The Home Affairs Department (HAD) recently received a large number of emails and letters complaining about Yuen Long District Council (DC) member Mr Lam Chun for publicly declaring his refusal to offer assistance to members of the public who "support the legislation for Article 23".
A spokesman of the HAD said today (April 4), "The DC member's discriminative treatment to members of the public due to their stance on a particular issue will only divide our society, and is contradictory to the spirit of community building and public engagement in community affairs. There is a possible breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of a District Council or Its Committees (Code of Conduct) in this incident. The HAD issued a letter to the DC member concerned, reminding him, as a DC member, to comply with the Code of Conduct and be aware of his words and deeds in order to avoid social conflict and disputes, and damage to community harmony."
The HAD also reminded Mr Lam of the guiding principles in the Guidelines on the Remuneration Package for Members of the District Councils of the HKSAR (Remuneration Guidelines), i.e. a DC member should use public funds in an open, fair and accountable manner. Mr Lam's words and deeds may not be consistent with the guiding principles of the Remuneration Guidelines.
Furthermore, the HAD referred the complaints to the Chairman of Yuen Long DC so that he can follow up, and hoped that the Yuen Long DC would handle the case impartially, as well as ensure that the DC member would refrain from acts that may compromise or impair his/her integrity, impartiality, objectivity or ability to perform duties and thereby bring the DC into disrepute.
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