Proactive and courageous governance
4 November 2018
The Legislative Council (LegCo) will debate the Motion of Thanks for the Policy Address next week (from 7 to 9 November), and the Government will listen to Members’ views in an open and humble manner and respond appropriately.
Nothing about people’s livelihood is trivial. The current-term Government is determined to do real work for the community, particularly in the livelihood areas of education, healthcare, labour and welfare. Let me cite ten examples from the 244 new initiatives put forward in the Policy Address.
- Extend the statutory maternity leave from the current 10 weeks to 14 weeks, so that mothers will have more time to spend with and take care of their newborn babies. If an employee is entitled to maternity leave pay under the Employment Ordinance, the cost of the additional four weeks’ leave will be borne by the Government by way of reimbursement to the employer, the amount of which is capped at $36,822 per employee. This proactive financial intervention in the relationship between employer and employee in furtherance of employee benefits is an innovative move reflecting the Government’s conscientious effort to address the needs of the people. Besides, with the passage of a government bill by LegCo last week, the proposal to increase the statutory paternity leave from the existing three days to five days is expected to take effect before the coming Lunar New Year.
- Abolish the arrangement of “offsetting” severance payment and long service payment with Mandatory Provident Fund benefits through further enhancing the Government’s financial support for employers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and extending the period of subsidy to 25 years, thereby increasing the Government’s financial commitment to $29.3 billion. This stands as proof of the Government’s endeavour to strike a reasonable balance between the interests of employees and the affordability of employers.
- Implement the all-graduate teaching force policy, which will involve additional funding of about $1.5 billion per annum, in public sector primary and secondary schools, benefitting more than 9 400 teachers; and provide a Life-wide Learning Grant with an annual provision of $900 million to promote quality education. These proposals have gained the unanimous support of the education sector.
- Decide on the location of the long-awaited public markets to be built in the town centres of Tin Shui Wai and Tung Chung in response to residents’ needs. Besides, a sum of $2 billion has been earmarked for the implementation of the Market Modernisation Programme with a view to providing the public with better municipal facilities and services.
- Enhance district-based primary healthcare services by setting up the first District Health Centre in Kwai Tsing District and developing such centres in other districts. Besides, through government subsidising defined Chinese medicine services, Chinese medicine is incorporated into the local healthcare system and the positioning of Chinese medicine in the development of medical services in Hong Kong is confirmed.
- Waive the tolls that franchised bus operators are charged or pay the same for franchised bus operators for using government or franchised tunnels and roads, so that the toll savings can be directly used to ease fare increase pressure. This policy measure, together with the non-means tested Public Transport Fare Subsidy Scheme proposed in last year’s Policy Address, will alleviate the burden of public transport expenses on our citizens. Regarding the former, we aim to waive the tolls that franchised bus operators are charged for using government tunnels and roads with effect from early 2019. As to the latter, we are ready to implement the Subsidy Scheme with effect from 1 January 2019 to subsidise citizens for their actual public transport expenses in excess of $400, subject to a maximum of $300 per month. It is estimated that over 2.2 million people will benefit.
- Launch the $2.5 billion Lift Modernisation Subsidy Scheme to assist needy owners in modernising aged lifts. Expediting lift modernisation is conducive to enhancing lift safety and further improving the safety of the public.
- Expand the scope of target beneficiaries of the Community Care Fund Elderly Dental Assistance Programme to cover all elderly persons aged 65 or above who are receiving Old Age Living Allowance. It is estimated that the Programme will benefit 150 000 elderly persons, offering a subsidy of up to $15,025 per beneficiary.
- Enact legislation to ban electronic cigarettes and other new tobacco products. Despite controversy over the issue, the Government is nevertheless determined to impose the ban to safeguard the health of the public, especially the younger generation. The proposal has gained full support from the medical sector, the education sector and parents.
- Strengthen support for ethnic minorities through various measures related to learning, employment and welfare services with a view to building a truly inclusive society. The expenditure involved will be more than $500 million.
It should be stressed that the livelihood measures put forward in the Policy Address seek to tackle many long-standing problems thoroughly, demonstrating fully the new style of proactive and courageous governance of the current-term Government.
Land supply and housing are the thorniest issues. Put forward by the Government, the Lantau Tomorrow Vision concerns the overall planning of Hong Kong for the next few decades as well as the implementation of a number of major infrastructure projects. The aim is to increase land and housing supply under a pragmatic approach for the long-term benefits of Hong Kong. The proposal showcases our resolution and far-sightedness in handling the issues.
To tackle the pressing housing problem, the Government will expedite the study about developing brownfield sites and facilitate the relocation of the existing operations on these sites to make way for housing development. Meanwhile, we also propose to launch the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme to meet the needs of both public and private housing in the short to medium term.
We will actively facilitate the implementation of various short-term community initiatives to increase the supply of transitional housing. We will also reactivate the revitalisation scheme for industrial buildings and allow for the first time wholesale conversion of industrial buildings into transitional housing to meet the pressing need of society. Besides, the Government will actively assist non-profit-making organisations in constructing pre-fabricated modular housing on idle private and government sites. A number of such projects are underway.
The Chief Executive, her governing team and the Civil Service stand united to implement various measures proposed in the Policy Address.
We need companions as we “move forward”. The smooth running of the Government requires the support of LegCo. I am confident that, adhering to a people-oriented principle, LegCo Members will join hands with us to strive for the well-being of our people and to foster the development of Hong Kong.
