will continue to communicate with the Education Bureau in due course and if there is any problem, the Education Bureau can seek the views or advice of CHP of DH on the platform of the interdepartmental meeting chaired by me.

MR WILSON OR (in Cantonese): President, the recent pneumonia cases with unknown cause in Wuhan have aroused concern among Hong Kong people, and I think the public have really started to feel panicked. Hong Kong people are flexible and versatile, and actually the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB") already urged the Government to expeditiously think about the counteract measures some time ago. Yesterday we even got in touch with the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong ("LOCPG") in the hope of enhancing the reporting system.

President, I have this question for the Secretary. Now there is an acute shortage of masks all over the territory, and in her reply to a question asked by an Honourable colleague just now, she said that she would communicate with the business chamber of pharmacy regarding the supply of masks. But in fact, it is a vacuum period now. Yesterday I went to Mong Kok for an inspection there. The price of a box of surgical masks, which originally cost only $50, surged to $498 each yesterday. How will the Secretary resolve the problem in this vacuum period now? Besides, the Secretary said that monitoring work will be enhanced in the community and interdepartmental efforts will be made to this end. But how can she successfully steer and supervise the relevant work? I have a mask right here. I hope she can tell us how to ensure that the public can buy masks because this is most practical.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr Wilson OR for his supplementary question. The supply of masks and protective clothing is sufficient in the public sector. As for the supply in the community, the Government has all along kept in view the situation and maintained communication with the business chamber of pharmacy and suppliers in the hope that they can satisfy the needs in this regard. We will keep on monitoring and examining the situation closely.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3919

Wearing masks aside, I think personal hygiene, hand washing, and the points to note when travelling overseas are also very important. Therefore, people suffering from respiratory tract diseases should not only put on masks but should also heed other advice. In this connection, CHP of DH has specifically set up on its website a dedicated web page to provide more guidelines, so that members of the public can browse that web page for the relevant information when necessary. Other than wearing masks, members of the public should also pay attention to other health advice. For instance, when travelling outside Hong Kong, they should avoid visiting wet markets or consuming game meat, maintain good environmental hygiene, and so on. These precautions must be taken concurrently.

MR ALVIN YEUNG (in Cantonese): President, it is very probably that this viral pneumonia from Wuhan can be transmitted through respiratory droplets, airborne particles or direct contact with patients. At present, the SAR Government basically has not grasped enough details about the transmission of this disease in Hong Kong. For public health and precaution purposes, will the Secretary call on members of the public to wear masks when going to crowded places or attending public events in Hong Kong? This is a very simple question. Will she do so, yes or no?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr YEUNG for his supplementary question. Actually, on the question of whether members of the public need to wear masks, CHP of DH has given advices and guidelines. Simply put, members of the public should wear masks when going to hospitals or not feeling well themselves. Certainly, I have also noticed that for the sake of personal health, some members of the public have become more alert and put on masks. However, as I said just now, I hope that apart from wearing masks, members of the public will also consider that to maintain personal hygiene, they cannot solely rely on masks because if they wear them incorrectly, or they rub their eyes after their hands have carelessly touched something unclean, it is possible that they will get infected. For this reason, I hope members of the public can also take preventive and control measures on all fronts. I call on members of the public to browse the homepage of CHP of DH for information. Meanwhile, we will also enhance dissemination of messages in 3920 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 this aspect. Hence, now DH has disseminated more guidelines or advices on its Facebook page, website or social media, such that the public can have access to more relevant information.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr YEUNG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR ALVIN YEUNG (in Cantonese): President, my supplementary question is quite clear. Being an accountability official, the Secretary should not pass the buck to DH. Being the Director of Bureau, will she call on members of the public to wear masks when attending public occasions or going to crowded places? It is such a simple question. Will she do so, yes or no?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): Certainly, I believe that if members of the public have such a need, for example, when they present respiratory symptoms, they should put on surgical masks. Moreover, if members of the public really have respiratory symptoms or do not feel well, they should not go to work or go to school and should refrain from going to overcrowded places. They should also seek medical consultation as early as possible.

MS TANYA CHAN (in Cantonese): President, according to information, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission has reported that 59 people were infected, of whom 7 were in severe conditions. I learnt it directly from its homepage which was last updated on 5 January 2020. Today is 8 January 2020. Just now the Secretary mentioned that a regular mechanism was in place for communication. However, even from the information published on the homepage, we can only understand the situation up to 5 January. May I ask the Secretary what methods she has to grasp the prevailing situation on the Mainland―especially in Wuhan―and whether the relevant genome can be obtained? Because several days ago, Dr HO Pak-leung, the Director of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3921

Carol Yu Centre for Infection of the University of Hong Kong, already expressed his wish for expeditious publication of this genome in order to understand to which type of disease this pneumonia actually belongs.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank the Honourable Member for her supplementary question. As a matter of fact, the colleagues in CHP of DH have been making enquiries about the latest situation of the cluster of cases of viral pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan through communication with the National Health Commission ("NHC") under the established mechanism. According to the information available to us at the moment, so far there have been 59 cases. We have been communicating with them every day and have learnt that they are tracing the conditions of some 160 people. We have also been given to understand that the work under their charge includes prevention and control of the disease. Such work is ongoing. They also understand that we need more information. We have all along maintained communication with them in the hope of getting more information as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, as I said just now, we have already taken the initiative to raise the alert to the Serious Response Level. Various government departments and public organizations have particularly heightened their vigilance. People covered by our expanded scope of surveillance have been placed in isolation. Although no serious pneumonia case related to Wuhan has been detected in Hong Kong, we are fully prepared for any eventuality. The expansion of the scope of surveillance has been gazetted today to include "Severe Respiratory Disease associated with a Novel Infectious Agent" in the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 599) and the Prevention and Control of Disease Regulation (Cap. 599A), with a view to enhancing surveillance, thus giving public health the maximum protection.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Ms CHAN, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MS TANYA CHAN (in Cantonese): President, my question is quite direct. How does the Secretary actually grasp the situation? Now I am referring to the number of cases in those three days. At present, only figures about Wuhan are available. Does that mean such cases have emerged only in Wuhan country-wide? There are 30 cases in Hong Kong and 59 in Wuhan. Actually, 3922 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 how many cases are there in the whole country? The Secretary told us that the Government had been communicating with the relevant authorities on the Mainland every day, but she only has figures about Wuhan three days ago and does not have the national data? President, I find this unbelievable. She has not answered my question.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): Yes, President. I thank Ms CHAN for her supplementary question. In fact, I would like to clarify here that first of all, no serious pneumonia case related to Wuhan has been detected in Hong Kong. Hence, the 59 cases in Wuhan are not at the same level as the present 30 cases under expanded surveillance in Hong Kong. As a matter of fact, now we have maintained communication with NHC. The information collected indicates that the main area involved is Wuhan. We have been closely communicating with them. If any cases are reported in other places, since we have signed the agreement, I believe we will notify one another.

MR LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG (in Cantonese): The Secretary mentioned viral pneumonia in the main reply. In fact, all along, the Wuhan authorities―or I should say NHC―would communicate with her and make announcements. It can be said that compared with the SARS period in the past, there has been progress in this aspect, thus enabling Hong Kong to enter the preventive stage earlier. Although Hong Kong is now unable to prove which ones among the 30-odd cases are similar to the cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, I hold that the Government must and should carry out preventive work extensively on this front. I remember that during the SARS period, the Government launched some cleansing campaigns, directing more efforts at the deficiencies in Hong Kong. I believe … this time I have seen …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LEUNG, please come to your supplementary question direct.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3923

MR LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG (in Cantonese): I was just about to ask my supplementary question. President, in the entire main reply, I did not see the Secretary mention how improvement can be made to the hygiene conditions in Hong Kong. May I ask the Secretary whether the Government will set up a group similar to Team Clean during the SARS period, in which the Chief Secretary for Administration will assume the duties as a "cleaning captain", so to speak, and assist in cleansing the whole territory, including disinfestation of cockroaches and rodents, such that the environmental hygiene in Hong Kong can be as clean and neat as in the past? Will the Secretary please reply.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr LEUNG for his supplementary question. Regarding the measures mentioned by Mr LEUNG just now, in fact we have already commenced the relevant work. On the one hand, in respect of the Serious Response Level for this novel virus, I have set up a Steering Committee to deal with this disease at the serious response level. The Steering Committee, comprising representatives from various Policy Bureaux and nearly 20 government departments, addresses this issue in collaboration. Certainly, most of the departments, especially FEHD, the Housing Department ("HD") and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, manage a lot of facilities which they have to cleanse and clean up in addressing this issue.

As regards the hygiene problem mentioned by the Honourable Member just now, HD has already devised overall guidelines for such facilities as public housing estates to step up cleaning. Meanwhile, FEHD will also step up cleansing the facilities, markets and streets under its purview. Certainly, the mosquito and rodent problems will be handled comprehensively with enhanced efforts apart from the regular work.

Just now Mr LEUNG mentioned the Chief Secretary for Administration, who has already convened an interdepartmental meeting. As a matter of fact, within the scope of duties of the Chief Secretary, every day he would hold meetings with different departments so as to properly handle each interdepartmental task. Regarding this task, before I convened my meeting, the Chief Secretary had in fact held an interdepartmental meeting to urge different departments, certainly including the Home Affairs Bureau, to work on the territory-wide and local hygiene conditions. After completing such work, they have to report to the Chief Secretary. In the Steering Committee set up by me to 3924 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 address the Serious Response Level, a mechanism is in place for inviting various departments to report to us after handling the facilities under their purview, including enhanced cleaning and implementation of the relevant hygiene measures. We thus know that the respective departments would step up cleaning. Meanwhile, having noted the preventive and control measures against the disease across the territory, the accountability officials and all the Directors of Bureaux in the Government would strive to undertake the cleansing of facilities within their purview.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LEUNG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR LEUNG CHE-CHEUNG (in Cantonese): President, just now my supplementary question was very specific. How will the Secretary eliminate infestation of cockroaches and rodents? Why did the Secretary not answer my question?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): Regarding the cleansing work in districts, including the cleansing of streets and back alleys, we have put in place an interdepartmental platform per se. Moreover, Members may recall that earlier on, the Chief Secretary led and implemented a territory-wide anti-rodent campaign. In this connection, the Government has kept increasing the resources, and the departments have worked together with concerted efforts, making good progress in the initiative. Some time ago, FEHD also announced the launch of the year-end clean-up campaign in the coming few weeks with the purpose of enhancing the cleanliness and hygiene conditions in the districts before the Lunar New Year. A series of initiatives will be rolled out and conducted at full speed under the campaign.

PROF JOSEPH LEE (in Cantonese): President, I must sing praises of the Secretary before all else. Throughout the morning, I have heard the Secretary keep saying "strengthen", "strengthen", and "further strengthen", but what LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3925 exactly should be strengthened? In addition to strengthening manpower, there are also many different measures. Moreover, 1 400 additional beds can be provided at any time. Apart from the existing 400-odd isolation beds, another 200-odd other beds can also be added to cope with the surge, and a lot of additional materials will be supplied as well. It really sounds very good, and we should set our mind at rest as there should be no problem―although there may be some problems with the supply of masks―She asserted there was really no problem, I felt so relieved to hear her reply.

Yet, being a Member from the sector, I had breakfast first thing in the morning with a group of friends working in the front line from different clusters under HA―I would not say that it was a meeting―to discuss and observe the relevant situation. I think I should teach them not to tell lies when I go back, as what they have told me this morning is somewhat different from what the Secretary said. The Secretary's reply makes us feel very relieved, but the frontline personnel told me this morning that the situation was no one had been isolated as the gazettal had yet to be made. Nevertheless, the majority of the existing 400-odd isolation beds in Hong Kong have already been occupied because of the influenza surge. If 1 400 additional beds have to be provided, first and foremost, where can they be placed? If there is a need to isolate the patients―it may be necessary to isolate some patients after the gazettal―where should we add the beds actually? This is the first question.

The second question is, if we need to isolate the patients, though they claimed that the "Wuhan incident" has not occurred in the hospitals generally at present―President, please allow me to put it this way―I wish to clarify with the Secretary and ask her if I should go back to give this group of frontline personnel a good dressing down, as they said that the current situation was very stressful. We are concerned about N95 masks, but those who have to wear N95 masks should undergo a fit test beforehand. Masks of this model would be distributed to the personnel only after confirming the suitability upon completion of the fit test. Yet, generally speaking, the N95 masks distributed by public hospitals now do not fit the face of the frontline personnel, rendering it useless to wear them.

What is more, in respect of bed linens and bedding, it seems that the case in 1978 has recurred. Since HA's laundry ran into a problem some time earlier, the bed linens provided for patients and even the clothing of front-line personnel are in short supply for the time being. As such, should we discard those clothing, or do not wear them when handling patients under isolation? I really 3926 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 have no idea, because I have not studied the infectious disease specialty. The situation is so complicated, what should we do then? Furthermore, if additional beds are to be provided now, we have to cope with patients under isolation, and if pneumonia cases with unknown cause detected in Wuhan were suddenly and unfortunately imported into Hong Kong, where should the existing patients be transferred to? Should we send them to somewhere else? I wonder if we should send them to the Greater Bay Area? I have no clue as to where we can send them to. All of these points raised by the frontline personnel simply reflect that in case of an outbreak of "Wuhan pneumonia", which would require the isolation of patients and implementation of infection control, the existing public health care system would not be able to cope with the situation.

Lastly, my friends working in the front line have told me that patients are now facing quite an "interesting" circumstance. Presently, they would be allocated a bed after being admitted to the hospital―no matter the beds are additional ones or not―and even if they cannot fetch some articles, the patients next to them can help, since the gap between each bed is less than 1 ft. The situation is so poor, where can the Secretary place the additional beds? Where should the beds be added? Should we build a hospital? The Xiaotangshan Hospital was swiftly erected in 2003, can we do the same?

President, please forgive me for being long-winded, for I just wish to say that whilst the Secretary kept mentioning "strengthen" throughout the morning, telling people to set their mind at ease repeatedly, but the frontline personnel are very anxious. Should I ask the frontline personnel whether they have not communicated with the Secretary, or I wonder who is lying?

I have this question for the Secretary. If it is really possible to "strengthen" as she suggested, why did I hear the problems in several aspects this morning, be it insufficient manpower such that a nurse has to look after of more than 10 patients; the very close gap between patients; the fact that even the basic protective masks distributed to frontline nurses are not of a suitable model; the shortage of clothing and bedding; the fact that we do not know where additional beds can be placed. Can the Secretary tell us specifically how we can "strengthen" to make Hong Kong people feel assured? The authorities have made the gazettal today, thus if patients need to be isolated, how can we ensure that the large number of patients amid the current influenza surge are properly accommodated, handled and treated under the public health care system while admitting such patients simultaneously?

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3927

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Prof Joseph LEE for his supplementary question and conveying to us the opinions expressed by frontline personnel straightaway this morning.

With respect to the gazettal, HA forwarded by email yesterday the letter to doctors issued by DH to all doctors and relevant staff, informing them that this "Severe Respiratory Disease associated with a Novel Infectious Agent" would be included as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease set out in Schedule 1 with effect from today (8 January). They have also activated an electronic reporting platform.

As regards those problems currently faced by the frontline personnel―especially as it is extremely busy at the hospitals, in particular during the influenza surge―I will definitely refer such problems to HA and request HA to resolve them.

Perhaps let me talk about the issue concerning isolation beds. There are 1 400 isolation beds in total in the various clusters under HA, which are mainly located in 16 acute hospitals, to cope with the possible outbreak of infectious diseases. HA also has an electronic system through which it can monitor real time the utilization of these isolation beds in all hospitals, and make deployment instantly. In all the clusters under HA, 400-odd isolation beds in total are readily available. Of the 1 400 isolation beds that I mentioned earlier, some have already been occupied by patients, another 480 beds are immediately available, whereas the remaining 800-odd isolation beds can be put into use within 72 hours. HA will also monitor the utilization of these isolation beds for deployment through the electronic system I mentioned a moment ago.

As regards the several problems raised by Prof LEE just now, including the N95 masks distributed to frontline personnel, there may be issues that need to be resolved, or the problems with bed sheets and bedding, etc., I will reflect them to HA immediately so that they can have better communication with the frontline personnel on such problems and solve them.

Regarding the cramped space between beds, HA must admit that there is much room for improvement in this respect, especially for some hospitals which have yet to undergo redevelopment. Therefore, the Government will implement at full speed the current redevelopment works or measures to provide additional beds in HA hospitals, especially those hospitals of a larger scale. The 3928 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Government will provide the hospitals with more resources under the two 10-year Hospital Development Plans. As we all know, it is necessary to ameliorate such hardware problems as expeditiously as possible even if it is not during the influenza surge or the cluster of pneumonia cases has not been detected in Wuhan.

In this connection, HA is now working in full swing. In view of the current influenza surge and with a view to coping with the cluster of pneumonia cases with unknown cause detected in Wuhan, I have already urged HA to implement enhanced measures in heavily strained wards, including the A&E departments as well as medical wards which are bearing particularly heavy pressure during the influenza surge. Whether in terms of manpower or resources, I also urge HA to invite clinical and frontline colleagues to share their experiences, and apply wisdom to put forth their views to enable the Bureau to learn about their urgent needs and the problems encountered in a timely manner, so as to resolve the problems as soon as possible.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Prof LEE, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

PROF JOSEPH LEE (in Cantonese): The Secretary has not answered my question. The Secretary's reply is just empty talk, which is not down to earth and unrealistic …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Prof LEE, please point out direct the part of your supplementary question not answered.

PROF JOSEPH LEE (in Cantonese): I raised a specific question to her and asked what practical solutions she has in response to the views given by frontline personnel. If patients suffering from Wuhan pneumonia with unknown cause were to be treated in isolation, how would the authorities tackle it and what tasks would need to be undertaken? I was not referring to the influenza surge. The Secretary has not answered my question. She just gave a most unrealistic reply which is not down to earth.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3929

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): If the Honourable Member only referred to the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, HA has in place established measures and mechanisms, and has also widened the scope of surveillance. Frontline health care personnel should have a clear understanding of such arrangements. However, the emergence of such cases will definitely add to the pressure on our colleagues. Under the current arrangements, patients will have to be isolated. A patient presenting fever, respiratory infection or pneumonia symptoms and having visited Wuhan in the past 14 days is within the scope of surveillance. The case has to be reported and the patient has to be isolated. As regards isolation facilities, as I have stated, HA has reserved more than 1 400 isolation beds in 16 acute hospitals, with 400 beds immediate available for use.

DR FERNANDO CHEUNG (in Cantonese): President, the pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan has indeed caused considerable worries in Hong Kong. I noted that CHP of the Government now only requests private medical practitioners and hospitals to report suspected cases of Wuhan pneumonia. However, the authorities have not requested schools and residential care homes―various residential care homes, including those for persons with disabilities and for the elderly―and kindergartens to report such cases. I am very worried that once infection happens in residential care homes, particularly those for persons with disabilities and for the elderly, the situation will be difficult to control, as many private residential care homes do not have isolation wards or isolation facilities.

In this connection, I have this question for the Secretary. Has consideration been given to what corresponding measures the authorities will take and what facilities or services will be provided to tackle such an emergency once the epidemic has grown to involve residential care homes or schools?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr Fernando CHEUNG for his question. In fact, before the activation of the Serious Response Level, I convened an interdepartmental meeting on 2 January, which was attended by representatives of many Policy Bureaux and departments, including the Social Welfare Department.

3930 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

At the time, in addition to reporting the latest developments of the epidemic, I also asked them to go back and, as per their areas of work, communicate with―as suggested by the Member―residential care homes, elderly centres, day care centres for the elderly, schools, kindergartens, nurseries, etc. Last week, CHP issued letters respectively to residential care homes, heads of residential care homes, their infection control officers, etc. They were first informed of the current situation of the epidemic, as well as disease prevention measures for residents and personal protection measures to be implemented, and were also encouraged to pay extra attention to information on the CHP website. They were recommended to maintain good personal and environmental hygiene in accordance with the guidelines, such as washing hands and cleaning the environment in the correct ways.

Of course, the authorities have also made reminders in the letters that if residents are noted to present fever, pneumonia or respiratory infection symptoms, and the number of infected cases is on the rise, they should inform CHP under DH as early as possible at the relevant phone numbers and fax numbers provided, so that the authorities can conduct epidemiological surveys or implement infection control measures early. Should they or residents have any questions, be it about control measures or health care guidance, they can contact CHP anytime for advice.

MS CHAN HOI-YAN (in Cantonese): President, the Chief Executive and the Secretary have repeatedly stressed that three principles are adopted for preventing this disease, namely, making prompt responses, staying alert, and working in an open and transparent manner. But I wish to remind the authorities that facing the reality is another very important consideration in epidemic prevention. Public hospitals now face a manpower shortage, excessive demands for hospital beds, an outburst of grievances, and so on, and public hospitals also play a vitally important part in disease prevention and gate keeping. There has not been any imported confirmed case so far, and this morning, the authorities published figures on overcrowding in public hospitals. The figures show that in almost all of the 17 public hospitals with an Accident and Emergency Department ("A&E department"), the occupancy rates of medical wards have exceeded 100%. Besides, the attendance of A&E departments published this morning is around 6 139, comparing to only some 5 500 last week. In other words, even though there has not been any confirmed case so far, public hospitals are already on the brink of collapse.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3931

In view of this, I would like to seek an elucidation from the Secretary. At the press conference yesterday the authorities said that they had the capacity to increase the number of isolation beds from 480 to 1 400 in 72 hours. But the hospitals already cannot cope with the demands even though there has not been any confirmed case so far. So, how can the authorities increase the number of beds? Can the authorities consider setting up special triage clinics or cooperating with private hospitals, so that referrals can be arranged for patients with less serious conditions or patients requiring specialist treatment, thus achieving the objective of public-private partnership? And, better still, is it possible to utilize mobile clinics? I do not see any specific policy put forward by the authorities now.

Secretary, when there is currently an acute shortage of hospital beds in various hospitals, how can we be geared up to face the epidemic? In particular, two of the first three most overcrowding hospitals are unfortunately located in the Kowloon West Constituency to which I belong and I have, therefore, received a large number of telephone enquiries recently. Many residents said that they could not be treated by a doctor even after waiting for more than 10 hours at the A&E Department. Will the Secretary please give a response?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Ms CHAN Hoi-yan for her views and supplementary question.

On the one hand, we understand that in Hong Kong, the influenza surge is approaching. At present, hospital beds are insufficient, especially in medical wards. To tackle the impending influenza surge, I agree that we have to face the reality. Apart from the short-, medium- and long-term measures currently adopted by HA, and as I mentioned earlier, in view of the latest situation of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, CHP has widened the scope of surveillance to enhance vigilance. Therefore, as there is pressure on many fronts, I have asked HA to consider implementing enhanced and specific measures, particularly targetting hospital wards that are particularly burdened during this period. Certianly, we do not rule out the possibility of collaboration with private hospitals and actually this mechanism has all along existed, whereby patients with less serious conditions have been referred to private hospitals. We will continue to step up efforts in this respect.

As for general outpatient services, we have increased the consultation quotas in the light of the impending influenza surge. We will also increase the number of clinics operating during the long holidays, so that there will be clinics 3932 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 providing services in all the 17 districts in the territory. As for how the other measures can be enhanced, HA is currently working on them. Of course, at this juncture, I have no specific measure to tell Members but HA is drawing up measures to cope with the relevant situation. Once there is any news, certainly the frontline health care personnel and the public will be informed of the details at the first opportunity. As for the deployments in relation to the pneumonia cases in Wuhan, HA has been pressing ahead with them at full steam, and there is no problem in this respect.

Regarding the isolation wards, the 1 400 beds that I mentioned earlier are provided in 16 hospitals with an A&E department. If necessary, some 400 beds can be pressed into service immediately, but there is an established mechanism in place for bed deployment. Besides, the electronic platform that I mentioned earlier can be used for real-time monitoring of the conditions of patients in isolation wards and this can hence facilitate the deployment of beds more effectively.

DR PIERRE CHAN (in Cantonese): President, I would like to ask a question about masks. First, we are now in the winter influenza surge, and added to this is cases of novel virus infection and pneumonia with unknown cause. When members of the public have a fever or respiratory tract infection, or when the people around them or their family members present these symptoms, will the Secretary appeal to the public to put on masks? The Secretary needs only say "Yes" or "No" in reply. Second, with regard to masks …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr CHAN, you can ask only one supplementary question. Please sit down. Secretary, please.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr CHAN for his supplementary question. As a matter of fact, DH advises those who present respiratory symptoms to wear a surgical mask, refrain from work or attending class at school, avoid going to crowded places and seek medical advice promptly. Certainly, as I mentioned just now, HA has now raised the response level to "Serious" and implemented the corresponding measures. Visitors to hospitals should put on a face mask.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3933

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Secretary, I am similarly concerned about the issue raised by some Honourable colleagues just now, that is, the issue aired openly on the Internet by some medical personnel of public hospitals that as a result of the stepping up of procedural safety, they are now required to put on N95 masks and other protective clothing and gear when performing various health care tasks. Yet, as mentioned by a Member just now, the stock of certain types of masks, or the stock of certain types of masks―such as N95―in particular sizes, is in fact inadequate. The three-month stock pile mentioned by the Secretary just now may refer to the overall stock of a certain type of masks only. For medical personnel of certain face shapes or those with various needs related to their work, the stock of the protective gear that fits them may be running low.

Apart from health care personnel, members of the public are in fact facing a similar problem. The Secretary reminded members of the public just now that they should put on a face mask when seeking medical consultation. Yet, a box of face masks may now set you back well over $400. The Secretary only said that they are communicating with suppliers and trade associations. Putting aside the question as to why such communication was not made before―hence the Secretary's oblivion to the supply shortage, communication alone seems not enough. At a time when emergencies may arise, will the Government take the initiative to procure face masks to meet the needs of frontline health care personnel of public hospitals as well as people with special needs in the community and provide them with a relatively stable supply? The Government should stop making excuses such as a government should not vie with the private sector for profits or steal business from pharmacies. It should be noted that the price of a box of face masks has risen to over $400, with some pharmacies jacking up the prices and hoarding stock. In any case, under such an extraordinary situation of emergency, can the Government, apart from maintaining communication, show its concerns and sense of crisis through actions?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr Charles Peter MOK for his supplementary question. Certainly, apart from maintaining communication, we are also taking actions on various fronts. Let me first talk about the stock of N95 masks for the public health care system. In respect of the views of our frontline colleagues as relayed by Mr Charles Peter MOK and Prof Joseph LEE just now, I will refer them to HA without delay and request the latter to make improvements in the provision N95 masks, taking into account the views of frontline health care personnel and the actual circumstances. 3934 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

As for the situation faced by the public, actually we have been maintaining communication all along. On 31 December, as the news concerning the emergence of multiple cases of pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan was announced, we were already aware that the public may find it necessary to buy face masks. At the time, the supply of face masks in the market was still ample. Now that the supply of face mask has shown signs of tightening, the chamber of pharmacy is conscious of the need to replenish stock. As for the public health care system, the stock of face masks and protective clothing is certainly ample. That is necessary to meet medical needs on the one hand and give assurance to the public on the other, for many health care personnel are required to put on face masks and protective clothing.

As regards whether more actions will be taken in the next step, I believe we will consider adopting some corresponding measures after communicating with the trade. I wish to remind the public again that, in addition to putting on a face mask, hand hygiene and other personal hygiene are crucial, too. Hence, I hope the public will browse the CHP website and take a look at some of our health advices. Members of the public, whether they are in Hong Kong, in the middle of a trip or just having returned from one, should pay more attention to those advises.

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Will the Government make direct procurement overseas and provide face masks for health care personnel and members of the public?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr MOK, you have pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Please sit down. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): Our procurement effort has been ongoing. With respect to the needs of public organizations and health care personnel, our existing stock is adequate for meeting the consumption of three months at least. On top of that, we have also maintained communication with suppliers with a view to ensuring a smooth merchandise flow and procurement process.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3935

DR HELENA WONG (in Cantonese): President, from some pneumonia cases in Wuhan disclosed on the Internet, we learnt that some patients who have not been to the Hua Nan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, where wild game is also sold, have nonetheless fallen ill and are now suffering from organ failures. In other words, the disease can be transmitted from human to human.

The Secretary said just now that the authorities are now targeting the travellers arriving on the two daily high speed trains with stop at Wuhan and have their body temperature screened with infrared thermometers. Yet, I wish to ask the Secretary whether, in light of the vastness of the entire country, epidemics similar to that in Wuhan have occurred in other provinces on the Mainland? Does the Secretary have any grasp of the situation? It should be noted that messages disclosing infection cases on Weibo posted by relatives of patients would be deleted in a flash. In a bid to get some news on the epidemic, I visited the website of NHC but came away empty-handed. We are totally in the dark about the situation. I wish to ask the Secretary whether there are avenues for her to learn about it. At the moment, only the two trains arriving from Wuhan will be screened. Yet, are there similar epidemics occurring in other provinces of which we are unaware? Since such a preventive measure is not very effective, the public is quite worried.

Will the Secretary please inform us which department is her counterpart on the Mainland? Can information on the epidemic nationwide be obtained through that department and made known to the public in an open and transparent manner, rather than being treated as state secrets?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr Helena WONG for her views and supplementary question. In fact, the Government has signed an agreement with the health department of Macao and the National Health Commission (then called the Ministry of Health) as early as in 2005 to establish a communication and notification mechanism for major public health incidents and emergency response. The notification mechanism has been activated currently.

We were informed of the relevant information and figures in Wuhan under the notification mechanism, but we have not yet received those in other provinces and cities. Nevertheless, I believe this mechanism is effective. Should there be an outbreak, we will be informed of the situation and thereby conduct our own risk assessment.

3936 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr WONG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

DR HELENA WONG (in Cantonese): May I ask the Secretary whether she was told that there is no outbreak in other provinces and municipalities when she requested information about the epidemic in the Mainland from her counterparts, or whether she was not informed of the outbreak in other provinces and municipalities, hence unaware of the situation?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr WONG, this is not the question you asked just now. However, Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr Helena WONG for the supplementary question. As I pointed out just now, under the established notification mechanism, we will notify each other in the event of major public health incidents or emergency response. Currently, we have only received the notification about the cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan.

DR CHENG CHUNG-TAI (in Cantonese): President, we will understand how trifling this so-called notification mechanism is if we look at two sets of very simple figures.

The authorities of Wuhan announced on 31 December that 27 cases of pneumonia of unknown cause had been recorded. The figure jumped to 59 cases on 5 January. There have been no new cases in the past few days. From New Year's Day to 7 January, 30 cases were recorded in Hong Kong. The data in other provinces and cities are not available, so we assume that there is no outbreak there.

The first question that must be asked is why Hong Kong has become the second infected area? Have the authorities examined why 30 pneumonia cases of unknown cause would have appeared in Hong Kong? Why has Hong Kong become the area with the second highest number of cases recorded? Has the Government looked into the causes?

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3937

May I ask the Secretary whether she has any channel to make equiries about the outbreak in other provinces and municipalities under this notification mechanism, or whether the outbreak is being covered up?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr CHENG Chung-tai for the supplementary question.

First of all, I must clarify that Hong Kong is not the second infected area. No severe pneumonia cases relating to Wuhan have been detected in Hong Kong to date. As at 12 o'clock on 7 January this year, 30 cases have been reported by HA upon the activation of the Serious Response Level according to the extended notification criteria defined by CHP. Cases of which patients have been to Wuhan within 14 days before the onset of symptoms must be reported, regardless of whether they have visited any markets in Wuhan. The patients of the 30 cases in Hong Kong did not visit any markets in Wuhan. The cases were reported under the widened scope of surveillance.

To put it accurately, the 30 cases presenting symptoms of fever, respiratory infection or pneumonia of which the patients have been to Wuhan are reported under the widened scope of surveillance. The 30 patients are all stable and 10-odd of them have been discharged. According to the testing by HA, they actually suffered from diseases such as influenza. As they had been to Wuhan and presented respiratory symptoms, we provided them with treatment and placed them under isolation while conducting testing. If testing results indicated that they suffered from influenza, they would be treated or discharged according to their clinical conditions, or admitted to the wards if necessary. Hence, HA has all along been notifying and communicating with CHP regarding these cases.

I must clarify that the 30 cases in Hong Kong are cases reported under the widened scope of surveillance. They are not equivalent to the cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan.

DR CHENG CHUNG-TAI (in Cantonese): The Secretary has not answered my supplementary question. I asked whether other provinces and cities are covering up the outbreak under the existing notification mechanism. If they are, then the problem is not about pneumonia cases being detected.

3938 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr CHENG, you have pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Please sit down. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): Under the established reporting mechanism, we have not received any information about other provinces and municipalities apart from the cluster of viral pneumonia cases with unknown cause in Wuhan.

MR MA FUNG-KWOK (in Cantonese): President, we are all gravely concerned about whether the situation of pneumonia in Wuhan will escalate and spread, or worse still, whether an outbreak may occur in Hong Kong. May I ask, in case an epidemic unfortunately breaks out in Hong Kong, whether there are sufficient equipment and facilities in the existing health care system, say, in terms of the existing isolation wards and relevant health care personnel in hospitals, so that support can be provided to tackle the epidemic without affecting the current services? I would like to understand the current situation and how far approximately the needs can be met in this regard.

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr MA Fung-kwok for his supplementary question. Although in Hong Kong there is not a case of serious pneumonia relating to the cases in Wuhan so far, we are on alert and have raised the response level to "Serious". It means that established procedures are in place and prevention and control measures have been activated in the entire health care system of Hong Kong, whether in terms of surveillance, treatment, or even isolation, prevention of spread, dissemination of information to the public, etc.

As regards our public health care sector over which Members have expressed concern, we noted that HA has carried out a lot of work in respect of isolation facilities or manpower. With regard to isolation facilities, the 16 main hospitals of HA currently provide a total of 1 400 beds, and they also have an electronic system monitoring the use of isolation beds while keeping in view the conditions of patients on a timely basis to facilitate bed deployment at all times. According to the information provided by HA, about 480 beds can be immediately made available for use and if more beds are required, they also have a mechanism to make deployment in 72 hours to vacate more beds for use.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3939

Obviously, manpower is a challenge. Isolation wards certainly need manpower and this, coupled with the influenza surge now and an overflow of patients, has strained the health care manpower. It is, therefore, necessary to adopt measures accordingly. As Members all know, health care manpower is very tight on all fronts and in this period of time, I have urged HA to examine the relevant situation in a more focused manner, particularly targeting wards under great pressure during the influenza surge, including medical wards, and A&E departments, etc. in order to look into ways to provide more manpower and enhance the relevant measures. HA is currently undertaking such work, and if we have the details, we will certainly let Members know.

Earlier on Ms CHAN Hoi-yan mentioned some other ways to help ease the overcrowding attendance in HA during the influenza surge. HA has also taken some of these initiatives, which include enhancing the general outpatient services in private hospitals, expediting the turnover of hospital beds, arranging for patients to be discharged as early as possible when their conditions permit, etc. We are taking all these measures, just that we have to look into how they can be continuously stepped up in a focused manner.

MR POON SIU-PING (in Cantonese): President, we certainly do not wish to see the spread of the pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan in Hong Kong. It is, therefore, very important to take precautions properly and adopt effective preventive and control measures. During previous outbreaks of influenza, there was an eruptive demand for hospital beds and frontline health care personnel were overloaded. It does give cause for concern as to whether the existing health care manpower can cope with a new epidemic outbreak.

President, yesterday there were media reports about panic buying of masks for disease prevention by many members of the public, resulting in a shortage of masks and a sharp leap in prices. The Secretary said just now that she had already approached the chamber of pharmacy to find out about the situation of supplies. She said that there would be supply in a week or two and that the stock of masks in public hospitals could last for three months. I mainly wish to ask this: If members of the public, schools, community organizations or residential care homes for the elderly need masks now, will the Government provide the public and the relevant organizations with masks from the stock in public hospitals?

3940 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr POON Siu-ping for his supplementary question. Firstly, when we raised the response level to "Serious", the interdepartmental steering committee then commenced its work accordingly. Meanwhile, we also requested schools or institutions to step up their cleaning work, while CHP of DH and the relevant Policy Bureaux have written to the relevant authorities and organizations to give them some advice.

The Honourable Member mentioned that there are actual difficulties in buying masks or the relevant materials. I certainly hope that the relevant organizations can acquire them as early as possible but if there are difficulties or some special circumstances, the relevant organizations can discuss their cases with CHP, so that we can look into the relevant situation. At present, the supply of masks in the market is rather tight. We have made the utmost effort to communicate with the suppliers in the hope that they will place orders as soon as possible. Having said that, we wish to once again remind the public to pay attention to personal health and hygiene measures, such as wearing a mask properly and keeping their hands clean, etc. These are all very important. DH will provide more relevant information, and I welcome and appeal to the public to browse the dedicated web page of DH for more information. We will publish more information through various channels such as Announcements of Public Interest or by way of risk communication to enable members of the public to obtain the relevant health information.

DR PRISCILLA LEUNG (in Cantonese): President, before all else, I must commend the Government this time for its response and prompt amendment of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance. Two days ago, I proposed to ask an urgent question about the matter. Yesterday, they already responded to it, thus depriving me of the opportunity to raise the urgent question. Prompt responses by the Government are indeed welcome. Still, it is the practical issues that most occupy people's mind. Hence, I am obliged to talk about the shortage of masks as raised by numerous Honourable colleagues.

Since the outbreak of SARS in 2003, the Consumer Council ("CC") has from time to time published reports on the various types of masks, analysing in detail which types of masks are effective in preventing which types of diseases and explaining the proper way of wearing them. In view of the emergence of several types of masks on the market in recent years, I hope the Government will take the initiative to advise the public on choosing masks, instead of leaving CC LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3941 to do so and publish reports. I have on hand this mask which supposedly can release oxygen and is tailored for prolonged use or people with respiratory problems in seriously contagious environment. And there is this other type of masks worn by many, the ones that can be commonly seen. Recently, I also received complaints against some chain stores where no masks, save for a type in black, are available. Some members of the public do not wish to wear such masks, nor are they certain of their effectiveness in preventing infections. Hence, I hope the Secretary can explain to the public today whether the "Wuhan pneumonia" can be effectively prevented by any type of masks available in the market. Or, whether only certain types of masks are effective in disease prevention? Will the Secretary give a clear explanation so that the public can choose the appropriate masks?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Dr Priscilla LEUNG for her supplementary question. When everyone feels compelled to put on a mask and there are different types of masks available in the market, the public certainly needs more information. CHP distributes a pamphlet titled "Use mask properly Protect ourselves and protect others", which notes that wearing surgical masks can help prevent infections transmitted by respiratory droplets and sets out the proper way of wearing them.

As for the functions of other types of masks, or those issues relating to the public confusion over which types of masks are effective in preventing infections transmitted by respiratory droplets, I thank Dr LEUNG for bringing them to our attention. We will release more relevant information through CHP and other channels such as Facebook so that more people would be mindful of purchasing the appropriate masks and wearing them properly for effective prevention of diseases.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr LEUNG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

DR PRISCILLA LEUNG (in Cantonese): The Secretary has not answered me. I said just now there are many types of masks, 29 types …

3942 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr LEUNG, please directly point out the part of your supplementary question not answered.

DR PRISCILLA LEUNG (in Cantonese): In some chain stores, only the black masks currently favoured by protesters are available. Given the dubious effectiveness of such masks in preventing infections, some people are reluctant to buy them but there are no other choices. Will the Secretary state clearly that some masks are not effective at all in preventing the disease in question, so that those people who do not wish to buy those masks would not feel compelled to do so and waste their money?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr LEUNG, you have pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Please sit down. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): According to this pamphlet, under normal circumstances, common surgical masks can help prevent infections transmitted by respiratory droplets. I am sure when a mask is ready for shipment, it will carry instruction listing the infections the mask is designed to prevent. Hence, for effective prevention of infections transmitted by respiratory droplets, I urge members of the public to look carefully at the functions of a given mask when making purchases.

(Dr Priscilla LEUNG indicated her intention to raise a question again)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr Priscilla LEUNG, your supplementary has been answered. If you are not satisfied with the Secretary's reply, you may follow it up on other occasions.

MR CHU HOI-DICK (in Cantonese): President, why did you not warn her? She had been standing there for such a long time. President, I feel that currently, there is this most bizarre situation. Why is it bizarre? Because on the one hand, Hong Kong is very tense. We have made many suggestions, and the Government has taken many steps. On the other hand, however, many people on the Mainland actually hold that Hong Kong is making a fuss over a LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3943 trifle. A friend of mine has a relative in Hubei. My friend told him that there were local cases of pneumonia in Hubei which spread from a seafood market. Associated with the problem, it had been closed. Guess what my friend's relative said? He said the people creating disturbances in Hong Kong were fanning the flame. They wished to use such news to stir up trouble in Hong Kong. Those news reports were definitely fake. Such a perception is very common on the Mainland.

Now I certainly hope that the Secretary will follow the practice of Secretary Kevin YEUNG of giving an interview to the Mainland media, explaining why Hong Kong is so serious about it. President, this is the supplementary question I wish to ask now. We know it is necessary to launch preventive and control initiatives. We also see that the experts in Hong Kong, such as Dr HO Pak-leung and Prof YUEN Kwok-yung, have surmised for days what the actual pathogen is. They are well-prepared for research, but now I wonder if the Mainland is acting in slow motion or what. There seems to be no answer. In fact, how is the genetic analysis? What is the pathogen? Can the Secretary assist the Hong Kong experts in accessing the scene and samples of the virus to expedite their research, so that all members of the public, be they in China or in Hong Kong, can grasp the information more quickly and feel better assured?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr CHU Hoi-dick for his supplementary question. As a matter of fact, on the very first day we received information about the cluster of viral pneumonia cases with unknown cause in Wuhan, we already invited Prof YUEN Kwok-yung to attend a meeting of DH and HA that night to look into the latest situation of the relevant matter. At the same time, experts were invited to help assess the risk involved and the overall situation. We have all along been maintaining communication with these experts, and they have provided useful advice on the overall situation. In respect of experts, different experts are engaged. For example, as stated by Prof David HUI on the television, there has been communication among the experts on this matter. We will keep an eye on the information received by us and the experts' assessment of the whole incident, and take timely action in response to the assessment made by experts, CHP and HA. Once there is any update, we will definitely make adjustments in a timely manner. Preventive and control measures in Hong Kong, as well as dissemination of information to the public, will be properly undertaken in the first instance.

3944 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr CHU, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR CHU HOI-DICK (in Cantonese): President, the Secretary did not give me an answer on whether the experts in Hong Kong can go to the primary scene for access to those samples of virus so as to conduct genuine tests and research, rather than making assessment on the side.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr CHU, you have already pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): We have an established mechanism for communication with NHC. I believe if we wish to request or know more information, we can do so through the mechanism. In fact, now we have been reviewing the information available to us and maintaining communication with each other. Certainly, we will continuously review and assess the need as well as the information collected during the communication among experts.

MR KENNETH LEUNG (in Cantonese): President, it seems that last week, the Secretary spent a lot of time on chairing the interdepartmental Steering Committee meeting. President, may I ask the Secretary to explain to us in detail again the operation of this interdepartmental Steering Committee. When will the Committee hold meetings? What departments are involved? Most importantly, if there is a need to raise or lower the relevant response level, will it actually be decided by the Secretary alone or by the entire Steering Committee? Or will it be decided in some other ways?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): The meeting of the Steering Committee chaired by me was immediately convened on 6 January when the Serious Response Level was activated in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, on 2 January, I had already launched the preventive work and commenced an interdepartmental meeting in advance when Hong Kong had not yet reached this level. Hence, the meeting on 6 January was in fact the second meeting. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3945

During the meeting with other departments, we will certainly update them on the current situation of the relevant matter. DH would make assessments and recommendations, while HA would report the latest cases under the new scope of surveillance so that the Policy Bureaux and departments could respectively enhance the cleaning and hygiene measures for facilities under their purview in response to the circumstances. If the departments or Policy Bureaux had any questions at the meeting, CHP of DH could answer them on the spot. Therefore, particularly at the second interdepartmental meeting, various departments and units reported their planned or ongoing enhanced hygiene measures and presented their needs or proposals. Such discussion was very effective. After the two meetings, first, we have asked them to furnish the details of their facilities so that under the coordination of the Food and Health Bureau, we can learn about the work being conducted and the difficulties faced by different departments and tackle them in a timely manner.

Second, as a matter of fact, interdepartmental meetings can strengthen the communication of CHP with various Policy Bureaux and departments. For example, after CHP had sent letters to the relevant Policy Bureaux and departments, the latter would then write to the units concerned, such as the Social Welfare Department. Now such work has commenced successively. We have also asked them to regularly review the work completed, devise enhanced measures and notify the Food and Health Bureau such that we can check the relevant forms and records. In fact, we have also requested them to update the relevant forms and records at least once a week to facilitate our regular review of the work completed.

Moreover, the Government has set up a platform for the Chief Secretary for Administration to oversee the cleansing and hygiene work of other Policy Bureaux and departments, which has achieved good results. Certainly, the interdepartmental meeting chaired by me is concerned not only about cleansing work. The Tourism Commission is one of the members which can provide information instantly, or we may provide them with information such as matters to which particular attention should be paid by visitors to Hong Kong. We have been working on this front.

As regards how we raise the response level, i.e. under what circumstances it will be raised from "Alert" to "Serious", in general, in the past, when a Preparedness and Response Plan was devised for an infectious disease, such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, the Director of Health, Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene and Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and 3946 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Conservation―because infectious diseases are possibly related to animals―would report to the Secretary for Food and Health on the need to activate or stand down the relevant level. When considering whether to activate or stand down a response level, the three Directors would conduct risk assessments and make relevant recommendations which would certainly be included in the Preparedness and Response Plan. In fact, the details of the plan have been uploaded onto the Internet. Members may browse the website for perusal. The information on the relevant website has also set out the main factors to be considered during risk assessment for activating or raising a response level.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LEUNG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR KENNETH LEUNG (in Cantonese): As far as political accountability is concerned, is the response level decided by the three Directors after assessment, or is it under the charge of the Secretary?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LEUNG, this bears no relevance to the question you asked just now.

MR JEREMY TAM (in Cantonese): President, regarding the pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan, the SAR Government frequently stated that it had communicated with the Mainland and sought the latest information. Yesterday, we even saw the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong ("DAB") meet with LOCPG, expressing their wish for the Central Government to be more transparent in epidemic notification. Does it mean the Central Government has covered up something? If not, why did they request the Central Government to handle it with more transparency? Do they consider the present handling not transparent enough? Actually, is it that the SAR Government wished to know and obtain certain information, but the Central Government did not grant it or the Hunan authorities deliberately did not notify it, so they kept saying that they hoped the handling approach of the Central Government could be more transparent and more information could be obtained?

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3947

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr Jeremy TAM for his supplementary question. As a matter of fact, we and NHC have an established mechanism for reciprocal notification. An agreement has also been signed on reciprocal notification of major public health incidents and response measures.

First, actually this mechanism has been activated currently. Second, this mechanism is proven. Certainly, if there is any other question after NHC has notified us of some information, our colleagues will continue to communicate with them in the hope that the relevant authorities can make clarifications or provide further information. We have been working on this front. As regards transparency, certainly, as far as Hong Kong is concerned, we will try to let the media and the public know the information grasped by us as soon as possible. Although at the moment, there is not any serious case in Hong Kong related to Wuhan pneumonia―there is none in Hong Kong―we have promptly decided to expand the scope of surveillance, and notification of the number of reported cases will be given every day.

We will continue to discuss and communicate with NHC through this mechanism, updating each other on the situation. After obtaining the latest information, we will expeditiously make an assessment, examine the need to revise the preventive and control measures in Hong Kong, and provide more information in due course.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr TAM, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR JEREMY TAM (in Cantonese): President, just now I asked whether there was actually any information which the SAR Government wished to get but the Central Authorities refused to provide. My question was very clear just now. Was there such a situation? An example is information about the viral genome sequence. Was there any information which the SAR Government wished to obtain but the Central Authorities refused to provide?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr TAM, you have already pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

3948 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): All along, under the existing notification mechanism with the Mainland, the Mainland would provide us with the relevant information as and when appropriate. Now the colleagues in DH communicate with the Mainland authorities almost every day, discussing how to share further information. Hence, we consider this mechanism effective. Certainly, as the situation develops, we will keep reviewing the need to enhance mutual communication.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Council has spent more than two hours on this urgent question. Now six Members are still waiting for their turn to ask supplementary questions. They are Mr Kenneth LAU, Mr SHIU Ka-chun, Mr CHAN Chi-chuen, Mr Holden CHOW, Mr YIU Si-wing and Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok. After these six Members have asked their questions, the urgent question session will come to a close.

Mr Kenneth LAU, please ask your question.

MR KENNETH LAU (in Cantonese): President, concerning the outbreak of pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan, we have yet to grasp such information as the causative pathogen and causes of the novel infectious disease. Quite a number of members of the public are in panic, worrying about whether it is another type of SARS. It is imperative for the Government to grasp the pathological information about the infectious disease expeditiously. Certainly, it should also step up quarantine efforts at boundary control points and enhance the dissemination of messages about prevention of the infectious disease, exercising control and preventing an epidemic with a multi-pronged approach to curb the spread of the infectious disease in the community. For places with a high concentration of people, like such high-risk places as shopping malls, Chinese restaurants, eateries, public transport carriers and parks, does the Government have in place a holistic set of measures to mitigate the risk of a community outbreak?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr Kenneth LAU for his supplementary question. We have in place a holistic set of measures. Having experienced the challenges posed by the SARS epidemic in 2003 and other infectious diseases, the Government has all along LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3949 been enhancing its response capability in tackling infectious diseases or any novel infectious diseases. On 4 January, we activated the Serious Response Level to tie in with the Government launching the Preparedness and Response Plan for Novel Infectious Disease of Public Health Significance, and implemented a series of contingency measures to enhance monitoring and infection control in public hospitals and clinics. This moderate level represents medium risk. If it is raised by one notch to the Emergency Level, an expanded committee will be chaired by the Chief Executive to steer the overall epidemic prevention and contingency work.

Just now, Mr LAU has mentioned the capacity and tests of the Hospital Authority ("HA"). After receiving cases that fall within the currently widened scope of surveillance, HA will, apart from isolating such cases, send specimens of patients to CHP for general virological tests as soon as practicable. Also, it will screen for the presence of SARS, avian influenza and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome viruses or other coronavirus. Certainly, tests on influenza viruses will also be conducted. In case of any issues identified by HA, specimens will be sent to the University of Hong Kong's laboratory for high-throughput gene sequencing tests, which is an effective ongoing practice.

MR SHIU KA-CHUN (in Cantonese): The Government has published in the Gazette today inclusion of Severe Respiratory Disease associated with a Novel Infectious Agent as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease. Medical practitioners are required to make a report to CHP for further investigation if they find patients presenting fever or acute respiratory symptoms, or pneumonia symptoms, who had visited Wuhan (regardless of whether they had visited wet markets or seafood markets there) within 14 days prior to the onset of the illness. They also have the authority to isolate or quarantine suspected patients. The problem is that now it is still uncertain whether the current pneumonia with unknown cause is transmissible from human to human, and it is only known that it may be related to contact with animals.

Will the Secretary inform this Council of the types of seafood and live animals sold at the seafood and live animal wholesale market there? What are their places of origin? And do the seafood and live animals imported into Hong Kong come from the same sources as those from that market? Also, will such seafood and animals be imported into Hong Kong?

3950 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr SHIU Ka-chun for his supplementary question. To our understanding, Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market mainly sells aquatic products. We have no further information to ascertain whether, apart from seafood and aquatic products, other products are sold at the market. We have obtained such information from the media and other sources. But most importantly, according to the record of the Centre for Food Safety ("CFS") in 2019, there was no registered farm supplying livestock or aquatic products to Hong Kong in Wuhan. Hence, there was no import of live food animals or aquatic products into Hong Kong, and there was no import of game and meat from Wuhan into Hong Kong in 2019 either.

MR SHIU KA-CHUN (in Cantonese): President, the Secretary has not answered my supplementary question.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr SHIU, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR SHIU KA-CHUN (in Cantonese): I have put my question clearly, asking about the types of seafood and live animals sold at the seafood and live animal wholesale market in Wuhan.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr SHIU, you have pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): We do not have information about the types of animals sold at the market. Our main concern is whether there is currently any import of live food animals, live aquatic products, game, meat, etc. into Hong Kong from Wuhan, and as mentioned by me just now, according to CFS's record in 2019, there was no registered farm supplying livestock and aquatic products to Hong Kong in Wuhan.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3951

MR CHAN CHI-CHUEN (in Cantonese): The Government invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance ("the Ordinance") to make the Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation ("the Regulation") on 5 October. In a letter addressed to schools across the territory on the same day, the Education Bureau urged schools to remind students and parents that students should not wear masks both inside and outside schools. At that time, students, parents and teachers felt extremely anxious, being uncertain whether they should put on masks when they fell ill, or whether they should put on masks if they were concerned about the risk of infection. Worse still, in times of influenza surge or resurgence of SARS, what should people do? While the Regulation stipulates that medical or health reasons may be cited as reasonable excuses, such reasons must be pre-existing. Nevertheless, the Police's guidelines stipulate that concern about the risk of infection is not included as a reason, i.e. under the Ordinance, prevention of disease shall not be cited as a reasonable excuse for wearing masks. Fortunately, we, some 20 pro-democracy Members, applied for judicial review. The Regulation was ruled unconstitutional by the Court of First Instance, and it is no longer in effect now. However, we also know that the Government has lodged an appeal against it, and the case will be heard by the Court tomorrow. I have this supplementary question. Once the Regulation takes effect again, it will definitely create confusion in society amid the current crisis over the pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan. My supplementary question is simple. Can the Secretary recommend that the Chief Executive in Council repeal the Regulation made under the Ordinance first, and leave it until the crisis over the pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan has been resolved? The reason is that consideration should also be given to public interest under the Ordinance. I hope public officers can tell us, according to their conscience, whether we should encourage members of the public to wear or not to wear masks, in order to better serve public interest?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr CHAN Chi-chuen for his supplementary question. In fact, when promulgating the Regulation, we made it clear all the while that the Regulation does not conflict with the need of health care personnel and members of the public to wear masks on public health grounds. As to the latest situation of schools as mentioned by Mr CHAN just now, CHP has written to all principals or persons-in-charge of child care centres. If students or staff in schools are found to present fever or respiratory symptoms, they should wear masks and consult a doctor promptly, and inform the doctor of their travel and exposure history. Also, symptomatic 3952 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 students or staff should not attend school or work. Hence, we have adopted a series of measures. In addition to putting on masks, attention should also be paid to observing hand hygiene and other personal hygiene. Certainly, once presenting respiratory symptoms, people should wear surgical masks, and as I said just now, they should avoid going to crowded places, refrain from attending school, seek medical advice promptly, etc. If schools or institutions notice an increase in fever, pneumonia or respiratory symptoms among students or staff, please contact CHP promptly for better epidemiological investigations and outbreak control by CHP.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr CHAN, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR CHAN CHI-CHUEN (in Cantonese): My supplementary question is simple. Can the Secretary recommend that the Chief Executive in Council repeal the Regulation first, and leave it until the crisis over the pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan has been resolved?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I reiterate that the purpose of making the Regulation is certainly not applicable to our current situation. At present, given the situation of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan of the Mainland, from the public health perspective, it actually does not conflict with the Regulation. Hence, I call on members of the public to, first, visit the website of CHP for the latest information on personal hygiene and how to wear masks. Second, when people notice that they have respiratory problems, they should refrain from attending school or work, and seek medical consultation promptly. I reiterate that wearing masks is just one of the preventive measures. Certainly, it is also an important measure which serves to prevent transmission by respiratory droplets. But for infection control, maintaining hand hygiene is also a very important measure. I hope people will, apart from wearing masks on a need basis, continuously maintain hand hygiene and pay attention to proper hand washing.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3953

MR HOLDEN CHOW (in Cantonese): I notice that in her response in respect of the measures to cope with or prevent the pneumonia with unknown cause in Wuhan, the Secretary has repeatedly stressed in her main reply today that the authorities will enhance surveillance in all respects, such as checking body temperature at the airport and the Express Rail Link ("XRL") West Kowloon Station. But allow me to raise a query. While we currently see that the cases of pneumonia with unknown cause mainly originate in Wuhan and the Secretary has also indicated that the relevant measures will particularly target visitors from Wuhan, we are also aware that some Mainland visitors have recently visited Wuhan and travelled to other places on the Mainland circuitously before coming to Hong Kong. That is actually possible. I have this question for the Secretary. Apart from the Hong Kong Airport and XRL West Kowloon Station where measures specific to visitors coming to Hong Kong directly from Wuhan are implemented, at other boundary control points, including the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge control point or the Shenzhen Bay Port, there may also be Mainland visitors who have recently been to Wuhan and travelled to other places in Guangdong Province before coming to Hong Kong indirectly. Will the authorities enhance prevention or surveillance to address such cases?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr Holden CHOW for his supplementary question. In addition to implementing the relatively focused measure―which means the measure is targeted at inbound travellers from Wuhan―of checking body temperature at the airport and the Express Rail Link station, in fact the Port Health Division of DH has also strengthened the surveillance work on the health status of members of the public at all boundary control points, including checking the body temperature of travellers at the various boundary control points. Notwithstanding this, I must remind members of the public that whilst surveillance is of course a task we have already performed and will step up, members of the public should raise their alertness and seek medical treatment as soon as possible if they feel unwell after visiting Wuhan, or if they fall ill after visiting other places, and have developed symptoms of respiratory infection or have a fever. Even if these conditions are not present, members of the public must maintain a higher standard of personal and environmental hygiene, such that the entire society will stay highly vigilant.

3954 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, there are two weeks to go before the Lunar New Year, by then we will have four days of holiday in Hong Kong, during which many private clinics will be closed for four to seven days. With the recent influenza surge in Hong Kong, coupled with the epidemic of pneumonia with unknown cause, public and private hospitals in Hong Kong―especially public hospitals―will definitely face greater stress when compared with that in the past few years. Does the Government have any special measures in place, particularly during the seven days of the Spring Festival, to tackle the problems faced by public hospitals in such aspects as manpower, accommodation and facilities?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Mr YIU Si-wing for his question and views. With respect to our response to the influenza surge, the authorities held a press conference especially at an earlier time this year on the measures and arrangements for long holidays, and we have also liaised with the six major charitable organizations as they are operating many clinics. Although we cannot request them to do so, they are very cooperative in that their clinics will continue to operate during the long holidays―especially during the Lunar New Year holiday―thereby offering more choices to those members of the public in need.

During the press conference, we also mentioned the contribution of Chinese medicine to the treatment of common cold, which works very well particularly in prevention. Therefore, we call on members of the public to seek treatment from Chinese medicine clinics in the event that they suffer from common cold.

As regards the Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association, we pointed out at the press conference that we had invited them to liaise with their private doctors as early as possible, whereas the outpatient department as well as the accident and emergency department of all private hospitals would operate round the clock. Yet, private doctors would offer consultation services on different days and hours, so we also call on private doctors to make their best efforts to offer consultation services during the Lunar New Year holiday.

Certainly, the present situation would be more stressful due to the outbreak of the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. Generally speaking, 10-odd general outpatient clinics ("GOPCs") under HA would operate during long LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3955 holidays, and this number would be increased by a few this year, so that at least one clinic would be operating in each of the 17 districts during the Lunar New Year. Instead of going to the A&E Departments, members of the public who are not in an urgent condition can seek treatment from GOPCs. Meanwhile, I also request HA to further enhance the countermeasures in view of the stress faced by wards, so as to cope with the prevailing influenza surge. The overall surveillance work should be conducted on also the latest situation of the cluster of viral pneumonia cases with unknown cause detected in Wuhan, and they have now drawn up countermeasures in respect of each part. However, overall speaking, we expect that―as mentioned by Mr YIU―greater pressure will be faced during the long holidays, so they are now planning to strengthen the relevant measures.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Last Member. Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok, please.

IR DR LO WAI-KWOK (in Cantonese): President, in view of the several dozens of pneumonia cases with unknown cause that occurred recently in Wuhan, the SAR Government has published in the Gazette today the inclusion of this Severe Respiratory Disease associated with a Novel Infectious Agent as a statutorily notifiable infectious disease. Such a move is worthy of recognition as it is conducive to epidemic prevention. That said, the authorities still have to draw up clear guidelines and implement various supporting measures in relation to law enforcement.

At the same time, there are quite many related rumours on the Internet recently, which are messages of unknown sources, and they may cause panic among the public. For instance, some people claim on the Internet that there has already been an epidemic outbreak in Hong Kong, but the Secretary has reiterated in her reply to Ms Alice MAK that no serious pneumonia case related to those in Wuhan has been detected in Hong Kong so far. Moreover, there are short messages on the Internet stating that it is inappropriate to visit the Mainland for the time being. Yet, the Secretary has mentioned in a paragraph of her reply to Ms Elizabeth QUAT that based on the available information, the World Health Organization has advised against the application of any travel or trade restrictions on China.

3956 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Therefore, may I ask the Secretary what specific and proactive countermeasures do the authorities have in place to disseminate the latest information in a timely manner to clarify rumours spreading false information, and to ensure that true information is widely known to the public?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): I thank Ir Dr LO Wai-kwok for his question. Regarding the dissemination of information, we have now expanded the scope of surveillance in respect of notifiable diseases, so there is a high degree of transparency. HA has also established a mechanism for information dissemination under which a report will be made to CHP whenever a suspected case is identified. CHP would also provide a daily update on the latest situation.

In addition, with respect to the dissemination of other information, CHP has launched a dedicated web page on the cluster of pneumonia cases detected in Wuhan, where some health advice is also provided to the public.

As regards the issue concerning the spread of false information, we must note that the Chief Executive pointed out yesterday her worry about someone often posting some false information on the Internet. I also noticed yesterday that Prof YUEN Kwok-yung made a clarification immediately, pointing out that some rumours were not true. Therefore, the Government―be it DH, HA or the Information Services Department―is aware of this situation. Whenever we come across some information, we would firstly do verification at once to see whether it is true or not. In addition, we also hope that people will not forward some information casually after receiving it, because the spread of false information may have an adverse impact on the public health surveillance overall. Therefore, I would like to specially make an appeal here. While paying greater attention to health-related information, members of the public must also carefully distinguish whether the information is true or not. We will also make clarifications immediately after investigation and verification, and call on the public not to believe in rumours and not to forward posts containing rumours, so as to avoid misleading other members of the public.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Urgent questions end here.

I now suspend the meeting until 2:30 pm.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3957

1:32 pm

Meeting suspended.

2:30 pm

Council then resumed.

ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Questions. First question.

Law and order situation in Hong Kong

1. MR WONG TING-KWONG (in Cantonese): President, in recent months, the Police seized a large quantity of weapons (including pistols, an AR15 long-range rifle and several hundred bullets), and suspected that some people had planned to use such weapons in public events for causing casualties so as to frame the Police. The Police also seized large quantities of petrol bombs, incendiary bombs, explosives and chemicals which may be used for making weapons. It has been reported that last month some members of a foreign extremist organization came to Hong Kong to participate in demonstrations. The aforesaid incidents have caused quite a number of members of the public to worry that the law and order situation in Hong Kong is deteriorating. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the lethality of the various types of firearms, as well as the respective quantities of the various types of weapons and chemicals that may be used for making weapons, which were seized by the Police since June last year;

(2) whether the Police have investigated the origins of the firearms and other weapons seized and if there is any connection with foreign terrorist organizations, and of the follow-up actions taken; and

3958 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(3) of the authorities' assessment of the current law and order situation in Hong Kong, as well as their strategies for stopping violence and curbing disorder and for preventing foreign terrorists from engaging in illegal activities in Hong Kong?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, there have been more than 1 200 public order events since June last year, with many of them ended in violence. The continuous escalation of violence, as well as the increasingly frequent demonstrations and conflicts and their extensive impact, have caused grave threat to people's lives and properties, resulting in a very worrying situation. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") Government strongly condemns the escalating violent acts and adopts zero tolerance to any persons who resort to violence for their own purpose. It is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government to stop violence and curb disorder and to restore public peace by taking resolute measures.

My reply to the three parts of Mr WONG's question is as follows:

(1) and (2)

The continuous escalation of violent acts of rioters in just six months or so has caused grave concern. The types of weapons and dangerous goods seized by the Police at different places and premises were of a great variety and were extremely alarming in terms of both destructive power and quantity. Major examples of serious cases are as follows:

(i) On 20 July last year at an industrial unit in Tsuen Wan, the Police found self-produced powerful explosive of TATP, 10 completed incendiary bombs, nitric acid, slingshots, pellets, knives, iron rods, etc. The power of the explosive could cause severe injuries.

(ii) On 1 August last year at an industrial unit in Fo Tan, the Police found a batch of weapons, including two bows, six arrows, petrol bomb and a large quantity of raw materials for making petrol bombs, and seized a considerable amount of essential oils containing cannabis; at a flat in Tin Shui Wai, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3959

the Police also seized 30 smoke bombs, 27 half-finished smoke bombs and raw materials for making smoke bombs including potassium nitrate, magnesium, fuses for explosives, etc.

(iii) On 2 November last year at a flat in Wan Chai, the Police seized 59 petrol bombs and nearly 20 litres of inflammable chemicals including turpentine, petrol and ethanol.

(iv) In mid-November and early December last year at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Police seized a total of about 8 000 petrol bombs, about 800 bottled liquefied petroleum gas, about 1 000 bottles of petrol and nearly 700 bottles of inflammable chemicals (including acetone, acetonitrile, aniline, methanol, dichloromethane, silane, etc.), and about 600 weapons including hammers, arrows, knifes and air pistols.

(v) On 8 December last year at a flat in North Point, the Police seized a 9 mm Glock semi-automatic handgun, 105 bullets, five magazines, as well as three items of dagger, sabre and katana. Three of the five magazines seized were fully loaded and ready for use.

(vi) On the same day, in the vicinity of Wah Yan College in Wan Chai, the Police found two radio-controlled improvised explosive devices weighing about 10 kg in total. Such devices were found to be composed of aluminium nitrate and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine ("HMTD"), a highly explosive organic compound. Ignition of the devices would pose lethal damage to the surrounding 50 m to 100 m range and lead to collapse of buildings. These devices also contained many sharp nails to create greater lethality.

(vii) On 14 December last year at Siu Lang Shui Road in Tuen Mun, the Police seized a radio control for explosives and about 27 g of suspected explosive powders, and arrested three men who were allegedly conducting tests on explosives. There were signs of explosion at the scene.

3960 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(viii) On 20 December last year at a public place in Tai Po, the Police arrested a man and seized a gun. The suspect fired a shot during the arrest. Fortunately, the incident caused no injury. An AR-15 long-range rifle, 200 bullets and a circular speedloader were subsequently seized at his relevant flat.

(ix) On 24 December last year at a mini-storage in Kwun Tong, the Police seized 500 g of smoke cake, 15 g of explosives and dozens of bottled chemicals (including nitrocellulose and sodium chloride).

The Police do not maintain relevant statistics on all the types of weapons and chemicals that may be used for making weapons for articles seized during operations. I must solemnly point out that illegal possession or use of weapons, firearms and ammunition, explosives, dangerous goods and the like constitute very serious crimes in contravention of many criminal offences, the maximum penalty of which is life imprisonment.

The Police will make full investigation into each case to track the source of weapons, firearms, explosives and chemicals seized and the motive for committing crimes. As far, there is no evidence linking the cases to overseas terrorist organizations. Nonetheless, the Government will closely monitor and cautiously examine the cases to identify any possible risk of involving local terrorism.

(3) As for the law and order situation, crime figures in the first half of last year showed a downward trend but since June, there have been many processions and demonstrations and rioters have been wantonly hurling petrol bombs and bricks, setting fires, vandalizing and burning shops and public transport facilities, assaulting people with different views, etc., causing deterioration in the law and order situation in Hong Kong. From January to November 2019, 52 250 crimes were recorded, representing an increase of 4.2% over 50 122 crimes recorded during the same period in 2018. The overall crime detection rate in the first 11 months of 2019 was 36.1%, which was lower than the overall crime detection rate of 42.9% during the same period in 2018. In the past six months or so, the Police devoted considerable manpower to handle over 1 200 public order events and the violent acts of rioters. Routine policing work, such as crime LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3961 prevention and patrols, was unquestionably affected as a result. Maintaining good public order relies not only on police officers' efforts but also citizens' abiding by the law. If members of the public turn a blind eye to violent acts of rioters and refuse to cooperate or even obstruct the Police's law enforcement operations, or condone even further assaulting against police officers, deterioration in public order is the price we have to pay.

The Security Bureau has been coordinating the work among disciplined services for making collaborative efforts to stop violence and curb disorder. For example, the Immigration Department exercises effective immigration control to prevent the entry of suspected criminals, terrorists, etc. into Hong Kong. The Customs and Excise Department monitors and checks imported goods to ensure that illegal goods do not enter Hong Kong. The Fire Services Department conducts inspections to ensure that no dangerous or controlled goods are unlawfully sold or possessed in the market. Various disciplined services also fully assist and facilitate the Police's work in terms of intelligence and support. In addition, the Chief Secretary for Administration personally chairs a high-level Inter-departmental Action Task Force to oversee the work of different bureaux and departments in monitoring, response, follow-up, dissemination of information, etc., with a view to ensuring that all work is well-coordinated and handled in an effective and expeditious manner.

As regards counter-terrorism, in April 2018, the HKSAR Government set up the Inter-departmental Counter Terrorism Unit ("ICTU") comprising members from six disciplined services. ICTU is tasked with monitoring the global terrorism trend and counter-terrorism measures, reviewing and improving counter-terrorism strategies in Hong Kong, developing counter-terrorism training, optimizing various contingency plans, etc. Apart from fostering closer liaison and smoother collaboration among relevant departments, ICTU can also achieve synergy in various aspects such as counter-terrorism intelligence, training and emergency response education with a view to enhancing the overall counter-terrorism deployment and safeguarding the risk of terrorist activities.

3962 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

MR WONG TING-KWONG (in Cantonese): President, have law enforcement agencies or the Criminal Intelligence Bureau analysed whether the acts of black-clad rioters in the violent demonstrations in the past seven months, including their practices, weapons and tactics, have been growing increasingly similar to those employed by terrorists? Although the Secretary stated in the main reply that there is no evidence linking the cases to overseas terrorist organizations, are there any signs indicating that the black-clad rioters participating in the demonstrations in Hong Kong have received training by overseas armed forces or terrorist organizations?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, according to our investigation and intelligence analysis of the rioters' practices, we strongly believe that they have received certain training. We also believe that apart from local training, some of them have received training by foreigners as reflected in their organization and propaganda. Their propaganda has a number of versions with different angles and their operations seem to follow an objective and a plot every time. We believe a rabble is not capable of launching such organized acts.

Secondly, we also think the materials, organizational ability and resources involved could not be pooled together by a few people. We could see online reports about overseas organizations training people from all parts of the world to participate in anti-government movements. Of course, the content of such training remains unknown to us. But from the media, intelligence and various signs, we believe some people who participated in violent activities have received training, probably overseas.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Second question.

Measures against doxxing

2. MS ALICE MAK (in Cantonese): Since the occurrence of the disturbances arising from the proposed legislative amendments, quite a number of persons have engaged in doxxing police officers and persons holding different views (i.e. searching for and disclosing their personal information and that of their family members on the Internet), and the doxxed information has subsequently been used by others for harassing and threatening the victims and LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3963 their family members. Some persons holding different views have silenced themselves to avoid being doxxed. Moreover, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") has indicated that in view of the multiple difficulties encountered in investigating and following up doxxing acts, it is actively studying the introduction of amendments to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the number of complaints, received by PCPD since the occurrence of the disturbances arising from the proposed legislative amendments, about personal data being disclosed on the Internet without the consent of the data subjects, and how many persons' personal data were involved in the complaints; among such complaints, the number of those involving doxxing acts; the details of the follow-up actions taken by PCPD;

(2) as some social platforms have repeatedly refused to provide to PCPD the registration information or Internet protocol addresses of persons who uploaded the doxxing postings, whether the existing legislation has empowered PCPD to prosecute those social platforms; if so, of the number of prosecutions instituted by PCPD since the occurrence of the disturbances arising from the proposed legislative amendments; if not, the measures PCPD has in place to deal with this situation before the relevant legislation is amended; and

(3) whether it knows the latest progress of PCPD's study on the introduction of amendments to the aforesaid Ordinance; whether the Government will accept the proposed legislative amendments of empowering PCPD to search for and seize evidence, and to conduct prosecution, etc., and whether it has drawn up a timetable for introducing such legislative amendments; if so, of the details; if not, whether it will draw up such a timetable; of the measures the authorities will take before the completion of the legislative amendment process, in order to protect the privacy of persons who have been doxxed during the disturbances arising from the proposed legislative amendments?

3964 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): President, after consulting the Security Bureau and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD"), my consolidated reply to the question raised by Ms Alice MAK is as follows:

(1) and (2)

The Government is deeply concerned about the incidents of doxxing that took place over a recent period of time in society. PCPD received the first doxxing case related to the amendment of the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance on 14 June 2019. As at 31 December 2019, PCPD has received and proactively uncovered over 4 300 doxxing-related cases, the latest number of cases is 4 700. The victims of doxxing are from all sorts of backgrounds and all walks of life with various views, among which police officers and their family members are the single largest sector of people falling victim to doxxing. Among these cases, over 1 500 cases (representing around 36% of total cases) involved police officers and their family members. One hundred and eighty cases were related to doxxing on government officials and public servants (representing around 4% of total cases). In addition to public servants, there are also members of the public (representing around 30% of total cases) who were doxxed for stating their support for the Government or the Police. On the other hand, some members of the public were doxxed after making online comments against the Government or the Police (accounting for about 10% of total cases). Some others were dissatisfied with the behaviour of protestors and disclosed their personal data online (accounting for about 20% of total cases).

Under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance ("PDPO"), the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("the Commissioner") is empowered to conduct investigations and inspections, and is vested with the authority to discharge investigative functions, including entering into premises, summoning witnesses and requiring the persons concerned to furnish information to the Commissioner. However, the Commissioner has no authority to carry out criminal investigation or initiate prosecution on his own. At present, criminal investigations are conducted by the Police, and prosecutions, if so required, are initiated by the Department of LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3965

Justice. As at 31 December 2019, PCPD has referred more than 1 400 doxxing cases to the Police in accordance with the law for further criminal investigation. It is currently stipulated under section 64(2) of PDPO that any person who discloses any personal data of a data subject which was obtained from a data user without the data user's consent, and such disclosure causes psychological harm to the data subject, that person has committed an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum penalty of a fine of HK$1,000,000 and to imprisonment for up to five years. As at 31 December 2019, a total of eight persons were arrested by the Police for alleged violation of such provision. On 25 September 2019, a man was charged with an offence relating to "conspiracy to disclosing personal data obtained without data users' consent" under section 64 of PDPO for alleged improper disclosure of the personal data of other individuals on the Internet. The case will be heard again by the Court on 15 January 2020.

Apart from referring the cases to the Police for follow-up, PCPD has also reminded operators of relevant websites, online social media platforms or discussion forums that they should prevent their platforms from being abused as a tool for infringing personal data privacy. It has also requested the operators concerned to issue on their platforms warnings to netizens that doxxing behaviour may violate PDPO. With regard to the doxxing cases, PCPD has actively approached and written for over 140 times to operators of websites, online social media platforms and discussion forums involving doxxing postings, urging them to remove over 2 500 relevant web links, of which close to 70% has been removed. PCPD will continue to review relevant platforms and pursue follow-up and will spare no efforts in keeping doxxing in check.

Furthermore, on 25 October 2019, the Court granted an injunction order restraining any person from using, publishing, communicating or disclosing personal data of any police officer(s) or their family members intended or likely to intimidate, molest, harass, threaten or pester any police officer(s) or their family members without consent of the persons concerned; from intimidating, molesting, harassing, threatening or pestering any police officer(s) or their family members; or from assisting, inciting, abetting or authorising others to 3966 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

commit any of these acts. As at 31 December 2019, PCPD has referred 40 cases it had received and found to have allegedly violated the injunction order of the Court to the Department of Justice for follow-up.

(3) In response to the spate of major data breach incidents last year, we are now working with PCPD to review and consider the amendments to PDPO, with a view to better safeguarding personal data privacy. Drawing on the experience in handling the doxxing cases concerned over the past months, PCPD reflected to us that there is room to enhance PDPO for tackling the problem of doxxing, including to consider introducing legislative amendments to more specifically address doxxing, conferring on the Commissioner statutory powers to request the removal of doxxing contents from social media platforms and websites, as well as the powers to carry out criminal investigation and prosecution, etc. We are seriously examining how PDPO should be amended with PCPD. Relevant considerations include a number of legal issues related to the regulation of doxxing-related behaviour, such as how the offence should be defined and the need to strike a balance among the protection of personal data privacy, freedom of expression and free flow of information. We note that some other jurisdictions have started to take actions to regulate doxxing recently. For example, Singapore passed the Protection from Harassment (Amendment) Act 2019 last year. We will consider the actual circumstances of Hong Kong in the light of the relevant legislation of other jurisdictions on the regulation of doxxing, and consult relevant stakeholders in examining the direction and details of introducing legislative amendments.

Prior to the completion of legislative amendments, the Police will continue to tackle doxxing in accordance with section 64 of PDPO. PCPD will actively pursue relevant work on safeguarding personal data privacy, including the referral of relevant cases to the Police for follow-up, proactive liaising and writing to operators of doxxing-related platforms to request the removal of relevant web links and issuance of warnings on the platforms to netizens that doxxing may violate PDPO.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3967

MS ALICE MAK (in Cantonese): President, I believe even the Commissioner will not deny that PCPD is a "toothless tiger". As seen from doxxing cases on the Internet and the upload of personal information onto the Internet recently, the situation is very serious. Yet, the Commissioner has done nothing or can do nothing about the situation. Looking at the situation in other countries, as the Secretary mentioned in part (3) of the main reply, other regions have conducted reviews of legislation protecting privacy, including the passage of the Generation Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") by the European Union ("EU"). Under GDPR, consumers are vested the right to be forgotten and the right to erasure of their data, whereas corporations are obliged to adopt all reasonable measures to delete or rectify incorrect personal data, and failure to do so will be subject to a fine of up to €10 million or 2% of the corporation's global revenue. May I ask the Government whether it has conducted any study on the right to be forgotten and the right to erasure and whether it has planned to draw reference from the EU legislation and make relevant amendments?

Nonetheless, my worry is that even if the Secretary tells us now that amendments will be considered, given the efficiency of the Government, such amendments may not be accomplished after seven times seven years, a total of 49 years. President, does the Secretary have any plan to make the amendment and when this will be done?

SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): President, I thank Ms Alice MAK for her supplementary question. As I mentioned in the main reply, due to the spate of major data breach incidents last year and considerating the practices of other places including the amendment of the relevant legislation by EU, the Government and PCPD have commenced the work relating to the review and amendment of PDPO. In fact, in the second half of last year, we already communicated with the relevant focus groups about the direction and content of the amendment, and we would consult the views of Members of the Panel on Constitutional Affairs in January.

Moreover, as seen from the doxxing cases arising from the social incidents that occurred in the past seven months, personal data has actually become sort of a weapon or has been "weaponized". In this connection, we and the Commissioner should examine how to amend PDPO to address the relevant incidents in a more effective manner. The relevant work is now in progress. Once the direction and details of the amendment are drawn up, we will consult 3968 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 the views of stakeholders again, including the views of relevant Panels of the Legislative Council, to take forward the legislative work. Certainly, the pace of legislative exercise varies from one place to another. In Hong Kong, the time required for legislative work is not short and a lot of work has to be done. Yet, we will give priority to the relevant amendment, as this is indeed necessary. Hence, we will do our work properly in this respect.

MR WONG TING-KWONG (in Cantonese): President, it is stated unequivocally in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights promulgated by the United Nations that: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks". Local political organizations which are hostile to the Government always brandish the banner of human rights and declare that they have to protect human rights in Hong Kong. Yet, in actuality, they are proactively protecting, condoning and planning doxxing acts that infringe human rights. As the Secretary said in his main reply earlier, so far, only one person has been prosecuted and the case will be heard again by the Court on 15 January, pending the ruling of the Court. The Secretary also mentioned in his main reply earlier that there are over 1 500 doxxing cases at present. Will the Government take any further action to tackle these doxxing acts?

SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): I thank Mr WONG Ting-kwong for his supplementary question. Mr WONG's remarks are entirely correct. Over the past period, some people have been using personal data as a kind of weapon for doxxing to inflict harm on innocent people. Such acts do not merely affect the data subjects, for more often than not, their family members and children will also be hurt and intimidated. These incidents are very serious.

All along, the Commissioner has actively exercised his power under PDPO to carry out the relevant work, and he has explained the relevant work repeatedly at press conferences or in press releases. In fact, we surely have noticed that: First, section 64 of the existing PDPO is targeted at the disclosure of personal data by data users, which content does not directly address the data subjects in LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3969 doxxing cases. It is indirect and there is no direct relationship. Hence, to enable us to address the issue more effectively in the legal context, we are now examining the issue and one of the aspects is to amend the provisions on the relevant offences to facilitate targeted regulation, so that the issue can be addressed in a more categorical manner.

Second, as for operators and platforms, the Commissioner has taken the initiative to write to them, requesting the removal of certain web links involving disclosure of personal data. Though 70% of such links have been removed, this is not the most effective approach. Hence, the Commissioner needs the power to remove these web links disclosing personal data without the consent of the data subjects, which constitute harm, harassment or intimidation, and such power should be conferred by way of legislation.

Third, just now, Mr WONG mentioned the work about investigation and prosecution. Such work is now carried out by the Police and the Department of Justice ("DoJ"), yet we have to consider whether conferring the power of conducting criminal investigation and prosecution on the Commissioner will result in more effective tackling of the problem. Hence, we are now working on it. In making the relevant decision, certainly, we have to consider privacy protection, harm done when personal data is used as a weapon and the protection of freedom of information and freedom of expression, with a view to striving for an appropriate balance in response to the latest situation in actuality. We are now following up on this closely and proactively with PCPD.

MRS REGINA IP (in Cantonese): President, as many Honourable colleagues have pointed out, the High Court granted an interim injunction order in October in response to the request of DoJ and the Commissioner of Police ("CoP"), restraining any person from infringing the privacy of police officers and special constables, so as to protect them from intimidation and their privacy from being disclosed. It is necessary for DoJ and CoP to apply for an interim injunction order, and if my memory has not failed me, the Judge responsible for the hearing is Mr Justice Jeremy POON. He made severe criticisms of these acts concerning privacy disclosure, that is, doxxing, in his judgment. This should be attributed to the very large loophole in the existing law, under which the Commissioner is not given the power to require media posting personal data and infringing privacy to remove the relevant content, or impose punishment. This loophole is very obvious.

3970 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

In this connection, when will the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs amend PDPO to plug the loophole, so that the authorities concerned do not have to apply for an injunction order case by case? This problem is obvious and the Commissioner needs to be conferred with such power. Stephen WONG has stated that he does not have such power, so we should give him the power to remove the relevant content and punish persons infringing the privacy of other people through such disclosure. Will the Secretary provide us with a timetable, stating when this will be achieved?

SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): I thank Mrs Regina IP for her supplementary question. Regarding the implementation of the injunction order, as well as the inadequacies of the existing legislation in respect of the situation of doxxing which I pointed out in my replies earlier, we are now examining the direction and details of the work in this aspect with PCPD. The work in this aspect is being undertaken concurrently with the work of amending PDPO which is also ongoing, including handling incidents involving leak of information, and so on.

In this connection, we plan to propose the direction and details of the amendment within this year and to communicate with the relevant stakeholders. Last year, in view of the problems arising from the major incident of leakage of information, we proposed an amendment to PDPO. The present practice is the same. We join hands with PCPD to examine the direction and details of the amendment. After that, we will listen to the views of stakeholders affected in the form of small groups, and then listen to the views of Members in the Panel on Constitutional Affairs. One of the agenda items of the meeting of the Panel on Constitutional Affairs to be held this month is to discuss the relevant amendment, yet the discussion will be mainly about the major leakage of information occurred some time ago. As for the issue of doxxing, we will put forth a certain direction, hoping to hear the views of Members immediately and speed up the relevant amendment work.

DR JUNIUS HO (in Cantonese): Secretary, indeed, I am very much concerned about cyber-bullying, which is closely related to doxxing. At present, cyber-bully, particularly on social platforms or in the cyber world, is very common. Yet, Hong Kong does not have any specific measures pinpointing this problem. This problem is related to doxxing, as once the identity of a certain person is known, bullying is bound to take place. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3971

Nonetheless, according to the pamphlet on "Cyber-bullying—What you need to know" issued by PCPD which I have read, PCPD has only provided some "Tips" but no further action. Why? For it is stated therein that when faced with such situations, the victim may report to the Police that the other party is suspected of intimidation or the civil offence of defamation. However, provisions on offences like intimidation and defamation are outdated, whereas cyber-bullying occurring in the cyber world now may not necessarily involve intimidation that includes life threatening claims.

Hence, over 50 states in the United States have brought cyber-bullying on par with bullying as an independent offence. This is also a cause of concern to the Commissioner, as it is almost a brother to doxxing, where there is doxxing, it is certain that bullying will occur concurrently. When the authorities launch any law reform to make the Commissioner a "tiger that bites", I hope PCPD will be made a "tiger that bites" in modern times. Otherwise, it will merely be a rat which mouth is too small and teeth are not strong enough to bite. Worse still, the rat will run away once it is scolded and dares not rise to challenges.

For these reasons, will the Secretary examine the relevant situation seriously? Just now, "Brother Elephant" read out Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet, in Hong Kong, Article 27 of the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong residents shall have freedom of speech and freedom in various aspects, whereas Article 28 stipulates that the freedom of the person of Hong Kong residents shall be inviolable. Though the provisions seek to ensure that the Government will not infringe the rights and freedom of individuals, the Government is also obliged to ensure that no person in society will be bullied by another person. Will the Secretary expedite the study on how the offence of cyber-bullying should be addressed?

SECRETARY FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND MAINLAND AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): I thank Dr HO for his supplementary question. First, laws in the real world are applicable to remarks published on the Internet. Hence, those so-called cyber-bullying activities, such as acts involving bullying or inciting others to break the law, are regarded as criminal offences and regulated by the relevant laws regardless of whether they are committed online. These include acts of criminal intimidation or blackmail which destroy or damage property of others under the Crimes Ordinance or the Theft Ordinance. This is the first point.

3972 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Second, I believe in the discussion on the relevant amendments to PDPO pinpointing doxxing acts, the issue concerning cyber-bullying as mentioned by Dr HO just now will also be examined.

Third, if we are to address this problem, the first consideration will be whether there are applicable offences under the law which can produce deterrent effect? Then, it comes to the power to conduct criminal investigation and prosecution. Apart from the Police and DoJ, should PCPD and the Commissioner be conferred the same power? Finally, under certain circumstances where an application for an injunction order of the Court becomes necessary, will the Commissioner be conferred the power to apply for such an injunction order on behalf of the victim? These issues will be considered altogether in the examination of the relevant amendment.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Third question. Mr CHUNG Kwok-pan has informed me in advance that Mr SHIU Ka-fai will ask the question for him. I now call upon Mr SHIU Ka-fai to ask the question.

Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act

3. MR SHIU KA-FAI (in Cantonese): President, according to the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act ("the Act") enacted earlier by the authorities of the United States ("US"), the US Secretary of State shall submit annually to the Congress a certification in conjunction with the report required under the US-Hong Kong Policy Act, enunciating whether Hong Kong continues to warrant existing treatment under US laws, including being treated as a separate customs territory. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the details of the lobbying, conducted by the Government's Economic and Trade Offices ("ETOs") in three US cities, against the enactment of the Act, including the ways in which and the number of occasions on which such lobbying was conducted, the politicians met, as well as the relevant reasons and data presented to them (set out by date in a table);

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3973

(2) as the Government has reproached a few Hong Kong people for visiting the US in September last year to urge the Congress to pass the Act and making at a hearing misrepresentations of the violent demonstrations in Hong Kong, whether, in view of such a situation, the ETO in Washington DC stepped up efforts at that time to lobby US politicians and explained to them the real situation of Hong Kong; if so, of the details, and whether it has studied the reasons why the Act was still enacted eventually by the US authorities; if it did not step up lobbying efforts, the reasons for that; and

(3) of the Government's specific plans in place to lobby US politicians this year, so as to avoid the US authorities ceasing to treat Hong Kong as a separate customs territory?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, under "one country, two systems", the Basic Law confers on Hong Kong a unique status. Article 116 of the Basic Law stipulates that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") is a separate customs territory; Article 151 provides that Hong Kong may, using the name "Hong Kong, China", participate in such international organizations as the World Trade Organization ("WTO") and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation as a separate member.

Therefore, Hong Kong's unique status is not granted unilaterally by any country, but is conferred by the Basic Law. Hong Kong's unique status is well recognized and respected by the international community. Our economic and trade status is on par with other WTO members. Also, we are making use of this capacity to give play to our advantages and strengths in the international economic and trade arena, and establish mutually beneficial partnership with trading partners around the world.

The United States enacted in 1992 the United States-Hong Kong Policy Act ("the Policy Act") which sets out its policy and principled positions towards Hong Kong. The legislation is a policy act of the United States itself but not an international or bilateral agreement. Over the years, the United States has been conducting economic and trade exchanges with Hong Kong in accordance with the Policy Act and respecting Hong Kong as a separate customs territory, and on 3974 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 this basis, it has established and maintained close and mutually beneficial bilateral economic and trade relations with Hong Kong. The United States is Hong Kong's second largest merchandise trading partner in the world, while Hong Kong is the United States' tenth largest export market. According to the United States' statistics, the United States has been enjoying the largest trade surplus with Hong Kong among its global trading partners for many years, valued at US$33.8 billion in 2018 alone. In 2018, the United States was the seventh major source of inward direct investment into Hong Kong and the ninth major destination of outward direct investment from Hong Kong. Moreover, there are 1 344 United States companies in Hong Kong, of which 278 are regional headquarters. Around 85 000 United States citizens also live in Hong Kong. The close and reciprocal relations between the two places are obvious.

Therefore, the enactment of the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act ("the Hong Kong Act") by the United States is unnecessary and unwarranted. The uncertainty caused by the Hong Kong Act will inevitably affect the confidence of international investors and enterprises in Hong Kong and will certainly damage the mutually beneficial relations between the two places, including the United States' interests.

My consolidated reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:

As for the explanatory work of the HKSAR Government, the Government has been explaining to countries around the world the successful implementation of "one country, two systems" since our return to the Motherland, and promoting Hong Kong's unique status under the Basic Law and "one country, two systems" as well as our own various advantages through exchanges of information, reciprocal official visits, participation in international conferences, and regular work of the overseas Economic and Trade Offices ("ETOs"). The Financial Secretary visited the United States in October last year, while the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development visited the United States three times in September 2018 and June and September last year, during which they met with government officials, congressional members, think tanks as well as the business community of the United States, enunciating the unique status under the Basic Law and the intrinsic strengths of Hong Kong, explaining Hong Kong's latest situation and the measures taken to address current challenges, and stressing that despite the challenges faced by Hong Kong, it remained a highly efficient and safe city, and we welcomed people from around the United States to visit and do LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3975 business here. In respect of the Hong Kong Act, we have been explaining the situation in Hong Kong to the relevant persons and organizations, actively clarifying misunderstandings, reiterating that Hong Kong and the United States are partners which bring mutual benefits to each other, and firmly stating that the changing of policies towards Hong Kong is unwarranted and will bring negative impact on the exchanges of residents and businesses between the two places. Moreover, the Chief Executive, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and officers of ETOs in the United States have written many times to various interlocutors in the United States to explain clearly and in detail the situation in Hong Kong and the HKSAR Government's position.

Hong Kong's ETOs in Washington DC, New York and San Francisco have all along maintained regular contact with various sectors in the United States, including federal government officials responsible for Hong Kong affairs in the White House, Department of State, Department of Commerce and Office of the United States Trade Representative, congressional members and their staffers, in particular members and staffers of the committees for foreign affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, think tanks, the media, the academia, the business community and other opinion leaders. Through meetings and other different approaches, ETOs work in earnest to bring the latest and actual situation in Hong Kong to a wider audience. Of such ETOs, the one in Washington DC alone met around 240 aforesaid government officials/members/staffers, etc. last year, with around 100 and 140 being government officials and congressional members/staffers respectively. ETO officers stressed to them that Hong Kong had spared no effort in implementing "one country, two systems", following free trade and economic policy, and safeguarding the core values underpinning the success of Hong Kong. They also explained the latest and actual situation in Hong Kong in order to clarify the misunderstandings that some of them had and maintain Hong Kong's international image and the United States-Hong Kong bilateral relations. ETOs also highlighted the close and mutually beneficial ties between Hong Kong and the United States in trade and commerce, and such bilateral relations are not confined to economic and trade cooperation. Other areas, such as export control, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism, are also involved, in which their important partnership has brought significant benefits to the United States economy and homeland security. At present, any change to the policy of the United States towards Hong Kong may have adverse impact on the people and business-trade interests of both places.

3976 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

In the past year, ETOs in the United States assisted in arranging for committees on United States-China relations as well as congressional members and staffers to visit Hong Kong, including visits by a congressional delegation of the United States-China Working Group, a delegation of the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission and a congressional delegation organized by the United States-Asia Institute respectively in March, May and August last year. The Government also invited two delegations of congressional staffers of the United States to visit Hong Kong respectively in March and October last year under the Sponsored Visitors Programme, and arranged for them to meet with senior officials of the HKSAR Government and receive a wide range of briefings by government bureaux/departments and relevant organizations on the latest development in Hong Kong. Such visits were useful for them to have a better understanding of such aspects as the economy, opportunities and challenges of Hong Kong.

In addition, the Government has been regularly meeting with Consulates-General and foreign chambers of commerce in Hong Kong and updated them on the latest situation in Hong Kong. The International Business Committee chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, with members comprising representatives of foreign chambers of commerce in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, also meets regularly and discusses matters relating to the business environment and perceptions of Hong Kong. In the past half year, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development also updated the Consuls-General in Hong Kong and leaders of foreign chambers of commerce on the latest situation in Hong Kong and the Government's responding measures through meetings, letters, etc.

The Government and overseas ETOs have been paying close attention to local media reports of other countries on Hong Kong affairs. The overseas ETOs will take the initiative to request the media to rectify false reports or false information of such reports. The Government will also proactively make clarifications and upload the statements on the HKSAR Government's relevant web pages and ETOs' social media platforms.

The Government and ETOs in the United States will continue to maintain close working relations with the United States Government's senior officials responsible for Hong Kong affairs, congressional members and their staffers, think tanks, the media, the academia and the business community, continue to LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3977 closely monitor the United States Government's policy direction as well as the United States' political and economic landscape, in particular developments relating to the United States Administration's implementation of the Hong Kong Act, and continue to explain the latest situation in Hong Kong to interlocutors in the United States so that the reports required under the Hong Kong Act can reflect the actual situation in Hong Kong. The Government will also rebuild the confidence of various sectors of the United States in Hong Kong's future through promotion and other activities.

MR SHIU KA-FAI (in Cantonese): In fact, President, the current incident in Hong Kong has concerned not only the United States, which has been prompted to enact the Hong Kong Act, but also countries around the world. How did they get to know about the situation in Hong Kong? In the past, they actually relied on media reports. But I wish to tell the Secretary about some previous examples. A foreign television station alleged that our Police had hurled Molotov cocktails, and it was only two days later that the television station clarified that it was a fake story. Another example is that a Hong Kong woman was reported to have been shot in the eye by the Hong Kong Police. But in fact, she has so far refused to provide her medical report. Back then, such specious news stories were reported worldwide, causing the reputation of the HKSAR Government and the Police to be questioned. When ETOs in foreign countries see such specious news broadcast by local television stations, what action will they take to clarify the relevant cases?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): I thank Mr SHIU for his supplementary question. In response to Mr SHIU's remark just now, if some media reports are incorrect on account of the facts, after verification, we will immediately request the local media organizations to make an update or clarification. But certainly, not every organization will publish a corrigendum for such cases. If they are not willing to do so, the HKSAR Government will make clarifications on the Government's web pages of its own accord.

In passing, I wish to make an appeal to the general public here. Open dissemination of unconfirmed or unsubstantiated negative news will actually bring about significant impacts. I hope people will do fact checks before 3978 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 disseminating such information. They should examine or inspect its accuracy before dissemination. Hong Kong has to return to the right track now. Recovery work is actually very important. I hope people will do better in fact checking.

MR DENNIS KWOK (in Cantonese): President, the Bureau mentioned in its main reply how it lobbied the Senate and House of Representatives or government departments of the United States not to pass the Hong Kong Act. First, I have to reiterate that the Civic Party and I support the Hong Kong Act and consider it conducive to the protection of the human rights and rule of law to which Hong Kong is entitled under the Basic Law. Nevertheless, concerning the lobbying effort, we note that Ted CRUZ, one of the Senators of the United States involved in promoting the Hong Kong Act, had come to Hong Kong and requested to meet with the Chief Executive. It was originally a good opportunity for the Government to explain its views in a bid to influence others. But the Chief Executive eventually called off the meeting with the Senator. I do not quite understand why the Chief Executive, instead of seizing the opportunity to meet with a Senator involved in promoting the Hong Kong Act, suddenly called off the meeting?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): I thank Mr KWOK for his question. In fact, we have all along been supporting and encouraging government-to-government or member-to-member meetings and exchanges. Certainly, if time and circumstances permit, we hope to have more exchanges and communication. In fact, for some time in the past, we have been vigorously lobbying government officials or members and staffers of the Senate and House of Representatives on an ongoing basis.

As mentioned by Mr KWOK just now, the passage of the Hong Kong Act may lead to doubts about the effectiveness of our lobbying efforts. I actually wish to point out that it is ineffective not because we have made no attempt to do such work or our approach is wrong. Rather, over the past period of time, it has been rather complicated and difficult to conduct lobbying in a complex international economic and trade environment. In many cases, government officials or members of the Senate and House of Representatives will, based on LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3979 their political inclination, electoral orientation, political stance or predetermined stance, identify people with views or beliefs similar to theirs before giving audience to their views and meeting with them. We will, as always, continue our efforts in this regard. Yet, I wish to shed some light on the difficulties involved.

MR DENNIS KWOK (in Cantonese): He has not answered …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Dennis KWOK, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR DENNIS KWOK (in Cantonese): … my question is simple. Why did the Chief Executive, who had the opportunity to meet with the Senator, suddenly call off the meeting?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): You have pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): As I have said, if time and circumstances permit, we proactively encourage such meetings for more communication and exchanges.

MRS REGINA IP (in Cantonese): President, just now, Mr Dennis KWOK said he supported the passage of the Hong Kong Act by the United States and considered it conducive to the protection of the human rights and rule of law in Hong Kong. But actually a number of its provisions will severely undermine Hong Kong's international relations and status.

Can the Secretary explain the impact of section 5 on Hong Kong?

3980 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): First of all, regarding protection of human rights and freedom, in fact, Article 4 of the Basic Law or …

(Mrs Regina IP stated her view on the Secretary's reply)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mrs Regina IP, please let the Secretary answer your supplementary question first. Secretary, please answer.

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): I do not have a copy of section 5 on hand. I can give a reply to the Honourable Member after the meeting. Sorry about that.

(Mrs Regina IP talked in her seat)

DR CHENG CHUNG-TAI (in Cantonese): On Monday, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, LUO Huining, assumed office in Hong Kong. At that time, he stated the need for Hong Kong society to get back on the right path. Yesterday, the United States Secretary of State, Mike POMPEO, responded to his remark, opining that the so-called "right path" is Beijing abiding by the Sino-British Joint Declaration and honouring its commitment to Hong Kong, so that Hong Kong might uphold the independence of the rule of law and freedom.

Just now, the Government and the Secretary for Commence and Economic Development have repeatedly reiterated how they tried to convince the United States. But it seems that they have got the wrong end of the stick. May I ask whether it is the wish of the Bureau now that official organizations of the Mainland in Hong Kong will be mindful of their words and deeds and exercise the greatest restraint, in order not to obstruct the Hong Kong Government's effort at convincing various interlocutors in the United States?

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3981

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Your supplementary question bears no direct relevance to the main question. Nevertheless, Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): I have nothing to add.

(Dr CHENG Chung-tai indicated his wish to ask a follow-up question)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): While your supplementary question is not directly related to the main question, I asked the Secretary to answer it, and the Secretary indicated that he had nothing to add. Dr CHENG, please sit down.

DR PRISCILLA LEUNG (in Cantonese): President, some people in Hong Kong have long been promoting the United States Hong Kong Act, which I call the "mutual destruction act" for short, purely for political purposes, paying no heed to the very survival of Hong Kong. The Secretary could not answer Mrs Regina IP's supplementary question earlier. I hope the Secretary can answer mine. While the Government indicated that it had made lobbying efforts, during our contact with representatives from the United States visiting Hong Kong, we found that the situation in Hong Kong as described by them differed from the true picture we presented to them, including the violence arising from opposition to the legislative amendment exercise in Hong Kong and a host of activities in breach of our rule of law currently, infringing Hong Kong people's freedom of speech, basic human rights or even personal safety, and people expressing their views would even risk being beaten to death. They do not know what section 5 is about. So, did they explain the actual situation in Hong Kong to the Senators and Congressmen of the United States one by one when lobbying them? Members of the public would like me to ask the Government why the members of parliament of another country did not give the matter its fair deal. When they met with us, we presented to them the true picture. Yet, it seemed that they knew nothing about the overall state of affairs in Hong Kong, and only relied on the information provided by departments at different levels. Their remarks simply echoed that of Mr Dennis KWOK, namely the one-sided views expressed by the opposition camp for political purposes. As to the actual predicament of the general public in our society and such awful damage to Hong Kong's rule of law 3982 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 and human rights, did they give a clear account? Did they offer any basic explanations? Members of the public asked why there were not even two, three or four opposing votes. Why would they pass the Hong Kong Act unanimously?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): I thank Dr LEUNG for her supplementary question. First of all, the HKSAR Government has all along attached great importance to and spared no effort in ensuring freedom of speech and protection of human rights and freedom. As regards protection of human rights and freedom, Article 4 of the Basic Law and the provisions of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance also clearly stipulate that …

(Dr Priscilla LEUNG spoke in order to elucidate her question)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr Priscilla LEUNG, please let the Secretary answer your supplementary question first. Dr LEUNG, please sit down.

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): I got it. As I mentioned in responding to Mr SHIU Ka-fai's supplementary question, a number of Senators and Congressmen or government officials actually have a predetermined stance due to their electoral orientation and political inclination. In the lobbying process, we have absolutely given lots of explanation on the human rights and freedom of speech enjoyed by Hong Kong and the bilateral relations. As to whether a consensus can be forged or what their ultimate stance is, as stated by me just now, they may actually have a predetermined stance. The whole lobbying process is actually challenging.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr LEUNG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

DR PRISCILLA LEUNG (in Cantonese): The Secretary has not answered my supplementary question. I have put the question the other way round, asking whether the Government has clarified the claim made by Members from the opposition camp that Hong Kong has no human right at all, and reflected the actual situation in which the general public in Hong Kong are deprived of human LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3983 rights and freedom of speech by them, rather than making some casual remarks that are merely superficial. Has the Government done that?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr LEUNG, please sit down. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): President, we will convey the actual situation currently in Hong Kong to local officials, members of parliament and their staffers on the basis of facts.

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Dr Priscilla LEUNG's remark has shown that Members from the pro-establishment camp are actually still living in a parallel universe, not knowing what is really going on in Hong Kong. Through the elections, Hong Kong people have told them that they call for the five demands and genuine universal suffrage …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Charles Peter MOK, please ask your supplementary question.

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): President, I was about to ask my supplementary question … I had to elaborate my supplementary question … they often say that the Americans are politically oriented. In fact, the Americans clearly see that at present, Hong Kong has neither universal suffrage nor democracy, and its rule of law has also been affected. When it comes to the impact on Hong Kong economy, in fact, their reluctance to come to Hong Kong and make investments is mainly attributable to their concern about the impact on the rule of law, freedom of speech, and so on. The industry to which I belong is enormously affected. This is precisely the reason their not making investments in Hong Kong …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Charles Peter MOK, please come to your supplementary question direct.

3984 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): … Hence, my supplementary question for the Secretary is whether the Government is really aware of the problems in Hong Kong so as to address the actual situation in Hong Kong as seen by them. They actually see the true picture more clearly than the Government does.

SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (in Cantonese): First of all, I wish to respond to Mr MOK's remark just now. Over the past period of time, while we face a host of challenges in society, a number of institutional strengths of Hong Kong, including the legal system, rule of law, freedom of speech and free flow of people, goods, capital and information as mentioned by Mr MOK just now, actually remain intact. As I stated in responding to Dr LEUNG's supplementary question just now, we have been continuously presenting to local officials and members of parliament a clear picture of the actual situation in Hong Kong from various perspectives by all means.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Fourth question.

Persons on police bail refusing to enter into further bail

4. MR CHAN CHI-CHUEN (in Cantonese): Since June last year, thousands of members of the public have been granted bail by the Police after being arrested during public events, pending the Police's decisions on whether prosecutions will be instituted against them upon completion of investigations. It is learnt that when reporting to the police stations subsequently, quite a number of them refused to enter into further bail and they were released unconditionally. However, since the Police have so far not informed them whether investigations of the relevant cases have been completed and whether prosecutions will be instituted against them, they and their families are very worried day after day. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of cases, in each of the past six months, of persons refusing to enter into further bail and their being released unconditionally after such refusal;

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3985

(2) of the number of persons in the past five years who were released unconditionally after refusing to enter into further bail and, among them, the number of those who were subsequently prosecuted, as well as the average duration between the dates of their unconditional release after refusal to enter into further bail and the dates on which they were prosecuted; and

(3) whether the Police will, upon deciding not to institute any prosecution against the persons released unconditionally after their refusal to enter into further bail, inform them of that decision expeditiously, so as to relieve them of the psychological burden; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, members of the public enjoy the freedoms of expression, speech and assembly but they must exercise such freedoms peacefully and lawfully. Since early June last year, more than 1 200 protests, processions and public assemblies have been staged in Hong Kong and many of them ended up in serious violent illegal acts. In the past six months or so, there were rioters unlawfully blocking roads, paralysing traffic, hurling petrol bombs and setting fires at various locations, throwing bricks, wantonly assaulting people holding different opinions, wounding with intent, vandalizing and burning shops, railway facilities and traffic lights, etc., which severely endangered public order and public safety. Under section 10 of the Police Force Ordinance ("PFO") (Cap. 232), when illegal acts take place, the Police have a statutory duty to take all lawful actions to deal with them.

Under section 50 of PFO, a police officer has the power to apprehend any person who the officer reasonably believes will be charged with or whom the officer reasonably suspects of being guilty of an offence for which a person may (on a first conviction for that offence) be sentenced to imprisonment. When a police officer makes an arrest, the officer must act according to the law and in an appropriate manner.

When a person is arrested by the Police, the police officer will, as soon as possible, inform the person of the fact that he or she is under arrest, as well as the factual grounds and the reasons for the arrest. The arrestee will be brought before the Duty Officer as soon as possible to confirm the legality of the arrest and custody of the arrestee. The arrestee will then be handed over to an 3986 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 investigation team for investigation. Upon completion of preliminary investigation, the Police will, depending on the circumstances of the case, consider:

(1) charging the arrestee, and detaining the arrestee until he or she is taken to appear before the Court, or releasing the arrestee on bail pending his or her appearance before the Court. The arrestee will generally not be detained for more than 48 hours;

(2) in case the Police cannot complete the investigation into the case forthwith, releasing the arrestee on bail, and the arrestee shall appear at the police station at a specified time subsequently; or

(3) releasing the arrestee unconditionally.

The legal basis and statutory authority for police bail are set out in section 52 of PFO. According to section 52(1) of PFO, an arrestee whom the Police have decided to prosecute may be released on bail, unless the offence appears to the Police to be of a serious nature, or the Police reasonably consider that the arrestee ought to be detained pending his or her appearance before a Magistrate (for instance, the arrestee may abscond, repeat the offence, interfere with witnesses, impede the investigation or attempt to obstruct the course of justice). The arrestee shall normally appear before a Magistrate at such time and place as is named in the recognizance. Where the arrestee is detained, he shall be brought to appear before a Magistrate as soon as practicable.

In addition, according to section 52(3) of PFO, if the Police consider that the investigation into a case cannot be completed forthwith, the arrestee may be released on bail and shall subsequently appear at the police station at such time as is named in the recognizance. When the arrestee appears at the police station, the Police will, based on the progress of investigation of the case, decide to charge the arrestee, grant further bail or release the arrestee unconditionally. Such bail arrangement is necessary and reasonable because the Police may, on the one hand, maintain contact with arrestees while their cases are still under investigation, and on the other carry out further investigations in view of the nature, seriousness and complexity of different cases, such as collecting and handling evidence as well as seeking legal advice, so as to ensure that any decision by the Police to lay charge against any person is made with prudence.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3987

If an arrestee refuses police bail or, having first entered into bail, refuses to be bailed further upon appearing at a police station, and the investigation concerned has not yet been completed, the Police will consider releasing this arrestee. However, releasing the arrestee does not mean that the Police will not charge him or her. If the Police decide to charge the person concerned after conducting investigation, the Police will make an arrest again.

My reply to various parts of the question is as follows:

(1) and (2)

From 9 June last year to 2 January this year, the Police had arrested a total of 6 943 persons in major public order events. Various offences were involved, including "taking part in a riot", "unlawful assembly", "arson", "wounding", "assault occasioning actual bodily harm", "criminal damage", "assaulting police officer", "obstructing a police officer in the execution of the officer's duty", "in possession of offensive weapons", etc. Among the 6 943 arrestees, 1 082 persons already entered into or were in the course of legal proceedings, 338 persons had been released unconditionally, and the cases of 5 523 persons were still under investigation (including those released on bail pending further investigation and those released pending further investigation after refusing to be bailed). The relevant figures with breakdown by month are tabulated at Annex. The Police do not maintain other detailed statistics as requested in the question.

(3) The Police will keep the investigation details of individual cases confidential so as not to affect investigation work and collection of evidence, not to mention disclosing the details to the suspects. An arrestee who has entered into police bail shall appear at the police station at a specified time. For an arrestee who has been released pending further investigation after refusing to be bailed, the Police, in accordance with the principle of confidentiality as aforesaid, will not inform the person of the investigation progress of the case concerned. If there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the person for the relevant offence in future, the Police will arrest this person again and charge him or her with the offence.

3988 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex

Number of persons whose cases were still under Number of investigation persons who (including those already Number of Number of released on bail entered into persons Month of arrest persons pending further or were in released arrested investigation and the course of unconditionally released pending legal further proceedings investigation after refusing to be bailed) June 2019 73 20 20 33 (from 9 June) July 2019 224 108 84 32 August 2019 750 513 150 87 September 2019 764 558 182 24 October 2019 1 189 945 152 92 November 2019 2 899 2 412 424 63 December 2019 692 618 68 6 January 2020 352 349 2 1 (as at 2 January) Total 6 943 5 523 1 082 338

MR CHAN CHI-CHUEN (in Cantonese): President, in the eight-minute reply given by the Secretary, he utterly did not answer my question today. He talked about the nature and seriousness of the crimes, which were irrelevant to the question I asked. Someone has committed a crime or severe breach of the law, and is arrested, charged and brought to court. That is the usual situation. However, I asked about the number of arrestees released pending further investigation after refusing to be bailed. The Secretary provided in the third column of the table annexed only the combined numbers of persons released on bail pending further investigation and released pending further investigation LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3989 after refusing to be bailed. How would it be impossible to find out the number of persons released after refusing to enter into further bail? President, the arrestees either enter into further bail, or not do so, then the Police have to refund them the bail. The Secretary needs only ring up the police stations to find out the number. He just would not do so.

President, why did I ask for such a number? The Police are often accused of making indiscriminate arrests―certainly, the Secretary will not admit it―and the statistics of arrestees released pending further investigation after refusing to be bailed are one of the indicators for reference. Of course, if the Secretary is unwilling to comply and make enquiries, there is no way I can force him. Accordingly, my supplementary question is about Part (3) of my question. My request is very humble. I asked when arrestees are released after refusing to enter into further bail―I know that being released after refusing to be bailed does not mean innocence and termination of investigation―but when the investigation has been terminated, can the Police inform the persons concerned? It is such a humble request only, President. For example, regarding civil servants who have been interdicted from duty, as the Secretary for the Civil Service previously stated, if the civil servants concerned are acquitted they will be reinstated, and even be compensated for their pay. But now my question is about before the trial, and it is uncertain how long the investigation will take―I have already not asked the Secretary how long it can take. I merely request the Police to inform the persons concerned after the investigations are completed. But what did the Secretary say in reply? He said "the Police, in accordance with the principle of confidentiality as aforesaid, will not inform the person of the investigation progress of the case concerned". I did not ask about the investigation progress or request confidentiality, but asked if, after the investigation, meaning there is insufficient evidence to charge the arrestees and their cases will be closed, the Police can issue letters to inform the persons concerned so that, for example, teachers can return to schools to resume their teaching posts or civil servants can be reinstated. It is as simple as that. President, can you ask the Secretary to answer me?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): I am more than willing to answer such a supplementary question, because Mr CHAN mentioned many fallacies in his arguments just now, and so I wish to take this opportunity to give some explanations. Such fallacies are due to his misunderstanding of the legal proceedings, as well as his failure to consider how to truly ensure that, in criminal 3990 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 investigations, the Police can investigate the suspects so as to charge them and also protect the interests of the victims.

First, as regards being released by the Police pending investigation after refusing to be bailed, to the persons concerned, such a situation may not require recognizance, but not the most satisfactory approach. The reasons are simple. If an arrestee is still on bail, he knows when to appear at the police station. When the Police have to take further actions regarding the case, such as really charging him or her, as the person concerned is already aware of the date and time of appearing at the police station, such further actions will likely not interrupt his or her daily life. On the contrary, when he or she has refused to be bailed and then released, the Police will continue the investigation into the case. After obtaining evidence to lay a specific charge against him or her, the Police can actually arrest him or her in any location immediately based on the needs of the case. To him or her, the environment of the arrest may not be desirable. Therefore, the persons concerned should not think that it is a smart course of action to take. Of course, every person can decide what to do considering his or her own circumstances. This is the first point. As I have explained in the main reply that it serves a function for the Police to maintain contact with the arrestees. Of course, every person can consider his or her own circumstances and make a choice.

Second, as I have also pointed out in the main reply, the Police do not maintain other detailed statistics as requested in the question, because the Police Force are not a statistical department having to supply figures of crimes requested in different questions. When we collect statistics of crimes, we must consider if they are necessary for the daily operation of the Police. Therefore, it is a normal practice that the Police do not maintain certain figures and numbers. We have already given repeated explanations in the replies to different questions.

Third, when a person has been released after refusing to enter into police bail and the Police's investigation has proceeded to a certain stage, two possibilities will arise. One possibility is that the Police have no evidence for the time being but the case is still under investigation. Simply put, just like the dialogue we have heard in some movies, "the file of the case has not been closed". Investigations into cases related to drugs and triad societies, in particular, often carry continuity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3991

Therefore, in considering how to deal with an arrestee, if the case involves serious criminal offences, consideration has to be given to how the overall interests of society can be protected as well. No disclosure of investigation progress can be made to arrestees who think that they can escape legal responsibilities. Especially concerning drug cases, often the lawbreakers would minimize their activities after being arrested so as to make it difficult for the Police or the Customs and Excise Department to collect evidence against them―but I am referring to persistent lawbreakers. Law enforcement agencies must consider the overall circumstances when determining how best to deal with different arrestees.

MR CHAN CHI-CHUEN (in Cantonese): President, the Secretary has given an answer for another six minutes …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr CHAN Chi-chuen, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR CHAN CHI-CHUEN (in Cantonese): … I asked him: after the completion of an investigation, meaning the file of the case has been closed, is it possible to provide the persons concerned with some written proof to inform them of the completion of the investigation? It is just as simple as that.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): You have pointed out the part of your supplementary question not answered. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, different cases will be handled differently, depending on the particulars and actual circumstances of the cases.

MR PAUL TSE (in Cantonese): President, I note that the Secretary mentioned particularly in fourth paragraph of his main reply that when deciding to release arrestees on bail, the Police must also consider the severity of the crimes, whether the arrestees may abscond or repeat the offence, etc. To my 3992 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 understanding, among the persons arrested during public events mentioned in the main question, many have actually repeated the offences, been arrested again but granted bail again. I wish to know if the Secretary has relevant statistics, and if the Police, the Department of Justice or the Judiciary have handled such cases improperly, such that many of them have repeatedly committed offences but have still been granted bail again?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, answering the supplementary question, I wish to point out two scenarios. First, when an arrestee is brought before the Court, the Magistrate can grant bail and impose some bail conditions. Under such a circumstance, if the person concerned repeats the offence and is arrested while on bail, law enforcement agencies certainly are duty-bound to bring such persons to court and give an account of the situations to the judge to apply for revocation of bail or imposition of additional bail conditions. This is the first scenario, i.e. court bail. The second scenario is the arrestee repeats the offence in the period after his or her release on bail pending investigation by the Police or, as stated just now, the Police having granted bail but he or she refuses bail and then is released pending the police investigation. There is such a situation, which happens in the violent acts that arose from over 1 200 recent public events. But the Police do not maintain such statistics. However, I believe people have seen such cases on the media, particularly the first scenario, i.e. the arrestee repeating the offence while on bail. The Police will bring the repeated offenders to court again.

The second scenario concerns cases the actual circumstances of which we have not disclosed. Nonetheless, if the arrestee concerned repeated the offence and then was arrested again, we would reconsider the practice just mentioned, i.e. continuing his or her police bail or charging him or her and then bringing him or her to court. Of course, the first scenario mentioned just now may emerge again, i.e. him or her refusing to enter into bail again. In terms of law, we can only deal with such cases in accordance with the law by way of police bail or court bail. However, we agree that undesirable situations may arise. No one would want to see that arrestees whom we consider prone to recidivism are set free by the bail arrangements and then inflict harm on society again.

If an arrestee breaks the law again while on bail, law enforcement agencies will bring him or her to court in accordance with legal procedures so that the Judge can make a decision. However, I would like to take this opportunity to LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3993 explain that, despite the lack of objective statistics of such cases, the number of arrestees who refused to enter into bail is not small. Regrettably, many people with a legal background seem to have encouraged such arrestees to refuse bail―notwithstanding their involvement in criminal offences―in particular, giving them guidance on handling their own cases on the legal front.

Of course, the bail arrangements for arrestees are subjected to the law. We have to accept and adhere to it. However, I hope everyone will know that it is undesirable to the whole society when any person who has been lawfully arrested by the Police and released on bail commits criminal offences again.

MR HUI CHI-FUNG (in Cantonese): Mr LEUNG, the Secretary stated in the main reply that, since June, over 6 000 people have been arrested and over 5 000 cases are under investigation. I wish to ask a specific question: How many of such cases involve police officers? From many news reports, we learnt that police officers opened fire and drove a motorcycle into a crowd. Some people were even left blind after being shot or suffered from bone fractures after being beaten by police officers. As regards such cases of police brutality, is it true that not a single police officer has been arrested and prosecuted? If so, the conclusion that can be drawn is that the Police Force are flawless and without faults, or that the Police connive at police officers and the monitoring mechanism for complaints against the Police is defective? Will the Secretary please answer this.

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): In Hong Kong, all persons are subject to the legal system of Hong Kong. No one can be above the law. Any person, be it citizens or government officials, who has broken the law will certainly face sanctions in law. It is the spirit of the rule of law in Hong Kong.

People harbouring grievances against the Police should lodge complaints on their own and provide statements of facts, to be fair to both parties. If someone, masked and under an alias, said that he or she had been unreasonably treated by the Police, with the true face completely covered, it is indeed unfair to the Police. Such allegations underpinned by reluctance to assume legal liability can be regarded as never-ending in the past half a year. It is particularly so when it comes to the information and news circulating on media. People all 3994 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 know that nowadays it is really difficult to discern the truth and falsehood. Therefore, if we also consider that we have to hold fast to the system of fairness and justice, persons making the allegations have to produce facts and evidence so that we can conduct investigations and mete out punishments as per the system. With solid evidence, any person who has committed a breach of discipline or criminal offence must face the consequences.

MR HUI CHI-FUNG (in Cantonese): The Secretary has not answered my supplementary question.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr HUI Chi-fung, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR HUI CHI-FUNG (in Cantonese): The Secretary has made great efforts to beat about the bush and talked about truth or falsehood, but not answered my question. My supplementary question to him is: Among such more than 6 000 cases of arrests, is there no arrest of a single police officer? Secretary, please answer if there is not even one case. Answer me, or you dare not answer?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, I think Mr HUI is mistaken. This question and the discussion we have just had are about the numbers of persons arrested by the Police. As regards complaints against the Police, it is certainly another number, and the Complaints Against Police Office can provide it.

(Mr HUI Chi-fung talked aloud in his seat)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr HUI, please stop talking in your seat. You can follow up on the relevant matters on other occasions.

Fifth question.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3995

Access to communications information by law enforcement agencies

5. MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Article 30 of the Basic Law protects the enjoyment of freedom and privacy of communication by Hong Kong residents. Article 14 in Part II (The Hong Kong Bill of Rights) of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance provides that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his correspondence. The existing Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance merely requires law enforcement agencies to seek authorization from a panel judge before conducting postal interceptions and telecommunications interceptions, but it does not impose any regulation on the information (including communications content, metadata and personal data) in network communications (such as mobile phones and web servers). Moreover, a judgment handed down by the High Court on 27 October 2017 has pointed out that the Police must, unless in exigent circumstances, obtain a warrant from the Court before they may inspect the mobile phone of an arrestee. It has been reported that an arrestee recently indicated that some of the instant messaging records in his locked mobile phone had been admitted as part of the evidence by the prosecution, but he had never disclosed to the Police the password for unlocking his mobile phone since his arrest and he had not been informed before the court hearing of the Police having obtained a relevant warrant. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of cases since June last year in which the Police seized and unlocked the mobile phones of arrestees and accessed the information therein and, among such cases, the number of those in which a warrant was obtained;

(2) since when the Police began to use hacking software or other cracking tool for unlocking mobile phones in order to access the instant messaging contents or other information therein; and

(3) whether the Government will (i) by drawing reference from the relevant legislation in Korea, Taiwan, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, introduce legislative amendments or enact legislation to regulate the work on the collection of electronic evidence by law enforcement agencies, and (ii) take the initiative to regularly publish details of the requests made by various law enforcement agencies to information and communication technology companies for disclosure of information, so as to enhance the transparency of law enforcement efforts and enable such transparency to reach international standards?

3996 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, under the laws of Hong Kong, law enforcement agencies have the responsibility to prevent and detect crimes, so as to protect citizens' lives and properties. In the course of carrying out their responsibilities, law enforcement agencies may exercise the search and seizure powers conferred by relevant legislation, and seize and examine various objects of the suspected offence, including mobile phones and other similar devices.

According to the judgment on a case handed down by the High Court on 27 October 2017, police officers may seize mobile phones found on apprehended persons or in or about the place at which they have been apprehended in accordance with section 50(6) of the Police Force Ordinance (Cap. 232) ("PFO"), but may examine the digital content of these mobile phones without obtaining a warrant only in exigent circumstances. The judgment also points out that, in authorizing a warrantless search of the digital content of mobile phones or other similar devices seized on arrest only in exigent circumstances, section 50(6) of PFO is constitutional and compliant with Article 14 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap. 383) and Article 30 of the Basic Law. I understand that law enforcement agencies have all along adhered strictly to the principles as laid down in the judgment.

When conducting criminal investigations, if required, law enforcement agencies may apply to the Court in accordance with the relevant laws for a search warrant authorizing the search of any premises and the seizure of objects, documents, and materials found on the premises. Law enforcement agencies have to observe stringent requirements when applying for search warrants, swear an oath before the Magistrate to confirm that there are reasons to suspect that items of value to an investigation are being kept in a search target, and set out clearly the justifications for as well as the scope of the search warrant being sought. Law enforcement agencies also have to satisfactorily answer any questions raised by the magistrates, who may impose conditions when issuing a search warrant having regard to individual circumstances. If the magistrates do not consider the justification to be sufficient or applicable, they will refuse the issue of the search warrant.

Magistrates deal with applications for search warrants strictly in accordance with the law, having regard to the facts and particulars presented before them by law enforcement officers. We need to respect the authority, professionalism, independence, and credibility of the Court.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3997

I must stress that applying to the Court for search warrants and applying for prescribed authorizations for covert operations under the Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance (Cap. 589) ("ICSO") are two separate legal procedures for different purposes, and should not be mixed up. Search warrants are applied in accordance with the relevant legislation and have to be approved by the Court, the purpose of which are for collecting evidence as documentary exhibits in court. The information which operations under ICSO seek to collect is mainly used for intelligence. Both are stringent sets of procedures, and are strictly regulated and restricted by law.

As to the case mentioned by Mr MOK in the question, the Police have already publicly clarified that it was conducted under a magistrate-issued search warrant. Since the case has already entered legal proceedings, it is not appropriate for me to comment further on the case details.

My reply to various parts of the question raised by Mr Charles Peter MOK is as follows:

(1) From June to November 2019, the Police processed 1 429 cases that involved mobile phones as evidence. Among those cases, 3 721 mobile phones belonging to arrested persons or suspects were involved, and relevant cases were all processed with search warrants issued by the Court.

(2) Generally, the Police would only conduct digital forensic examination on mobile phones after obtaining court warrants. The examination and the evidence obtained would be adduced in the relevant open trials. As the critical technologies used for the examinations are confidential information, disclosing such information may reveal to criminals details of law enforcement agencies' operations, thus allowing criminals to take advantage by undermining law enforcement agencies' capabilities in combating crimes and maintaining public safety. As such, I cannot disclose the information.

I must stress that, regardless of the technology employed, and irrespective of whether the relevant operation was conducted under a search warrant issued by the Court or was conducted under ICSO, police operations must be conducted legally strictly adhering to the relevant laws and regulations. 3998 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(3) The existing ICSO requires the disclosure of a host of prescribed information. The Commissioner on Interception of Communications and Surveillance ("the Commissioner") is required by ICSO to provide an annual report setting out the information specified for disclosure. The reports are made public. They are tabled at the Legislative Council every year, and are discussed at the Panel on Security. The reports cover figures and types of operations, the results of the Commissioner's inspections, and whether there were cases of non-compliance and the relevant disciplinary actions, etc. This practice is similar to that in many overseas jurisdictions.

Requests for information relating to the detection of crime from network services providers are adequately regulated by laws, as LEAs must do so in compliance with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) or under a search warrant. The Government considers the existing regime and practice suitable for the actual situation in Hong Kong and should continue to operate.

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Secretary, former President Jasper TSANG advised us that the Chinese character "蒐" should be pronounced as "搜"(sau2) instead of "愧"(kwai5). President Andrew LEUNG might correct Members or officials if he has the time.

The reply given by the Secretary just now has not answered a question, and that is, after the Police had seized the mobile phone of a member of the public, the latter originally thought that the mobile phone would be sealed in a plastic bag. Whilst the Police now claim that they have obtained a warrant, they did not tell him beforehand whether they had obtained a warrant, nor did they tell him that they had turned on the mobile phone. Nowadays, the Police no longer need to press a mobile phone onto the face of an arrestee in an attempt to trigger face recognition. It turns out that as long as the Police have obtained a warrant, they can then use hacking software to crack the mobile phones, and access the data therein without informing the arrestees.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 3999

We thought that Joshua WONG's case was just an individual case―of course I would not talk about a particular case―but the reply given by the Secretary now has told us that there are as many as 1 429 such cases, with 3 721 mobile phones involved. I learn that nearly 7 000 persons have been arrested in this movement, that means the mobile phones of one person in slightly more than two have been cracked, which is a very significant number, and the Police have been concealing this to the whole society. The Secretary should not use operational needs or that the bad guys will stand to benefit as an excuse, how do they strike a balance against public interest? Moreover, will the Secretary please tell me whether the some 3 000 persons will be sentenced to jail immediately? The purpose of the Police in seizing the mobile phones is to obtain all the data therein, although we do not know what kind of data they have obtained, will the Court impose some restrictions when granting the warrants? Will it only allow the Police to obtain certain data, or will it allow the Police to examine all the data? The Police are virtually subject to no regulation now. Furthermore, no one knows whether some sort of spyware would be installed after the Police have seized the mobile phones, how terrible it is.

President, I have this supplementary question. With regard to the metadata or other personal data obtained by the Police Force through a third party (such as a telecommunications service provider) or by seizing mobile phones, or even when the Police turn on a mobile phone, they will definitely see something which is unrelated to the case, do the authorities have any internal guidelines prescribing how such data should be handled? The Secretary should not merely say that they do so in accordance with ICSO, since the data in the mobile phones obtained by the Police under a warrant is irrelevant to the information regulated by ICSO. The Secretary has only mentioned ICSO in part (3) of the main reply, which is actually irrelevant, and it also has nothing to do with the data in the mobile phones seized from the arrestees. This is merely misleading the public. While most of all the data in the mobile phones is definitely irrelevant, do the authorities have any internal guidelines to deal with it? If not, will the Secretary draw up such guidelines? And will the public and even the arrestees be informed of the content of such guidelines?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, I believe what Mr MOK suggested as "misleading" exactly refers to the different situations mentioned by Mr MOK himself just now.

4000 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

First of all, Members must understand that we are now dealing with criminal offences, not some simple cases, especially when some of the cases involve serious crimes, and I also mentioned in my replies to other Members' questions today that certain serious offences can bring life imprisonment. Therefore, when we investigate such cases and any criminal cases, the approach to handling mobile phones is actually the same. One should not make misleading remarks that the procedures and formalities that we should follow in cracking down on people who have breached the criminal law should not exist simply because of his stance. We treat everyone equally and fairly as the same approach is adopted to investigate criminal offences such as drug trafficking, triads as well as vice, gambling and narcotics, etc. Therefore, Members should put it in the right perspective and understand what we are dealing with in the first place; we are in fact dealing with criminal offences.

Second, we have indeed arrested many people over the past six months or so, thus there is also quite a lot of evidence involved in offences under investigation. In view of this, Members should in fact call for all people to abide by the law when exercising their right to freedom of speech, so that they will not commit criminal offences and be arrested. We agree that people can express their opinions, and they enjoy freedoms of speech and of assembly. It is the common hope of society that people will exercise such rights in a lawful and orderly manner, instead of encouraging the public to breach the law in order to achieve the purpose of expressing their personal opinions. This is a very important point.

Third, when the investigators handle the evidence of any case, be it mobile phones or other evidence collected, they must keep them confidential. This is common sense. That is to say, this is the "ABCs" (basic knowledge) of the investigators in the work procedures. If it is a new concept to Mr MOK, I must then make it clearer here: Any evidence and information collected during the investigation of the cases should be kept confidential, which can only be shared on a need-to-know basis, and cannot be casually distributed through other channels. This is a regulation that can fully protect the interests of various parties.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4001

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr Charles Peter MOK, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): We have the principle of "presumption of innocence", but the Secretary now assumes that all of them are criminals, more than 3 000 mobile phones …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr MOK, this is not part of the supplementary question asked by you just now. Please sit down.

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Could it be the case that the 3 000-odd people will all be sentenced to life imprisonment?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): This is not part of the question asked by you just now. Please sit down.

MR CHARLES PETER MOK (in Cantonese): Ridiculous!

MR CHAN HAN-PAN (in Cantonese): President, "to enhance the transparency of law enforcement efforts and enable such transparency to reach international standards" is mentioned in part (3) of the main question asked by Mr Charles Peter MOK. As a matter of fact, in the face of threats to national security and public safety, coupled with the fact that the communications in many crimes are conducted through such communication channels as mobile phones and the Internet, for instance, the transmission of some illegal information or live broadcast of crimes, etc., law enforcement agencies around the world would hence cooperate with the technology sector to enhance their capabilities of combating crimes.

A shooting case took place in California, the United States in December 2015. The Federal Bureau of Investigation later pointed out that the gunman's mobile phone might contain evidence instrumental to solving the case. 4002 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Eventually, they unlocked that mobile phone with the assistance of an Israeli cyber security firm. Back at that time, a judge of California issued a statement indicating that in the face of threats to national security and public safety, the government must either obtain criminal evidence by cooperating with a cyber security firm, otherwise it had to ensure that important information could be obtained through the legal system in order to solve the case. In fact, Members may notice that law enforcement agencies around the world would also cooperate with cyber security firms to combat crimes. There is no problem at all if the Hong Kong Police Force ("HKPF") do the same, but the most important point is, whether HKPF do so in compliance with the laws of Hong Kong and the codes of practice of HKPF? Can the Secretary explain in greater detail as to whether HKPF are in compliance with the laws of Hong Kong and the Force codes of practice?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, with respect to collecting evidence and analysing data―such as data in mobile phones or on the Internet―the capabilities of HKPF or other law enforcement agencies are comparable to that of their counterparts in the international arena. For instance, in the field of the International Criminal Police Organization ("INTERPOL"), HKPF are a qualified trainer, qualified to train other law enforcement agencies at INTERPOL events to teach them knowledge about digital analysis and collection of evidence on the Internet. In other words, INTERPOL also recognizes that law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong―HKPF in particular―possess the capability in this respect.

Second, INTERPOL has set up a regional conference on network investigation in the Asia Pacific Region, and HKPF have served as its Chairman or Deputy Chairman for years. In other words, INTERPOL also recognizes the expertise of HKPF on this front.

Third, both HKPF and other law enforcement agencies have committed considerable resources in recent years and conducted many training activities with a view to enhancing their capabilities in digital analysis and collection of evidence on the Internet. For example, HKPF have a laboratory designated for digital analysis. In this connection, they have also drawn reference from some advanced instruments or practices adopted in foreign countries, and will often conduct exchanges with one another. It is thus evident that HKPF's capability in this respect is definitely comparable to that of law enforcement agencies overseas. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4003

I now reply to Mr CHAN's question. If the Police do consider it necessary to seek assistance from anyone―I believe it should be an extremely rare case―certainly, I believe that under some circumstances, the law allows the Police to engage certain experts to assist them in handling different areas of work. Whilst this is not common in collection of evidence in criminal cases, it does exist in other areas, such as seeking advice, including advice on the conduct of overall intelligence analysis, where they often seek the advice of some foreign experts in this respect.

MR WU CHI-WAI (in Cantonese): President, it is pointed out in part (1) of the main reply that from June to November, the Police processed 1 429 cases that involved mobile phones as evidence. The Secretary mentioned earlier that in respect of handling processions and demonstrations, he regards them as criminal offences, and the standards applied in the process of handling them are consistent with those cases associated with vice, gambling and narcotics.

May I ask the Secretary, throughout the history of Hong Kong, when he has seen the Police process 1 429 criminal cases associated with vice, gambling and narcotics in five months, thereby rendering it possible for the Police to arrest persons involved in cases associated with vice, gambling and narcotics on such a large scale? Has this ever happened in history? Is there such a record? With the ability of the Police, can they process so many cases in handling issues of law and order in five months? Is there such a record?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): President, I believe Mr WU was mistaken. What I said just now is that we should apply the same standards in handling all criminal offences, whether we are dealing with the unlawful criminal acts in recent days, or crimes associated with vice, gambling and narcotics, triads or other frauds, robbery, etc. We handle them under the same system by applying the same standards. We must do so, and we should not apply double standards. Therefore, when handling criminal offences, we would conduct investigations in accordance with the criminal procedures, legal provisions and facts irrespective of the aim or political purpose of the arrestees.

4004 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

MR WU CHI-WAI (in Cantonese): He has not answered my question …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr WU Chi-wai, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

MR WU CHI-WAI (in Cantonese): … I asked him how many cases associated with vice, gambling and narcotics are investigated with the same approach?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Secretary, do you have anything to add?

MR WU CHI-WAI (in Cantonese): I meant vice, gambling and narcotics.

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Cantonese): I have answered Mr WU just now. We apply the same standards in respect of all criminal cases, regardless of whether they are cases associated with vice, gambling and narcotics.

(Mr WU Chi-wai talked aloud while standing)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr WU, the Secretary has provided supplementary information, if you are not satisfied with the reply of the Secretary, please follow it up on other occasions. Please sit down.

Last oral question.

Complaints about teachers' professional conduct

6. DR HELENA WONG (in Cantonese): From June to November last year, the Education Bureau ("EDB") received more than 100 complaints about teachers' professional conduct. Such complaints involved allegations against the teachers concerned for having disseminated hate remarks on social media, committed provocative acts, used inappropriate teaching materials, allegedly LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4005 broken the law, etc. The follow-up actions taken by EDB for those cases included issuing advisory letters, warning letters and reprimand letters, taking the disciplinary action of interdiction, and reviewing the teachers' registration status. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has assessed if EDB's pursuit of liability of individual teachers for making remarks on social media has infringed the freedom of speech and freedom of expression that the teachers enjoy under Article 27 of the Basic Law and Article 16 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, of the legal basis for EDB's interference with the teachers' making remarks during non-office hours and outside school;

(2) of EDB's justifications for requesting schools to review whether the teaching staff members who have been arrested but have not yet been prosecuted are still suitable for taking up teaching posts or other duties in their schools; whether EDB has assessed if such move has deprived the teachers concerned of their rights to be treated fairly in the disciplinary mechanism (including the opportunities to make representations and lodge appeals), thus giving rise to the effect of "punishment before conviction", which violates the common law principle of presumption of innocence; and

(3) how EDB defines "hate remarks", "provocative acts" and "inappropriate teaching materials", and whether EDB will make public those teaching materials which are judged to be inappropriate so that members of the public may make their own judgment as to whether the follow-up actions concerned amount to political suppression; if EDB will not, of the reasons for that?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, teachers play a vital role in passing on knowledge and nurturing students' character and their every word and deed have a far-reaching impact on students' growth. Parents and the community at large thus have great expectations of our teachers regarding their solid professional knowledge and high standards of morality. It is therefore of the utmost importance that their words and deeds must adhere to the 4006 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 standards of professional conduct and morality generally accepted by the community. As set out in the Code for the Education Profession of Hong Kong ("the Code"), a professional educator should show respect for the law and the behavioural norms acceptable to society, do his/her best to maintain a healthy social environment and should not discriminate against any student on the basis of political belief, family background, etc.

The Education Bureau strictly maintains a teaching profession of high quality and with professional conduct to ensure the quality of education in Hong Kong and safeguard students' well-being. The Education Ordinance ("EO") empowers the Permanent Secretary to cancel the teacher registration of a person in specific circumstances, including those where the person is not a fit and proper person to be a teacher, or it appears to the Permanent Secretary that the teacher is incompetent. The Education Bureau has all along seriously followed up suspected cases of professional misconduct in accordance with established procedures and in a professional manner.

Schools also play an important role in promoting teachers' professional conduct. Schools, as organizations providing formal education and as employers of teachers, have to be responsible for the quality of education, and monitor their teachers and remind them of the behaviour and role expected of them from time to time. Schools should also take the initiative to follow up substantiated cases of misconduct involving their staff, and take appropriate disciplinary actions against them pursuant to the Employment Ordinance, the Code of Aid, and the terms of their employment contracts. All along, the school management in general has dealt with complaints of suspected professional misconduct professionally based on evidence.

Regarding Dr Helena WONG's question, our reply is as follows:

(1) Since June 2019, the Education Bureau has received and handled many complaints about teachers' professional misconduct, most of which involve inappropriate messages posted on social media, such as hate, malicious or abusive messages and messages that promote violence. These messages, regardless of their form of delivery and the deeds or values reflected therein, failed to meet the professional conduct of teachers and social expectations, let alone serving as role models for their students. The Code and EO are not only applicable LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4007

within schools. The moral values displayed by teachers in private forums is also part of their professional conduct. I must stress that this is neither limiting teachers' right to express their views on social issues and political beliefs nor infringing upon/reducing the freedom of speech enjoyed by teachers. Furthermore, the exercise of the freedom of speech, whether in Western countries or Hong Kong, is not without restrictions. It should be exercised in a rational and lawful manner. The rights or reputations of others should be respected, and national security and public order should also be protected. It is absolutely not acceptable to the community when teachers' words and deeds show that their standards of morality and values fail to meet public expectation. The Education Bureau has the obligation to take appropriate actions based on the facts and seriousness of individual cases. The actions to be taken include issuing advisory, warning, reprimand letters, as well as cancellation of their registration, to uphold teachers' professional conduct.

(2) The Code of Aid clearly stipulates that subject to the provisions of the Employment Ordinance, a school may suspend a teacher from his/her normal duties if he/she has been involved or is likely to be involved in criminal proceedings of a serious nature or in serious misconduct.

The Education Bureau also explained related issues to schools in detail on 20 December 2019. Schools, when considering whether teachers should be suspended from duties, should take into account students' well-being, including the impact on their personal safety, moral development and quality of learning, as a primary consideration. If a teacher is suspected of having committed a serious crime, the school should assess the risk involved should the teacher continue to have contact with the students even if the case or the incident is not yet concluded. Specifically, if a teacher is involved in a serious offence related to personal safety (such as arson, serious wounding, riot, possession of dangerous goods/prohibited weapons, etc.), or an offence generally considered by the public to be seriously violating moral standards (such as a sexual offence, trafficking or possession of drugs, possession of child pornography, etc.), taking into account students' personal safety 4008 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

and well-being, schools should handle the case prudently, and suspend the duties of the teacher concerned. As for teachers under arrest but not charged with any offences, schools should examine carefully the nature and seriousness of the cases involved and consider whether it is appropriate to allow them to continue to take up their teaching or other duties in schools. Likewise, for cases of professional misconduct, if schools find that the cases are of a serious nature after investigation, they should assess whether it is still proper for the teachers concerned to perform teaching duties. It is believed that parents and the public will worry and find it unacceptable if teachers involved in serious misconduct may continue to take up teaching duties or to have contact with students.

(3) Our society has its moral bottom lines and consensus on how "hate remarks" and "provocative acts" are defined and they are recognized and observed across different sectors such as the education, media and legal professions, and by the community at large as well. There are, however, some educational principles on the development and selection of teaching materials: teaching materials must meet the curriculum aims and objectives set by the Curriculum Development Council; teachers should consider whether the content of teaching materials is accurate and appropriate to the cognitive development of students at different learning stages, and should adopt objective and impartial information in accordance with the recommendations set forth in the relevant curriculum and assessment guides, so that students can construct knowledge and skills as well as develop positive values and attitudes, thereby becoming informed and responsible citizens. The content of teaching materials should be free of bias, sweeping generalization of a certain political stance, malicious remarks or offensive language, and incitement to negativity or troublemaking on some flimsy pretext. In the classroom, teachers should also adopt appropriate learning and teaching strategies that match the lesson objectives. "Inappropriate teaching materials" refer to those selected or developed school-based teaching materials that do not align with the above principles. For instance, teaching materials that contain messages deviating from the standards of morality or irrational discussions, or cite the use of violence as a means of resolving disputes are considered LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4009

inappropriate because they fail to guide students to analyse problems rationally and resolve them in a peaceful and lawful manner. For example, when discussing how young people can face difficulties and challenges as they grow up, if the teaching materials suggest a passive approach to solving problems, they will fail to appropriately guide students to develop a positive outlook on life, and fail to meet the aims and objectives of education. School should improve on that.

School-based teaching materials should be developed professionally in accordance with the learning goals and objectives of the curriculum without overstepping moral bottom lines for which a consensus has been long established in our society. The appropriateness of teaching materials is a matter of education professionalism. The Education Bureau believes that teachers in general can uphold professionalism in developing and selecting suitable school-based teaching materials. The school management also understands and monitors the content and quality of school teaching materials, and together with teachers guides students to examine issues from multiple perspectives and show respect for different opinions.

To conclude, I would like to reiterate that the Education Bureau will continue to play a gate-keeping role in promoting and upholding teachers' professional conduct for protecting the well-being of our students effectively.

DR HELENA WONG (in Cantonese): President, although the Secretary mentioned in part (1) of the main reply that he did not intend to restrict, limit or infringe upon teachers' freedom of speech, his present practice has practically produced such an effect.

President, I would like to follow up part (2) of the main reply. Now the Secretary said that the Bureau has requested the schools to consider removing a teacher from his/her duties as long as the teacher is under arrest, even if no prosecution has been instituted, or the relevant case is still pending investigation, trial, conclusion or ruling. My main question asked whether it means that all 4010 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 cases involving teachers can defy or blatantly violate the common law principle of presumption of innocence. The present approach is that in the wake of indiscriminate arrests and prosecutions, schools may dismiss a teacher once the latter has been arrested. Does the Secretary presume that all arrestees are guilty? Why does the Secretary think he can blatantly violate the spirit of Hong Kong's legal system in the domain of education? Can teachers' rights and interests be ignored?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, first of all, Dr WONG said that the content of part (1) of the main reply is actually tantamount to restricting teachers' freedom of speech. I take exception to that. The explanation given in the main reply is very clear. I am not going to repeat it here.

I mentioned in the reply to part (2) of Dr WONG's main question that if a teacher has been arrested or prosecuted for being involved in a relatively serious offence, the school has the power to suspend him/her from duties in accordance with the Employment Ordinance, the Code of Aid and the terms of its employment contract with the teacher. In giving such consideration, we do not think this is a punishment or the case has been concluded and thus mete out punishment on him/her. Our consideration is simply the need to be responsible to the students in school. If a teacher is suspected of having committed a serious offence involving the personal safety of other people or moral standards in society, and the community finds it unacceptable, how will we have confidence to entrust students to this teacher? For this reason, schools need to make an assessment. Does Dr WONG think that we should accord a lower priority to the well-being and safety of students, and that it is more important for teachers to work or continue in service, so to speak? Teachers work or render their service for the purpose of teaching students. In teachers' mind, students' interests are important too. I believe most teachers can appreciate why schools have such power to make suspension arrangements under certain circumstances in the interest of students' well-being, education quality and safety.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr Helena WONG, which part of your supplementary question has not been answered?

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4011

DR HELENA WONG (in Cantonese): I think the Secretary has deliberately omitted the main reply …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): You need only point out the part of your supplementary question not answered.

DR HELENA WONG (in Cantonese): I asked the Secretary about the teaching staff. The Secretary said, "As for teachers under arrest but not charged with any offences", the schools may consider relieving the teachers concerned of their duties. Can they be dismissed so long as they are under arrest, even if no trial has been held?

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Dr WONG, please stop speaking. Secretary, do you have anything to add?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, my answer is actually the same as the one just now. This is our consideration. We are not saying that they must be suspended from duties, but we request the schools to consider the situations of cases of teachers under arrest even if no charge has been laid against them. The schools need to consider whether it is possible for a teacher to pose any risk to students' personal safety, affect their education or bring undesirable impact on students in teaching and learning after returning to school. For this reason, the schools ultimately have to make a decision. If a school opines that the teacher may cause such impact if he/she returns to school, I think a responsible school should suspend him/her from duties.

MR CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN (in Cantonese): President, today I saw the Member raise the question, worried that teachers' freedom of speech is subjected to unnecessary restrictions.

I wonder if the Secretary has noticed the situations in foreign countries. For example, in the United States, which brags about freedom of speech and is even regarded by some Members as their guide, what is the actual situation in 4012 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 this respect? It turns out that the United States has expressly stipulated in writing that teachers cannot advocate any personal political belief in class. It is also explicitly stated that regarding comments made by teachers outside the school campus, if the education authorities can prove that a teacher's remarks may cause undesirable impact on the functions of schools or teachers, the teacher concerned will not be protected by freedom of speech under the Constitution. Another point is, I wonder if the Secretary is clearly aware that the United States has also stipulated that since teachers' comments on private websites on social media may be forwarded or shared by other people, if a teacher commits an act that impairs the functions of teachers when using the social media, he/she will neither be entitled to freedom of speech nor be protected by the Constitution of the United States …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, please come to your supplementary question direct.

MR CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN (in Cantonese): Regarding the relevant restrictions on teachers' entitlement to freedom of speech in the United States or places around the world, has the Secretary relayed the facts to the teachers in the Hong Kong education sector to let them know that the Bureau's present approach is a standard practice accepted by places around the world, rather than holding any bias against them or imposing any restrictions on them?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, I thank the Honourable Member for his views.

Actually, the Education Bureau is certainly aware of the views of other countries on this. If Members care to read my main reply again, they will see that our principle is in fact very close to those in other places cited by Mr CHEUNG just now. We adopt the same principles.

I believe many teachers and principals in the education sector will understand it and adopt the same attitude and principle in handling this matter. It is only that sometimes different people in society may not be well versed in the affairs on this front or put too much emphasis on other aspects, thus LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4013 misinterpreting the efforts currently made by the Education Bureau in maintaining the education profession and students' interests. I have heard Member's views. Granting the opportunities in the future, we will explain this matter to members of the sector by citing more examples of foreign countries. Nevertheless, I believe most co-workers will accept and appreciate that the work which the Education Bureau is doing now actually seeks to protect students and uphold the professional conduct of teachers.

MR LAM CHEUK-TING (in Cantonese): President, I have heard every word of the Secretary. He seems to be saying that if you are arrested by the Police, it appears that you will be prosecuted for a reason, and if you are prosecuted, it appears that you are guilty. Therefore, for the sake of students' interests, it is necessary to suspend you from duties. President, may I ask the Secretary whether he knows that the Police have even wrongly arrested a journalist of Ta Kung Pao and sent him to a police station? First, the situation at the scene was chaotic and confusing. Second, indiscriminate arrests by the Police are common. How can he assert that the teachers arrested must have committed such a serious offence that warrants suspension from duty? He requests the schools to make consideration. What can the schools do? Are the schools supposed to conduct criminal investigations? In this way, he is creating white terror. Is he oppressing the outspoken and even innocent teachers?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, I do not quite understand what it has to do with outspokenness and innocence. The fact is some teachers were arrested by the Police at the scene of some incidents. As I said just now, the fact that they were arrested does not mean they will definitely be prosecuted. Neither does it mean they will definitely be convicted eventually. However, our consideration during the process is students' well-being. Just now Mr LAM asked how I can be sure that the teachers concerned must be guilty. Let me ask a similar question. How can Mr LAM be sure that they are not? How can Mr LAM be sure that the students will definitely not be affected by them because of this matter? Considering students' well-being, should the schools not conduct an assessment and then make a decision which should be duly made?

4014 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

MR PAUL TSE (in Cantonese): President, I find that both the people in the community and the Honourable colleagues in this Council have a blind spot, in that they have made casual reference to the standards of court trials of criminal cases, advancing the so-called presumption of innocence. In fact, it is a completely improper analogy. We are talking about child protection, not criminal conviction. Insofar as criminal conviction is concerned, we would rather let the guilty go than wrong the innocent, whereas for child protection, it is the opposite. The question I wish to look into is as follows. The Secretary stated in the main reply that there had been many cases over the past months. But many members of the public are actually very concerned about the exact number of cases. To genuinely protect the children, how many teachers should be expeditiously suspended from duties so as to prevent them as early as possible from doing further harm to children? But the Education Bureau has not taken any action. Why did the Education Bureau keep doing nothing or wait so long to take action? How great is the impact on Hong Kong society? Is there dereliction of duty on the part of the Secretary?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Cantonese): President, we already disclosed the relevant figures at the end of November. We have received 123 complaints about teachers' conduct, many of which relate to their comments on the Internet. We consider the gravity of these cases not as serious as to necessitate a suspension request. Certainly, we request that during investigations, schools must examine teachers' actual performance in school and whether they have exhibited their own ideas in class. In this connection, schools must do the relevant gate-keeping work. Besides, there are about 80 cases of arrests. When we have information about these cases, we will discuss with the schools whether there is a need to make suspension arrangements. In this respect, as mentioned by Mr TSE, we really have to protect students scrupulously and act carefully. It does not mean that we have already judged those teachers as guilty. It is not about whether they are guilty or not. Rather, it is about our obligation to be as careful as possible in treating students because they are minors.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Oral questions end here.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4015

WRITTEN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS

Redevelopment of factory estates

7. MR MA FUNG-KWOK (in Chinese): President, last month, the Secretary for Transport and Housing indicated that in response to an initiative put forward by the Chief Executive in the 2019 Policy Address, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") was exploring the feasibility of redeveloping HA's individual factory estates for public housing use, taking into account individual site conditions and arrangements, as appropriate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of (i) the average occupancy rate, (ii) a breakdown of the number of tenants by trade group, and (iii) the number of tenants that engaged in cultural, arts or sports related trades, in respect of the various factory units under HA in each of the past three years;

(2) whether the aforesaid exploratory work has included (i) consulting the existing tenants of the factory estates, (ii) assessing the impacts of related plans on the tenants and the trades concerned, and (iii) formulating measures to mitigate such impacts; if so, of the details (including the approaches for the consultation and assessment work); of the expected dates of completion of the exploratory work and announcement of the outcome; and

(3) whether the Government will consider including in the aforesaid exploratory work a study on the feasibility of the following arrangement: upon drawing reference from the practice in earlier years of converting the whole block of the Shek Kip Mei Factory Estate into an arts centre, converting individual factory estates for cultural, arts or recreational and sports related uses, or setting aside, in the projects for redeveloping the factory estates into public housing, certain floors for such uses?

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Chinese): President, our consolidated reply to Mr MA Fung-kwok's question is as follows:

In response to the suggestion in the Chief Executive's 2019 Policy Address, the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA") is exploring the feasibility of redeveloping its individual factory estates under suitable conditions and arrangements for public housing use, with a view to increasing public housing, particularly the supply of public rental housing.

4016 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

At present, HA has six factory estates(1) which provide small-sized units to manufacturers of light industries for industrial purposes. The occupancy rate has been maintaining at a high level. During the three-year period from early-December 2016 to end November 2019, the average yearly occupancy rates of these factory estates were over 98%. There are about 3 320 tenants at present.

The existing trades operated by tenants of HA's factory estates can be classified into 12 general categories, which are mainly light industries related to manufacturing, repair and production of equipment and products, etc. Non-industrial uses such as cultural, arts or sports activities are not included. The number of tenants in these 12 categories of trades as at end November 2019 is listed at Annex.

In HA's previous clearance exercises of its factory estates, an advance notice of 18 months would normally be given to affected tenants to facilitate their early planning for vacating the premises. Rent increase would also be normally frozen until clearance, and an ex-gratia allowance would be paid to the concerned tenants to assist them to relocate or terminate their businesses.

In order to minimize the number of affected tenants and avoid loss to tenants of newly-let units arising from start-up investments, HA has already frozen the letting of vacant factory units temporarily. If HA finally decides to clear its existing factory estates, it will make reference to the previous practices mentioned above and the then circumstances in making appropriate arrangements. HA will maintain communication with existing tenants and listen to their opinions and concerns during the process.

As all six factory estates are situated in industrial or industrial-office areas, technical assessments are required to ascertain the feasibility of residential use, including public housing development, at these sites. Rezoning will also be required to change the use of the sites for residential purpose in accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance. HA has already commenced the relevant assessments. In view of the tight supply in housing land, HA's ongoing study only focuses on the feasibility of redeveloping the factory estates for public housing use. To make the best use of scarce land resources and optimize site potential, HA will follow the established mechanism for including suitable community facilities in new public housing developments with reference to the requirements of the "Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines" and in consultation with relevant departments/organizations as well as other stakeholders including the District Councils.

(1) Including Chun Shing and Kwai On Factory Estates in Kwai Chung, Hoi Tai Factory Estate in Tuen Mun, Sui Fai Factory Estate in Fo Tan, Wang Cheong Factory Estate in Sham Shui Po and Yip On Factory Estate in Kowloon Bay. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4017

Annex

Number of Tenants in HA's Factory Estates in each Category of Trades (as at 30 November 2019)

Category of Trades Number of Tenants 1 Manufacture and repair of equipment, machinery, 1 390 electrical appliances, lamps/lightings and upholstered furniture 2 Manufacture of fabricated metal products and casting of 690 metals 3 Manufacture of products of wood, rattan, bamboo, 400 paper, cork, straw, lacquer-wares and plaiting materials 4 Printing and manufacture of musical instruments, 250 sporting goods and stationery 5 Manufacture of rubber and plastic products 200 Manufacture of wearing apparel (excluding dyeing and 140 6 finishing), accessories, beddings and textiles 7 Manufacture and repair of computer, electronic and 90 optical products 8 Advertising and multi-media production 50 9 Manufacture of leather products, including luggage, 40 handbags, purses, belts, watch bands and shoes 10 Manufacture of medical, pharmaceutical, sanitary 40 products, cosmetics and liquid detergent 11 Manufacture and repair of watches and clocks, 30 jewellery, and related articles 12 Manufacture of glass products (excluding manufacture 10 of glass) Total 3 320

Note:

The numbers are rounded to the nearest 10 and may not add up to the total due to rounding.

4018 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Community development services

8. MR SHIU KA-CHUN (in Chinese): President, introduced by the Government in the 1970s, the Neighbourhood Level Community Development Projects ("NLCDPs") were implemented by non-governmental organizations in transient communities in which community facilities and welfare services were inadequate or non-existent. Since December 1995, the Government has, on grounds of the decrease in deprived communities, significantly reduced the number of NLCDP teams from the then 52 to the current 17 and it has not diverted the resources thus saved to district-based community development services. Moreover, according to the Policy Statement on Community Development drawn up by the Government in 2005, upon the termination of some NLCDPs, the resources thus saved will be deployed to finance other community projects having regard to community needs. Regarding the community development services subsidized and provided by the Government, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the annual and cumulative total amounts of reductions in the funding allocation for NLCDPs since the Government started to reduce NLCDP teams at the end of 1995 (set out in a table); among those savings, the respective annual amounts and the cumulative total amounts spent on (i) subsidizing the Neighbourhood Mutual Help Programme and (ii) Care and Support Networking Team programme, and (iii) other service areas; and

(2) of the number of occasions on which the authorities held the NGO Forum on Community Development in the past five years, and the details thereof?

SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS (in Chinese): President, having consulted the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") and the Home Affairs Department ("HAD"), I provide a consolidated reply to the question raised by Mr SHIU Ka-chun as follows:

(1) The Neighbourhood Level Community Development Projects ("NLCDPs") were introduced in the 1970s by the Government to serve the deprived and transient communities where welfare services and community facilities were inadequate. As such, the target areas include temporary housing areas, squatter areas, boat squatters, cottage areas, etc. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4019

Hong Kong has experienced significant improvement in the overall social welfare services and community building facilities since the 1970s. The context in which the need for NLCDPs was envisaged has likewise changed significantly, as observed in the Director of Audit's Report No. 29 issued in October 1997. As a corollary, the Government reviewed the service needs and from 1997 to 2001 terminated or downsized NLCDPs with serving population falling below 3 000. There are currently 17 NLCDPs operated by eight non-governmental organizations ("NGOs"). The Home Affairs Bureau and SWD do not maintain information on the resources released from NLCDPs terminated between 1997 and 2001.

The Government commissioned the Society for Community Organization to operate the Care and Support Networking Team with resources redeployed from a NLCDP that ceased service in 2003. A recurrent provision of about $2.1 million is granted for its operation.

According to the Policy Statement on Community Development drawn up by the Government in 2005, upon termination of NLCDPs, resources released would be redeployed to finance other community projects having regard to community needs. Such projects would be consistent with the policy objectives of community development.

In this connection, HAD has implemented the Neighbourhood Mutual Help Programme ("NMHP") since 2007-2008 using resources released from three terminated NLCDPs. The resources released from the three terminated NLCDPs are about $5.4 million per year.

(2) The Government attaches importance to communication with different stakeholders to exchange views on community development services through various channels, including the NGO Forum on Community Development, small group sessions, informal meetings, etc. The Government will continue to convene the NGO Forum on a need basis.

4020 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

We do not maintain the number and details of the informal meetings. In the past five years, the Home Affairs Bureau organized three NGO Forums as detailed below:

Date Venue Major Agenda Item 5 Oct 2015 Conference Room 1, G/F, Resources released from Central Government terminated NLCDPs Offices, Tamar 7 Mar 2016 Conference Room 3, G/F, Arrangement of NMHP Central Government projects to be launched in Offices, Tamar 2016-2017 27 Sep 2018 Conference Room 7, G/F, Arrangement of NMHP Central Government projects to be launched in Offices, Tamar 2018-2019

Recovery and recycling of waste glass

9. MR CHAN HAK-KAN (in Chinese): President, regarding the recovery and recycling of waste glass, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that in response to some demonstrators recently making incendiary bombs by using waste glass bottles, the Government requested the glass management contractors ("GMCs") to temporarily suspend the waste glass container collection services starting from 16 November last year, of the quantity of waste glass disposed of at landfills from that day onward to 31 December last year, and how such quantity compares with that for the same period of the preceding year; whether it will improve the design of the recycling bins to prevent the waste glass bottles inside such bins from being stolen; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether it knows the respective monthly quantities of waste glass containers collected by GMCs in the catchment regions of (i) Hong Kong Island (including Islands District), (ii) New Territories and (iii) Kowloon, since the commencement of their respective contracts in November 2017 and May 2018 (set out in a table), as well as the relevant public expenditure;

(3) of the recovery rate of waste glass containers, and the respective percentages of waste glass containers turned into the following recycled uses, in each of the past three years: (i) eco-pavers, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4021

(ii) eco-cement, (iii) fill materials and (iv) making of new glass products after export; whether the Government will explore new uses of waste glass so as to increase the outlets for waste glass containers; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(4) given that in response to some demonstrators' digging up bricks from pavements in recent months for blocking roads and hurling at police officers, the Highways Department will switch to using concrete as the paving material for some pavements, whether it has assessed how this move will affect the utilization rate of eco-pavers;

(5) as the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") is undertaking preparatory work for the implementation of the Producer Responsibility Scheme on glass beverage containers, of the latest implementation timetable for the Scheme, and whether the relevant preparatory work has been hindered due to the recent social disturbances;

(6) of the number of organizations/companies, since EPD launched the Glass Container Recycling Charter ("the Charter") in January last year to invite the various sectors in the community to join hands in promoting glass container recovery, that have signed the Charter, as well as the effectiveness of the Charter; and

(7) of the number of organizations currently subsidized by the Environment and Conservation Fund to undertake recycling of waste glass containers; the total amount of the relevant subsidies and the total quantity of waste glass recovered by them in each of the past three years; the quantity recovered since June last year, and whether it has been affected by the recent social disturbances; whether the Government has plans to continue subsidizing such organizations to undertake waste glass recovery work in the coming three years; if so, whether it will make adjustments to the subsidy arrangements?

SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (in Chinese): President, the Environmental Protection Department ("EPD") has appointed Glass Management Contractors ("GMCs") to undertake the collection and treatment services for waste glass containers progressively across the territory since 2018. GMCs provide recycling bins and associated collection services to parties or 4022 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 organizations that are interested in participating in waste glass container recycling, including residential estates, catering outlets, shopping malls, hotels, industrial and commercial premises, government facilities, etc.

My reply to the question raised by Mr CHAN Hak-kan is as follows:

(1) The total quantity of waste glass containers disposed of at landfills in 2018 was 77 400 tonnes. Relevant statistics for 2019 are still under compilation.

Glass containers are fragile and may cause danger to the public if they are not handled properly. For the sake of safety, most glass container recycling bins are equipped with a lock to prevent users or others from directly contacting or tampering with the waste glass containers inside. However, in view of continued escalation of violent and illegal attacks in the society earlier, the Government temporarily suspended waste glass container collection service to better safeguard public safety. We would make suitable arrangements for glass container collection service at different locations subject to the social situation.

(2) The glass management contracts for Hong Kong Island (including Islands District) and the New Territories came into effect in November 2017, and the contractor has been providing waste glass container collection service since January 2018. The contract for Kowloon came into effect in May 2018, and the contractor has been providing collection service since July 2018. As at October 2019, the quantities of waste glass containers collected under the three glass management contracts are as follows:

Quantity of waste Total quantity of waste glass containers Glass management glass containers collected in 2019 contract collected in 2018 (as at October 2019) (tonnes) (tonnes) Hong Kong Island 4 063 7 174 (including Islands District) New Territories 3 600 6 214 Kowloon 1 913 5 736 (From July onwards)

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4023

Under the contracts, the service fees payable to GMCs by the Government are primarily calculated based on the tonnage of collected waste glass containers that are treated. As at October 2019, the service fees calculated based on the quantities treated under the three glass management contracts are as follows:

Total service fee calculated Glass management contract based on the quantity treated (HK$ million) Hong Kong Island (including 22.85 Islands District) New Territories 17.9 Kowloon 7.32

(3) The recovery rates of waste glass containers in the past three years are as follows:

Year Recovery rate of waste glass containers 2017 12.1% 2018 16.3% 2019 Under compilation

From the commencement of respective glass management contracts up to October 2019, the major recycling outlets for the waste glass containers collected and treated by GMCs are as follows:

Quantity Outlets for recycling Percentage (tonnes) Production of cement 6 264 27% Production of eco-pavers 3 612 16% Exported abroad 2 832 12% Used as fill materials in local works projects 10 427 45% Total 23 135 100%

Under the glass management contracts, the two GMCs are required to properly treat the waste glass containers and then arrange for their reuse and recycling. Currently, glass containers recovered and treated locally may be used for producing cement and eco-pavers, while some are exported for recycling. The recycled glass 4024 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

materials are also used as fill materials in public works projects. These outlets can absorb the glass materials recovered locally in full. Meanwhile, we have also encouraged GMCs to continue exploring other outlets for recycled glass materials, such as the production of decorative tiles or other building materials.

(4) In pursuing green procurement in the Government, EPD has been encouraging bureaux/departments to incorporate green specifications/features during procurement, including the use of recycled and other green materials in public works projects. When reinstating pavements where paving blocks were removed by protestors, the Highways Department will, taking into account the practical circumstances, consider adopting suitable paving materials, and will also consider using green materials where practicable. Even if there is reduced use of eco-pavers, GMCs' established recycling outlets can sufficiently absorb the recycled glass materials generated in Hong Kong.

(5) We are preparing the subsidiary legislation concerned to provide for the operational details for the implementation of the scheme. We plan to submit the subsidiary legislation for the Legislative Council's scrutiny in 2020, and the actual implementation time would depend on the progress of relevant work of the Legislative Council.

(6) EPD launched the Glass Container Recycling Charter ("the Charter") in January 2019. As at December 2019, about 980 participants have signed the Charter, including housing estates, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants and bars, commercial and industrial buildings, etc., and about 30% of them were new participants in waste glass container recycling. The awareness of the participants in waste glass container recycling has enhanced.

(7) To avoid overlapping of services with the glass management contracts awarded by EPD, the Environment and Conservation Fund ("ECF") has stopped approving new projects on waste glass container recovery since the second half of 2016. Projects approved by ECF previously had been gradually taken over by the respective GMCs, which would continue to provide free collection and treatment services for waste glass containers in the districts LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4025

concerned. GMC of Hong Kong Island and the New Territories have taken over all relevant ECF projects since May 2018, and that of Kowloon in July 2018. Currently, ECF does not provide direct subsidy to projects on waste glass container recovery.

Public markets in Tin Shui Wai

10. DR CHENG CHUNG-TAI (in Chinese): President, the Government has planned to build a new public market on Tin Fuk Road at its section near Tin Shui Wai Station of the MTR West Rail Line. As it takes time to build the market, the Government will build a temporary market adjacent to Tin Sau Road Park in Tin Shui Wai North. Quite a number of residents in Tin Shui Wai North (including Tin Yat Estate, Tin Chak Estate and Tin Heng Estate) have pointed out that the site identified for the new market is located too far away from their residences. They therefore hope that the Government will retain, on a long-term basis, the existing Tin Sau Bazaar, and change the said temporary market to a permanent one, so as to facilitate their purchase of daily necessities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the long-term uses designated by the Government for the two sites on which Tin Sau Bazaar and the temporary market is/will be located; and

(2) whether it will consider retaining Tin Sau Bazaar on a long-term basis, and what factors it will take into account when making such a decision; of the circumstances under which the Government will consider changing the temporary market to a permanent one?

SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Chinese): President, the new public market in Tin Shui Wai is located at a section of Tin Fuk Road between Tin Shing Road and Tin Yiu Road adjoining the Tin Shui Wai Mass Transit Railway Station. It is in the vicinity of a major transport hub in the district and is the main access point for local residents. Considering that it takes time to build a new market, the Government plans to provide a temporary market at the open space adjacent to Tin Sau Road Park to offer an additional choice for purchase of fresh food so that the public can benefit early.

4026 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Having consulted the Home Affairs Bureau and the Development Bureau, my reply to the question is as follows:

(1) The two sites where the Tin Sau Bazaar ("the Bazaar") and the temporary market are located fall within the areas zoned "Open Space" ("O") on the approved Tin Shui Wai Outline Zoning Plan No. S/TSW/14 for serving the needs of local residents as well as the general public. The subject "O" zone has been largely developed as Tin Sau Road Park. The Government has no plan to change this long-term use at this stage.

(2) With the support of the relevant Policy Bureau, the Lands Department has leased the site of the Bazaar directly to the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals ("TWGHs") since 2013 by way of a short term tenancy at nominal rent in accordance with the established procedures, for the latter to operate the Bazaar on a non-profit-making basis. The objective is to provide more shopping choices for local residents, develop the local economy and create local employment. TWGHs has recently submitted an application to extend the tenancy for another term of three years. The application is being processed in accordance with established procedures. TWGHs has indicated that the existing tenancy of the Bazaar would be continued on a quarterly basis until the application for the three-year term tenancy is approved.

As for the temporary market, we keep an open mind for its future arrangements and will consider its way forward taking into account the situation after the commissioning of the new public market in Tin Shui Wai.

Persons from the Mainland and overseas coming to reside in Hong Kong

11. MR ALVIN YEUNG (in Chinese): President, regarding the statistics on Mainland residents coming to Hong Kong for settlement on Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao (commonly known as "One-way Permits")("OWPs") and persons coming on dependant visas to reside in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4027

(1) of the number of Mainland residents who came to Hong Kong for settlement on OWPs in each of the past 10 years, and set out the breakdowns of such figures separately in Table 1 and Table 2 by (i) the gender and the age group to which they belonged at the time of entry to Hong Kong (i.e. aged 0 to 4, followed by groups covering 10 years each, and aged 65 or above), and (ii) their kinship with the Hong Kong residents concerned;

Table 1 Age group Gender 2010 2011 … 2019 0 to 4 Male Female 5 to 14 Male Female … 55 to 64 Male Female 65 or above Male Female Total Male Female Total

Table 2 Entrants being the following relatives 2010 2011 … 2019 of the Hong Kong residents concerned Fathers/mothers Spouses separated for 10 years or more Spouses separated for less than 10 years Children (holding Certificate of Entitlement) Children (not holding Certificate of Entitlement) Others (please specify) Total

4028 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(2) of the respective numbers of Mainland residents who had come to Hong Kong for settlement on OWPs being (i) refused entry when going through immigration clearance, and (ii) repatriated to the Mainland due to their loss of residence status in Hong Kong, in each of the past five years, and set out separately in two tables of the same format as Table 3 breakdowns of such figures by the gender and the age group (as set out in Table 1) to which they belonged at that time;

Table 3 Age group Gender 2015 2016 … 2019 0 to 4 Male Female 5 to 14 Male Female … 55 to 64 Male Female 65 or Male above Female Total Male Female Total

(3) of the number of persons from overseas, whose sponsors were Hong Kong permanent residents, entering Hong Kong on a dependant visa in each of the past 10 years, and set out the breakdowns of such figures separately in Table 4 (of the same format as Table 1) and Table 5 by (i) the gender and the age group to which they belonged upon entry to Hong Kong, and (ii) their kinship with their sponsors; and

Table 5 Entrants being the following 2010 2011 … 2019 relatives of their sponsors Fathers/mothers Spouses Children Others (please specify) Total

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4029

(4) of the respective numbers of dependant visa applications from persons whose sponsors were Hong Kong permanent residents which were (i) received, (ii) approved and (iii) rejected in each of the past five years by the Immigration Department, and set out such figures and a breakdown of (iii) in Table 6?

Table 6 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 (i) Number of applications received (ii) Number of applications approved Failure to provide reasonable proof of a genuine relationship Having known adverse record Failure of the (iii) Number of sponsor to meet applications the requirements rejected for providing the dependent with accommodation and relevant living standard Others (please specify) Total

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Chinese): President, my reply to the question raised by Mr Alvin YEUNG is as follows:

(1) and (2)

It is stipulated in Article 22(4) of the Basic Law that "For entry into the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR"), people from other parts of China must apply for approval. Among them, the number of persons who enter the Region for the purpose of 4030 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

settlement shall be determined by the competent authorities of the Central People's Government after consulting the government of the Region." The provisions of this Article, in accordance with the interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in 1999, mean that Mainland residents "who wish to enter HKSAR for whatever reason, must apply to the relevant authorities of their residential districts for approval in accordance with the relevant national laws and administrative regulations, and must hold valid documents issued by the relevant authorities before they can enter HKSAR". Mainland residents who wish to settle in Hong Kong for family reunion must apply for One-way Permits ("OWPs") (i.e. Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao) from the exit and entry administration offices of the public security authority at the places of their household registration on the Mainland. The implementation of the OWP scheme is to allow Mainland residents to come to Hong Kong for family reunion in an orderly manner through approval by the Mainland authorities in accordance with relevant laws and regulations of the Mainland.

The numbers of holders of OWPs entering Hong Kong from 2010 to November 2019 with breakdowns by gender and age group are shown at Annex 1 and by category are shown at Annex 2.

The numbers of holders of OWPs entering Hong Kong who had their Hong Kong Identity Cards ("HKIDs") declared invalid by the Immigration Department ("ImmD") from 2015 to November 2019 are tabulated as follows:

Cases of holders of OWPs entering Year Hong Kong who had their HKIDs declared invalid 2015 19 2016 16 2017 18 2018 12 2019 (January to November) 9

ImmD does not maintain other breakdown statistics mentioned in the question.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4031

(3) and (4)

The immigration policy on entry of non-local dependants ("dependant policy") allows those who are able to provide care and financial support to their dependants to sponsor their non-local dependants to come to reside in Hong Kong. The dependant policy also ensures that Hong Kong will continue to attract and retain people with the right talent and skills to come to and remain in Hong Kong by giving them the choice of bringing in their non-local dependants to live with them in Hong Kong. The eligibility criteria for entry for residence as dependants in Hong Kong are shown at Annex 3.

The statistics on applications for dependant visas/entry permits from 2015 to November 2019 are tabulated as follows:

2019 Year 2015 2016 2017 2018 (Jan to Nov) Number of 29 953 29 332 30 666 32 254 34 043 applications received Number of 26 488 26 266 28 805 26 083 23 192 applications approved Number of 1 600 2 178 1 711 2 193 3 201 applications rejected

Note:

Applications approved or rejected in a year do not totally correspond to the applications received in that year.

ImmD started to maintain breakdown statistics on persons admitted to Hong Kong as dependants by their relationship to the sponsors in April 2018. The relevant figures are tabulated as follows:

Relationship between 2018 2019 sponsor and dependant (Apr to Dec) (Jan to Nov) Spouse 9 886 11 445 Unmarried child under the age of 18 9 091 10 400 Parent aged 60 or above 793 1 216 Others^ 119 131 Total 19 889 23 192

4032 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Note:

^ Including the persons who have entered into a same-sex civil partnership, same-sex civil union, "same-sex marriage", opposite-sex civil partnership or opposite-sex civil union outside Hong Kong with an eligible sponsor in accordance with the local law in force of the place of celebration and with such status being legally and officially recognized by the local authorities of the place of celebration.

ImmD does not maintain other breakdown statistics as mentioned in the question.

Annex 1

Number of Holders of OWPs (i.e. Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao) Entering Hong Kong by Gender and Age Group from 2010 to November 2019

2019 Age Gender 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 (Jan to group Nov) 0 to 4 Male 1 690 1 445 1 371 1 693 2 092 1 678 1 838 1 489 1 386 1 372 Female 1 654 1 385 1 378 1 582 1 890 1 569 1 703 1 446 1 264 1 323 5 to Male 2 745 2 427 2 198 2 023 2 004 1 928 3 440 2 814 2 453 2 395 14 Female 2 464 2 206 1 978 1 936 1 883 1 740 3 048 2 482 2 226 2 114 15 to Male 2 659 2 686 2 319 2 027 2 086 2 410 5 660 4 205 3 336 2 777 24 Female 3 162 3 028 2 484 2 325 2 321 2 380 5 160 3 777 2 995 2 520 25 to Male 1 665 1 742 2 697 2 258 1 716 1 808 2 069 1 860 2 331 2 057 34 Female 12 927 11 745 11 273 10 543 9 649 8 644 9 370 7 645 7 051 5 688 35 to Male 1 955 3 058 6 331 4 172 3 244 2 676 3 725 3 335 3 369 2 693 44 Female 7 256 8 156 11 446 8 373 7 587 6 911 8 299 6 722 6 110 4 866 45 to Male 895 1 344 2 885 1 821 1 291 1 650 4 189 3 204 2 773 2 358 54 Female 2 277 2 731 4 456 3 069 2 420 2 686 4 700 3 784 3 442 2 992 55 to Male 296 404 1 346 975 665 709 1 492 1 474 1 160 1 040 64 Female 614 673 1 898 1 647 1 125 1 012 1 674 1 596 1 455 1 331 65+ Male 151 138 247 258 244 262 586 649 550 510 Female 214 211 339 329 279 275 434 489 430 491 Total Male 12 056 13 244 19 394 15 227 13 342 13 121 22 999 19 030 17 358 15 202 Female 30 568 30 135 35 252 29 804 27 154 25 217 34 388 27 941 24 973 21 325 Total 42 624 43 379 54 646 45 031 40 496 38 338 57 387 46 971 42 331 36 527

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4033

Annex 2

Number of Holders of OWPs (i.e. Permits for Proceeding to Hong Kong and Macao) Entering Hong Kong by Category from 2010 to November 2019

2019 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 (Jan to Nov) (a) Holders of 4 662 3 758 3 750 4 329 4 938 3 655 3 508 2 795 2 407 2 631 Certificate of Entitlement (b) Spouses 651 619 733 742 791 753 870 690 573 730 separated for 10 years or more and their accompanying children (c) Spouses 33 446 31 461 25 746 23 193 23 528 25 142 45 261 36 847 31 513 26 222 separated for less than 10 years and their accompanying children (d) Joining 2 942 6 702 23 401 15 832 10 282 7 909 6 800 5 535 6 681 5 717 parents in Hong Kong(1) (e) Joining 646 550 714 713 803 780 898 1 079 1 143 1 213 children in Hong Kong(2) (f) Others(3) 277 289 302 222 154 99 50 25 14 14 Total 42 624 43 379 54 646 45 031 40 496 38 338 57 387 46 971 42 331 36 527

Notes:

(1) Excluding accompanying children whose parents joined their spouses in Hong Kong in items (b) and (c) of the above table.

(2) Including unsupported elderly people coming to Hong Kong to join their children settled in Hong Kong.

(3) Exceptional cases such as unsupported elderly people coming to join their relatives, etc.

(4) The above figures are compiled from the statistics based on the information provided voluntarily by holders of OWPs upon their entry into Hong Kong.

4034 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex 3

Eligibility Criteria for Entry for Residence as Dependants in Hong Kong

According to the immigration policy on entry of non-local dependants, for a sponsor who has been admitted into Hong Kong to take up employment (as a professional, for investment to establish/join in business, or for training) or studies (in a full-time undergraduate or post-graduate local programme in a local degree-awarding institution), or who is permitted to remain in Hong Kong as an entrant under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme or the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents, the following eligible dependants may apply to join him/her for residence in Hong Kong:

(a) (i) his/her spouse; or (ii) the other party to a same-sex civil partnership, same-sex civil union, "same-sex marriage", opposite-sex civil partnership or opposite-sex civil union entered into by him/her in accordance with the local law in force of the place of celebration and with such status being legally and officially recognized by the local authorities of the place of celebration; and (b) his/her unmarried dependent children under the age of 18.

For a sponsor who is a Hong Kong permanent resident or a resident who is not subject to a limit of stay (i.e. a resident with the right to land or on unconditional stay), the following eligible dependants may apply to join him/her for residence in Hong Kong:

(a) (i) his/her spouse; or (ii) the other party to a same-sex civil partnership, same-sex civil union, "same-sex marriage", opposite-sex civil partnership or opposite-sex civil union entered into by him/her in accordance with the local law in force of the place of celebration and with such status being legally and officially recognized by the local authorities of the place of celebration; and (b) his/her unmarried dependent children under the age of 18; and (c) his/her parents aged 60 or above.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4035

An application for entry to take up residence as a dependant may be favourably considered if:

(a) there is reasonable proof of a genuine relationship between the applicant and the sponsor; (b) there is no known record to the detriment of the applicant; and (c) the sponsor is able to support the dependant's living at a standard well above the subsistence level and provide him/her with suitable accommodation in Hong Kong.

In addition, an applicant should meet normal immigration requirements (such as holding a valid travel document with adequate returnability to his/her country of residence or citizenship; be of clear criminal record and raise no security or criminal concerns to Hong Kong; have no likelihood of becoming a burden on Hong Kong, etc.) as well as the relevant specific eligibility criteria above before he/she may be considered for the grant of a visa/entry permit.

Electric mobility devices and electric wheelchairs

12. MR CHAN HAN-PAN (in Chinese): President, at present, electric unicycles, electric scooters, electric hoverboards and electric bicycles ("electric mobility devices") are all prohibited from being used on roads, but electric wheelchairs, which are regarded as medical devices, are not subject to that restriction. Earlier on, two persons died as a result of the traffic accidents that happened when they were using electric scooters on cycling tracks. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the number of electric mobility devices imported in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown of such number by type;

(2) of the respective numbers of cases, in each of the past three years, in which the Police (i) issued advices to and (ii) instituted prosecutions against persons who used electric mobility devices illegally;

(3) whether, at present, there are any public places in Hong Kong where members of the public may use electric mobility devices legally; if so, of their locations; if not, the reasons why the Government still allows the importation of such devices and their sale in Hong Kong; and

4036 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(4) as some members of the public have relayed that electric wheelchairs travelling at high speed on pavements and pedestrian crossings might pose safety hazards to the wheelchair users concerned, pedestrians and drivers, whether the Government will review the existing regulation of electric wheelchairs, including conducting studies on (i) the introduction of a licensing regime and a mandatory third-party insurance to be taken out by electric wheelchair users, and (ii) the provision of assistance to such users in need in paying for the licence fees and insurance premiums concerned; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Chinese): President, in consultation with the Food and Health Bureau, the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority ("HA"), the Transport Department ("TD"), the Census and Statistics Department ("C&SD") and the Hong Kong Police Force ("Police"), our consolidated reply to Mr CHAN Han-pan's question is as follows:

(1) According to C&SD, no separate commodity codes are designated to electric unicycles, electric scooters, electric hoverboards and electric bicycles under the Hong Kong Harmonized System. The respective commodity codes are shared with other vehicles (such as mopeds, electric skateboards, electric golf carts/electric golf bag trolleys), hence the import quantity of these devices is not available.

(2) and (3)

According to the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) ("the Ordinance"), "motor vehicle" means any mechanically propelled vehicle. Electric mobility devices are mechanically propelled and thus belong to "motor vehicles". All "motor vehicles" must be licensed for use on roads or private roads. Considering from the perspectives of road safety and accessibility, it is the long-standing policy that TD does not register or license electric mobility devices under the Ordinance.

The Police made 13 arrest cases in relation to the illegal use of electric mobility devices on roads between July and December 2019.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4037

(4) Under section 4(8) of the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228), it is an offence if any person, in any public place, drives recklessly or negligently or at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public.

To educate wheelchair users on the proper use of electric wheelchairs, the allied health professionals of HA hospitals, when prescribing electric wheelchairs, will teach patients how to use the wheelchairs safely and correctly according to the needs of individual patients. In addition, the Community Rehabilitation Service Support Centre under HA provides systematic group training for electric wheelchair users so that they could learn the skills and attitudes of using the wheelchairs safely in order to cope with different situations including using public transport and public facilities and handling outdoor obstacles.

Under the "Walk in HK" initiative, TD is conducting the "Consultancy Study on Enhancing Walkability in Hong Kong", which is expected to be completed within this year. It looks into various issues on encouraging walking, the feasibility of the use of electric mobility devices in Hong Kong, and the prevailing regulatory policies on electric wheelchairs. The Government will make reference to the findings of the study and review the regulation on electric wheelchairs.

Countermeasures against traffic chaos

13. MR VINCENT CHENG (in Chinese): President, some members of the public have relayed that since the eruption of the disturbances arising from the opposition to the proposed legislative amendments in June last year, demonstrators have extensively vandalized railway and road facilities (including traffic lights, roadside railings and slab-paved pavements), causing traffic chaos and endangering the safety of drivers and pedestrians. In addition, while railway and bus services have often been immediately suspended due to demonstrations, members of the public have difficulty in gaining access to the latest traffic conditions and arrangements, causing great inconvenience to their travelling. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

4038 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(1) in respect of the road facilities (including traffic lights, railings and pavement surfaces) vandalized in June last year or later, of (i) their quantity (and among them, the quantity of those facilities that were vandalized for more than once), (ii) progress of the repair works and (iii) the costs incurred by the repair works (with a tabulated breakdown by type of facilities and District Council district);

(2) of the monthly numbers of traffic accidents in the past two years and the resultant casualties; the number of traffic accidents since June last year that occurred at signal-controlled junctions/pedestrian crossings where the damaged traffic lights had yet to be repaired at the time of the accidents, as well as the casualties caused by such accidents (with a tabulated breakdown by District Council district);

(3) whether it reviewed last year the mechanism and channels for disseminating the latest traffic news to members of the public; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(4) of the details of the temporary traffic safety measures (including the installation of temporary traffic lights and manual direction of traffic) taken by the authorities in the past six months at the locations where the traffic safety facilities had been damaged?

SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING (in Chinese): President, Since early June 2019, many protests, processions and public meetings across Hong Kong have ended up in violence. In different districts, violent protestors extensively vandalized road safety facilities (e.g. traffic lights, railings and road signs), and maliciously blocked roads to paralyse the traffic. Such acts had not only caused serious impact on public transport services and created difficulties for the travelling public, but also posed a potential risk to road users.

Upon consultation with the Transport Department ("TD"), Highways Department ("HyD") and Hong Kong Police Force ("Police"), my reply to the various parts of Mr Vincent CHENG's question is as follows:

(1) From June to December 2019, a cumulative total of 740 sets of traffic lights across Hong Kong were vandalized to different extents. The vandalism mostly involved the cutting of traffic light cables or LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4039 blackening of their surfaces. In some cases, the traffic lights had their components or traffic signal controllers damaged or even burnt. Among these 740 sets of traffic lights, 365 were vandalized more than once, with individual traffic light having been vandalized up to 17 times. The cumulative total number of traffic light damages across the territory amounted to about 1 590. Since many traffic lights were vandalized again after repairs, TD and relevant departments had to carry out repair works repeatedly. With the concerted efforts of relevant government departments, all the traffic lights vandalized during the above mentioned period were repaired by 2 January 2020. The repair works incurred an additional expenditure of about $40 million.

Apart from traffic lights, from June to December 2019, some 52 800 m of railings and some 21 800 sq m of paving blocks of footpaths were removed.

Regarding the repairs for railings, having discussed the matter with other relevant departments, HyD has temporarily put up plastic chains or plastic tapes for the purpose of alerting road users at locations where the railings have been removed. The relevant road facilities will be reinforced or enhanced taking into consideration such factors as road safety.

As for paving blocks of footpaths, HyD has repaired most of the damaged road facilities concerned. To ensure the safety of road users and enable the traffic to return to normal as soon as possible, apart from temporary repair works such as using concrete or bituminous to fill up locations where paving blocks have been removed, HyD will carry out works to reinforce paving blocks or replace paving materials on public roads having regard to the actual circumstances.

As the repair works are still in progress, the cost of repair or replacement is being ascertained and is roughly estimated to be about $25 million.

The distribution of damaged road facilities in various districts across the territory is at Annex 1.

4040 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(2) The monthly numbers of traffic accidents and the resultant casualties over the past two years (i.e. from January 2018 to November 2019), and the numbers of traffic accidents involving environment contributory factor of "defective traffic signal" and the resultant casualties from June to November in 2019 are at Annex 2 and Annex 3 respectively.

(3) TD has all along been disseminating traffic information to road users through different channels in a timely, effective and extensive manner, so that they could plan their trips and select transport modes having regard to the actual traffic conditions.

Currently, apart from issuing electronic press releases to the media, TD disseminates the latest information of traffic and transport incidents to the public through its website , "HKeMobility" mobile application and variable message signs on highways. In addition, designated staff are deployed to conduct sound bites through radio stations as necessary after occurrence of incidents so as to convey messages relating to the incidents and call for public attention to the unexpected road situation of individual districts and the latest arrangements on public transport services.

TD reviews from time to time the content and arrangements of information dissemination to the public. In recent months, "HKeMobility" has been enhanced in terms of information content and dissemination arrangements to provide more specific traffic and transport information (including releasing information on the lanes, directions and areas involved in the roads being affected, providing links to websites of franchised bus companies, and adding maps about the railway service status and major road status). In addition, the voice-over function for traffic news on "HKeMobility" has been strengthened to cater for the travel needs of different road users.

(4) In view of the damage to traffic facilities, TD has posted notices on traffic light poles to be repaired so as to remind road users to take extra care and pay attention to safety. Temporary traffic control measures have also been implemented at some junctions (such as Nathan Road/Lai Chi Kok Road, Nathan Road/Public Square Street, LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4041

Nathan Road/Jordan Road and Shanghai Street/Man Ming Lane, etc.). Besides, TD has set up portable traffic lights at critical junctions (including Nathan Road/Argyle Street, Nathan Road/Waterloo Road, Nathan Road/Mong Kok Road and Yuen Wo Road/Sha Tin Rural Committee Road) to enhance road safety and relieve traffic.

Regarding manual direction of traffic, the Police has on different occasions since June 2019 deployed officers to direct traffic during peak hours at main junctions where traffic lights were damaged so as to ensure road safety. If members of the public are aware of any damaged traffic facilities at particular road sections which may pose a serious danger to road safety, they are welcome to report such to the Police. Police officers will be deployed to deal with the situation on site as soon as possible.

Annex 1

Distribution of Damaged Road Facilities in Different Districts of Hong Kong from June to December 2019

Traffic Lights Number of sets damaged Removed Removed District Council more than paving Number of railings(1) district once among blocks(2) damaged sets (m) the figures on (sq m) the left-hand column Central and Western 41 15 7 800 1 400 Wan Chai 48 29 4 800 700 Eastern 39 14 1 300 400 Southern 0 0 200 100 Yau Tsim Mong 121 74 6 200 9 900 Sham Shui Po 59 23 3 200 1 300 Kowloon City 44 24 1 300 2 300 4042 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Traffic Lights Number of sets damaged Removed Removed District Council more than paving Number of railings(1) district once among blocks(2) damaged sets (m) the figures on (sq m) the left-hand column Wong Tai Sin 25 10 2 500 300 Kwun Tong 43 12 1 700 800 Kwai Tsing 38 13 1 700 200 Tsuen Wan 37 22 4 100 200 Tuen Mun 36 22 3 100 300 Yuen Long 65 40 1 600 1 200 North 29 13 800 300 Tai Po 34 16 1 200 600 Sha Tin 55 23 8 900 1 100 Sai Kung 20 11 1 300 600 Islands 6 4 1 100 100 Total 740 365 52 800 21 800

Notes:

(1) Among the damaged railings, some 1 500 m have been damaged more than once.

(2) HyD does not have records on the number of paving blocks that have been damaged more than once.

Annex 2

Numbers of Traffic Accidents and Resultant Casualties in Each Month from January 2018 to November 2019

Number of Casualties Year and Month traffic accidents Killed Serious injury Slight injury January 2018 1 385 9 182 1 505 February 2018 1 130 26 194 1 261 March 2018 1 279 11 123 1 398 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4043

Number of Casualties Year and Month traffic accidents Killed Serious injury Slight injury April 2018 1 279 10 152 1 367 May 2018 1 323 11 155 1 461 June 2018 1 334 12 146 1 483 July 2018 1 397 7 148 1 592 August 2018 1 419 10 153 1 558 September 2018 1 271 10 119 1 444 October 2018 1 439 6 189 1 605 November 2018 1 375 12 140 1 569 December 2018 1 304 11 139 1 419 January 2019* 1 394 12 193 1 591 February 2019* 1 141 6 165 1 264 March 2019* 1 360 8 195 1 530 April 2019* 1 241 13 155 1 367 May 2019* 1 413 5 176 1 562 June 2019* 1 354 8 151 1 472 July 2019* 1 340 5 176 1 607 August 2019* 1 299 11 146 1 510 September 2019* 1 292 10 128 1 462 October 2019* 1 318 10 107 1 505 November 2019* 1 235 11 79 1 402

Notes:

* Provisional figures

Definitions:

Killed: Sustained injury causing death within 30 days of the accident.

Serious injury: An injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an "inpatient" for more than 12 hours. Injuries causing death more than 30 days after the accident are also included in this category.

Slight injury: An injury of minor character such as a sprain, bruise or cut not judged to be severe, or slight shock requiring roadside attention without admission to hospital or requiring hospitalization for less than 12 hours.

4044 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex 3

Numbers of Traffic Accidents and Resultant Casualties Involving Environment Contributory Factor of "Defective Traffic Signal" from June to November 2019

District Council Number of Casualties* district traffic accidents* Killed Serious injury Slight injury Central and Western 0 0 0 0 Wan Chai 1 0 0 1 Eastern 0 0 0 0 Southern 0 0 0 0 Yau Tsim Mong 7 0 0 10 Sham Shui Po 7 0 0 12 Kowloon City 3 0 0 14 Wong Tai Sin 0 0 0 0 Kwun Tong 0 0 0 0 Kwai Tsing 0 0 0 0 Tsuen Wan 0 0 0 0 Tuen Mun 1 0 0 3 Yuen Long 0 0 0 0 North 0 0 0 0 Tai Po 1 0 0 1 Sha Tin 0 0 0 0 Sai Kung 0 0 0 0 Islands 0 0 0 0

Notes:

* Provisional figures

Definitions:

Killed: Sustained injury causing death within 30 days of the accident.

Serious injury: An injury for which a person is detained in hospital as an "inpatient" for more than 12 hours. Injuries causing death more than 30 days after the accident are also included in this category.

Slight injury: An injury of minor character such as a sprain, bruise or cut not judged to be severe, or slight shock requiring roadside attention without admission to hospital or requiring hospitalization for less than 12 hours.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4045

Guangdong Scheme and Fujian Scheme

14. MR WONG KWOK-KIN (in Chinese): President, under the Guangdong Scheme ("GD Scheme") and the Fujian Scheme ("FJ Scheme") implemented by the Social Welfare Department ("SWD"), eligible Hong Kong elderly persons who have moved to reside in the Guangdong ("GD") and Fujian ("FJ") Provinces may receive a monthly Old Age Allowance ("OAA") without being required to return to Hong Kong each year. The Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA") has been extended to the two schemes from 1 January this year, and applications have been accepted since 1 November last year. SWD has appointed an implementation agent to assist in processing the OALA applications from those elderly persons who are currently receiving OAA under the two schemes but are unable to return to Hong Kong to complete the application procedure. Some of such elderly persons have indicated that as they have not yet received the review forms issued by the implementation agent, they are worried that they may not be able to start receiving OALA as scheduled. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the numbers of elderly persons, as estimated by the Government, who were eligible to apply for (i) Normal OALA and (ii) Higher OALA respectively under the two schemes at the time when it announced the extension of OALA to GD Scheme and FJ Scheme in October 2018;

(2) of the number of eligible elderly persons who have applied for OALA under the two schemes since November last year, and the percentage of such number in the total number of Hong Kong elderly persons who have moved to reside in GD and FJ Provinces;

(3) whether it knows (i) the respective numbers of review forms issued and collected by the implementation agent, as well as (ii) the number of cases in which the review forms have been lost in the mailing process that the implementation agent is aware of, since November last year;

(4) of the to-date numbers of elderly persons who have, through the implementation agent, (i) applied for OALA and (ii) been granted OALA respectively; and

4046 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(5) of the support currently provided by the implementation agent for those elderly persons who (i) have not received the review forms and (ii) have encountered problems in completing the review forms, and whether the agent has taken the initiative to contact those elderly persons who have not returned their review forms to follow up such cases; in respect of those elderly persons who, due to failure to receive the review forms in time or documentation errors/omissions, have been unable to start receiving OALA from 1 January this year, whether SWD will undertake, when approving their OALA applications in future, to exercise discretion to set the commencement date for receiving OALA retrospectively at 1 January this year, so as to ease the mind of the elderly persons?

SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE (in Chinese): President, starting from 1 January 2020, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") implements the Old Age Living Allowance ("OALA") under the Guangdong ("GD") Scheme and Fujian ("FJ") Scheme, in addition to the Old Age Allowance ("OAA"). Normal OALA (currently at $2,675 per month) or Higher OALA (currently at $3,585 per month) will be provided to eligible Hong Kong elderly persons who have chosen to reside in Guangdong or Fujian, without requiring them to return to Hong Kong each year. SWD has appointed an implementation agent to assist with the operations of the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme, which include assisting new applicants who are unable to travel to Hong Kong for the application procedures owing to their health conditions, conducting interviews and case reviews, handling enquiries, etc.

In the past few months, SWD has been implementing various arrangements to facilitate eligible elderly persons to make timely applications, namely "Application through case review", "Application by postal submission" and "New application". "Application through case review" is for persons aged 65 to 69 who were receiving the then means-tested OAA under the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme, as well as some of the persons aged 70 or above who were receiving the non-means-tested OAA under the Schemes. Under this arrangement, the implementation agent verified whether these persons are eligible for OALA through the case reviews under the established mechanism. "Application by postal submission" is for those remaining persons aged 70 or above who were receiving the non-means-tested OAA under the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme (i.e. recipients who were not included in the "Application through case review" LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4047 arrangement). In October 2019, SWD issued notification letters enclosing the application form to these elderly persons to invite them to apply for OALA. "New application" is for other elderly persons (i.e. elderly persons who were not already receiving OAA under the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme). These elderly persons may obtain the application form through different channels (e.g. the thematic websites of the two Schemes, Social Security Field Units ("SSFUs"), service centers of the implementation agent located in the two Provinces, etc.) and make applications starting from November 2019.

My reply to Mr WONG Kwok-kin's question is as follows:

(1) Whether eligible elderly persons would apply for OALA under the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme depends on their individual considerations and circumstances. It is difficult for the Government to provide an accurate assessment.

(2) As at 31 December 2019, SWD has received about 10 600 applications for OALA under the GD Scheme and FJ Scheme through the various application arrangements mentioned above. SWD will closely monitor the situation, including the number of applications for OALA and OAA under the two Schemes as well as the number of applications for the above allowances in Hong Kong.

According to the "Statistics on Hong Kong residents usually staying in Guangdong" published by the Census and Statistics Department in October 2019, it was estimated that there were about 84 400 Hong Kong elderly persons aged 65 or above usually residing in Guangdong in end-2018. The Government does not maintain recent figures of Hong Kong elderly persons aged 65 or above residing in Fujian.

(3) and (4)

As mentioned above, SWD issued notification letters enclosing the application form to relevant elderly persons under the "Application by postal submission" arrangement. The Department issued about 9 900 notification letters. SWD does not maintain the number of notification letters that were lost during the mailing process.

4048 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

As at 31 December 2019, among the about 10 600 applications mentioned in part (2) above, about 4 500 applications were made under the "Application by postal submission" arrangement, of which 2 100 applications have been approved.

(5) Whether eligible elderly persons would apply for OALA is a matter of individual preference, and would also depend on economic and other circumstances. SWD would not take the initiative to follow up with cases in which the application forms were not returned under the "Application by postal submission" arrangement. Elderly persons who could not receive the notification letter or need help in completing the application form may contact SSFUs or the implementation agent. The relevant staff would provide appropriate assistance.

Upon receiving the applications, SWD will suitably follow-up with those involving omissions in declarations or incomplete information. In case of special circumstances resulting in the late receipt of applications from elderly persons, SWD may consider exercising discretion and process the applications with the date on which they should have been received having regard to individual circumstances and reasonable cause.

Government service contracts

15. MR ANDREW WAN (in Chinese): President, the Government has issued internal guidelines encouraging government departments to adopt, when procuring service contracts which rely heavily on the engagement of non-skilled employees, a marking scheme comprising technical and price aspects in evaluating tenders. Under the new marking scheme which has been implemented since 1 April 2019, the technical weighting in marking has increased from the range of 30% to 40% in the past to the range of 50% to 70%, the price weighting in marking has decreased from the range of 60% to 70% to the range of 30% to 50%, and the weighting of wage level in the technical assessment must not be lower than 25%. Besides, the hourly wage of such employees must not be lower than the statutory minimum wage rate. Regarding government service contracts, will the Government inform this Council:

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4049

(1) of the following details of the cleansing service and security service contracts awarded by the four major procuring government departments (namely, (i) Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, (ii) Leisure and Cultural Services Department, (iii) Government Property Agency and (iv) Housing Department) respectively in the previous two financial years and the current financial year (up to December 2019):

(A) (a) the total number of contracts and, among them, the respective numbers of those awarded to (b) contractors with the lowest bids and (c) contractors with the lowest marks on wage levels (set out in tables of the same format as Table 1);

Table 1 Financial year: ______Cleansing service Security service

Number of Total (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) contracts Subtotal Subtotal (a) (b) (c)

(B) (a) the lower quartile, (b) the median and (c) the upper quartile hourly wages as pledged in the contracts (set out in tables of the same format as Table 2); and

Table 2 Financial year: Hourly Cleansing service Security service wage (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (a) (b) (c)

(C) the number of non-skilled employees engaged, with a breakdown by the range of hourly wages as pledged in the contracts (i.e. (a) $34.5 or below, (b) $34.6 to $35.5, (c) $35.6 4050 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

to $36.5, (d) $36.6 to $37.5, (e) $37.6 to $38.5, (f) $38.6 to $39.5, (g) $39.6 to $40.5, (h) $40.6 to $41.5, (i) $41.6 to $42.5, (j) $42.6 to $43.5, (k) $43.6 to $44.5, (l) $44.6 to $45.5, (m) $45.6 to $46.5, (n) $46.6 to $47.5, and (o) $47.6 or above) (rounded to the nearest $0.1) (set out in tables of the same format as Table 3);

Table 3 Financial year: Cleansing service Security service

Hourly Total wage (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Subtotal Subtotal (a) … (o) Total

(2) of the number of non-skilled employees engaged by the contractors of the Housing Department in the current financial year (up to December 2019), and set out in Table 4 a breakdown by the type of service (i.e. (i) cleansing service and (ii) security service) and the range of hourly wages as pledged in the contracts (as mentioned in (1) (C) above);

Table 4 Hourly wage Type of service (a) … (o) (i) (ii) Total

(3) of the details of the tendering exercises conducted by each of the aforesaid departments in the current financial year (up to December 2019) in respect of cleansing service and security service respectively, including the service districts, the effective dates of the new contracts, as well as the name of contractors and the contract value of new and old contracts respectively; and

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4051

(4) whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of the new marking scheme in improving the employment terms of non-skilled employees; if so, of the criteria adopted for and the outcome of the review; if not, whether it will conduct such a review, as well as the relevant timetable?

SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY (in Chinese): President, we have consulted the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"), Government Property Agency ("GPA") and Housing Department ("HD") (being the executive arm of the Housing Authority ("HA")). Reply to each part of the question is as follows:

(1) The breakdown of information requested in part (A), (B) and (C) of the question of the service contracts that rely heavily on the deployment of non-skilled workers ("service contracts") tendered and awarded in the 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 (up to 30 November 2019) financial years is set out at Annexes 1 to 3. GPA did not award any such service contract during the period.

(2) Information on the committed hourly wages pledged by government service contractors ("GSCs") and the number of non-skilled workers under the service contracts tendered and awarded by HD on behalf of HA in the 2019-2020 financial year (up to 30 November 2019) is at Annex 4.

(3) Details of the service contracts already tendered or under tendering by the four major procuring departments are set out at Annex 5.

(4) The new measures are a major step forward in according better protection to non-skilled workers engaged by GSCs. While the new measures, implemented since April 2019, have taken effect for less than one year, initially statistics reveal that the wage level of non-skilled workers engaged under the service contracts has increased under the new measures. The Government will keep in view the implementation of the new measures, and will consider areas for further improvement on an ongoing basis.

Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

4052 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex 1

Service contracts awarded in the 2017-2018, 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 (up to 30 November 2019)# financial years

(i) Service contracts awarded in the 2017-2018 financial year Cleansing Security Others

(3)

Number of total contracts total total Total HD HD HD management) LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venue management) (Venue (Property (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Horticultural maintenance Services) (Horticultural maintenance Number of contracts 57 14 21 92 12 7 9 28 1 11 2 13 27 147 awarded Number of contracts awarded to contractors 9 17 26(4) 4 9 13(4) 11 2 11 24(4) 63(4) with the lowest price bid(1) Number of (2) (2) (2) contracts awarded to contractors (4) (4) (4) (4) with the 2 10 12 5 7 12 3 1 4 8 32 lowest score on wage assessment(1)

Notes:

(1) Normally, the tenderer who obtains the highest overall score after technical and price assessment would be awarded the contract. As such, tender award is not solely based on the scores obtained in price or wage assessment.

(2) The computer system of FEHD does not keep record of the relevant information. In view of the large number of contracts involved and the need to check individual cases, there is insufficient time to compile the requested data.

(3) Property management service contractors of HD employ non-skilled workers for cleansing and security duties. Statistics of these property service contracts are excluded from that of HD's cleansing and security contracts. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4053

(4) FEHD figures excluded.

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

FEHD: Food and Environmental Hygiene Department LCSD: Leisure and Cultural Services Department HD: Housing Department

(ii) Service contracts awarded in the 2018-2019 financial year Cleansing Security Others

(3)

Number of total contracts total total Total HD HD HD LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venue management) (Venue (Property management) (Property (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Horticultural maintenance Services) (Horticultural maintenance Number of contracts 45 18 23 86 9 9 11 29 2 8 4 23 37 152 awarded Number of contracts awarded to contractors 9 17 26(4) 7 9 16(4) 8 3 16 27(4) 69(4) with the lowest price bid(1) Number of (2) (2) (2) contracts awarded to contractors (4) (4) (4) (4) with the 2 11 13 1 8 9 1 3 6 10 32 lowest score on wage assessment(1)

Notes:

(1) Normally, the tenderer who obtains the highest overall score after technical and price assessment would be awarded the contract. As such, tender award is not solely based on the scores obtained in price or wage assessment.

(2) The computer system of FEHD does not keep record of the relevant information. In view of the large number of contracts involved and the need to check individual cases, there is insufficient time to compile the requested data.

(3) Property management service contractors of HD employ non-skilled workers for cleansing and security duties. Statistics of these property service contracts are excluded from that of HD's cleansing and security contracts.

(4) FEHD figures excluded. 4054 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(iii) Service contracts tendered before April 2019 and awarded between April and November 2019(1) Cleansing Security Others

(4)

Number of total total total Total contracts HD HD HD LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venue management) (Venue (Property management) (Property (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Horticultural maintenance Services) (Horticultural maintenance Number of contracts 26 2 0 28 6 9 0 15 1 1 3 6 11 54 awarded Number of contracts awarded to contractors 1 0 1(5) 8(5) 0 8 1 3 3 7(5) 16(5) with the lowest price bid(2) Number of (3) (3) (3) contracts awarded to contractors (5) (5) (5) (5) 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 2 3 5 8 with the lowest score on wage assessment(2)

Notes:

(1) The new measures to enhance the protection of non-skilled workers engaged by government service contractors have taken effect since 1 April 2019. The marking scheme requirement under the new measures are not applicable to these contracts.

(2) Normally, the tenderer who obtains the highest overall score after technical and price assessment would be awarded the contract. As such, tender award is not solely based on the scores obtained in price or wage assessment.

(3) The computer system of FEHD does not keep record of the relevant information. In view of the large number of contracts involved and the need to check individual cases, there is insufficient time to compile the requested data.

(4) Property management service contractors of HD employ non-skilled workers for cleansing and security duties. Statistics of these property service contracts are excluded from that of HD's cleansing and security contracts.

(5) FEHD figures excluded.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4055

(iv) Service contracts tendered and awarded between April to November 2019 under the new measures Cleansing Security Others

(2)

Number of total total total Total contracts HD HD HD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venue management) (Venue (Property management) (Property (Cemeteries and crematoria)

Number of contracts 13 7 19 39 6 6 10 22 0 1 16 17 78 awarded Number of contracts awarded to contractors 3 1 4 8 0 2 2 4 0 0 4 4 16 with the lowest price bid(1) Number of contracts awarded to contractors 1 0 4 5 0 2 1 3 0 0 2 2 10 with the lowest score on wage assessment(1)

Notes:

(1) Normally, the tenderer who obtains the highest overall score after technical and price assessment would be awarded the contract. As such, tender award is not solely based on the scores obtained in price or wage assessment.

(2) Property management service contractors of HD employ non-skilled workers for cleansing and security duties. Statistics of these property service contracts are excluded from that of HD's cleansing and security contracts.

4056 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex 2

Committed hourly wage under the service contracts awarded in the 2017-2018 to 2019-2020 (up to 30 November 2019)# financial years

(i) Service contracts awarded in the 2017-2018 financial year Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage Note Note ($) LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD HD HD (Venue management) (Venue (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Horticultural maintenance Services) (Horticultural maintenance Lower quartile 35.5 35.0 34.9 35.0 34.5 35.5 46.4 36.3 37.0 Median 35.8 35.0 35.5 35.5 34.5 36.9 46.4 36.5 37.0 Upper quartile 36.5 35.0 36.2 36.0 36.0 37.9 46.4 36.7 37.0

Notes:

Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

FEHD: Food and Environmental Hygiene Department LCSD: Leisure and Cultural Services Department HD: Housing Department

(ii) Service contracts awarded in the 2018-2019 financial year Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage Note Note ($) LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD HD HD Services) (Venue management) (Venue (Horticultural maintenance (Horticultural maintenance (Cemeteries and crematoria) Lower quartile 36.5 38.0 36.9 37.0 37.0 37.2 36.5 37.5 40.0 Median 37.5 38.0 37.5 37.5 38.1 37.5 44.0 37.5 40.0 Upper quartile 40.0 38.5 38.5 38.0 39.0 38.5 44.0 39.5 40.0 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4057

Note:

Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

(iii) Service contracts tendered before April 2019 and awarded between April and November 2019(1) Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage (2) (2)

($) HD HD LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD (Venue management) (Venue (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Horticultural maintenance Services) (Horticultural maintenance Lower quartile 39.0 39.5 37.5 38.0 38.0 38.2 54.4 40.5 48.4 Median 39.5 39.5 37.9 38.5 38.3 38.5 54.4 40.5 48.4 Upper quartile 40.5 39.5 38.2 39.0 39.0 39.2 54.4 40.5 48.4

Notes:

(1) The new measures to enhance the protection of non-skilled workers engaged by government service contractors have taken effect since 1 April 2019. The marking scheme requirement under the new measures are not applicable to these contracts.

(2) Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

(iv) Service contracts tendered and awarded between April to November 2019 under the new measures Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage Note Note ($) LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD HD HD (Venue management) Lower quartile 43.5 40.0 40.2 40.0 39.0 40.5 40.3 Median 47.5 40.0 45.9 40.5 39.0 44.2 48.4 Upper quartile 48 40.0 47.9 40.5 40.5 48.2 48.4

Note:

Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

4058 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex 3

Number of non-skilled workers broken down by committed wages under the service contracts awarded in the 2017-2018 to 2019-2020 (up to 30 November 2019)# financial years

(i) Service contracts awarded in the 2017-2018 financial year Number of non-skilled workers Type of contracts Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage Note Note total total total Total LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD HD HD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venues Management) (Venues (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Cemeteries (Horticultural maintenance Services) maintenance (Horticultural $34.5 or below 0 0 95 95 26 97 0 123 0 2 14 16 234 $34.6 - $35.5 2 748 2 535 717 6 000 171 15 318 504 0 91 0 91 6 595 $35.6 - $36.5 2 972 0 221 3 193 78 61 117 256 0 145 0 145 3 594 $36.6 - $37.5 246 1 103 350 75 0 244 319 0 145 46 191 860 $37.6 - $38.5 744 195 1 940 0 0 219 219 0 47 0 47 1 206 $38.6 - $39.5 213 0 15 228 0 0 12 12 0 0 0 0 240 $39.6 - $40.5 132 0 0 132 0 0 53 53 0 0 0 0 185 $40.6 - $41.5 8 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 $41.6 - $42.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $42.6 - $43.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $43.6 - $44.5 66 0 0 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 66 $44.6 - $45.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $45.6 - $46.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 6 6 $46.6 - $47.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 $47.6 or above 7 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 8 15 Total 7 136 2 731 1 152 11 019 350 173 963 1 486 6 438 60 504 13 009

Note:

Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

FEHD: Food and Environmental Hygiene Department LCSD: Leisure and Cultural Services Department HD: Housing Department

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4059

(ii) Service contracts awarded in the 2018-2019 financial year Number of non-skilled workers Type of contracts Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage Note Note total total total Total LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD HD HD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venues Management) (Venues (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Cemeteries (Horticultural maintenance Services) maintenance (Horticultural

$34.5 or below 16 7 0 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 44 44 67

$34.6 - $35.5 0 92 26 118 0 31 76 107 0 0 0 0 225

$35.6 - $36.5 1 393 137 197 1 727 7 0 0 7 4 94 0 98 1 832

$36.6 - $37.5 605 31 461 1 097 120 40 664 824 0 252 0 252 2 173

$37.6 - $38.5 388 2 791 416 3 595 49 51 322 422 0 27 0 27 4 044

$38.6 - $39.5 66 105 43 214 0 44 151 195 0 48 0 48 457

$39.6 - $40.5 295 0 69 364 0 0 114 114 0 70 166 236 714

$40.6 - $41.5 409 0 44 453 0 0 68 68 0 0 0 0 521

$41.6 - $42.5 135 0 0 135 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 135

$42.6 - $43.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$43.6 - $44.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 6 6

$44.6 - $45.5 58 0 0 58 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 58

$45.6 - $46.5 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

$46.6 - $47.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$47.6 or above 21 0 0 21 0 0 0 0 0 11 31 42 63

Total 3 391 3 163 1 256 7 810 176 166 1 395 1 737 10 502 241 753 10 300

Note:

Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

4060 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(iii) Service contracts tendered before April 2019 and awarded between April and November 2019(1) Number of non-skilled workers Type of contracts Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage (2) (2) total total

total Total

HD HD LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD FEHD FEHD FEHD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venues Management) (Venues (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Cemeteries (Horticultural maintenance Services) maintenance (Horticultural

$34.5 or below 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$34.6 - $35.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$35.6 - $36.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$36.6 - $37.5 0 0 20 20 46 0 1 47 0 0 0 0 67

$37.6 - $38.5 490 6 42 538 90 1 320 181 1 591 0 0 0 0 2 129

$38.6 - $39.5 1 281 63 0 1 344 49 666 115 830 0 0 21 21 2 195

$39.6 - $40.5 1 189 0 0 1 189 0 96 0 96 0 28 0 28 1 313

$40.6 - $41.5 72 0 0 72 0 201 0 201 0 0 0 0 273

$41.6 - $42.5 192 0 0 192 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 192

$42.6 - $43.5 231 0 0 231 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 231

$43.6 - $44.5 65 0 0 65 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 65

$44.6 - $45.5 5 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

$45.6 - $46.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$46.6 - $47.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$47.6 or above 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 97 110 110

Total 3 525 69 62 3 656 185 2 283 297 2 765 13 28 118 159 6 580

Notes:

(1) The new measures to enhance the protection of non-skilled workers engaged by government service contractors have taken effect since 1 April 2019. The marking scheme requirement under the new measures are not applicable to these contracts.

(2) Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4061

(iv) Service contracts tendered and awarded between April to November 2019 under the new measures Number of non-skilled workers Type of contracts Cleansing Security Others

Committed

hourly wage Note Note total total total Total LCSD LCSD LCSD LCSD HD FEHD HD FEHD FEHD Sub - Sub - Sub - (Venues Management) (Venues (Cemeteries and crematoria) (Cemeteries (Horticultural maintenance Services) maintenance (Horticultural

$34.5 or below 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$34.6 - $35.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$35.6 - $36.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

$36.6 - $37.5 0 0 13 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13

$37.6 - $38.5 0 0 246 246 0 0 118 118 0 0 0 0 364

$38.6 - $39.5 0 4 64 68 11 139 100 250 0 0 0 0 318

$39.6 - $40.5 78 165 48 291 61 51 337 449 0 0 11 11 751

$40.6 - $41.5 6 0 0 6 5 28 30 63 0 0 0 0 69

$41.6 - $42.5 0 0 14 14 0 9 34 43 0 0 0 0 57

$42.6 - $43.5 575 0 49 624 0 0 205 205 0 0 0 0 829

$43.6 - $44.5 99 45 128 272 0 0 268 268 0 0 0 0 540

$44.6 - $45.5 18 0 129 147 0 0 7 7 0 0 0 0 154

$45.6 - $46.5 0 0 242 242 0 0 61 61 0 0 0 0 303

$46.6 - $47.5 572 0 93 665 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 665

$47.6 or above 800 0 363 1 163 0 0 740 740 0 0 12 12 1 915

Total 2 148 214 1 389 3 751 77 227 1 900 2 204 0 0 23 23 5 978

Note:

Includes non-skilled workers performing cleansing and security duties under the property management service contracts of HD.

4062 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Annex 4

Number of non-skilled workers broken down by committed hourly wages under the service contracts awarded by Housing Department in the 2019-2020 (up to 30 November 2019)# financial year

Number of non-skilled workers(1) Committed hourly wage ($)(2) 47.6 37.5 37.6- 38.6- 39.6- 40.6- 41.6- 42.6- 43.6- 44.6- 45.6- 46.6- or 38.5 39.5 40.5 41.5 42.5 43.5 44.5 45.5 46.5 47.5 above Cleansing 33 288 64 48 0 14 49 128 129 242 93 363 Security 1 299 215 337 30 34 205 268 7 61 0 740 Total 34 587 279 385 30 48 254 396 136 303 93 1 103

Notes:

(1) Includes figures before the implementation of the new measures. Please refer to Annex 3 (iii) and (iv) for the breakdown of figures before and after the implementation of new measures.

(2) The committed hourly wages under all service contracts are not less than $37.5.

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

Annex 5(i)

Service contracts already tendered or under tendering by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department in the 2019-2020 financial year (up to 30 November 2019)#

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) (i) Service type: Cleansing 1.9.2019 Hawker Bazaars Lapco Service Yee Tai in Kwun Tong Limited Cleaning 6.4 13.9 and Yau Tsim Company Districts Limited 1.10.2019 Municipal Johnson Hugo Services Services Cleaning Company Building in Services Limited 2.5 4.5 Mong Kok Company District Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4063

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.10.2019 Kowloon City Lapco Service Man Shing District (North) Limited Cleaning Service 67.7 143.1 Company Limited 1.10.2019 Kowloon City Lapco Service Man Shing District (South) Limited Cleaning Service 66.2 137.7 Company Limited 1.10.2019 Sheung Shui in Lapco Service Lapco Service 90.0 158.5 North District Limited Limited 1.10.2019 Fanling in North Man Shing Lapco Service District Cleaning Service Limited 76.8 149.2 Company Limited 1.10.2019 Kwun Tong Law's Cleaning Johnson District Services Limited Cleaning Services 28.6 63.3 Company Limited 1.10.2019 Wong Tai Sin Lapco Service Baguio Pest District Limited Management 27.4 65.4 Limited 1.10.2019 Cemeteries and Integrity Service Sparkle Crematoria Limited Environmental 10.1 20.4 (Hong Kong and Services Limited Kowloon) 1.11.2019 Southern District Lapco Service Lapco Service 75.2 149.2 Limited Limited 1.11.2019 Kwun Tong Lapco Service Lapco Service 56.4 116.1 District (North) Limited Limited 1.11.2019 Kwun Tong Lapco Service Lapco Service 53.9 105.8 District (South) Limited Limited 1.11.2019 Eastern District Johnson Yee Tai Cleaning Cleaning Services Company 38.1 79.3 Company Limited Limited 4064 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.12.2019 North District Baguio Pest Johnson and Cemeteries Management Cleaning and Crematoria Limited Services 38.1 77.3 (New Company Territories) Limited 1.12.2019 Tai Po District Johnson Creative Pest Cleaning Control Services Services Limited 32.4 68.9 Company Limited 1.12.2019 Tsuen Wan Lapco Service Lapco Service 35.3 81.2 District Limited Limited 1.12.2019 Kwai Tsing Integrity Service Baguio Pest District Limited Management 33.7 78.3 Limited 1.12.2019 Territory (Initial Purchase) ISS Environmental - 43.9 Services (HK) Limited 1.12.2019 Tuen Mun Man Shing Johnson District Cleaning Service Cleaning Company Services 76.5 137.2 Limited Company Limited 1.1.2020 Wan Chai Johnson Johnson District (East) Cleaning Cleaning Services Services 82.3 127.9 Company Company Limited Limited 1.1.2020 Wan Chai Lapco Service Lapco Service 57.4 111.8 District (West) Limited Limited 1.1.2020 Kwun Tong World Yee Tai District Environmental Cleaning 25.7 60.5 Services Limited Company Limited 1.1.2020 Tuen Mun Baguio Pest Dussmann District Management Service Hong 12.2 24.7 Limited Kong Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4065

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.1.2020 Tsuen Wan Johnson Dussmann District Cleaning Service Hong Services Kong Limited 26.2 60.0 Company Limited 1.2.2020 Islands District Lapco Service Not yet Not yet 11.8 Limited Available Available 1.2.2020 Sha Tin District Lapco Service Not yet Not yet 11.0 Limited Available Available 1.3.2020 Wong Tai Sin Baguio Cleaning Not yet Not yet District (South) Services Available Available 69.5 1.3.2020 Wong Tai Sin Company Not yet Not yet District (North) Limited Available Available 1.3.2020 Central and Baguio Cleaning Not yet Not yet Western District Services Available Available (Central (East), Company 49.9 Admiralty and Limited portion of mid-levels area) 1.3.2020 Central and Baguio Cleaning Not yet Not yet Western District Services Available Available (Central (West) Company 74.6 and portion of Limited mid-levels area) 1.5.2020 Kwai Tsing Dussmann Not yet Not yet District Service Hong Available 14.7 Available Kong Limited (ii) Service type: Security 1.9.2019 Municipal Guard Able Central Security Services Limited Services Limited Building in 6.4 Kowloon City District 6.5 Municipal Guard Able Services Limited 6.4 Building in Yau Tsim District 4066 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.10.2019 Municipal Guard Able Sky Wise Services Limited Services Building in Management 10.4 18.5 Central and Limited Western District 1.10.2019 Municipal Mainland Central Security Services Services Services Limited Building in Management 3.6 6.5 Mong Kok Limited District 1.11.2019 Municipal Alliance Security Sky Wise Services Limited Services 3.2 5.8 Building in Management Eastern District Limited 1.11.2019 Municipal Federal Guards Central Security Services Limited Services Limited 2.3 4.7 Building in Southern District 1.12.2019 Public Federal Guards Sunguard Cemeteries, Limited Security Crematoria and Company Cremation Limited 13.8 41.2 Booking Office (Hong Kong and Kowloon) (iii) Service type: Manual Consignment Handling Services 1.1.2020 Man Kam To New Method New Method Food Control Cleaning Cleaning 3.8 5.8 Office Services Limited Services Limited

Note:

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4067

Annex 5(ii)

Service contracts already tendered or under tendering by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in the 2019-2020 financial year (up to 30 November 2019)#

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) (i) Service type: Cleansing 1.8.2019 Hong Kong Johnson Baguio Cleaning Heritage Cleaning Services Co. Ltd. Museum, Services Co. Ltd. Sheung Yiu Folk 12.3 16.0 Museum and Hong Kong Railway Museum 1.9.2019 Fa Yuen Street Johnson Baguio Cleaning Municipal Cleaning Services Co. Ltd. 3.7 5.4 Services Services Co. Ltd. Building 1.9.2019 Sai Wan Ho Johnson Baguio Cleaning Municipal Cleaning Services Co. Ltd. 5.9 7.7 Services Services Co. Ltd. Building 1.9.2019 Quarry Bay New Life Baguio Cleaning Municipal Psychiatric Services Co. Ltd. 1.5 2.7 Services Rehabilitation Building Association 1.10.2019 Various New Johnson Baguio Cleaning Territories Civic Cleaning Services Co. Ltd. Centres Services Co. Ltd. Baguio Cleaning 37.4 50.9 Services Co. Ltd. Law's Cleaning Services Limited 1.10.2019 Hong Kong Baguio Cleaning Good Space Museum Services Co. Ltd. Environmental 5.5 6.4 Services Limited 1.12.2019 Lam Tin Lapco Service Shiny Glory 13.9 18.4 Complex Limited Services Limited 4068 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.4.2020 Leisure Venues Baguio Cleaning Not yet available Not yet in Eastern, Wan Services Co. Ltd. available Chai, Central & 101.4 Western and Southern Districts 1.4.2020 Parks and Shiny Glory Not yet available Not yet Playgrounds in Services Limited available Eastern, Wan Baguio Cleaning Chai, Central & Services Co. Ltd. 85.8 Western and Southern Districts 1.5.2020 Lady MacLehose Lapco Service Not yet available Not yet Holiday Village, Limited available Sai Kung Good Outdoor Environmental Recreation Services Limited Centre, Tso Johnson 34.0 Kung Tam Cleaning Outdoor Services Co. Ltd. Recreation Centre and Lei Yue Mun Park (ii) Service type: Security 1.8.2019 Twelve Public Sky Wise Sky Wise Libraries Services Services Management Management Limited Limited 28.1 49.8 Sunguard Professional Security Co. Ltd. Security Services Ltd. 1.10.2019 Ko Shan Theatre Professional Sky Wise and Ko Shan Security Services Services 10.2 14.2 Theatre New Ltd. Management Wing Limited 1.12.2019 Un Chau Street Sky Wise Sky Wise Municipal Services Services 1.8 2.1 Services Management Management Building Limited Limited 1.1.2020 Wang Kwong (Initial Purchase) Sky Wise Road Vehicle Services - 4.8 Servicing Area Management Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4069

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.12.2019 Hong Kong Sky Wise Sky Wise Coliseum and Services Services Queen Elizabeth Management Management 5.9 8.6 Stadium Limited Limited Security Cares Consultancy Ltd. 1.3.2020 Sai Wan Ho Mainland Not yet available Not yet Municipal Services available 4.7 Services Management Building Limited 1.5.2020 Hong Kong Guard Alliance Not yet available Not yet 7.4 Stadium Ltd. available 1.6.2020 Hong Kong Guard Alliance Not yet available Not yet Heritage Ltd. available Museum, Hong Kong Railway 30.3 Museum and Sheung Yiu Folk Museum (iii) Service type: Venues Management Services 1.8.2019 Oil Street Art Shui On Shui On Space and Hong Properties Properties 12.1 20.8 Kong Visual Management Management Arts Centre Limited Limited 1.2.2020 The Jockey Club Spotlight Not yet available Not yet Tuen Mun Enterprises Ltd available Butterfly Beach Sports Centre, Fa Yuen Street 35.7 Sports Centre and Wong Chuk Hang Sports Centre 1.4.2020 Hiu Kwong Spotlight Not yet available Not yet Street Sports Enterprises Ltd available Centre, Yeung Uk Road Sports 12.3 Centre and Tin Shui Wai Sports Centre 4070 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.5.2020 Ap Lei Chau Pulse Fitness Not yet available Not yet Sports Centre, Management available Choi Hung Road Consultant Sports Centre, Company North Kwai Limited 17.0 Chung Tang Shiu Kin Sports Centre and Wo Hing Sports Centre (iv) Service type: Horticultural Maintenance Services 1.6.2020 Tuen Mun Melofield Not yet available Not yet Recreation and Nursery & available 4.0 Sports Centre Landscape Contractor Ltd

Note:

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

Annex 5(iii)

Service contracts already tendered or under tendering by Housing Department in the 2019-2020 financial year (up to 30 November 2019)#

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) (i) Service type: Cleansing 1.11.2019 Ap Lei Chau Man Shun Hong Hong Kong Estate Kong & Kln. Commercial Cleaning Cleaning 13.3 13.7 Company Services Limited Limited 1.11.2019 Lai Kok Estate Law's Cleaning Sunny Cleansing 8.1 10.1 Services Limited Co. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4071

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.11.2019 Oi Man Estate Hong Kong Sunbase Commercial Environmental 14.0 19.3 Cleaning Hygiene Limited Services Limited 1.11.2019 On Yam Estate Yee Tai Hong Yee 12.7 12.5 Cleaning Co. Cleaning Co. 1.11.2019 Tin Shui (II) Modern Living Sunny Cleansing Estate Property Co. 7.9 9.2 Management Limited 1.12.2019 Fu Cheong Yee Hop Yee Tai 12.8 15.6 Estate Cleaning Co. Cleaning Co. 1.12.2019 Hing Man Estate Lapco Service Chun Wui Kee Limited Company 4.9 5.5 Limited 1.12.2019 Tin Yuet Estate Law's Cleaning Creative Services Limited Property Services 7.9 9.7 Consultants Limited 1.1.2020 Chun Shek Yee Tai Yee Hop 6.5 7.9 Estate Cleaning Co. Cleaning Co. 1.1.2020 Lek Yuen Estate Talent Match Talent Match 9.3 9.7 Limited Limited 1.1.2020 On Ting Estate Chun Wui Kee Sun Lee Company Cleansing 10.6 12.2 Limited Company Limited 1.1.2020 Sam Shing Talent Match Sun Lee Estate Limited Cleansing 4.9 5.9 Company Limited 1.1.2020 Wah Fu (II) Sun Lee Li Hing Estate Cleansing Environmental 11.2 13.5 Company Services Co. Limited Limited 4072 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.1.2020 Yiu Tung Estate Sun Lee Sunny Cleansing Cleansing Co. 15.1 18.2 Company Limited 1.1.2020 Shun Tin Estate Man Shun Hong Yee Tai Kong & Kln. Cleaning Co. Cleaning 14.6 19.4 Company Limited 1.1.2020 Wah Fu (I) Man Shun Hong Sunny Cleansing Estate Kong & Kln. Co. Cleaning 18.8 24.2 Company Limited 1.1.2020 Yau Oi Estate Sunny Cleansing Sun Lee Co. Cleansing 18.2 23.6 Company Limited 1.1.2020 Lok Wah (South) Lapco Service Sun Lee Estate Limited Cleansing 14.9 19.6 Company Limited 1.9.2019 Pioneer Centre, Master Clean New Method Prince Edward Service Limited Cleaning 0.7 1.1 Services Limited 1.2.2020 Tin Heng Estate Man Shun Hong Not yet available Not yet Kong & Kln. available Cleaning 13.5 Company Limited 1.3.2020 Model Housing Ying Wah Not yet available Not yet Estate Cleaning Service 2.5 available Limited 1.4.2020 Butterfly Estate Man Shun Hong Not yet available Not yet Kong & Kln. available Cleaning 13.0 Company Limited 1.4.2020 Pak Tin Estate Chun Wui Kee Not yet available Not yet Company 12.5 available Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4073

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.4.2020 Shek Yam East Hong Yee Not yet available Not yet 6.5 Estate Cleaning Co. available 1.4.2020 Wu King Estate Hong Shing HK Not yet available Not yet 9.0 Clean Co. available 1.5.2020 Ko Yee Estate Hong Kong Not yet available Not yet Commercial available 6.0 Cleaning Services Limited 1.5.2020 Kwai Chung Yee Hop Not yet available Not yet 28.9 Estate Cleaning Co. available 1.5.2020 Sha Kok Estate Yee Tai Not yet available Not yet 13.1 Cleaning Co. available 1.5.2020 Wan Tsui Estate Sun Lee Not yet available Not yet Cleansing available 9.4 Company Limited (ii) Service type: Property Management 27.6.2019 Lai Tsui Court (Initial Purchase) City Professional Management - 28.3 Limited 22.11.2019 Sheung Man (Initial Purchase) City Professional Court Management - 13.2 Limited 22.11.2019 Yung Ming (Initial Purchase) City Professional Court Management - 19.3 Limited 22.11.2019 Yu Tai Court (Initial Purchase) China Overseas Property - 20.3 Services Limited 1.11.2019 Kai Tin, On Tin, Modern Living Nice Property Ping Tin, Tsui Property Management Ping (N), Tsui Management Limited Ping (S), Wan Ltd. Hon, Ko Cheung/Yau Mei Domestic, 398.5 586.4 Cheung Wo Court, Lei On Court, Hong Tin Court, Hong Nga Court, Hong Ying Court 4074 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.11.2019 Kwai Fong, Lai Modern Living Modern Living Yiu, Shek Lei Property Property 440.5 592.9 (I), Shek Yam Management Management Ltd. Ltd. 1.12.2019 Hing Tung, Tin Kai Fu Property Sunbase Wan, Tung Lam Services Co. Ltd. International Court, Tung Hei Properties 139.7 171.9 Court Management Ltd. 1.12.2019 Chuk Yuen (N), China Overseas Creative Fung Tak, Lower Property Property Wong Tai Sin Services Ltd. Services 151.9 231.3 (I), Tung Tau II, Consultants Upper Wong Tai Limited Sin 1.12.2019 Cheung Sha China Overseas Nice Property Wan, Homantin, Property Management Hung Hom, Lei Services Ltd. Limited Cheng Uk, Nam Cheong, Sheung 271.6 513.5 Lok, Wing Cheong, Hoi Fu Court, Chun Man Court, Yee Ching Court 1.12.2019 Kin Sang, Leung Nice Property Pioneer King, Long Ping, Management Management 226.2 317.0 Tin King, Tin Limited Ltd. Tsz, Tin Wah 1.12.2019 Kin Ming, Choi Modern Living Easy Living Ming Court Property Consultant Ltd. 162.5 230.5 Management Ltd. 1.1.2020 Choi Yuen, Tai Creative Creative Ping, Tin Ping, Property Property Choi Po Court, Services Services 137.9 239.7 On Shing Court Consultants Consultants Limited Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4075

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.11.2019 HAHQ at Sun Fook Kong Sun Fook Kong Homantin Housing Housing 16.5 27.2 Services Limited Services Limited 1.11.2019 Shui Chuen O China Overseas China Overseas Plaza, Property Property Non-domestic Services Limited Services Limited 20.4 26.6 Premises and Carpark in Shui Chuen O Estate 1.11.2019 Hung Fuk Creative Creative Shopping Centre, Property Property Non-domestic Services Services 11.9 11.8 Premises and Consultants Consultants Carpark in Hung Limited Limited Fuk Estate 1.4.2020 Lung Cheung Good Excel Not yet available Not yet Office Block and Property available 19.3 Individual HD Consultants Offices Limited 1.4.2020 Hung Fuk Shui On Not yet available Not yet Properties available 91.9 Management Ltd. 1.4.2020 Lung Hang, Sun Modern Living Not yet available Not yet Tin Wai Property available 154.6 Management Ltd. 1.4.2020 Chung On, Easy Living Not yet available Not yet Kwong Yuen, Consultant Ltd. available Pok Hong, Fung Shing Court, 134.2 Kam Fung Court, Kwong Lam Court 1.4.2020 Lei Tung, Fung Creative Not yet available Not yet Wah, Ma Hang, Property available Sai Wan, Siu Services 338.3 Sai Wan, Tsui Consultants Wan, Wah Kwai, Limited Kai Tsui Court 1.4.2020 Wang Tau Hom, China Overseas Not yet available Not yet Choi Fai, Fu Property 115 available Keung Court Services Ltd. 4076 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.4.2020 Hau Tak, Sheung Pioneer Not yet available Not yet Tak, Chung Management available Ming Court, Ltd. Kwong Ming 145.6 Court, Po Ming Court, Tong Ming Court 1.5.2020 Kwai Chung Funing Property Not yet available Not yet (Kwai Chun Management 27.7 available Court) Ltd. (iii) Service type: Security 1.10.2019 Lok Wah (South) Onward Security Tonwell Security Estate Company Limited 23.2 32.3 Limited 1.10.2019 On Tai Estate Onward Security Nice Property Company Management 31.3 36.7 Limited Limited 1.10.2019 Tai Wo Hau Creative Creative Estate Property Property Services Services 36.5 40.2 Consultants Consultants Limited Limited 1.10.2019 Yue Wan Estate Good Excel Hong Kong Property Guards Limited 12.6 15.4 Consultants Limited 1.12.2019 Fu Cheong Hong Kong Wah Hong Nin Estate Kiu (Overseas) Security 21.2 24.8 Services Limited Company Limited 1.1.2020 Cheung Hong Guard City Tonwell Security 26.4 33.2 Estate Limited Limited 1.1.2020 Fuk Loi Estate Hong Kong Wah Guard City Kiu (Overseas) Limited 15.7 17.9 Services Limited 1.1.2020 Model Housing Unimax Property Unimax Property Estate Consultancy Consultancy 4.8 6.2 Limited Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4077

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.1.2020 Hing Man Estate Dragon Guard Creative Security Limited Property Services 9.1 10.0 Consultants Limited 1.1.2020 Wan Tsui Estate Dragon Guard Hong Kong 15.9 19.1 Security Limited Guards Limited 1.2.2020 Tin Yan Estate Tonwell Security Not yet available Not yet 23.2 Limited available 1.3.2020 Sun Chui Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 27.5 Consultants Limited 1.3.2020 Sha Kok Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 29.0 Consultants Limited 1.4.2020 Ko Yee Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 11.3 Consultants Limited 1.4.2020 Kai Yip Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 17.8 Consultants Limited 1.4.2020 Ping Shek Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 15.7 Consultants Limited 1.4.2020 Shun Tin Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 25.0 Consultants Limited 4078 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Value of Value of Commencement Name of current/ Name of new new date of new Service area existing/previous previous contractor contract contract contractor contract ($ million) ($ million) 1.4.2020 Oi Man Estate Creative Not yet available Not yet Property available Services 22.0 Consultants Limited 1.5.2020 Tsz Ching Estate Dragon Guard Not yet available Not yet 23.5 Security Limited available

Note:

# Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

Annex 5(iv)

Service contracts already tendered or under tendering by Government Property Agency in the 2019-2020 financial year (up to 30 November 2019)#

Value of Commencement Name of Value of new Name of new current/previous date of new Service area existing/previous contract contractor contract contract contractor ($ million) ($ million) (i) Service type: Property Management 1.4.2020 Hong Kong Urban Property Not yet Not yet Management available 217.4 available Limited 1.4.2020 Hong Kong Savills Property Management 244.3 Limited 1.4.2020 Kowloon Guardian Property 175.2 Management Limited LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4079

Value of Commencement Name of Value of new Name of new current/previous date of new Service area existing/previous contract contractor contract contract contractor ($ million) ($ million) 1.4.2020 Kowloon Urban Property Management 193.9 Limited 1.4.2020 New ISS EastPoint Territories Property 176.5 Management Limited 1.4.2020 New Guardian Territories Property 220.1 Management Limited

Note:

# Since GPA did not conduct any tender exercises for service contracts in December 2019, there is no relevant data for this period.

Non-skilled employees engaged under government service contracts

16. DR FERNANDO CHEUNG (in Chinese): President, regarding the statistics on the non-skilled employees engaged under government service contracts ("contracts"), will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the number of non-skilled employees, up to 31 December 2019, engaged by the service contractors ("contractors") of the four major procuring government departments (namely, (i) Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, (ii) Leisure and Cultural Services Department, (iii) Government Property Agency, and (iv) Housing Department), and set out in Table 1 a breakdown of such numbers by the type of service (i.e. (a) cleansing, (b) security and (c) others) and the range of hourly wages as pledged in the contracts;

4080 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Table 1 Range of hourly wages pledged ($) Type of Procuring 37.6 39.6 41.6 43.6 45.6 47.6 Total service department 37.5 to to to to to or 39.5 41.5 43.5 45.5 47.5 more (a) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Sub-total … All (i) types (ii) (iii) (iv) Total

(2) among the non-skilled employees engaged by the contractors of the aforesaid four departments up to 31 December 2019, of the number of those who were: (A) aged 65 or above, (B) engaged on a part-time basis, (C) entitled to 17 days of paid general holidays (other than Sundays), and (D) entitled to paid meal breaks, and set out in Table 2 a breakdown of such numbers by the aforesaid types of service;

Table 2 Type of Procuring Number of employees service department (A) (B) (C) (D) (a) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Sub-total … All types (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Total

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4081

(3) of (A) the number of cases of the contractors of the aforesaid four departments reporting to the Labour Department on injuries or deaths of non-skilled employees caused by accidents in the course of their employment, and (B) among such cases, the number of those in which the employers and employees failed to reach agreements on the compensation claims, in each of the past three years, and set out in Table 3 a breakdown of such numbers by the aforesaid types of service; and

Table 3 Type of Procuring 2017 2018 2019 service department (A) (B) (A) (B) (A) (B) (a) (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Sub-total … All types (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Total

(4) in respect of the work injury incidents mentioned in (3), of the respective numbers of (A) fatal cases and (B) cases involving sick leave lasting six weeks or more (set out in a table of the same format as Table 3)?

SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY (in Chinese): President, we have consulted the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department ("FEHD"), Leisure and Cultural Services Department ("LCSD"), Government Property Agency ("GPA"), Housing Department ("HD") (being the executive arm of the Hong Kong Housing Authority ("HA")) and Labour Department ("LD"). The reply to each part of the question is as follows:

4082 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(1) Since April 2019, government departments and HA have introduced new measures to enhance the protection of non-skilled workers employed by government service contractors ("GSCs") when they procure service contracts that rely heavily on the deployment of non-skilled workers ("service contracts"). Information on the committed hourly wages pledged by GSCs and the non-skilled workers under the service contracts tendered and awarded by FEHD, LCSD and HD (representing HA) since the implementation of the new measures and up to 30 November 2019 is at Annex. GPA did not award any such service contract during the period.

Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

(2) FEHD, LCSD and GPA do not keep information on the age, mode of employment (whether on a part-time basis), holiday and meal break arrangement of non-skilled workers engaged by their GSCs.

118 non-skilled workers were engaged on a part-time basis under the service contracts tendered and awarded by HD (representing HA) during the period of 1 April 2019 to 30 November 2019. HD does not keep information on the age, holiday and meal break arrangement of the non-skilled workers engaged by their GSCs.

(3) and (4)

According to LD, reports of work injuries do not record whether the work injury cases are concerned with government service contracts. LD does not keep information on the number of work injury cases reported by GSCs in respect of their employees, as well as the number of work injury cases involving disputes of employees' compensation liability, fatal cases and work injury cases with sick leave days of six weeks or above.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4083

Annex

Service contracts that rely heavily on the deployment of non-skilled workers tendered and awarded from 1 April 2019 to 30 November 2019(1)

Number of non-skilled workers Range of committed hourly wage under the contracts Types of Procuring ($) service department 47.6 37.6- 39.6- 41.6- 43.6- 45.6- 37.5 or Total 39.5 41.5 43.5 45.5 47.5 above Cleansing FEHD 0 0 84 575 117 572 800 2 148 LCSD 0 4 165 0 45 0 0 214 HD(2) 13 310 48 63 257 335 363 1 389 Sub-total 13 314 297 638 419 907 1 163 3 751 Security FEHD 0 11 66 0 0 0 0 77 LCSD 0 139 79 9 0 0 0 227 HD(2) 0 218 367 239 275 61 740 1 900 Sub-total 0 368 512 248 275 61 740 2 204 Others LCSD 0 0 11 0 0 0 12 23 (Venue Sub-total 0 0 11 0 0 0 12 23 management) All types FEHD 0 11 150 575 117 572 800 2 225 LCSD 0 143 255 9 45 0 12 464 HD(2) 13 528 415 302 532 396 1 103 3 289 Total 13 682 820 886 694 968 1 915 5 978

Notes:

(1) Information as at December 2019 is still under compilation and hence not available.

(2) HD is the executive arm of HA. HD figures represent information on the service contracts procured by HD on behalf of HA.

4084 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

The scientific, reading and mathematical literacy of Hong Kong students

17. MR CHEUNG KWOK-KWAN (in Chinese): President, according to the study results of the "Programme for International Student Assessment 2018" released last month by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, among the 79 countries or economies participating in the study, Hong Kong's 15-year-old students ranked fourth in both (i) mother tongue reading and (ii) mathematical literacy, dropping by two places as compared with the rankings in the last study, and kept the ranking of the ninth place in (iii) scientific literacy. Mainland and Macao students' scores in all of the aforesaid three literacy domains were higher than those of Hong Kong students (with Mainland students even achieving the highest scores), and Hong Kong students' scores in scientific and reading literacy hit a record low since 2006. In view of the aforesaid study results, quite a number of Hong Kong people are worried that Hong Kong students are gradually losing their competitiveness as their academic competence is declining and has been overtaken by their counterparts in neighbouring regions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) given that Hong Kong students' scores in reading and scientific literacy both dropped and their scores in the aforesaid three literacy domains were all lower than those of their Mainland and Macao counterparts, how the Education Bureau ("EDB") interprets the aforesaid study results, and whether EDB has avoided the important and dwelt on the trivial in making the comment, in a press release it issued after the release of the aforesaid study results, that Hong Kong students' "performance in these three areas was significantly higher than the international level";

(2) given that it has been more than four years since education on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ("STEM") was promoted in primary and secondary schools, whether EDB has studied the reasons why Hong Kong students' score in scientific literacy has dropped instead and hit a record low since 2006; if EDB has, of the details; whether EDB will review if the deployment and utilization of STEM education resources are appropriate and effective;

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4085

(3) as some academics have pointed out that the drop in the score of Hong Kong students in scientific literacy may be related to the decrease in recent years in the number of senior secondary students taking the subjects of physics, biology and chemistry simultaneously, whether EDB will review the weighting of science subjects in the senior secondary curriculum, as well as the levels and contents of those subjects;

(4) whether EDB will right away put in place effective measures to enhance local students' literacy in mathematics and science, and whether EDB will study and make reference to the merits of the education systems in Macao and the Mainland in order to improve Hong Kong's education system; and

(5) of the new measures in place to promote a reading culture among Hong Kong youngsters so as to enhance their reading literacy?

SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION (in Chinese): President, the Programme for International Student Assessment ("PISA") is organized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ("OECD"). It aims to assess how well 15-year-old students have acquired the knowledge and skills essential for meeting the challenges of our society, and develop educational indicators for governments and policy makers of different countries to examine, evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of their education systems both at national and school levels. Since 2000, PISA has been conducted every three years, assessing students' mother tongue reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. Around 600 000 students from 79 countries/economies participated in PISA 2018.

Hong Kong's education, which aims at facilitating students' learning, provides a broad spectrum of knowledge and nurtures high-level thinking, generic skills and positive values to achieve whole-person development. Our primary concern in curriculum design and delivery is the interest of students and their outcomes. In line with this policy objective, we will carefully study the findings of PISA 2018 to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our students, and review the effectiveness of the curriculum as well as learning and teaching in the light of the successful experience of countries/economies with outstanding performance in order to further enhance the quality of education in Hong Kong and improve the competitiveness of our students internationally.

4086 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Our reply to Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan's question is as follows:

(1) PISA 2018 showed that, among the 79 countries/economies participating in the study, Hong Kong's 15-year-old students ranked fourth in both mother tongue reading and mathematical literacy, and ninth in scientific literacy. In reading literacy, although the ranking of Hong Kong students dropped slightly from second in 2015 and their score dropped marginally from 527 to 524, the score was still significantly above the OECD average of 487. The results reveal that Hong Kong students' performance was still outstanding. As for mathematical literacy, despite the slight drop in the ranking of our students in PISA 2018, the average score increased from 548 in 2015 to 551 in 2018, significantly above the OECD average (the OECD average scores in 2015 and 2018 were 490 and 489 respectively). In addition, 29% of Hong Kong students attained the highest level of mathematical literacy (i.e. Levels 6 and 5 on a scale from 1 to 6), higher than 26.5% in PISA 2015 and significantly above the OECD 2018 average of 10.9%, reflecting that our students' performance in mathematical literacy remained outstanding. As for scientific literacy, Hong Kong students' ranking did not drop, staying at the ninth in both PISA 2018 and PISA 2015. Although the average score in science (517) was slightly lower than that in the previous assessment (523), the OECD average score in science dropped from 493 in 2015 to 489 in 2018 as well. Compared with other OECD countries/economies, Hong Kong students attained an average score that was significantly higher than the OECD average, sustaining good overall performance. In sum, Hong Kong's performance in the above three areas was significantly above the international level.

(2) The Education Bureau released the Report on "Promotion of STEM Education―Unleashing Potential in Innovation" in late 2016, and has been actively promoting STEM education by implementing a wide range of strategies, so as to enable students to develop abilities required to excel in the 21st century. These strategies included, among others, renewing the curriculum of the Science Education Key Learning Area ("KLA"), enhancing teachers' professional training in STEM education, and providing resources to support schools in taking forward school-based STEM education projects. STEM education is not a separate and new subject, but is implemented in local primary and secondary curricula through the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4087

Science, Technology and Mathematics Education KLAs (such as Mathematics at the primary and secondary levels, Science and Computer Literacy at the junior secondary level, and General Studies at the primary level). These KLAs must be included in both primary and secondary school education. The aims of promoting STEM education are to enable students to recognize the relationship between innovative technology and their daily lives, to enhance their ability in integration and application of knowledge and skills learnt in the relevant KLAs, and to nurture their collaborative, hands-on, minds-on and creative problem-solving skills. Evaluation of the effectiveness of STEM education in schools by merely looking at the PISA rankings of students in mathematical and scientific literacy is far from comprehensive. Given the different circumstances and developmental focus of schools, the pace at which STEM education is promoted in schools may, understandably, vary. All along, we have gained an understanding of the progress of implementation of STEM education in schools, including effectiveness of relevant supporting measures, through various channels (including daily liaison with schools, school visits, school inspections and questionnaires, etc.). Leveraging their existing strengths, schools have generally implemented school-based STEM education. By improving the design of STEM learning activities, most schools have provided their students with STEM-based learning activities and assessment tasks, which include investigations, "hands-on and minds-on" activities, "design-and-make" activities, problem-solving activities, and open-ended assessment tasks related to daily life, to enhance their problem-solving skills, creativity and innovation. As a result, many students have become more interested in STEM and more proactive in learning with self-confidence, fully demonstrating the positive impact brought by STEM education on students.

(3) and (4)

We have been discussing with stakeholders the strengths and weaknesses of our students in learning by actively making reference to PISA-related data and the practices of other countries/economies, with a view to optimizing the learning and teaching of science and enhancing students' interests and capabilities in science and technology. Apart from international studies, the Education Bureau has been keeping an eye on the learning and performance of Hong 4088 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Kong students from multi perspectives through different sources including school inspection reports, students' overall performance in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, and their performance in major international competitions.

The senior secondary curriculum and subjects under the New Academic Structure ("NAS"), implemented since 2009, are formulated prudently upon extensive consultation, taking into account different factors including, among others, social demands, students' needs, lateral coherence of various subjects, and international benchmarks. Students' needs and school contexts have been considered from a professional perspective to provide an adequate choice of subjects to students with different aptitudes, abilities and backgrounds. The former division between the arts and science streams in the old system has been replaced with a broad and balanced senior secondary curriculum under NAS. The proportion of senior secondary students taking one or more STEM-related elective subjects has remained at about 60% in recent years, and Biology, Physics and Chemistry have also been among the most popular elective subjects for senior secondary students.

The Education Bureau has all along reviewed the implementation of the curriculum in a timely manner, including drawing reference from different places' curricula and curricula implementation as well as their successful experience, and has promoted the professional development of teachers through international exchange platforms at various levels so as to improve students' learning effectiveness and continuously enhance the quality of education in Hong Kong. We conducted the NAS Review from 2012 to 2015 to improve the implementation of the senior secondary curriculum and assessment. We established the Task Force on Review of School Curriculum ("Task Force") in November 2017 to holistically review the implementation of the primary and secondary curricula. The Task Force conducted a public consultation from June to October 2019 on its six directions of preliminary recommendations, including how to enhance STEM education in primary and secondary schools. Upon the Task Force's submission of its final report in early 2020, the Education Bureau will consider and implement various recommendations, where feasible, as soon as possible.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4089

(5) To further enhance the reading interests and abilities of students, we will draw reference from the successful experience of other places and continue with our efforts in the promotion of "Reading to Learn". We will also continue to strengthen the support for schools, including providing a recurrent grant to facilitate schools to further promote reading starting from the 2018-2019 school year, implementing the new "Reading across the Curriculum" initiative and the reform of the Chinese Language Curriculum introduced in recent years, as well as providing continuous programmes/training for teachers' professional development and the learning and teaching resources on reading to help teachers (including teacher-librarians) employ appropriate reading strategies and organize reading activities.

Ascertaining the identity of journalists during public events

18. MS ELIZABETH QUAT (in Chinese): President, at present, there is no official organization in Hong Kong responsible for issuing press cards centrally. Various media organizations or associations issue press cards on their own, making it difficult for people to ascertain whether the cardholders are journalists. It has been reported that some people wearing press cards acted illegally (such as obstructing the Police's law enforcement operations, and even attempting to rescue persons who were being arrested by police officers) during the public meetings and processions held in recent months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it knows the total number of press cards issued by various media organizations or associations in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by name of organization or association;

(2) whether it knows the mechanism adopted by various media organizations or associations for issuing press cards, including the professional requirements to be met and the ethical standards to be complied with by the applicants, as well as the related disciplinary mechanism;

4090 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(3) of the measures (such as holding discussions on news covering arrangements with the media organizations or associations that issue press cards) put in place to prevent demonstrators from concealing their identity during public meetings and processions by disguising themselves as journalists, so as to wait for an opportunity to act illegally; and

(4) given that online news media ("online media") are currently not subject to regulation, and anyone can claim themselves to be citizen journalists or journalists from certain online media, whether the Government will introduce legislation to give a definition of bona fide online media workers, to prevent demonstrators from concealing their identity during public meetings and processions by disguising themselves as online media workers, so as to wait for an opportunity to act illegally?

SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS (in Chinese): President, generally speaking, mass news media organizations include printed newspapers, news magazines and news agencies registered under the Registration of Local Newspapers Ordinance (Cap. 268) as well as their affiliated or associated online platforms, radio organizations licensed under the Telecommunications Ordinance (Cap. 106) and commercial television broadcasters licensed under the Broadcasting Ordinance (Cap. 562).

Having consulted the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the Security Bureau and the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, I provide a consolidated reply to Ms Elizabeth QUAT's question as follows:

(1) and (2)

According to the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, the numbers of press cards newly issued by Radio Television Hong Kong ("RTHK") in the past three years are tabulated below:

Year Number 2017 154 2018 123 2019 126

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4091

All RTHK reporters are required to strictly observe government regulations and departmental instructions as well as RTHK's Producers' Guidelines. Related disciplinary cases will be dealt with in accordance with the prevailing mechanism.

The Government does not possess the information related to the issuance of press identification by media organizations other than RTHK.

(3) Since early June last year, there have been over 1 200 demonstrations staged in Hong Kong, many of which ended up in illegal acts of serious violence, including criminal damage, arson, hurling of petrol bombs, etc. There has also been a case in which a person mingled himself with reporters and the crowd and slashed a police officer's neck at short distance, gravely wounding the officer. The personal safety of police officers on duty is under enormous threat. During their operations, the Police have from time to time encountered instances of reporter "impersonation", including fake reporter identification being seized, self-proclaimed reporters found to be not employed by the media organizations they claimed, people wearing outfits similar to those of reporters and immediate departure upon being questioned about reporter credentials. In the past, persons suspected of "impersonating" reporters engaged in acts inconsistent with the duties of reporters, and even attempted to obstruct police enforcement, participate in illegal and violent acts, snatch suspects from police officers, etc.

The Police have all along been respecting the media's work and, where operations are not affected, facilitating reporters as far as possible. However, persons suspected of "impersonating" reporters have obstructed police enforcement, disrupted order at the scene and disturbed the work of genuine professional reporters. To cope with the situation, the Police have formulated guidelines for their officers to ascertain the identity of reporters with the credentials issued by media organizations. While covering public order events, reporters should bring along their reporter or company credentials for easy identification by police officers at the scene. They should also pay attention to and follow police instructions, and maintain appropriate distance with police officers. This will prevent obstruction of police enforcement operations and prevent personal injury. 4092 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

The Police believe that genuine professional reporters would not engage in illegal acts while covering events, and hope that reporters would identify and discern whether people around them are genuinely reporting, thus avoiding acts with ulterior motives by people disguising as reporters.

(4) Press freedom is Hong Kong's core value protected by the Basic Law and is the fundamental right enjoyed by the people of Hong Kong. The Government is firmly committed to safeguarding and respecting press freedom, and providing a suitable environment in which the media could exert its function as the fourth estate.

The Chief Executive mentioned at the media session on 19 October 2019 that the Government respects the freedom of press and has no intention to screen media practitioners' qualifications for reporting. As always, the Government will continue to firmly safeguard press freedom, facilitate media reporting and uphold the core value of Hong Kong.

Washing of clothing which might have been contaminated by chemicals

19. PROF JOSEPH LEE (in Chinese): President, since June last year, the Police have used a total of some 16 000 tear gas canisters during public meetings and processions. Some online rumours have claimed that some frontline police officers took their uniforms and other clothing ("police clothing") worn at work to self-service laundries for washing. As such police clothing might have been stained with residues of chemicals from tear gas canisters, some members of the public are worried about their clothing washed at such laundries being contaminated. Regarding the washing of clothing which might have been contaminated by chemicals, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether the Police have formulated guidelines on the decontamination and washing procedure for police clothing which might have been contaminated by chemicals;

(2) whether the clothing of uniformed and plain-clothed police officers is required to be sent to designated laundries for washing; if so, of the locations of such laundries and their operation details; if not, the reasons for that;

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4093

(3) whether the Police have, since 9 June last year, outsourced laundry work; if so, of the details, including the decontamination and washing procedure to be followed by the service contractors, as well as whether it is provided in such procedure that police clothing which might have been contaminated by chemicals must be handled separately from other clothing; and

(4) given that on the evening of 17 November last year, the Police fired a number of tear gas canisters on Gascoigne Road adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, whether the Police have liaised with the Hospital Authority afterwards for making special arrangements for washing the clothing in the hospital which might have been contaminated by chemicals?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY (in Chinese): President, since early June last year, more than 1 200 protests, processions and public assemblies have been staged in Hong Kong, many of which ended up in violent illegal acts. When illegal acts take place, the Police must take appropriate law enforcement actions to maintain public order, protect lives and properties of citizens, as well as preserve the public peace. The Police would not need to use any force if members of the public could express their views in a peaceful and lawful manner.

The Police have strict guidelines on the use of force. Tear gas is used to create a safe distance between police officers and protesters, so as to avoid close confrontation and to reduce the chance of injury to either party as far as practicable, while dispersing the crowd and controlling the violent scenes.

Tear gas contains 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, commonly known as CS, and is released into the air as particles. In general, post-exposure symptoms to tear gas may include burning sensation to the skin and eyes, coughing, sneezing and temporary breathing difficulty resulted from irritation to the nose and throat. These symptoms will usually subside after a short period of time. On the health effects of tear gas, the Department of Health has uploaded health information on tear gas to the website of the Centre for Health Protection for the public's reference.

4094 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

As we understand from international literatures, similar to ordinary stains, CS will be washed into water during the washing process and will gradually dissolve in water. The dissolved CS will be hydrolysed rapidly. This is especially so when the temperature of the water will be increased during the normal washing process and the pH will also be increased by the alkaline additives used in the washing powder, as both processes will accelerate the CS hydrolysis process. Generally speaking, CS has a half-life of only one minute in water of 25 degrees Celsius and a pH value of 9 with general laundry detergents in the washing process. Therefore, ordinary laundry progress can already handle CS residuals that may be stained on clothes.

As stipulated in the Police General Orders, officers should ensure that they are correctly dressed when in uniform at all times and that uniforms are kept clean and neatly pressed. Over the years, there have been arrangements in allowing police uniforms to be cleaned by laundries inside police stations which are operated by outsourced service contractors. Hence, according to the current arrangement, officers (both uniformed or plainclothes) participating in the operations may hand their uniforms or operational outfits to the laundries run by outsourced service contractors in police stations for washing, based on their operational needs. Police have not received any report of discomfort or health problems on the wearing of cleaned clothing all along.

Regarding the incident occurred in the vicinity of Queen Elizabeth Hospital ("QEH") on 18 November 2019, QEH has been closely monitoring the indoor air quality and made suitable arrangements, including temporarily suspending intake of fresh air to the ventilation system at specific areas, sealing off windows and turning on the indoor air curtains to reduce air infiltration. Portable air purifiers have been deployed to individual wards in need. In addition, QEH has arranged environmental cleansing and started replacing the air filters of ventilation system and medical compressed air system.

QEH has maintained communication with its staff and provided necessary support regarding the incident. Staff Clinic has also provided support to staff who experienced discomfort under the influence of tear gas.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4095

Pilot schemes on elderly care service vouchers

20. MR LEUNG YIU-CHUNG (in Chinese): President, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") launched the First and the Second Phases of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly ("CCSV Pilot Scheme") in September 2013 and October 2016 respectively, as well as the Pilot Scheme on Residential Care Service Voucher for the Elderly ("RCSV Pilot Scheme") in March 2017. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) regarding the First and the Second Phases of the CCSV Pilot Scheme respectively, of the following information in each of the years in which they were implemented:

(i) a breakdown of the number of service units by service type,

(ii) number of day care service places,

(iii) number of home care service places,

(iv) number of concluded cases,

(v) cumulative number of recipients of the Community Care Service Voucher ("CCSV"),

(vi) number of CCSV users,

(vii) number of persons who did not use any of the CCSVs issued to them,

(viii) cumulative number of persons having left the Pilot Scheme, together with a breakdown by the major reason for their leaving the Scheme as far as SWD knows,

(ix) monthly average amount of subsidies, and

(x) administrative costs incurred by the Scheme;

4096 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(2) of the following information on the RCSV Pilot Scheme in each of the past three years:

(i) a breakdown of the number of service units by service type,

(ii) number of service places,

(iii) number of concluded cases,

(iv) cumulative number of recipients of the Residential Care Service Voucher ("RCSV"),

(v) number of RCSV users,

(vi) number of persons who did not use any of the RCSVs issued to them,

(vii) cumulative number of persons having left the Pilot Scheme, together with a breakdown by the major reason for their leaving the Scheme as far as SWD knows,

(viii) monthly average amount of subsidies, and

(ix) administrative costs incurred by the Scheme; and

(3) given that SWD has commissioned consultants to review the effectiveness of the two Pilot Schemes, of the timetables of the review work, whether the approach of the reviews includes public engagement exercises, and whether the review reports will be made public; if not, of the reasons for that?

SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE (in Chinese): President, my reply to the Member's question is as follows:

(1) The first phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly ("CCSV Pilot Scheme") was implemented from September 2013 to August 2017, while its second phase LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4097 commenced in October 2016. The information of the first and second phases of the CCSV Pilot Scheme from 2013-2014 to 2019-2020 is as follows:

The breakdown on number of recognized service providers ("RSPs"), service types and service places by year:

The first phase of the Number of service Number of RSPs Pilot Scheme placesNote 2013-2014 62 881 2014-2015 62 923 2015-2016 62 993 2016-2017 62 998 2017-2018 62 998 (as at end August 2017)

Note:

The first phase of CCSV may only be used for day care services. RSPs may separately provide home care services to CCSV users who are in need.

Number of service places The second phase of the Number of Day care Home care Pilot Scheme RSPs services services 2016-2017 124 2 081 2 944 2017-2018 125 2 254 3 040 2018-2019 153 2 815 4 861 2019-2020 153 2 952 5 151 (as at end November 2019)

The breakdown on cumulative number of eligible applications processed, persons issued with CCSVs, number of persons who have used and have not used CCSVs by year:

4098 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Cumulative Cumulative number of Number of CCSV number of persons The first eligible holders who have left the phase of applications Pilot Scheme the Pilot processed who who who who Scheme (number of have have not have have not persons issued used used used used with CCSVs) CCSVs CCSVs CCSVs CCSVs 2013-2014 1 251 539 604 34 74 2014-2015 2 092 972 232 351 537 2015-2016 2 919 1 177 187 784 771 2016-2017 2 968 1 061 14 1 071 822 2017-2018 2 968 1 053 1 1 080 834 (as at end August 2017)

Cumulative Cumulative number of Number of CCSV number of persons The eligible holders who have left the second applications Pilot Scheme phase of processed who who who who the Pilot (number of have have not have have not Scheme persons issued used used used used with CCSVs) CCSVs CCSVs CCSVs CCSVs 2016-2017 3 373 1 871 1 185 109 208 2017-2018 6 520 3 031 1 357 831 1 301 2018-2019 8 813 3 608 1 535 1 745 1 925 2019-2020 10 439 4 077 1 756 2 353 2 253 (as at end November 2019)

The breakdown on cumulative number of persons who have left the Pilot Scheme by year:

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4099

Cumulative number of persons who have left the first phase of the Pilot Scheme Reason for leaving the 2017- Pilot Scheme 2018 2013- 2014- 2015- 2016- (as at end 2014 2015 2016 2017 August 2017) Natural turnover Will be/have been 48 339 642 836 845 allocated with subsidized community care service or subsidized/private residential care service Deceased 24 126 227 297 298 Taken care of by family 10 117 236 259 264 members or domestic helpers Others (e.g. hospitalized, 2 32 82 102 106 out of town) Service-related No suitable service 24 274 368 399 401 providers/service packages Total 108 888 1 555 1 893 1 914

Cumulative number of persons who have left the second phase of the Pilot Reason for leaving the Scheme Pilot Scheme 2019-2020 2016- 2017- 2018- (as at end 2017 2018 2019 November 2019) Natural turnover Will be/have been 137 847 1 584 2 097 allocated with subsidized community care service or subsidized/private residential care service Deceased 76 483 919 1 189 4100 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

Cumulative number of persons who have left the second phase of the Pilot Reason for leaving the Scheme Pilot Scheme 2019-2020 2016- 2017- 2018- (as at end 2017 2018 2019 November 2019) Taken care of by family 40 375 545 614 members or domestic helpers Others (e.g. hospitalized, 24 225 357 421 out of town) Service-related No suitable service 40 202 265 285 providers/service packages Total 317 2 132 3 670 4 606

As the service mode, places, items, combinations, numbers of service users and time slots for service provision are not the same for the two phases of the Pilot Scheme and each RSP, the Social Welfare Department ("SWD") does not have information related to the monthly average amount of subsidy granted to each RSP and the related administrative costs.

(2) In the past three years, the breakdown on cumulative number of RSPs and service places under the Pilot Scheme on Residential Care Service Voucher ("RCSV") for the Elderly ("RCSV Pilot Scheme") by year:

Number of service Year Number of RSPs places 2017-2018 86 4 691 2018-2019 104 5 394 2019-2020 118 5 816 (as at end November 2019)

The breakdown on cumulative number of eligible applications processed, persons issued with RCSVs, RCSV users and persons issued with RCSVs but have not used them by year:

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4101

Cumulative number of Cumulative Cumulative eligible applications number of persons number of Year processed (Number of issued with RCSVs RCSV persons issued with but have not used users RCSVs) them 2017-2018 353 325 28 2018-2019 1 163 978 185 2019-2020 1 867 1 617 250 (as at end November 2019)

The breakdown on cumulative number of persons who have left the Pilot Scheme and reasons for leaving the Pilot Scheme by year:

Cumulative Number of persons who have left the Pilot Scheme Reason for leaving the Pilot 2019-2020 Scheme 2017 2018 (as at end -2018 -2019 November 2019) Elderly persons having no 0 10 21 immediate need for residential care services Taken care of by carers of family 1 29 71 members, domestic helpers, etc. or community care service Deceased 19 106 233 The preferred RSP was full/no 3 15 50 suitable RSPs Chose to wait for subsidized 4 18 27 residential care places Refused to accept the co-payment 1 10 18 arrangement Others (e.g. long-term 2 11 16 hospitalization, out of town, chose not to leave the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Scheme, etc.) Total 30 199 436

4102 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

As the service places and the duration for accommodating RCSV holders are different for each RSP, SWD does not have information related to the monthly average amount of subsidy granted to each RSP and the related administrative costs.

(3) SWD has commissioned consultants to conduct evaluation of effectiveness on the second phase of the CCSV Pilot Scheme and the RCSV Pilot Scheme. In the process of evaluation, the consultants have collected the views of stakeholders through interviews, focus group discussions, telephone surveys, questionnaires, etc. SWD and the consultants are conducting comprehensive analysis on the data and views collected in the studies. Upon the completion of the evaluation reports, SWD will study the content of the reports and consider the way forward for the two pilot schemes.

Allocation of funding to District Councils

21. MR HUI CHI-FUNG (in Chinese): President, regarding the allocation of funding by the Government to the various District Councils ("DCs") for implementing district minor works projects and community involvement projects, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective amounts of funding allocated to each DC in respect of (i) district minor works projects and (ii) community involvement projects, in each of the past three financial years and in the current financial year (up to 31 December 2019);

(2) whether the amounts of funding for the current financial year received by the various DCs have been revised subsequent to the conclusion of the 2019 District Council Ordinary Election; and

(3) of the procedure and legal basis for determining and revising the amounts of funding receivable by the various DCs each year, the government departments involved in making the relevant decisions, and whether they are required to consult DCs and the Legislative Council prior to making such decisions?

SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS (in Chinese): President, a consolidated reply to various parts of the question is as follows: LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4103

(i) "District Minor Works ('DMW') Programme"

Since 2008-2009, the Government has been implementing the DMW programme in the 18 districts of Hong Kong, aiming to improve local facilities, living environment and hygiene conditions in the territory. The programme provides funding for District Councils ("DCs") to initiate and carry out district-based minor works projects.

The annual basic provision for block allocation Subhead 7016CX District Minor Works Programme under the Capital Works Reserve Fund is $340 million. The Home Affairs Department ("HAD") may apply for additional funding to cater for special circumstances in individual years (such as reconstruction or repair works required due to natural disasters). Works projects of such nature requires DC endorsement, just as any other minor works projects. The annual funding proposal will be submitted to the Legislative Council Finance Committee for approval, upon which HAD will allocate funding to various districts according to population size, land area, socio-economic factors, etc.

In 2019-2020, the allocation for the DMW programme is $360 million, including the basic funding of $340 million and an additional one-off provision of $20 million for repairing some facilities damaged by typhoon Mangkhut. Allocation of funding to various DCs from 2016-2017 to 2019-2020 is at Annex 1. Funding allocated to various DCs for 2019-2020 remains unchanged after completion of the 2019 District Council Ordinary Election.

(ii) "Community Involvement ('CI') Projects"

The Government provides annual funding to DCs for implementation of CI projects to meet the needs of their districts. These projects may include community building activities, district sports activities, arts and culture programmes, greening activities, volunteer activities, etc. DCs are responsible for identifying suitable projects for implementation or sponsorship and examining funding applications to ensure that the use of funds will meet the needs of the districts and benefit more people in the community.

The allocation for CI projects in 2019-2020 is $461.6 million. In allocating funding to the 18 DCs, HAD will take into account factors such as population size, socio-economic factors, land area and the past pattern of fund utilization, and submit the proposed allocation 4104 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

for various districts to the Home Affairs Bureau for approval. Allocation of funding to various DCs for CI projects from 2016-2017 to 2019-2020 is at Annex 2. Funding allocated to various DCs for 2019-2020 remains unchanged after completion of the 2019 District Council Ordinary Election.

Annex 1

Allocation of Funding for DMW from 2016-2017 to 2019-2020 ($ million)

DC/Department 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 1. Central and Western 12.346 12.346 12.346 12.346 2. Eastern 17.297 17.297 17.297 17.297 3. Kowloon City 14.795 14.795 14.795 14.795 4. Kwun Tong 19.581 19.581 19.581 19.581 5. Sham Shui Po 17.268 17.268 17.268 17.268 6. Southern 14.521 14.521 14.521 16.521 7. Wan Chai 10.669 10.669 10.669 10.669 8. Wong Tai Sin 17.131 17.131 17.131 17.131 9. Yau Tsim Mong 14.433 14.433 14.433 14.433 10. Islands 18.688 18.688 18.688 31.688 11. Kwai Tsing 18.624 18.624 18.624 18.624 12. North 19.599 19.599 19.599 19.599 13. Sai Kung 20.290 20.290 20.290 22.790 14. Sha Tin 21.154 21.154 21.154 21.154 15. Tai Po 19.236 19.236 19.236 21.236 16. Tsuen Wan 15.909 15.909 15.909 15.909 17. Tuen Mun 20.447 20.447 20.447 20.447 18. Yuen Long 23.812 23.812 23.812 24.312 19. HAD(1) 24.200 24.200 24.200 24.200 Total: 340.000 340.000 340.000 360.000(2)

Notes:

(1) Part of the funding is earmarked for HAD to carry out emergency works in various districts and to pay consultancy fees and salary of resident site staff centrally.

(2) Of the $360 million allocated for 2019-2020, $20 million is an additional provision to fund areas affected by typhoon Mangkhut for repairing some facilities damaged by the tropical cyclone.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4105

Annex 2

Allocation of Funding for CI Projects from 2016-2017 to 2019-2020 ($ million)

DC 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020 1. Central and Western 15.900 19.440 19.440 19.440 2. Eastern 21.824 28.662 28.662 28.662 3. Kowloon City 16.300 22.110 22.110 22.110 4. Kwun Tong 25.800 33.130 33.130 33.130 5. Sham Shui Po 21.400 26.330 26.330 26.330 6. Southern 14.900 18.920 18.920 18.920 7. Wan Chai 13.176 16.648 16.648 16.648 8. Wong Tai Sin 22.200 26.780 26.780 26.780 9. Yau Tsim Mong 19.900 24.500 24.500 24.500 10. Islands 15.800 19.590 19.590 19.590 11. Kwai Tsing 23.700 29.460 29.460 29.460 12. North 19.100 24.820 24.820 24.820 13. Sai Kung 18.000 25.190 25.190 25.190 14. Sha Tin 24.500 32.520 32.520 32.520 15. Tai Po 17.700 23.340 23.340 23.340 16. Tsuen Wan 16.400 20.930 20.930 20.930 17. Tuen Mun 24.400 30.330 30.330 30.330 18. Yuen Long 25.700 34.000 34.000 34.000 19. Contingency 4.900 4.900 4.900 4.900 Total: 361.600 461.600 461.600 461.600

Note:

To maintain a reasonable degree of certainty and continuity in funding for various DCs, their respective allocated funding during the same DC term will remain unchanged unless there is an increase in the total provision of district council funds.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now suspend the meeting until 5:15 pm.

4:37 pm

Meeting suspended.

4106 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

5:15 pm

Council then resumed.

GOVERNMENT BILLS

First Reading and Second Reading of Government Bills

First Reading of Government Bills

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Government Bills: First Reading.

COURT PROCEEDINGS (ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY) BILL

EMPLOYMENT (AMENDMENT) BILL 2019

CLERK (in Cantonese): Court Proceedings (Electronic Technology) Bill Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019.

Bills read the First time and ordered to be set down for Second Reading pursuant to Rule 53(3) of the Rules of Procedure.

Second Reading of Government Bills

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Government Bills: Second Reading.

COURT PROCEEDINGS (ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY) BILL

CHIEF SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION (in Cantonese): President, I move the Second Reading of the Court Proceedings (Electronic Technology) Bill ("the Bill").

The Bill seeks to implement the Judiciary's Information Technology Strategy Plan ("ITSP") by way of legislation, so as to provide court users with the option of handling court-related documents by electronic means across different levels of courts. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4107

After a long-term study on the use of information technology, the Judiciary implemented a major information technology upgrading project named ITSP to respond to the rising expectations of court users and the community, enhance existing information technology systems, provide more effective and efficient services of a higher quality to all stakeholders with the use of information technology, and facilitate active case management throughout the entire litigation or adjudication and ancillary processes to improve access to justice for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Under ITSP, the Judiciary is implementing an information technology system named the Integrated Court Case Management System ("iCMS") to streamline and standardize electronic court processes across different levels of courts where appropriate. In particular, to enhance access to justice, the Judiciary will introduce electronic services and facilities of various types where appropriate as an additional option to the existing conventional means (i.e. manual mode), to be used by court users on a voluntary basis. While court users may still choose the conventional means, the Judiciary will encourage court users to interact with the Judiciary and the other parties concerned and transact court businesses by electronic means. The parity between manual and electronic modes will be maintained as far as possible, so as to ensure that the administration of justice will not be affected by the introduction of an additional mode of handling documents.

In drafting the Bill, we have carefully balanced the principles and spirit of the administration of justice as set out in the existing legislation against the convenience resulting from the use of technology. The Judiciary will facilitate the use of electronic means without compromising the need to safeguard the interests or rights of the parties concerned, whilst ensuring fairness of the judicial process and integrity of the documents or processes.

The major proposals in the Bill can be summarized as follows:

(a) Sending of documents to the Court:

Electronic submission (i.e. through iCMS) of documents for filing or sending to the Court is generally allowed;

4108 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

(b) Inter-party service of documents:

A party may serve documents electronically on another party if there is mutual consent to serve and accept the documents electronically. To allow flexibility, the two parties may agree amongst themselves on the most appropriate electronic platform to serve the documents;

(c) Authentication by signature of documents:

Forms of signatures other than traditional manual signatures (such as digital signature and electronic signature) are generally allowed for court-related documents; and

(d) Legal status of document printouts:

For some court procedures, there is a need for court users to print out a copy of an electronic document for subsequent use. A common scenario relates to the service of originating documents for civil cases. After the implementation of the legislation, a plaintiff may choose to submit an originating document in electronic form to the Court through iCMS. The Court will then apply an electronic seal on the document before sending it to the plaintiff through iCMS. In the event that the defendant has not agreed to accept electronic service of documents, the plaintiff will have to print out the electronic document and serve the printout on the defendant. While the Judiciary will provide an administrative cross-checking service to confirm whether such a document has indeed been issued by the Court, the parties may still have concerns on the legal status of the printout. Therefore, the Bill proposes to provide a proper legal status for printouts and copies of printouts for documents issued by the Court.

Moreover, President, the Bill also provides that the the Chief Justice may specify by subsidiary legislation or Practice Directions the Courts or tribunals in which electronic documents may be used, as well as detailed operational procedures for the use of electronic technology. Practice Directions enables the Judiciary to make timely refinements to the detailed procedures and practices taking into account the rapid technological developments.

ITSP will be implemented in two phases and gradually extended to all levels of courts. The first phase will consist of two stages for better management. At Stage 1 of Phase I, iCMS will be implemented in the District LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4109

Court and the Summons Courts of the Magistrates' Courts. At Stage 2 of Phase I, iCMS is expected to be extended to the Court of Final Appeal, the High Court, the remaining part of the Magistrates' Courts and the Small Claims Tribunal. For the remaining courts and tribunals, iCMS is planned to be implemented under Phase II.

The Judiciary has consulted many stakeholders on the Bill, including the Hong Kong Bar Association, The Law Society of Hong Kong and the Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services of the Legislative Council, which all supported the Bill.

President, the Bill can facilitate more timely and efficient communication between court users and the Courts and among parties. In the long run, it will also help reduce paper usage and improve the efficiency of litigation in Hong Kong. I hope Members will support the Bill.

I so submit. Thank you, President.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the Court Proceedings (Electronic Technology) Bill be read the Second time.

In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the Second Reading debate is adjourned and the Bill is referred to the House Committee.

EMPLOYMENT (AMENDMENT) BILL 2019

SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE (in Cantonese): President, I move the Second Reading of the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 ("the Bill"). The Bill seeks to increase the statutory maternity leave under the Employment Ordinance ("EO") from the current 10 weeks to 14 weeks and make two technical amendments with respect to the definition of "miscarriage" and the documentary proof of medical examination in relation to a pregnancy.

Regarding the extension of maternity leave, the Bill proposes an additional four weeks of maternity leave taken by the employee continuously after the 10 weeks' maternity leave, if so entitled. The amount of additional maternity leave pay in respect of the extended statutory maternity leave would be calculated at the 4110 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 existing rate of statutory maternity leave pay (i.e. four-fifths of the employees' average daily wages) subject to a cap of $36,822 per employee. Employers are required to pay the additional maternity leave pay to their eligible employees on the normal pay day.

Set at $36,822, the cap of the additional maternity leave pay is essentially equivalent to four-fifths of the wages of an employee with a monthly wage of $50,000 in four weeks. Employees with a monthly wage of $50,000 or below account for about 95% of female employees in Hong Kong. The cap amount may be reviewed from time to time. While the cap is stipulated in the Bill, the employer is not prohibited from paying a higher amount to the employee under the contract of employment, as many employers willing to offer full-pay maternity leave do.

The proposed additional maternity leave pay would be funded by the Government on a reimbursement basis by way of an administrative scheme.

As well as extending the statutory maternity leave, the Bill also proposes two technical amendments, including updating the definition of "miscarriage" in EO from "before 28 weeks of pregnancy" to "before 24 weeks of pregnancy". This will entitle a female employees whose child is incapable of survival after being born at or after 24 weeks of pregnancy to maternity leave if other conditions are met. The amendments also entitle employees who have attended medical examination in relation to pregnancy to sickness allowance if they are able to produce, other than a medical certificate, a certificate of attendance.

The other arrangements concerning maternity protection under EO shall continue to operate as they currently do.

The proposed extension of statutory maternity leave will have a positive impact on working mothers by giving them more time to spend with and take care of their new born babies. On the other hand, since the additional maternity leave pay is fully borne by the Government, the other additional costs to be borne by the employers concerned should be insignificant. By crude estimation, some 27 000 female employees would benefit from the relevant arrangement each year. Hence, I hope Members will support this government proposal which is beneficial to both female employees and society at large.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4111

Apart from the Bill, we plan to apply for funding from the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council to develop an information technology system that underpins a Reimbursement of Maternity Leave Pay Scheme ("RMLPS"). We expect the development of a reimbursement mechanism will take around 18 months to complete, following the passage of the Bill and the funding approval gained from the Finance Committee. We hope to implement RMLPS by the end of 2010. Hence, I implore Members to pass the Bill expeditiously for the timely implementation of the proposal.

Thank you, President.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 be read the Second time.

(Mr HO Kai-ming indicated his intention to speak)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr HO Kai-ming, what is your point?

MR HO KAI-MING (in Cantonese): President, the House Committee is currently at a standstill. The Chairman could not be elected after more than 10 meetings, thus Bills Committees cannot be formed under the House Committee. President, in order to implement this proposal to extend the maternity leave for women as soon as possible, I seek to move a motion in accordance with Rule 54(4) of the Rules of Procedure ("RoP") that the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 be not referred to the House Committee.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr HO Kai-ming has requested to move a motion in accordance with RoP 54(4) …

(Mr LAM Cheuk-ting indicated his intention to speak)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr LAM Cheuk-ting, what is your point?

4112 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020

MR LAM CHEUK-TING (in Cantonese): President, I request a headcount.

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Will the Clerk please ring the bell to summon Members back to the Chamber.

(After the summoning bell had been rung, a number of Members returned to the Chamber)

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr HO Kai-ming has requested to move a motion without notice under RoP 54(4) that the Bill be not referred to the House Committee, the effect of which is such that the Second Reading debate on the Bill will not be adjourned and the remaining procedures in respect of the Bill will be disposed of in this meeting of the Legislative Council.

According to the rule, Mr HO Kai-ming can only move that motion with the consent of the President. Hence, Mr HO, you may now state your reasons for proposing this motion concisely. Yet, you may not move the motion direct.

Mr HO, please speak.

MR HO KAI-MING (in Cantonese): President, I have proposed this motion for a number of reasons. Why do we propose to conduct the debate in accordance with Rule 54 (4) of RoP today? It is because we, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions ("FTU"), hope that the Second Reading debate on the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019 ("the Bill") can be conducted as soon as possible today. Since the House Committee is paralysed, I have no alternative but to propose that the Bill be presented to the Legislative Council direct. If the motion is not passed, we estimate that the statutory maternity leave can be extended not until 2023. Why? There are several reasons. First, it is about the significance. FTU has repeatedly fought for the extension of statutory maternity leave, which is also a policy the public have longed for. The relevant law was last amended in 1995 …

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Mr HO, please be as concise as possible without going into details.

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ― 8 January 2020 4113

MR HO KAI-MING (in Cantonese): President, filibustering in the House Committee is so serious now that the Chairman could not be elected after more than 10 meetings. If the Second Reading debate on the Bill cannot be completed at this moment, we will have to wait until 2023 for the Bill to be implemented so that people can enjoy 14 weeks of maternity leave. Nearly 100 000 women and their families will be unable to benefit from it early.

Therefore, I hope Honourable colleagues will support us today so that the Bill can be discussed here today direct, instead of being referred to the House Committee pending the forming of a Bills Committee. The Bill, which concerns people's livelihood, has been discussed by the Labour Advisory Board, and a consensus has been reached among the labour sector, the business sector and employers. I hope Honourable colleagues will support it and the President will grant permission to my moving of the motion.

SUSPENSION OF MEETING

PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): I now suspend the meeting to consider Mr HO Kai-ming's request for moving the motion under RoP 54(4).

Suspended accordingly at 5:42 pm.