HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23 March 1995 2765 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Thursday, 23 March 1995 The Council met at half-past Two o'clock PRESENT THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE SIR JOHN SWAINE, C.B.E., LL.D., Q.C., J.P. THE CHIEF SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE MRS ANSON CHAN, C.B.E., J.P. THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY THE HONOURABLE SIR NATHANIEL WILLIAM HAMISH MACLEOD, K.B.E., J.P. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL THE HONOURABLE JEREMY FELL MATHEWS, C.M.G., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALLEN LEE PENG-FEI, C.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS SELINA CHOW LIANG SHUK-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE HUI YIN-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LEE CHU-MING, Q.C., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, O.B.E., LL.D., J.P. THE HONOURABLE NGAI SHIU-KIT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE PANG CHUN-HOI, M.B.E. THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAH THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WONG WANG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HO SING-TIN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE RONALD JOSEPH ARCULLI, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MARTIN GILBERT BARROW, O.B.E., J.P. 2766 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23 March 1995 THE HONOURABLE MRS PEGGY LAM, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WAH-SUM, O.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LEONG CHE-HUNG, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JAMES DAVID McGREGOR, O.B.E., I.S.O., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS ELSIE TU, C.B.E. THE HONOURABLE PETER WONG HONG-YUEN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALBERT CHAN WAI-YIP THE HONOURABLE VINCENT CHENG HOI-CHUEN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MOSES CHENG MO-CHI THE HONOURABLE MARVIN CHEUNG KIN-TUNG, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG THE HONOURABLE CHIM PUI-CHUNG REV THE HONOURABLE FUNG CHI-WOOD THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY HA WING-HO, M.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL HO MUN-KA DR THE HONOURABLE LAM KUI-CHUN DR THE HONOURABLE CONRAD LAM KUI-SHING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE EMILY LAU WAI-HING THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT THE HONOURABLE ERIC LI KA-CHEUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING THE HONOURABLE MAN SAI-CHEONG THE HONOURABLE HENRY TANG YING-YEN, J.P. HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23 March 1995 2767 THE HONOURABLE TIK CHI-YUEN THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN DR THE HONOURABLE SAMUEL WONG PING-WAI, M.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG DR THE HONOURABLE YEUNG SUM THE HONOURABLE HOWARD YOUNG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE ZACHARY WONG WAI-YIN DR THE HONOURABLE TANG SIU-TONG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE LOH KUNG-WAI THE HONOURABLE ROGER LUK KOON-HOO THE HONOURABLE ANNA WU HUNG-YUK THE HONOURABLE JAMES TIEN PEI-CHUN, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALFRED TSO SHIU-WAI THE HONOURABLE LEE CHEUK-YAN ABSENT THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, O.B.E., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE HUANG CHEN-YA THE HONOURABLE SIMON IP SIK-ON, O.B.E., J.P. THE HONOURABLE STEVEN POON KWOK-LIM IN ATTENDANCE THE CLERK TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL MR RICKY FUNG CHOI-CHEUNG THE DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL MR LAW KAM-SANG 2768 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23 March 1995 APPROPRIATION BILL 1995 Resumption of debate on Second Reading which was moved on 1 March 1995 PRESIDENT: Council will now resume and continue with the debate on the Appropriation Bill 1995. MR SZETO WAH (in Cantonese): Mr President, life is a continuous learning process and we should keep on learning throughout our life. While a good start is already halfway to success, pre-school education marks the beginning of this life-long learning process. The first impression is usually indelible. The first stroke on a piece of blank drawing paper is the most important stroke. All these tell us the significance of pre-school education. In the incident which took place in 1973 concerning certificate masters, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU) which was then still in its preparatory stage of establishment and 12 other educational bodies put forward four requests for the reform of the education system. One of these requests was better remuneration for private school teachers, including kindergarten teachers. 22 years have passed and the HKPTU has been fighting hard all along for the provision of subsidized kindergarten education and better remuneration for kindergarten educators as well as improvement of the quality of kindergarten education. Resolutions concerning these issues were adopted at almost every annual general meeting of the HKPTU. After all these years of great efforts, the Administration finally realizes that "teachers must be adequately paid if they are to have sufficient incentive to improve their qualifications", and that there should be "more direct help to enable kindergartens to employ trained teachers." Therefore, in the 1995-96 Budget, $80 million is appropriated for these purposes. As compared to the whole Budget and the funds allocated for education, $80 million is only a very small amount. This amount is disproportionately small compared with the funding allocated for tertiary, secondary and primary education. Nevertheless, we still welcome this appropriation of $80 million since it represents the beginning of a change in government policy. For many years, almost every child would have received kindergarten education before entering primary school. However, the Administration still holds that kindergarten education is not a must and refuses to finance same. In saying this, the Administration has in fact defamed kindergartens which have contributed a lot to society through the provision of pre-school education services. Although $80 million is only an insignificant amount, I hope it marks a tacit admission on the part of the Administration of the faulty policy it stuck to in the past, and signifies the beginning of a new policy. I hope the HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23 March 1995 2769 Administration will further the policy of financing kindergarten education from now on. It is said that the Secretary for Education and Manpower and the Secretary for Health and Welfare are formulating a relevant plan to be submitted to the Executive Council at the beginning of next month and then a decision will be made. I hope the Administration will listen carefully to and incorporate into its plan the views of the Councillors concerning this topic expressed in this debate. As regards the relevant plans being formulated, my opinions are as follows: (1) The most crucial element of the entire plan is better remuneration for kindergarten educators. The plan should bring about a significant and actual increase in their salary. (2) Besides trained teachers, the plan should also focus on teachers who are receiving training and teachers who have not been trained. Only in doing this can the wastage rate of teachers be contained and minimized, and competent people be attracted to join and stay in the profession. (3) To date, there is still no pre-service training for kindergarten educators. This problem should indeed be treated with urgency. I hope the plan can bring about favourable conditions for solving the problem. (4) The plan should be published as soon as possible and implemented in September this year to allow ample time for kindergartens to make preparation and adapt themselves to the new policy, to revise the fees they charge, to renew contracts with their teachers and to recruit new teachers. Mr President, these are my remarks. MR NGAI SHIU-KIT (in Cantonese): Mr President, I would compare the last Budget introduced by Sir Hamish MACLEOD during his term as Financial Secretary to a "three- piece" suit. "Prosperity through consensus" is a jacket, the novel "consensus capitalism" is a pair of trendy trousers and Xunzi's "On enriching the state" is a waistcoat. The suit looks very smart but if we take a closer look, we will find that no matter how skilfully it is packaged, the gorgeous jacket has failed to cover up the ordinary contents of the Budget. Not only has the Financial Secretary failed to set a specific target for the long-term social and economic development of the territory, but he has also sown seeds of latent worries. 2770 HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 23 March 1995 Sir Hamish has been complacent about the concept "consensus capitalism" created by him and he has proudly presented it as the formula for creating the prosperity Hong Kong is enjoying now. If the Hong Kong Government genuinely takes the consensus of all citizens in the territory as the basis of administration and financial management, this is indeed worthy of our applause and Sir Hamish has every reason to feel proud. But, what "consensus" really means is that people from various sectors should exchange their views and hold mutual discussions so as to seek common ground while reserving differences, with the ultimate goal of laying stress on the interests of society as a whole. The Financial Secretary conceives "consensus" as something totally different. He has refrained from following the right path. Instead, he manipulates his public relations skills with a view to giving himself an excuse for politicizing the Budget. First of all, in the outset, the Financial Secretary talked with fervour and assurance about the merits of his "consensus capitalism", emphasizing the need to encourage free enterprise and competition while promoting equity and assistance for those who need it and to seek consensus through consultation with Members in the course of preparation of the Budget.