LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 8017 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Thursday, 22 June 2000 The Council met at half-past Nine o'clock MEMBERS PRESENT: THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE MRS RITA FAN, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE KENNETH TING WOO-SHOU, J.P. THE HONOURABLE DAVID CHU YU-LIN THE HONOURABLE HO SAI-CHU, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CYD HO SAU-LAN THE HONOURABLE EDWARD HO SING-TIN, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALBERT HO CHUN-YAN THE HONOURABLE MICHAEL HO MUN-KA IR DR THE HONOURABLE RAYMOND HO CHUNG-TAI, J.P. THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT THE HONOURABLE LEE CHEUK-YAN THE HONOURABLE MARTIN LEE CHU-MING, S.C., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ERIC LI KA-CHEUNG, J.P. 8018 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 THE HONOURABLE LEE KAI-MING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LUI MING-WAH, J.P. THE HONOURABLE NG LEUNG-SING PROF THE HONOURABLE NG CHING-FAI THE HONOURABLE MARGARET NG THE HONOURABLE MRS SELINA CHOW LIANG SHUK-YEE, J.P. THE HONOURABLE RONALD ARCULLI, J.P. THE HONOURABLE MA FUNG-KWOK THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG THE HONOURABLE HUI CHEUNG-CHING THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE LOH THE HONOURABLE CHAN KWOK-KEUNG THE HONOURABLE CHAN YUEN-HAN THE HONOURABLE BERNARD CHAN THE HONOURABLE CHAN WING-CHAN THE HONOURABLE CHAN KAM-LAM DR THE HONOURABLE LEONG CHE-HUNG, J.P. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 8019 THE HONOURABLE MRS SOPHIE LEUNG LAU YAU-FUN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE LEUNG YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE GARY CHENG KAI-NAM, J.P. THE HONOURABLE SIN CHUNG-KAI THE HONOURABLE ANDREW WONG WANG-FAT, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG THE HONOURABLE WONG YUNG-KAN THE HONOURABLE JASPER TSANG YOK-SING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE HOWARD YOUNG, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE YEUNG SUM THE HONOURABLE YEUNG YIU-CHUNG THE HONOURABLE LAU CHIN-SHEK, J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU KONG-WAH THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, J.P. THE HONOURABLE AMBROSE LAU HON-CHUEN, J.P. THE HONOURABLE EMILY LAU WAI-HING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHOY SO-YUK THE HONOURABLE ANDREW CHENG KAR-FOO 8020 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 THE HONOURABLE SZETO WAH THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY FOK TSUN-TING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAW CHI-KWONG, J.P. THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE FUNG CHI-KIN MEMBERS ABSENT: THE HONOURABLE JAMES TIEN PEI-CHUN, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE TANG SIU-TONG, J.P. PUBLIC OFFICERS ATTENDING: MR MICHAEL SUEN MING-YEUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION MR CHAU TAK-HAY, J.P. SECRETARY FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY MR NICHOLAS NG WING-FUI, J.P. SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT MR JOSEPH WONG WING-PING, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR EDUCATION AND MANPOWER MR STEPHEN IP SHU-KWAN, J.P. SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 8021 MR DAVID LAN HONG-TSUNG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS MRS LILY YAM KWAN PUI-YING, J.P. SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND FOOD DR YEOH ENG-KIONG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE MS EVA CHENG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND BROADCASTING CLERKS IN ATTENDANCE: MR RICKY FUNG CHOI-CHEUNG, J.P., SECRETARY GENERAL MR LAW KAM-SANG, J.P., DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL MS PAULINE NG MAN-WAH, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL 8022 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 BILLS Council went into Committee. Committee Stage CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese): Good morning, Honourable Members. Council is now in Committee and will continue considering clause 3 of the Building Management (Amendment) Bill 2000. BUILDING MANAGEMENT (AMENDMENT) BILL 2000 SECRETARY FOR HOME AFFAIRS (in Cantonese): Madam Chairman, in view of the need for some time to deal with matters related to the proposed amendments to clause 3 and to discuss with our legal advisers, I move under Rule 40(4) of the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Council that further proceedings of the Committee be now adjourned. Should this motion be passed, I will seek leave from the President to waive the notice required in respect of proceedings in relation to this Bill. I hope the President can understand that we need time to discuss the matter with legal advisers before resuming the Committee stage on 26 June. CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese): I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by the Secretary for Home Affairs, that proceedings in relation to the Building Management (Amendment) Bill 2000 be now adjourned, be passed. Does any Member need any clarification? If so, I can do some explaining. The Secretary has moved a motion to adjourn all proceedings in relation to the Bill in this Meeting. What the Secretary would like to do is he would ask this Council to, in the next Meeting, the one to be held on 26 June, to resume the proceedings for the Bill. If the Secretary deems it necessary to revise certain amendments after consideration or owing to certain changes as a result of the decision made by this Council yesterday, he will need to give notice. However, owing to insufficient time, I might need to exercise my power to waive the requisite notice time. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 8023 Do Honourable Members have any questions? If so, please put them to me for the present situation is relatively rare. MR LEE WING-TAT (in Cantonese): Madam Chairman, thank you for letting me ask a question. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the Chairman may in her discretion dispense with notice. But I would like to ask if the dispensation of notice is only applicable to the Secretary for Home Affairs? We do not have sufficient time to deal with the clauses following clause 3 yesterday, in other words, some amendments have to be proposed under other clauses. If so, should the dispensation of notice applicable to the Secretary be applicable to other Members as well? CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese): I have to consider the contents of the amendments to be proposed by the Secretary for Home Affairs before deciding whether I will dispense with the notice by him. If all his amendments are new, I will consider whether Members will have sufficient time to examine the contents of the amendments and I will not dispense with the notice if they do not have sufficient time. But if the relevant amendments must be made as a result of the decision made yesterday, I will dispense with the notice to facilitate the smooth examination of this Bill. Thus, if Members wish to propose certain amendments at this stage, they should consider whether they are new amendments. Although Members have the right to seek dispensation of notice, I will consider whether they will have sufficient time to examine the contents of the relevant amendments before deciding whether notice should be dispensed with. MISS EMILY LAU (in Cantonese): Madam Chairman, I just want to discuss the explanation you have just given because I do not think we can propose something new so late. Even if we have not proposed anything new but only the amendments that have not been proposed, we must handle these very carefully. But we definitely do not have time for discussion. The Chairman has just said that she may dispense with notice by the Secretary. If she dispenses with notice by the Secretary in relation to the introduction of the Bill to the Council for consideration next week, there will certainly be no problem, but 8024 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 22 June 2000 if the Secretary wants to propose some other amendments for discussion — the Secretary may elucidate this later — I believe it is impossible for us to handle them now. Moreover, Madam Chairman, as we were not quite familiar with certain issues raised yesterday, in particular, some of us were not members of the relevant Bills Committee, I hope that the Secretary will provide us with the relevant papers expeditiously, specifying in black and white what may happen after the passage or rejection of the various amendments because this will be very helpful. CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese): Do Members have any other questions? MR MARTIN LEE (in Cantonese): Madam Chairman, I would like to discuss what colleagues have just asked and I hope that the Secretary will give us time for consideration regardless of whether he wants to propose new amendments or retain the original amendments. However, time is very limited because another meeting will be held next Monday. That being the case, can the meeting be held on Tuesday instead of Monday? In any case, the Secretary should give us time to understand what he wants to do. CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese): Members have stated their wishes and concerns very clearly and they all hope that they can have sufficient time to consider the amendments to be proposed by the Secretary for Home Affairs. I will try my best, as Chairman of the Committee, to ensure that Members will have sufficient time to consider the relevant matters. As voting on legal provisions is a solemn matter, we must have sufficient time to handle the relevant matters and we must understand the consequences of vote. There being no other questions, I now propose the question to you and that is: That the motion moved by the Secretary for Home Affairs, that proceedings in relation to the Building Management (Amendment) Bill 2000 be now adjourned, be passed.