Motion of Thanks - Poverty Alleviation, Welfare, Population Policy, Education and Manpower （2016/02/18）

President, over the years, Hong Kong has been able to enjoy steady economic growth and thus amass adequate fiscal reserves, and the Government has been offering various forms of subsidies and welfare to the disadvantaged groups in society. To address the problem of retirement protection arising from population ageing and also to provide livelihood protection, the Government implemented the Mandatory Provident Funds (MPF) Scheme in 2000, then the Statutory Minimum Wage regime in 2011. Employees can thus enjoy basic protection, but the operating costs of enterprises have increased at the same time. The pressure on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is especially heavy, but since they have no choice, they can only put up with the burden as much as they can. The active efforts of the labour sector to fight for standard working hours and the abolition of the MPF offsetting arrangement are of course supported by the majority of employees, but this is a nightmare to SMEs which account for 90% of the local business sector and hire 1.3 million people.

On the issue of standard working hours, it is stated in the Chief Executive's Policy Address that the Standard Working Hours Committee will conduct a second round of consultation shortly and submit a report as soon as possible. The business sector, the tourism sector included, generally opposes the implementation of standard working hours. Standard working hours may be effectively implemented in the general circumstances of the industrial or administrative sectors, but Hong Kong is a services-based economy in which many enterprises, especially SMEs, adopt flexible working hours as a means of lengthening their hours of services. The setting of standard working hours will result in less flexibility, adding to operating costs and also affecting service quality.

The tourism industry is an example. Due to job nature and time differences, staff in the sector usually have more flexible working hours compared to other industries, regardless of whether they are tour escorts, tour guides, drivers or even supporting staff. Their working hours can never be standardized. Tour escorts and tour guides have to offer services and deal with contingencies anytime during their outbound travels. They have to be on standby all the time. Even if it is in the middle of the night, they cannot possibly decline requests from tour members for the reason that they are off duty. Experienced supporting staff of travel agents are also required to stand by all the time to deal with emergency issues relating to hotel rooms booking or transport overseas. Similarly, there are also occasions when coach drivers cannot go off duty on time as a result of unforeseeable issues like traffic congestion or delays in sightseeing journeys. It can be said that it is inevitable for drivers to work overtime on reasonable grounds.

I expect that other services sectors similar to the tourism sector will also face this challenge in manpower allocation. In my opinion, the authorities should assess whether we have the right conditions for implementing standard working hours on the basis of the unemployment rate, the job nature of different sectors and Hong Kong's competitiveness. It is not worthwhile to press ahead when there are so many disadvantages.

The abolition of the MPF offsetting arrangement is even more unsuitable for SMEs. According to statistics, wages account for 35% of the total operating costs of enterprises in Hong Kong. Implementing standard working hours and abolishing the MPF offsetting arrangement will impose a heavy burden on SMEs, which have contributed enormously to employment and tax revenue in Hong Kong without enjoying much government support in return. From another perspective, SMEs can also be regarded as a disadvantaged group. Most SMEs already have cash flow flows, so they simply cannot reserve huge capitals for meeting severance payments and long service payments. Some enterprises may choose to wind up their business if the abolition is bulldozed through, while some others may dismiss employees with long years of service before the policy comes into effect. Both scenarios are detrimental to the stability of Hong Kong, and are harmful to enterprises and employees. When the Government lobbied the commercial and industrial sectors for supporting the launch of the MPF System years ago, one major promise made was that employers' contributions to MPF schemes would be used for offsetting long service payments. It was because of this promise that the sectors finally reached a consensus to support MPF. The Government must honour its promise, instead of pressing ahead in spite of opposition.

President, the section of the Policy Address on youth development mentions that additional resources will be deployed to expand the Funding Scheme for Youth Exchange in the Mainland and the Funding Scheme for Youth Internship in the Mainland.

I welcome the deployment of additional resources to expand the Schemes. Young people need to broaden their horizons and step outside Hong Kong. They must get to know the world and more importantly, the Motherland. The Mainland is vast in territory and rich resources. In recent years, it has achieved rapid economic development, generating many business opportunities. Many countries have thus arranged study or exchange tours in China for their young nationals. As Hong Kong is part of China, there is all the more reason for our young people to increase their knowledge of the history, affairs and people's sentiments in the Motherland through different channels. Apart from giving young people more knowledge, exchange and internship experience in the Mainland can also enhance young people's competitiveness in the job market.

Besides the two Schemes mentioned above, schools can also receive subsidies on study tours from institutions and the Government. Some schools will commission travel agents to organize study tours on their behalf, while some others may organize these tours on their own. As far as I understand, the tours organized by travel agents and those by schools themselves have different requirements regarding tour leaders. According to the requirements laid down by the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC), study tours operated by travel agents must be accompanied by licensed tour escorts with relevant experience. But tours organized by schools are not bound by this requirement. As a matter of fact, tour escorts from travel agents are more experienced than teachers in dealing with contingencies. 

In respect of insurance, the Code of Business Practice on Study Tours of the TIC requires all teachers and students joining study tours organized by travel agents to take out suitable comprehensive travel insurance. However, under the Guidelines on Study Tours Outside the HKSAR issued by the Education Bureau, the Bureau will only provide subsidies on obtaining Block Insurance Policy to teachers and students participating in such tours, without mandatorily requiring the purchase of such protection. Should tours organized by schools meet with accidents, tour escorts and receiving organizations at destinations will not be able to make corresponding arrangements for different students who are covered by insurance, not covered by insurance or covered by other policies.

In order to strengthen protection for study tours organized by schools, I drafted a letter to the Secretary for Education and proposed the following: first, at least one teacher accompanying study tours organized by schools themselves must have prior experience in leading a certain number of such tours, or such teacher must hold a valid Tour Escort Pass issued by the TIC. Second, the level and scope of protection under the Block Insurance Policy for different study tours must be standardized. The Bureau subsequently responded to my recommendations in its reply, stating its support that study tours can only be escorted by teachers with experience of leading relevant outbound tours, and it encourages the teachers concerned to take Certificate Course for Outbound Tour Escorts organized by the TIC. The Bureau further said that, apart from subsidizing the purchase of Block Insurance Policy, the authorities would also remind participating parents and students to take notice of the need to get extra travel insurance as appropriate.

The Education Bureau only issues a friendly reminder instead of laying down a compulsory requirement. This cannot meet the need of study tours for more professional arrangements and greater insurance protection. I hope that in addition to financial support offered to study tours, the Bureau can thoroughly understand the actual problems faced by these tours during their travels, so that outbound students and parents can receive more extensive and assuring
protection.

President, I so submit.