Career Skill Training
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Career Skills Training SOWK 0060
Project Report on District Councilor
Group 19
2001707423 Law Tin Pui Maggie BBA (A&F) III 2001435630 Lee Cho Him Morris BBA (A&F) III 2001114755 Ng Ka Lai Kylie BEcon&Fin III 2001114494 Tam Junita Long Ching BBA (A&F) III 2001712155 Tam Wing Sze Vincy BEcon&Fin III 2001046099 Yip Hiu Man Ankei BBA (A&F) III
1 Contents
Introduction Page 2 - 3
Background Page 3 - 13 Research
Career of a District Councilor Page 14 - 27 Job Market Job Duties Entry requirements Working Hours & Remunerations Career Path Skill level Character Training Job Satisfaction Job Pressure and Difficulties
Interviews Page 27 - 37
Conclusion Page 37 - 40
Individual Learning Reflections Page 40 - 46
Appendix Page 46 - 51
References Page 51 - 52
2 Introduction
Why do we investigate into the career of District
Councilor?
We are a group of students from the Faculty of Business and Economics who have no particular background of politics. In the course of discussion, all of us just have some idea about what a
District Councilor does and how far he/she can help us in our daily life. In fact, District
Councilor is one of the major persons in our daily life, they play the role as a bridge linking between the Government and the general public and make every effort to enhance liaison and communication with people from all walks of life in the District and to reflect the public opinion to the Government while letting the public understand the objectives of the Government's policies. Therefore, with this close relationship between District Councilor and us, we decided to improve our understanding of
District Councilor.
To evaluate people’s understanding about the works of District Councilor, we have conducted a survey via the internet. (This online survey can be found at: http://www.my3q.com/home2/36/legislative_councilor/45129.phtml) Among the 158 respondents, we found that only a few people have knowledge about what a District
3 Councilor does. In sight of this, we interviewed three District Councilors with different political backgrounds so as to understand the job market, entry requirements, job duties, skills level required, characters, on-the-job training, employment condition, career path and knowledge of a District Councilor.
As this is a career skills training course, we hope that we can help students in finding a good and suitable job. As a result, we will also give some recommendations on how a current graduate student can equip oneself to be a competent District
Councilor in the future.
Background
According to the District Councils Ordinance Chapter 547 Section 9 (Appendix I), a District Council is consisted of elected members, appointed members and ex officio members. For a person to be eligible for appointment as a member of a District
Council, in accordance to the District Councils Ordinance Chapter 547 Section 12, he/ she must have reached 21 years of age, is an elector, is not disqualified from voting at an election, is not disqualified from being an appointed member by virtue of section 14 or any other law, and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the 3 years immediately preceding the appointment.
There are a total of 18 District Councils in Hong Kong (Appendix II). Their mission are to facilitate the running and funding of community activities with a view to improve the environmental facilities, protecting a pleasant and tranquil environment for living in the district and have a place where the residents work and live
4 comfortably for the enjoyment of different lifestyles. They concern about various local and territory-wide issues which affect people's livelihood. In addition to their commitments to solve problems for the community, they also act as a link between the Government and the community to reflect the public opinion to the Government and to let members of the public understand the objectives of the Government's policies.
In our project, we have put our emphasis on the Kowloon City District Council.
The Council composes of 27 members and 5 committees, namely the Housing and
Infrastructure Committee, Traffic and Transport Committee, Community Building
Committee, Food and Environmental Hygiene Committee and Culture, Recreation and Sports Committee, each committee is held responsible for resolving problems and implementing projects in relation to different areas of concern.
The District Council provides services to and promotes the well-being and development of the community, such as to undertake a number of environmental improvement and community involvement projects to improve the living environment of the district and enhance the residents' sense of belonging. On top of that, the
District Council also plays an active linking role between the Government and the local residents and reflects to the Administration the latter's needs and aspirations.
Results of the Research
The followings depict the questions and the results that we have drawn from our online survey. In the questionnaire, there are 14 questions in total.
5 Question 1: Sex ( 你的性別 )
Of the 158 respondents, 86 were female and Sex of Respondents
72 were male.
Male Female 46% 54%
Question 2: Age ( 你的年齡 )
Most of the respondents were from the Age of Respondents age of 15 -30. 200 y
c 145 n e
u 100 q e r
F 5 7 1 0 < 15 15 - 30 31 - 50 > 51 Age
Question 3: Education Level 你的教育程度 )
A large proportion of the Education Level of Respondents respondents have attained Primary Education 0% tertiary education while Beyond Tertiary Secondary Education Education some may have education 11% 19% above the tertiary level.
Tertiary Education 70%
6 Question 4: Monthly Salary ( 你的收入 )
As most of the respondents Income of Respondents are having tertiary
y 150 c 121
education, we foresee that n
e 100 u
q 50 23 the income of the e 9 r 2 3
F 0 respondents will largely < $5,000 $5,000 - $10,001 - $20,001 - > $30,000 $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 below average income level. Monthly Salary
Question 5: Do you know who the district councilors in your district are? ( 你知道自己
所屬選區的區議員有哪幾位嗎﹖ )
Almost 70% of the respondents did not Do You Know Who the District Councillors in Your District Are? know the district councilors in their Yes 32% respective district.
No 68%
Question 6: Do you know what the job duties of a district councilor are? ( 你認識區議
員的工作嗎 )
Options available are:
Consultation for the citizens (會見市民)
District Patrol (地區巡視)
Organize social/ cultural/ sports activities (舉辦文娛康樂活動)
Attend District Board Meetings (參與區議會會議)
Air Opinion to the Government (向政府反映意見)
7 Respondents have Do You Know What the Job Duties given a rather equal of a District Councillor Are? distribution on the job 150 130 122 121 duties of a district 101 100 75 councilor. However, a 50 relatively less
0 respondents stated Consultation forDistrict Patrol Organize social/ Attend District Air Opinion to the citizens cultural/ sportsBoard Meetingsthe Government that the job duties of a activities
District Councilor included Organizing social/culture/ sports activities may account for these activities are usually held in weekends and public holidays, the respondents may not aware that these activities are included in their job duties.
Question 7: Are you interested in becoming a district councilor? ( 你有興趣成為區議員
嗎？ )
Over 90% of the respondents did Are You Interested in not show an interest in becoming Becoming a District Councillor? a district councilor. There seems to be rare incentives for people to join the district council. No 92% Yes 8%
8 Question 8: If so, will you consider district councilor as your life-long career? ( 你會視
區議員為你的終身職業嗎 ?)
Of those showed up with an Will You Consider District interest in pursuing the career of a Councillor as Your Life-long Career? district councilor, most of them did Yes not regard the job of a district 33% councilor on a life-long basis. Yet, all of our interviewees consider No 67% District Councilor as their life-long career.
Question 9: What are the ways to become a district councilor? ( 你認識有那些途徑可
成為區議員呢？ )
Options available are:
Volunteer (自薦) What are the Ways to Become a District Councillor? Referral ( 業 內 人 士 介 150 126 99 紹) 100 65 69 50 7 Joining political parties 0 l l r s t s g a a r e n r e n c e r i i e i e t t t h e n r i f t i n l
加入政黨 m ( ) a e o t u o O l p J n R p i o o V p p
Appointment (委任) A
Others (其他)
In fact, volunteer, joining political parties, and appointment are the ways to access to
District Council. Most people thought that joining a political party was one of the main accesses to the job of a district councilor. There are also plenty number of
9 people believed that running for an election of the district board was another way to join as a district councilor. One of the respondents has thought that the post of a district councilor might be attained by bribes. Fewer respondents stated that appointment is a way to access the job, this may be explained by in a district, there are fewer numbers of appointed members than elected members. Nevertheless, any way to access to this job requires District Council Election (except those appointed one).
Question 10: What are the qualities/ personalities required in a district councilor? ( 你
覺得成為區議員 需具備什麼性格特點呢？ )
Options available are:
Dare to speak out (敢言)
Having a sense of justice (富正義感)
Willing to sacrifice (富犧牲精神)
Held responsible for people (富承擔感)
Politically charm(有政治魅力)
Aggressive (進取)
Others (其他)
In reality, What Are the Qualities/ Personalities above all the Required in a District Councillor? qualities and 150 131 124 100 95 83 personalities 100 76 50 are helpful to 5
t
0 f e y o a s l l e e e u t
o l r l o e
c b v t o g i i i a m e p c
g e f r i i s s c n h o t k d i i e s
the career. n r t l a s t i n r s e i l v a n c l l e h e o i a O u p a e e a r j o c
H p D s s p r H g W P s s o g e f r A
10 Concerning the qualities or personalities that are necessary to a district councilor, most respondents believed that he/ she should dare to speak out as they might think that district councilor should air people’s opinion to the Government, sometimes they might also have to criticize the wrong doings of the Government. Besides, a large part of the respondents thought that district councilors should be politically charming and possess a sense of justice.
Some people believed that a district councilor should be politically intelligence and have excellent presentation skills. These two qualities are apparently related to the job nature of a district councilor who has to attend meetings with various parties frequently.
Question 11: What are the factors leading to the success of a district councilor? ( 你認
為區議員若要成功需要配合其他什麼因素呢？ )
Highly Educated (具高學歷)
Good Family Background (良好家庭背景)
Economically wealthy (經濟富裕)
Experienced in social servicing (豐富地區服務經驗)
Affinity with citizens (形象親民)
Others (其他)
Most of the What are the Factors Leading to the respondents highly Success of a District Councillor?
150 135 regarded experience 117 100 75 38 in social services and 50 18 5 0 d d y y h s d l l t r l i e e i n l y s g t e
affinity with the l a c u a w m n i n a h y h c i n o t i a e c c h g r f y c e i t i i t z o u O l g m i i r v H d t d s k a r o n i e
i o c e e f E n c p n f o i
citizens to be two a s o w x A b G c E E
11 most important elements to the success of a district councilor. Some respondents opted for other factors, such as understanding the needs of the people, be sincere in serving people, equipped with abundant of political knowledge. There is a fewer respondents stated that economically wealthy is the factors to success in the career, however, according to one of our interviewee, he emphasized that sometimes economically wealthy is important, as most of the appointed members of District
Council are well off.
Question 12: What is the monthly remuneration to a district councilor? ( 你認為作為區
議員，平均一個月可以獲得多少酬勞 ?)
In fact, the salary of a What is the Monthly Remuneration District Concilor is set of a District Councillor? at HK$17,000 (subject 80 to change with the 70 66 60 CPI(A)). However, 40 16 among those 20 5 0 1 0 respondents, almost < $10,000 $10,000 - $20,001 - $50,001 - $80,001 - > $100,000 equal proportion of $20,000 $50,000 $80,000 $100,000 people believed that the monthly salary to a district councilor should be $10,000 - $20,000 or $20,001 - $
$50,000. A fair number of respondents thought that a district councilor should be rewarded as high as $50,000 to $80,000 per month.
12 Question 13: What are the sources of pressure to a district councilor? ( 你認為一位區議
員的工作壓力來自哪方面？ )
Options available are:
Maintaining good image (顧全形象)
Loss of privacy (沒有私隱)
Negative news (負面新聞)
Fail in re-election (不獲連任)
Lack of supporters (缺乏支持者)
Political pressure from the belonging party (黨內壓力)
Political pressure from other parties (其他政黨壓力)
Family pressure (家庭壓力)
Others (其他)
Most respondents believed that district councilors would face political pressure from their respective political parties. In addition, more than half of the respondents thought that district councilors perceived pressure if they were unable to keep their good image and What are the Sources of Pressure to a District lose supporters, Councillor? hence affecting 120 110 96 90 84 their chance of 82 80 48 winning in the 43 40 election. A 22 2 relatively fewer 0 Maintaining Loss of Negative Fail in re- Lack of Political Political Family Others good privacy news election supporters pressure pressure pressure respondents image from the from other belonging parties said that family party
13 is one of the source of pressure although it is true among all our interviewees as their working hours are irregular and they are required to work on weekends.
Question 14: Do you think that people in Hong Kong are politically indifferent? ( 你認
為普遍的香港人是否屬於政治冷感嗎 ?)
More than half of the respondents Do You Think that People in believed that people in Hong Kong Hong Kong are Politically Indifferent? are rather politically indifferent. This is also revealed in the previous No 44% questions that near 70% of the Yes 56% respondents did not know their
District Councilors in their Districts, and most of the respondents have no interest to pursue District Councilor as a career.
The Career of a District Councilor
In order to explore the career of a District Councilor, we divide the discussion into several sections. First, we will take a look into the job market of District Councilor and the requirements and access to become a District Counilor. Then we will evaluate what skills level and characters are necessary for a District Counilor. Finally, we will trace the sources of job satisfaction and perceived job pressure and difficulties faced by a District Councilor. The information we obtained was mainly from the interviews that we conducted with the three Kowloon City District Counilors and the government websites.
14 1. Job Market
Current Vacancies
Although the District Council Election of 2003 has been over, there are still job vacancies in the position of district councilor assistant. When there is a job vacancy, they usually advertise through “Ming Pao” Newspaper. 1
Job Outlook
The outlook for local District Councilor government representatives is 500 good. There are currently 400 s r
e 400 b elected members, 27 ex-official m 300 e m
members (Rural Committee f 200 o
. 100 Chairmen in New Territories) and o N 0 102 appointed members serving Elected Ex-offical Appointed on 18 districts. (See figure 1) member member memebr
This number is expected to remain stable over the next four years. (See Appendix II)
The roles and tasks of district councilors are specific to the needs of their districts. District council also handles environmental issues: the use of water, air and land; local insecurity; land transport planning; harbor safety and marine pollution.
District councils deal with issues such as community development, recreation and culture, and development control.
1 Information provided by Miss Mok Ka-Han, Running Kowloon City District Councilor
15 The District Council Election adopts the first-past-the post voting system. Each elector shall vote for only one candidate in the constituency concerned. The candidate who receives the largest number of votes will be elected.
Nowadays, district councilors are required to take in more information than they might have done in the past. As a result, councilors may need to use different skills. Councils are likely to provide training for councilors where it is necessary. For example, soft skills training and also technical skills training.
The system of remuneration for a district councilor has also been revised at a rate of 16690 per month.
District Council Elections are held once every four years, resulting in moderate to high turnover among district councilors as new candidates are voted in and other councilors lose their seats or retire.
2. Job Duties
District Councilors are elected by the people of a specified district to act in the best interests of the community, make decisions on spending and the provision of services, and ensure that policy is made fairly and honestly. The job duties can be classified as followed.
Respond to enquiries from individuals in the community
District Councilors will sharp the future of their local community in order to make a difference by improving life in their local community or handle enquires from general
16 public for any problems related to the environment. They will deal with correspondence and face to face meetings with citizens.
Attend meetings
District Councilors act as a mediator between the residents and the Owners’
Corporation for the sake of the maintenance of building during meetings and to settle any disputes arise between them. District Councilors normally need to attend the
Council meeting, Committee Meeting and also the meeting with the residents. The frequency of Council meeting is based on the needs of the district. For instance, the
Council meeting of the Wong Tai Sin district happens every two months. During the meeting, they need to discuss policies and proposals with other councilors and community officials related to the community. Then they will vote on proposals so as to make policy decisions on the provision of health services of the community.
Study reports, proposals, complaints and petitions
District Councilors will articulate the views and needs of their constituents as representatives of the district that they are belonged to. Also they will conduct survey related to the legislation or environment. For instance, they may conduct transportation survey to see if the frequency of bus services can satisfy the people’s needs. For some circumstances, they will make phone calls to discuss issues on behalf of the general public with Council Officers and other officials.
Organizing social activities
17 They will help any societies or organizations which are for the disabled people or single parent’s services for organizing activities and providing necessary helps. For example, they may help those organizations in raising fund activities.
3. Entry requirements
According to the District Councils Ordinance, an eligible appointed member or an elected member should (a) be age of 21 or older; and (b) be an elector; (c) not disqualified from voting at an election; and (d) is not disqualified from being nominated as a candidate or elected as an elected member by virtue of section 21 for elected members or section 14 for appointed members (see appendix 2 for the details of section 14 and section 21) or any other law; and (e) has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the 3 years immediately preceding the nomination.
As for District Councilor Assistant, no specific requirements are stated by law; the requirements are depending on the preferences of different political parties and
District Councilors.
4. Working Hours & Remunerations
Some District Councilors work full-time, like all our interviewees, but many work part-time as District Councilors and also work in other jobs. District Councilors usually work irregular hours such as evenings and weekends. Also, many of the problems do not necessarily arise during working hours. At the present time, there is a mix of daytime and evening meetings. For example, meetings for Owners'
Corporations are usually held at night; the “Meet-the-public” Scheme in Kowloon City
District meets in the evening from 8pm to 10pm on a Tuesday every week. Some
18 District Councilors’ mobile phone is stand-by 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the public.
It must also be said that being a Councilor does, to some extent, impact on family life and an individual's career, and can involve work during unsocial hours.
Earning capacity
In the meeting of the Panel on Home Affairs on 28th November, 2003, the monthly salary of a District Councilor in 2004-2007 is set at HK$17,000, while the monthly salary of the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the District Council will be
HK$34,000 and HK$25,500 respectively, and it is subject to the fluctuation of the
CPI(A), with adjustments made every year. In 2004, the monthly salary of a District
Councilor is HK$16,690.
The general rule of thumb is that the ratio of a District Councilor, the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the District Council is 1: 1.5: 2.
Aside for the basic salary, there is an accountable allowance which is a lump sum allowance of HK$204,000 per year (or HK$17,000 per month) in reimbursement.
This accountable allowance is mainly used for the salaries for District Councilor
Assistant and the rental fee of the office. However, claimed by many District
Councilors, this allowance is not enough for both expenses. Political Parties may sponsor some of the expenses. For those who do not have the support from political parties, they have to pay out of their pockets. As above, this allowance is subjected to the fluctuation of the CPI(A).
19 Other fringe benefits such as housing allowance and medical allowance is not included and the salary of the District Councilor is fixed once in four year in the legislative meeting.
The salary is no difference between a part-time and a full-time councilor.
However, the lack of supervising body from the government make the inequality between part-time and full time District Councilor as there is no guideline about the working hours, job nature, or workload of a part-time District Councilor who may be heavily depends on his/her District Councilor Assistant. Even, they are not required to have an office in the district. Some suggested that the indifference in the salary drive Councilors away in serving the government.
5. Career Path
District Councils are either appointed or elected. Once a person is eligible, he/she can participate in the election. However, since popularity is the key to success in the election, in order to let electors be familiar with you before the election, one can become the district councilor assistant; participate in the Residents Association, or in
Political Party. Starting as a District Councilor Assistant is the most popular path.
After being elected in the District Council, there are basically a few paths in the career life of a district councilor. In a large extent, the path depends on the
Councilor’s political aggressiveness and the will of his/her affiliated political party.
One of the paths is that he/her can be a Vice Chairman or a Chairman of the District
Council, receiving higher salary. A further path may be taken is that one can go for the election of the Legislative Council and become a Legislative Councilor to receive
20 even higher salary. Before the dismissal of the Urban Council, District Councilors can have postings in Urban Council, and then go for the Legislative Council. Now, they can directly fight for the only seat for District Council in the functional constituency instead. However, the job nature and duties will be totally different from what in
District Council. Mr. Ip Kwok Him was the example. However, since he was not elected in the last District Council, his seat will be replaced by other District
Councilors.
Residents Association District Councilor Assistant
Political Party
Appointed Elected
District Councilor
Vice Chairman of Chairman of Legislative District Council District Council Councilor
A sample career path of a District Councilor.
Once a councilor is not elected for the next term, unless they are part-time, usually they will stay in serving the community in other means. For example, they can work in their affiliated political parties, still participating in various functions in the community, only without the title of “District Council”, and wait for another four years to be elected. Those do not have affiliated political parties; they can set up an unofficial association and continue their community work in the area.
21 6. Skill level
There is no statutory skill requirement for being a District Councilor. However, possessions of certain skills are definitely useful in carrying out daily duties of a
District Councilor. Here we had divided “skills” in mainly three categories, namely professional knowledge, communication skill and leadership skill.
Professional Knowledge
For direct benefit, it is likely that Councilor would touch on some legal issues when meeting with citizens. If the Councilor possesses professional knowledge, they maybe able to solve the problem more effectively and provide satisfactory reply to citizens. Professional knowledge is a useful tool for the Councilor in helping the public to solve complex problem which concern interests of various parties.
For indirect benefit, the group of profession in the society is often regarded as the
“middle class”. Their social status is usually higher than ordinary people. This is very helpful for the Councilor to project a positive image to the voters.
Communication Skill
Communication skill here have three dimensions, namely inter-personally skill, language skill and counseling skill. Inter-personal skill is helpful in developing social network. In the time of election, good inter-personal skill can create an extensive and strong voter base for the candidate. One of the main factors to consider when appointing the chairman for the Council is relationship with other Councilors. Good inter-personal skill is therefore essential for being a successful District Councilor.
Language and counseling skill can help the Councilor to handle daily duties. Good written Chinese is a must when the councilor needed to communicate with different
22 organizations. Sometimes Councilor may encounter family problem, counseling skill would be helpful in the sense that it could provide comfort to the family before the problem turned into violence or become worse.
Leadership Skill
A successful promotion campaign would be crucial during the time of election.
The candidate would need to coordinate his supporters to do the promotion and preparatory work. Conflicts would arise when the work involved a large group of people which has different characters and from different backgrounds. Leadership skill could help the Councilor to resolve the conflicts and develop synergy among the group. When the Councilor becomes the chairman of the council, leadership skill plays a very important role in the efficient operation of the council.
Government and political parties provides different formal training for the
Councilor to learn the above skills. Councilor could also learn their skills from their experience. Nonetheless, these skills are not requirement but are very important for a successful District Councilor.
7. Character s
Sincerity
All the three interviewers emphasize on sincerity – service from the heart.
People who come to the Councilor for help do not always count on the outcome to assess the Councilor’s performance. In many cases nothing or limited things could be done to solve the problem, but it is important that the Councilor had tried his best to solve the problem.
23 Devoted to serve the public
Councilors are usually very busy. Their heart to devote becomes a significant source of energy. Monetary return for a Councilor is in fact not much compared to his heavy work load. Therefore the genuine heart to serve the public is somehow more important than his ability to perform.
Sociable
As Councilors are the bridge between government and the citizens. They are exposed to people from different backgrounds in the society. A good social network is therefore essential during liaison with different parties when carrying out his work.
Self-motivated
A successful District Councilor does not wait to response to problem, but to plan for the public to avoid any foreseeable problem. Not only should they come up with some feasible ideas to avoid the problem, they should also implement them early before the problem occurs.
Able to work under pressure
District Councilors are representative of the “District”. The public would pay a lot of attention on Councilors’ performance. Inevitably, Councilors faced a great deal of pressure from various parties. It is important for him to continue to work effectively under such a pressure.
Able to listen to people’s need
24 People would only choose those candidates who could reflect their needs to the government. Listen is therefore very important because it helped the councilors to understand their needs better. Even though their needs may sound unreasonable to certain people, it is the Councilor’s responsibility to reflect the situation to the appropriate parties if it is truly his people’s needs.
Hardworking
This is a fundamental factor to success no matter in which career, especially as being a Councilor. The work load is so high that even a very hardworking person may found it impossible to handle all the cases he received from citizens. It is because that the society is changing at all time and people’s need would change accordingly.
Integrity
During the time of election some candidate would make promises to his voters.
The Councilors have to fulfill his promises made to the public. Otherwise, the basis of trust would melt down. This is very dangerous since Councilor may found low level of support to his policies and work or he may even fail in the next session of election.
8. Training
According to our interviewee, no one will tell you what to do or how to do in the job. Sometimes one will feel frustrated and alone. Mostly, skills are gained on the job, that is, learning from doing.
Moreover, the government will provide some seminars once in a while like building management or soft skills like taking to the public. Quotas are given to
25 District Councilors, and it can be transferred to their Assistants as well. Some political parties provide training which the nature is similar to the government to their members as well.
9. Job Satisfaction
As a district councilor, job satisfaction will be gained starting from the time of getting elected and can be classified into intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction.
Intrinsic Job Satisfaction
After the success in improvement of environment, District Councilor will feel satisfied and happy when they receive vote of thanks from the citizens. If the District
Councilor can successfully provide services for those less fortunate or grassroots in needs, they will feel encouraged. For instance, the social welfare policies for the single parent’s financial supports are passed; it will directly help those minorities group. Throughout the jobs, they will feel their importance towards the public since they are basically acting as a bridge between the Government and the community.
Moreover, they will feel popular and welcomed from the general public when they succeed in defending his position in the election. At the same time, some District
Councilor will feel superior due to their status which is different from a chairman of a non-profit making organization or Councilor Officer.
Extrinsic Job Satisfaction
Success in improving the environments and providing provisions of services by making polices and rules.
26 10.Job Pressure and Difficulties
Apart from the pressures from family, their political parties and other political parties
District Councilors also feel stressed out because they need to keep their images, do not get re-elected or lack of supporters, do not have any “personal secrets” and receive “negative news.”
Family pressure
Since District Councilors have lot of works to handle, they may not have time to stay with their families. Therefore, they may have a poor relationship with their families and family pressure may arise.
Pressure from their political parties and other political parties
Every political party will have his strategies and ideas; they will try to compete with each other for more support from the public. Political parties may give pressure towards their members during elections campaign.
Keeping images
Most of the time, District Councilors need to keep their images since many people are interested towards their daily life. Moreover, if their images once get affected, it may soon affect the images and reputation the political parties that they belong to. As a result, keeping images are important to them.
27 Pressure from multi-media
District Councilors will lose their “personal times” as many reporters will follow them throughout the day to see if they have any personal secret that have not been disclosed to the public. If any personal inappropriate activities have been discovered,
“negative news” will come up and destroy the images and reputation will be affected.
Thus, District Councilors handle carefully towards their personal affairs.
The Job difficulties occur when District Councilors cannot successfully solve out the problems in related to their districts and misunderstanding between public and they are happened. Sometimes, District Councilors may be blamed by the general public for not able to finish the jobs. Another job difficulty is that they may be discouraged when they do not get re-elected and cannot continue to perform services in their districts. Moreover, they may have difficulties when they have disagreement with other District Councilors towards policies making.
The Interviews
We have conducted three interviews with District Councilors. Coincidently, they are all from Kowloon City District. Mr. Ip and Mr. Lau worked as District
Councilors for many years while Ms. Mok is relatively young in her job. We summarize their interviews into seven parts about their entry to the job (How and
Why), vision, job satisfaction, pressure & difficulties, memorable experience, and past experiences.
28 1. Interview with Councilor Mr IP Che-kin ( 葉志堅議員 )
Councilor Mr IP Che-kin (葉志堅議員) (Elected councilor)
Political Affiliation: Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong Occupation: Full-time District Councilor
Why is Mr. Ip interested in District Councilor’s work?
Mr. Ip has been living in Hung Hom District for more than 30 years. When he was living in tenement-house in Whampoa Street, indecent assault happened to a girl from the 1st floor of his building. After that, the residents from the building agreed to add a gate at the entrance, however, no one took the job up to install it. Therefore,
He asked someone from his secondary school (Mongkok Workers' Children School) who works as craftsman to install it at cost. Then, he has no clue how to collect the money from other residents he spent. He consulted the District Administration
Department and got a great help from Mr. Tsang in the District Administration
Department. Mr. Ip started interest in community works.
How Mr. Ip stepped into District Council?
Mr. Tsang then introduced him to work voluntarily under Area Committee (AC) under the District Administration Department as Mr. Ip showed his interest in community works. He also offer his services in Mutual Aid Committees which is a voluntary body formed by the residents of a building in the 70’s. Ip experienced two failures in the District Council election. In the first time he failed because the other candidate was an experience person who serves the area for a long time. The second time he failed because the residents in Lok Man District claimed that Ip did
29 not actually lived there. Then, Mr. Ip concentrated his community work back to Hom
Hung District, and was elected from 1988 to now. Mr. Ip asserted that his entry to the
District Council was way before the formation of Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong.
Mr. Ip’s vision about District Councilor?
Ip declared that one’s financial background will determine his/her class in
District Council, when he was referring to being elected for Chairman and Vice
Chairman of the District Council. Despite this inequality, the most important element for being a successful District Councilor is the acceptance from the residents.
Mr Ip’s job satisfaction
Mr. Ip likes to help others. Especially when he is the “leader” of the area, he feels extremely important to help people out to make the community a better one. He loves the feeling when he could really help someone after he has done something for him/her.
Pressure and Difficulties of District Councilor
Mr. Ip gets frustrated when he comes across problem which he cannot solve which is either the problem is out of his scope to help or the public is too demanding.
When he explains the real matter to the public, they would be rude to him. Ip also claims that sometimes the public just over-use the utilities provided.
30 Memorable experience of Mr. Ip in his job
Mr. Ip encountered many complicated situations. He shared one of them with us. Mr. Ip received a complaint about leaking from the upper floor from a building. He consulted the Housing Authority, however, the HA did not process further as they claimed that the building did not have immediate danger, so it would not be a matter.
Then, he consulted the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, they did nothing about it because the gutter was private and the Department advised Mr. Ip to resolve the problem by those tenants themselves in which the tenants whose apartment leaks usually will not take the responsibility to fix it first. He felt as if he has no way to assist the tenants. At last, by his excellent communication skills, he conveyed the tenant to pay for the repayment.
How Mr. Ip past job experience affects his as a District Councilor?
Mr. Ip was an editor in Zhong Liu Publication ( 中流出版社) since 1957 and retired in 2002. He found it important to become literate with writing skills because he argued that the writing skills of university graduates are not as good as the past graduates. And with his reading and writing skills, he can communicate effectively with other government bodies and the public. He also contributed in the working report of Kowloon District Council as the chief editor. He believes in the power of words.
2. Interview with Councilor Ms. MOK Ka-han, Rosanda ( 莫嘉嫻議員 )
31 Councilor Ms. MOK Ka-han, Rosanda ( 莫 嘉 嫻 議 員 ) (Elected councilor )
Political Affiliation: Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood Occupation: Full-time District Councilor
How she start her work as a District Councilor??
She started her career as a Councilor Assistant in another political party until when she found that their working style was not the same. So she resigned and joined the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood as
Councilor Assistant for Councilor Liu Sing Lee. After two years working in the community, the political party decided to nominate her to be a candidate in the 1123 election. She is now one of the District Councilors in Kowloon City.
How the past experiences apply to current job?
When she worked in the first political party as a Councilor Assistant, she found her interest in this field because she can help the residents through carrying out her job duties. This experience helped her a lot in understanding what a District
Councilor does and which government department she can refer to.
Pressure and Difficulties
Rosanda’s pressure comes from several aspects, such as re-election, family, and multi-media. When the time for election comes, almost every acting District
Councilor would feel the pressure from re-election, which is the same case as
Rosanda. She had thought about what she would do when she could not be re-
32 elected – she would act as a Councilor Assistant again and wait for another opportunity.
Rosanda’s family gave her pressure also. Since a District Councilor’s work requires her to be on call 24-7, and she is working in an estate with a majority of population as elderly, she has little chance to meet new friends. Her family always want her to get married and blamed that the job had imposed barrier for her to meet boyfriends.
Rosanda once had a meeting with a reporter discussing about Article 23. But the reporter later did not fully disclose what she said, and Rosanda was misunderstood by the public that she supported Article 23. This lesson made her understand that she had to be very careful when facing and talking with reporters.
Since she is working in an aging estate, she always experienced communication problem with elderly at initial times. Apart from listening to the provisional accent of the elderly, she also had to adjust herself to talk wholly in
Chinese in order to let the elderly understand her. But now, she has totally overcome this difficulty and many elderly come to chat with her every day.
Job Satisfaction
Rosanda’s job satisfaction comes from the recognition of the residents in
Kowloon City. Since Rosanda loves to help people, whenever she received some vote of thanks from the residents, such as Thank you cards and some accessories, she feels that this is very rewarding.
33 Vision
Rosanda vision is to serve people so that they could have better living environment and standard. Moreover, she wants to be the first one to speak out for the people in her District.
Memorable experience
There was a mentally retarded guy who was laid off by his employer years ago. One day, a shop owner who worked nearby where the guy lives brought him to
Rosanda saying that he didn’t eat for 3 days. They found out that the employer had opened a joint bank account with the guy. At first, they thought that the employer held up his money, but after some investigation, they found out that the employer used to deposit some money into the account for the guy to use, but he was not in Hong
Kong those few days so he cannot deposit money and finally came out with this misunderstanding.
3. Interview with Councilor Mr LAU Wai-wing ( 劉偉榮議員 )
Councilor Mr LAU Wai-wing (劉偉榮議員) ( Elected councilor )
Political Affiliation: Nil Occupation: Full-time District Councilor
Personal Information
Mr. Lau is one of the elected councilor of Kowloon City District. He is a full time councilor of the area Whompoa West in Kowloon City District. Before working as
34 a full time district councilor, he worked as shipman and shipping clerk before. In
1994, he started working as a district councilor. Up to now, he has been serving in
Kowloon City District for ten years.
Why choose to work as a District Councilor?? How the past experience apply to current job?
Mr. Lau worked as a shipman in 1967. Just like the other shipmen, he had joined the Hong Kong Sea Transport and Logistics Association. As told by Mr. Lau, there are lots of disputes on each journey of shipping. To enable the work runs smoothly and together with his “loving to help” character, he became a middleman in settling disputes among shipmen. Since shipmen’s work are quite boring, he also actively in organizing different social activities for the shipmen. On one hand, this facilitates the relationship among the shipmen. On the other hand, this lessens the dispute between one another. All these finally help Mr. Lau in building up the skills of dealing with problems of others.
Apart of this, the job nature of shipmen is to
require one whom is hard work and could
work under harsh environment. This helps
Mr. Lau to build up a tough character. This
character enables him to work as a District
Councilor later years.
As times goes on, working as a shipman no longer with a high earning capacity. To support his basic living, Mr. Lau turned to work as a shipping clerk. This is because he was more familiar with those works that relating to shipping. In 1984,
35 he started living in Kowloon City. Not only working as a shipping clerk, he also concentrates on the social affairs of his own district area: Whompoa West.
With the changing structure of the district councils, the seats for district council have been increased. Together with the support from the resident of Whompoa West, he decided to elect as district councilor of Whompoa West. Finally, Mr. Lau has been elected as the councilor of Whompoa West in the first District Council Election in
1999. At the time being, he was only a part time district councilor. He also worked as a shipping clerk that time. However, Mr. Lau found that he should concentrate more on serving the resident of Whompoa West. Finally, he chose to quit the job- shipping clerk and became a full time district councilor.
To sum up, there are three reasons for Mr. Lau to turn becoming a district councilor. Firstly, the changing structure of the District Council which increased his chance of being elected and to serve as a district councilor. Secondly, he has accumulated his experience of helping other and dealing with the social affairs of his
District, Whompoa West. Finally, his work has been well appreciated by other resident in the Whompoa West District, which in turn supporting Mr. Lau to go for the election.
Pressure and Difficulties
Mr. Lau thinks that he doesn’t feel much pressure from his current work. This is because he loves his job and he has put his very effort in dealing with his job.
36 Because of this, he found no way to be under pressure. Even though he has obtained complaints from some resident, he doesn’t feel unhappy with them. Since he has worked his very best thus he won’t feel guilty of being complaint.
Memorial Incident
One of his most memorial incidents is that he obtained 1642 votes in the
2003’s District Council Election. His competiting candidate was one of the
Democratic Party’s members. Besides, this candidate obtained the support from nearly all members of the Democratic Party. Facing with such a keen competition,
Mr. Lau still won the election finally. This provides him with a source of job satisfaction .Mr. Lau also believe that this was a kind of proof to his work achievement.
Vision
Mr. Lau wants to serve the public in representing them to speak to the related departments or Legislative Councilors for any problems concerned to the public.
Job Satisfaction
During the interview, Mr. Lau shared with us that he felt extremely happy when the public thank him for what he had done for them. For example, in Chinese New year, people might come to the Legislative Councilor’s office and bring him some cakes. In Christmas, Mr. Lau would receive greeting cards from people who have already immigrated to other countries. Apart from the above, Mr. Lau was most touched when he noticed that there were a growing number of votes supporting him in the past three elections from 700 votes to 1,600 votes.
37 Job Difficulties
During the interview, Mr. Lau also shared with us about the job difficulties. Mr.
Lau got elected as the first president of the
Legislative Councilor, but he was not able to get elected again, so he felt disappointed about it. Moreover, during the period before the election, Mr. Lau may not get enough support financial support since he does not belong to any party. He also needs to do more than others candidates since he cannot rely the party to show the things that he did for the public, so he needs to put more efforts than other candidates to show that he is competent and sincere. Another difficulty is that sometimes he may not be able to solve out the problems for the public, and may be blamed by the public through e- mail or telephone calls. Therefore, Mr. Lau needs to spend times to explain to the public for the incidents to gain for the understanding from the public.
Conclusion
In conclusion, our group would like to give some advice to the students if they want to be a district councilor in the future. But, before this, we would like to discuss how a district councilor can become successful.
How to succeed as a District Councilor?
Know the District well
A district councilor should know the representing district really well. This is because most of the works of a District Councilor concerns the development of the
38 district, so he/ she has to know almost everything about the district in order to carry out the duties efficiently. However, it takes time to know the district, so many district councilors will run election in the district which they have be living in for a long time.
Interact with the community
Because the support of the people is the main determinant to the success in an election, it is apparent that what a District Councilor does to win an election is to develop a trust-worthy relationship with the citizens. The most direct way to win supporters’ trust is to serve them well with a sincere heart. A successful district councilor should not be isolated from the community, rather he/ she should be involved in the life of the community, willing to help those needy citizens when troubles/ problems arise.
Representative for the people
District Councilor is produced through elections, it is obvious that he/ she acts as representative of the community. Therefore, a district councilor should present the people’s opinion to the Government for the betterment of the living of the community.
In essence, people counts for the key to excel as a successful district councilor.
In essence, our group believes that the key to success rests on one word –
PEOPLE. They are Personality, Energetic, Organization, Passion, Listen and most importantly ELECTED.
H ow to equip ourselves as a fresh graduates ?
39 Drawing from our knowledge about the career of a district councilor, we would like to give some suggestions to students on how to equip themselves to be a district councilor.
Take part in volunteer services to gain experience
The job of a district councilor is in nature a social service, so as a student, we should participant in various volunteer services to gain some experience about social service. In fact, participating in voluntary services is not only for gaining experience, but it is also a way for us to contribute to our society.
Polish communication & presentation skills
Excellent communication and presentation skills are important in the sense that these skills will facilitate relationship-building process. If we cannot communicate effectively with the people, how can we serve them? Communication skill is important to facilitate our understanding of the people’s needs. Presentation skills are particularly needed in meetings that a district councilor has to attend as well as in election campaigns.
Familiarize with Government’s policies
Because a district councilor acts also as a consultant for the people, and sometimes they act as mediator between the people and the Government. Therefore, it is important to understand the Government’s policies and the responsibilities of different government departments, so as to help people solving their problems.
40 Attend courses on psychology / counseling workshops
As a district councilor may encounter issue such as family violence, there are times that a district councilor needs to take care of people’s emotion. To be a responsible and effective, it will be especially good for non-social work students to attend some psychology training courses or counseling workshops to gain knowledge in handling people’s emotional problems.
Individual Learning Reflections
Maggie Law
Through this project, my knowledge and impression towards the District
Councilors were enhanced and changed. I learned about the structure of the
Government and the number of districts under Hong Kong Government.
Before the completion of this project, I only acknowledged about the significance of the Legislative Councilors due to the reporting from news. Now, I noticed that although District Councilors are relatively less significant compare with the Legislative Councilors, District Councilors’ contribution towards the society are more direct as they are the bridge between the Government and the public. They have more communication with the residents, like the one day tour, and need to be patient in listening to residents’ complaints. Despite of making policies and rules for the environment, they also have to listen to the people in personal affairs or family problems. Therefore, we should not overlook their importance towards the society.
41 From the interviews, I understand the District Councilors more such as the career path and the job duties of the District Councilors. I am interested to work as a
District Councilor’s Assistant and to serve the society because I enjoy doing volunteer work. At the same time, I am also getting more interested to find out about my district. For example, the name of the District Councilor and policies or activities that he/she organized.
Moreover, Hong Kong people are not as selfish and coldhearted as people said as they will show their support towards the District Councilors. As we were told by our interviewees that people sometimes will offer cakes or drinks during festivals or they may show their support by a vote of thanks. I was impressed by the response from the people towards the District Councilors.
Morris Lee
The work of a District Councilor is really not easy! I am surprised that they have so many things to do every day. Even a delay of a bus or smelly drain will cause complaint in the Councilor’s Office. Just imagine how many bus stop and drain in a district and you will know how busy they are.
Frankly speaking, I have no idea about District Councilor before doing this project. My impression of a District Councilor was almost the same as a Legislative
Councilor or any other politician, which was very vague and unclear. I could only remember their promotion during election period. Not only did the project teach me the work nature of a Councilor, I started to truly appreciate their work.
42 I believe most of the Councilors are not only working for their fame and salary, but also because of us. As mentioned by one of our interviewees, they are working for the benefit of the community. I am touched by their sincerity when carrying out their work.
District Councilor is an attractive career. I believe it is not only suitable for students majoring in social work but all fresh graduates. It is because many of us should possess the heart to serve the society.
Kylie Ng
Although I have registered as a voter and have cast my vote in an election some years ago, I did not have deep understandings of what a District Councilor can really do for me or the community. Through conducting the three interviews with the
District Councilors, I got to know more about what a District Councilor counts.
Besides, I found that all of the three interviewees are friendly and very eager to help us. At the same time, I think the workload of a District Councilor is quite heavy especially due to the irregular working hours. I remember the night that I interviewed
Mr. Ip, he has received more than 10 telephone calls from the citizens within two hours. Some of the calls were about minor issues such as drainage problem. After that, I have an impression that a District Councilor acts like a manager in the district who has to take care of many things and lead the community forward, to a better living condition.
As the rationale of our project is to help ourselves as well as our classmates to understand the career of a District Councilor quickly, I think we have met our
43 objectives to a large extent. At least, I believe that all of our group members have changed their vision towards a District Councilor. In addition, I hope our project will do persuade some students to join the career of District Councilor as I have already been persuaded after this project.
Junita Tam
As a university student in Hong Kong, having a basic knowledge about how the government works is a must, especially about the District Councilor who are so closely related to our daily life. Not until studying in the career as a District Councilor,
I never had the determination to find out how the District Council works and how
District Councilors can help us.
This project gave me an opportunity, or strictly speaking, pushed me to study in the career of a District Councilor, which I should have done many years ago, so that I can know better the structure of the District Council, what a District Councilor does every day, how to enter this job market, the career path and all the related things about a District Councilor.
Having interviews with the three District Councilors had also broadened my horizons in this career. Never got in touch with any District Councilors before, I learnt that it is actually a hard work to be a District Councilor; you have to work under great pressure, since you are representing residents from the whole district, work 24-7, knowing everything happened in the district. But it would be really satisfying if you can help a single resident. As told by Ms Mok, residents would show their vote of thanks by offering some foods and drinks during festivals and by giving some thank
44 you cards and some hand make decorations. I also understand that there are many restrictions for District Councilors in fighting for the residents with the Government, and I would be more considerate towards their work and would not blindly blame them for things they cannot achieve for the district.
After studying in this career, I would like to enter into a job that can help people, because this would give me an excellent job satisfaction. This would not necessarily be a District Councilor, since the underlying nature of a District Councilor is to help people.
Vincy Tam
Before starting this project, I have no idea what district councilors do, because
I think I simply don’t need them anyway. To choose District Councilor as our center of investigation is somehow challenging for me as I am such a political indifferent person and I have no background about social sciences and politics. An economic student like me is more aware of numbers instead of people. (I am not an elector until
April this year. I only went to register in a function held by Hong Kong Association for
Democracy and People's Livelihood which I have to do the film shooting for the presentation.) After interviewed three district councilors in my district, not only I know more about my district, I also feel that l love their job indeed. I wish I am not graduating and have the whole summer to help them out!
To be frank, I like the job of District Councilor Assistant more than that in
District Councilor, because I am not really familiar with politics, not even politics in people. Also, I think the more important thing is that I cannot handle the pressure
45 from the election. In order to stay in the job, I think everyday in that four-year term is the Election Day for me.
I am glad in my university life I can do something other than “numbers”. In the course of research for the materials I came across many government websites which
I didn’t think of and they are very useful. I do learn a lot which I didn’t expect in this project and this course.
Ankei Yip
Before doing this project, I really don’t know much about the career- District
Councilors. I don’t know what their scope of work is, what a District Councilor’s earning capacity is, what the entry requirements are…etc. I have really little knowledge of this career.
After getting through this project, I gain a lot. Not only understanding more of the career of a District Councilor, but also obtained a valuable experience in interviewing with those District Councilors.
There is no denying that District Councilors takes a very important role in the district. For those who are in need for help, District Councilors will try their very best to help them. In each district, there are different problems arises, such as drainage problem. If there is no any District Councilor, it may be very difficult for the residents to air their opinion or to solve the problem by themselves.
Although my career goal is not working as a District Councilor, this investigation project provides me with some insights. No matter working in which job,
46 I believe that we should do our best. We should not give up whenever we encounter a big difficulty. If we have the belief to success, then, we can! Just like the District
Councilor Mr. Lau Wai Wing, he obtains complaints from the residents. However, he still working at his very best to serve the Whompoa’s residents. Even though he has encounter problem, he never give up in serving the public.
Appendix I
Chapter: 547 Title: DISTRICT COUNCILSGazette 33 of 2002 ORDINANCE Number: Section: 14 Heading: Disqualification ofVersion Date: 27/12/2002 appointed members (1) A person is disqualified for appointment and from holding office as an appointed member, if the person- (a) is- (i) a judicial officer; or (ii) a prescribed public officer; or (b) has, in Hong Kong, or any other place, been sentenced to death or imprisonment (by whatever name called) and has not either- (i) served the sentence or undergone such other punishment as a competent authority may have substituted for the sentence; or (ii) received a free pardon; or (c) has been convicted of treason; or (d) without limiting paragraph (b), where the term of office is to begin within 5 years after the date of the person's conviction, has been convicted, or is convicted after the beginning of the term of office- (i) in Hong Kong or any other place, of an offence for which the person has been sentenced to imprisonment, whether suspended or not, for a term exceeding 3 months without the option of a fine; or
47 (ii) of having engaged in corrupt or illegal conduct in contravention of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap 554); or (iii) of an offence against Part II of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201); or (iv) of any offence prescribed by regulations in force under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Cap 541); or (Replaced 10 of 2000 s. 47) (e) is a representative or a salaried functionary of the government of a place outside Hong Kong; or (f) is a member of any national, regional or municipal legislature, assembly or council of any place outside Hong Kong, other than a people's congress or people's consultative body of the People's Republic of China, whether established at the national level or local level; or (g) is an undischarged bankrupt or, within the previous 5 years, has either obtained a discharge in bankruptcy or has entered into a voluntary arrangement within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap 6) with the person's creditors, in either case without paying the creditors in full. (Amended 33 of 2002 s. 5) (2) An appointed member is also disqualified from holding office if the person is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) to be incapable, by reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and affairs. (Amended 33 of 2002 s. 5) (3) Subsection (2) does not prevent a person from being eligible for appointment as a member if subsequently it is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) that the person has become capable of managing and administering his or her property and affairs. (Amended 33 of 2002 s. 5) (4) Subject to subsection (6), an appointed member is also disqualified from holding office for the remainder of that member's term of office if the member does not attend meetings of the District Council for 4 consecutive months ("disqualifying period") without obtaining the consent of the Council before the end of that period. (5) The disqualifying period under subsection (4) begins on the day next following the
48 date of the meeting of the Council at which the member is first absent without consent. (6) If during the disqualifying period no meetings are held or only one meeting is held, that period is extended to end immediately after the 3rd consecutive meeting from which the member is absent. (7) An appointed member is also disqualified from holding office if the person was not eligible for appointment as a member under section 12. Chapter: 547 Title: DISTRICT COUNCILSGazette 33 of 2002 ORDINANCE Number: Section: 21 Heading: When person isVersion Date: 27/12/2002 disqualified from being nominated as a candidate and from being elected as an elected member (1) A person is disqualified from being nominated as a candidate at an election, and from being elected as an elected member, if the person- (a) is- (i) a judicial officer; or (ii) a prescribed public officer; or (b) has, in Hong Kong, or any other place, been sentenced to death or imprisonment (by whatever name called) and has not either- (i) served the sentence or undergone such other punishment as a competent authority may have substituted for the sentence; or (ii) received a free pardon; or (c) has been convicted of treason; or (d) on the date of nomination, or of the election, is serving a sentence of imprisonment; or (e) without limiting paragraph (b), where the election is to be held or is held within 5 years after the date of the person's conviction, is or has been convicted-
49 (i) in Hong Kong or any other place, of an offence for which the person has been sentenced to imprisonment, whether suspended or not, for a term exceeding 3 months without the option of a fine; or (ii) of having engaged in corrupt or illegal conduct in contravention of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal Conduct) Ordinance (Cap 554); or (iii) of an offence against Part II of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201); or (iv) of any offence prescribed by regulations in force under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Cap 541); or (Replaced 10 of 2000 s. 47) (f) is ineligible to be a candidate or to be elected as an elected member because of the operation of this Ordinance or any other law; or (g) is a representative or a salaried functionary of the government of a place outside Hong Kong; or (h) is a member of any national, regional or municipal legislature, assembly or council of any place outside Hong Kong, other than a people's congress or people's consultative body of the People's Republic of China, whether established at the national level or local level; or (i) is an undischarged bankrupt or, within the previous 5 years, has either obtained a discharge in bankruptcy or has entered into a voluntary arrangement within the meaning of the Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap 6) with the person's creditors, in either case without paying the creditors in full. (2) A person is also disqualified from being nominated as a candidate at an election if the person is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) to be incapable, by reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and affairs, but a person disqualified under this subsection is eligible for nomination as a candidate if, under that Ordinance, it is subsequently found that the person has become capable of managing and administering his or her property and affairs. (3) A person is also disqualified from being elected as an elected member if the
50 person is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) to be incapable, by reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and affairs, but a person disqualified under this subsection ceases to be disqualified if, under that Ordinance, it is subsequently found that the person has become capable of managing and administering his or her property and affairs. (Amended 33 of 2002 s. 7) Appendix II
Name of District Council Number of Number of Number of ex- Total elected appointed officio members members members Central and Western District 15 4 - 19 Council Wan Chai District Council 11 3 - 14 Eastern District Council 37 9 - 46 Southern District Council 17 4 - 21 Yau Tsim Mong District 16 4 - 20 Council Sham Shui Po District Council 21 5 - 26 Kowloon City District Council 22 5 - 27 Wong Tai Sin District Council 25 6 - 31 Kwun Tong District Council 34 8 - 42 Tsuen Wan District Council 17 5 2 24 Tuen Mun District Council 29 7 1 37 Yuen Long District Council 29 7 6 42 North District Council 16 5 4 25 Tai Po District Council 19 5 2 26 Sai Kung District Council 20 5 2 27 Sha Tin Distict Council 36 9 1 46 Kwai Tsing District Council 28 7 1 36 Islands District Council 8 4 8 20 Total 400 102 27 529
References
1. Councilor Directory, 17th April, 2004
http://www.dphk.org/e_site/councilor_dir_db_e.htm
2. 1999 District Council Election, 16th April, 2004
51 http://www.elections.gov.hk/elections/dcelect99/
3. District Council Bill, 14th April, 2004
http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr98-99/english/bills/c086_e.htm
4. Political Institution Development, 15th April, 2004
http://jpcom.catholic.org.hk/english/enfocus/political_inst_develop.htm#district_c
ouncils
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http://www.gov.hk/eac/en/distco/2003dc_elect.htm
6. Registration and Electoral Office, 16th April, 2004
http://www.gov.hk/reo/index_en.htm
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http://www.legco.gov.hk
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http://www.hongkongunmasked.com
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April 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.adpl.org.hk/
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the World Wide Web: http://www.dab.org.hk/
52 14. District Council Election, Retrieved 17 April 2004 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.elections.gov.hk
53