1. Best Chinese New Year wishes to district residents 

To enhance the festive atmosphere of the Year of the Monkey, I showed up in Hung Hom on 10 Feb with other members of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong as the Chinese legendary Gods of Wealth and Prosperity to distribute “lai-see” (red packets) to residents. I dressed up in the celestial costume and played the saxophone with the wish to bring fun, fortune and happiness to the community.

 

2. Condemned violent acts in Mong Kok

Several hundred people maliciously damaged government properties and police vehicles, committed acts of arson, set fire and attacked police officers on duty as well as journalists in the evening of the first day of the festive Lunar New Year. We respect the right of freedoms of expression but at the same time we have to ensure public safety and public order. The rioters’ unlawful behavior must be condemned. I visited a seriously injured police officer in hospital on the next day and extended my respect and thankfulness to him and his colleagues. The police’s efforts and contributions in upholding the rule of law and stability in Hong Kong should be appreciated, and those who are responsible for the riot should be brought to justice. 

 

3. Construction Industry Alliance appealed against filibustering

Together with Chairman of the Finance Committee and a few other councillors, I met the Construction Industry Alliance on 20 Jan to listen to their appeal on stopping filibustering at the LegCo.  The industry worried that many construction workers could be thrown out of work if the filibustering did not stop. The Alliance is very concerned that if the drop in capital works cannot be overturned in a short period of time, unemployment rate in the industry will rise and some companies may not be able to survive. They urged the LegCo members to halt the filibustering so as to stop damaging Hong Kong’s economy and livelihood of people.

 

4. Raised question on employment of construction and related engineering professionals by the Government

I raised this question in LegCo on 27 Jan. I asked the Government whether it has formulated specific plans to assist those non-civil service contract (NCSC) staff who have relatively long service years and whose positions have long-term service needs in being appointed as civil servants. The Secretary for Development replied that in determining whether a contract position of NCSC staff should be replaced by a civil service post, the departments have to ascertain whether the work involved is of a sufficiently permanent nature and whether it should more appropriately be handled by a civil servant. He pointed out that from 2013-14 to 2015-16, bureaux/departments were supported to create 711 civil service posts in the relevant professions. Among them, 130 posts were created to replace NCSC staff positions and 18 were to replace contract staff positions in the Housing Authority (HA). For the civil service open recruitment exercises held for the relevant professional grades between January 2007 and August 2015, the average success rates for NCSC staff and other applicants were around 31 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. As for the relevant professional grades in the HA, the average success rates for the contract staff and other applicants were around 90 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

 

5. Report on the Bills Committee on Promotion of Recycling and Proper Disposal (Electrical Equipment and Electronic Equipment) (Amendment) Bill 2015

The Bill seeks to amend mainly the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance and the Waste Disposal Ordinance to provide for a statutory regulatory framework for the proposed mandatory producer responsibility scheme. As the Chairman of the Bills Committee, I reported the deliberation of the Bill at the House Committee meeting on 22 Jan. Eight meetings were held to discuss with the Administration, including one meeting to receive views from deputations. The Bills Committee has also received twelve written submissions from deputations. The Bills Committee supports the Bill in principle. The main subjects deliberated by the Bills Committee including scope and definition of regulated electrical equipment, charging of recycling fees, level of recycling fees, recycling label, removal service to be arranged by sellers and proper treatment of regulated e-waste. The Second Reading debate on the Bill will be resumed at the Council meeting later.