1. Sign for Peace and Democracy Movement
The signature movement promoted by the Alliance for Peace and Democracy aims to gauge Hong Kong people’s support for peace and democracy as well as their opposition against violence and unlawful act to occupy Central. As one of the joint organizations of the campaign, the Hong Kong Professionals and Senior Executives Association (HKPASEA), of which I am the current President, has also set up signing booth in Central. Members from various professional and business sectors attended the booth and appealed for supporting the signature movement and joining the 8.17 Parade to show our desire for peace and no violence, and to pursue universal suffrage in 2017. I have also attended the booth set up by the Hong Kong Project Management Exchange Centre (PMEC).

You may visit the link for more details: 
http://www.sign4peacedemocracy.hk/

If you want to join the PMEC team or the HKPASEA team for the 8.17 Parade, you may register with the respective secretariats: PMEC (Mr. Szeto 3165 8266), or HKPASEA (Ms Leung 3620 2918).

The parade organizer suggests engineers and other professionals to gather at Area 6B of the Victoria Park before 12:45pm and start parade at 1:30pm.  Please feel free to proceed to that area to join other engineers on August 17. 

 

2. Supplementary Appropriation (2013-2014) Bill
In the debate on the Supplementary Appropriation Bill on 10 July, I debunked some rumors regarding the Disaster Relieve Fund and the HKSAR donation to Sichuan earthquakes. Hong Kong engineers involved in the reconstruction projects can witness that the rebuild works supported by the SAR Government were not "shabby works" or “tofu works”. The HKIE Project Sichuan Trust Fund, of which I am the Chairman, has sponsored Hong Kong engineers on these tasks. I have visited several cities in Sichuan to examine some reconstruction projects funded by the Hong Kong Government. I found that though there were damages on partition walls and ceilings, the main structures of the buildings visited remained safe in the aftermath of the earthquakes. Those buildings under the HKSAR funded reconstruction projects met the building code in the Mainland and the objective of “no damage in minor earthquakes, repairable damage during medium earthquakes, and no collapses during big earthquakes”. I hope my speech can depict some truth to the public, and voice out for the engineers, who have contributed time, money, and expertise to help the victims and reconstruction works.

3. Subcommittee on Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 (Commencement) Notice
Road Traffic (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2011 passed by the LegCo on 29 March 2012 requires the mandatory attendance at pre-service course before issue of public light bus driving licence. The pre-service course is introduced to enhance the awareness of safe driving of new public light bus drivers and enhance their knowledge of operation and service attitude. The eligibility of incumbent drivers and existing holders of public light bus driving licenses will not be affected. The Commencement Notice was tabled in LegCo on 2 July 2014. At the meeting of the House Committee on 4 July 2014, Members decided to form a subcommittee to examine the Commencement Notice. I joined the subcommittee and was elected as the Chairman.

4. Subcommittee to Prepare for the Operation of the Select Committee to Investigate the Delay of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL)
A petition was presented at the Council meeting of 25 June 2014 to urge the Council to appoint a Select Committee to inquire into whether the MTR Corporation has covered up the progress and causes of delay in the construction of the Hong Kong section of the XRL, and whether there are any problems with the Government and the MTR Corporation in supervising and coordinating the construction of the Hong Kong section of XRL. A Subcommittee was set up in July to prepare for the operation of the Select Committee. The primary work of the Subcommittee was to study the terms of reference of the Select Committee; size of the Select Committee and procedure for the nomination of members for appointment to the Select Committee. The first meeting was held on 11 July and I joined the Subcommittee.

5. Views on the EIA Report for the expansion of Hong Kong International Airport into a Third Runway System
On 18 July, I wrote to the Secretary for the Environment, Mr. KS Wong and expressed my views on the EIA report for the third runway expansion project proposed by the Airport Authority. I pointed out in the letter that: the third runway expansion has its urgency and actual need; the proposed mitigation and compensation measures are appropriate and can largely reduce the impact to the environment; the authority needs to closely monitor the noise level to minimize the impact to nearby residents; more initiatives are needed for the conservation of marine ecosystem and the Chinese White Dolphins; the overall planning of Lantau Island and its adjacent areas should be considered; and that a permanent liaison group of relevant stakeholders should be set up to enhance the transparency of the works. I expressed that should a right balance between development and conservation be made, a win-win situation could be achieved.

6. Forum on the White Paper on the Practice of the “One Country, Two Systems” Policy in HKSAR
As one of the participating organizations, the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong co-organized a forum with the Hong Kong Project Management Exchange Centre on the White Paper on the Practice of the “One Country, Two Systems” Policy in HKSAR on 30 July. The White Paper published on 10 June by the Central Government is the first white paper on this topic by the country. The White Paper sets out the practice of the “One Country, Two Systems” Policy in the HKSAR as well as the Central Government's review, evaluation and vision on the development of Hong Kong. The forum was well attended.



7. Offsetting of Severance Payments and Long Service Payments with Accrued Benefits of MPF Schemes
Under the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance, an employer may use the accrued benefits derived from his contributions to a MPF scheme for an employee to offset the severance payments (SP) or long service payments (LSP). Some analyses point out that as the offsetting mechanism can reduce employers' reliability on SP and LSP, employers may not be willing to retain longer-term employment contracts should the offset be abolished. I raised a follow-up question at the Council meeting on 2 July that if the Government has considered the impact on employment contracts and the labour relationship should the offsetting arrangement be abolished. The Government replied that they are aware of the problem. Hence in the process of holistic consideration, the Government will carefully evaluate the issue and try to strike a right balance.