The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, visited Sham Shui Po District this afternoon (June 13). Apart from meeting with members of the Sham Shui Po District Council (SSPDC), he also called on an organisation and a platform supporting development of the creative industries in Hong Kong.

     Accompanied by the Chairman of the SSPDC, Mr Ambrose Cheung, and the District Officer (Sham Shui Po), Mr Damian Lee, Mr Chan first visited the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) and exchanged views with artists there.

     Housed in a building converted from an old factory estate, the JCCAC supports the nurturing of local creative talent and promotion of arts and culture through providing arts studios as well as display and performing venues for artists. Around 140 artists and arts organisations of different art disciplines are currently based in the JCCAC.

     Later, Mr Chan visited  D2 Place in Lai Chi Kok. D2 Place was a project under the Scheme on Revitalisation of Industrial Buildings and was transformed from industrial buildings to commercial uses. The project supports local start-ups and entrepreneurs in developing their business through concessionary rental and support in their operations and marketing. Moreover, it also provides additional shared space for start-ups and creative work through the Space Sharing Scheme for Youth.

     Mr Chan said that he was very pleased to see different sectors of society collaborate to support the development of creative industries, so to provide diversified career development opportunities for young people. The Government is committed to supporting the development of the creative industries. Since 2009, the Government has injected a total of $1 billion into the CreateSmart Initiative (CSI).  In the 2018-19 financial year, the Government will inject another $1 billion into the CSI to strengthen support for the development of the creative industries, especially in nurturing youths and helping start-ups, and also to enable the Hong Kong Design Centre to implement initiatives to enhance public understanding of the value of creativity and design.

     Mr Chan then met with the members of the SSPDC to learn more about the latest developments of the district and to exchange views on matters of mutual interest.

        

     Following is a question by the Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (June 13):
 
Question:
 
     Some studies have pointed out that women who have experienced miscarriage often have various negative emotions, such as self-blame, fear, depression and anxiety.  However, members of the public in general do not understand much about the needs of women who have suffered a miscarriage and their families, and the Government has failed to provide appropriate support to those people.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of miscarriage cases in each of the past 10 years; whether the Government will proactively provide the following information to women who have suffered a miscarriage and their families: follow-up medical procedures after having miscarriage, approaches and procedure for handling abortuses, the rights of the parents of abortuses, and matters requiring attention after having miscarriage and related support services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) whether it will establish a website to provide comprehensive knowledge and information about miscarriage to enable members of the public to learn how to console relatives and friends who have suffered a miscarriage and their families; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) whether it will allocate additional resources to provide support for women who have suffered a miscarriage (including a counselling hotline and home visit service); if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; 
 
(4) whether it has issued work guidelines to medical staff and social workers as well as provided them with training on counselling skills, to enable them to express appropriate care for women who have suffered a miscarriage and their families; if not, of the reasons for that;
 
(5) as some studies have revealed that alternative medicine, such as massage, psychological counselling and herbal medicine, may relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety experienced by women who have suffered a miscarriage, whether the Government will allocate funds for studying the development of services on alternative medicine, and whether it will, by making reference to the practice of hospitals in the United Kingdom, provide medical certification to parents of abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation to facilitate them to arrange burial for the abortuses and, upon request, provide parents of abortuses of late miscarriages (of 14 to 24 weeks' gestation) with photos as well as hand and foot prints of the abortuses for commemorative purpose; if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(6) as the Government has indicated that for abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation, where feasible and provided that relevant legal requirements and such conditions as public health have been met, the Hospital Authority (HA) will allow the parents concerned to claim the abortuses, whether it knows the criteria adopted by HA for determining the "feasible" conditions; whether the Government will expeditiously amend the legislation and simplify the relevant procedure so as to allow parents of abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation to claim the abortuses as quickly as possible for arranging burial; if so, of the details and the timetable; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Dr Hon Elizabeth Quat is as follows:
 
(1) to (5) The table below sets out the number of discharges of inpatients admitted for abortion annually from 2007 to 2016:
 

* "Abortion" includes spontaneous abortion and medical abortion.  The above statistics include discharges of inpatients from hospitals of the Hospital Authority, correctional institution hospitals and private hospitals.  For details, please refer to the Tables on Health Status and Health Services published by the Department of Health.

     The Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) of the Department of Health (DH) collaborate with the obstetrics departments of the Hospital Authority (HA) to provide antenatal care for pregnant women.  Medical staff of the MCHCs will refer pregnant women showing signs of miscarriage to the obstetrics and gynaecology departments of the HA for further assessment and follow-up consultation. 

     Bereavement counselling teams are set up in the obstetrics and gynaecology departments of the HA to take care of parents who have experienced a miscarriage or baby loss through the provision of emotional support and counselling services to help them recover from bereavement. 

     The healthcare staff taking care of the abortuses will clean them, dress them in specially-made angel gowns and beanies, or the clothing prepared by their parents, and put them in a purpose-made basket or baby cot for them to meet their parents.  Parents may cuddle them and spend some time with them before bidding farewell.  Healthcare staff will take photos for them and prepare memorial cards with their footprints for their parents' commemoration.  If necessary, the counselling team concerned may keep the memorial card for a period of time for the mother to decide whether or not to take the card back in the follow-up consultation.

     Individual parents who want to claim the abortuses may express their wishes to the counselling team concerned before discharge.  Their requests will be referred to the Patient Relations Officer for follow-up action and assistance as appropriate.  The bereavement counselling team will also refer cases to medical social workers or clinical psychologists in the light of individual circumstances.

     In addition, the 65 Integrated Family Service Centres and the two Integrated Services Centres operated by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) or non-governmental organisations provide individuals and families in need, including women who have suffered a miscarriage, in specific localities with a spectrum of preventive, supportive and remedial welfare services, which include counselling or support/mutual help groups (please visit the SWD's website for details).  Understanding the pressure on women who have suffered a miscarriage and their physical and mental well-being, social workers will conduct comprehensive assessment on the needs of each service user.  If necessary, home visits, interviews and clinical psychological services will be arranged.  In general, they provide appropriate services for individuals and families in need through different work strategies, such as early identification and intervention, service integration and partnership with other service stakeholders.

     People in need (including women who have suffered a miscarriage) may call the 24-hour SWD hotline at 2343 2255 to seek immediate counselling or referral to appropriate service units for support, consultation and follow-up services.

     Having received training on professional counselling skills, social workers of the SWD provide the necessary psychological counselling for women suffering a miscarriage and their families to help them overcome their emotional problems or distress arising from the miscarriage and render them emotional support service.  If psychotherapy is required, the social workers will make referrals for those in need to receive clinical psychological service.  Advanced counselling courses are organised by the Staff Development and Training Section of the SWD from time to time to enhance the professional counselling skills of its social workers.

     In addition, the Family Health Service of the DH and the HA have jointly compiled health information on miscarriage, which has been uploaded to the webpages of the DH (note 1) and the HA (note 2) respectively.

(6) As for abortuses of less than 24 weeks' gestation stored in public hospitals, parents will be allowed to claim the abortuses according to their wishes where feasible and provided that relevant legal requirements and such conditions as public health have been met.  The hospitals will cater for the needs of the parents as far as possible and remind them of the matters requiring attention in the handling of abortuses, including public health requirements and burial arrangement considerations.

     The Food and Health Bureau is actively examining options of legislative amendments to facilitate better handling of abortuses.  The HA will also consider simplifying the claim procedure so that parents will be able to collect their abortuses as early as possible.

Note 1: www.fhs.gov.hk/english/health_info/woman/15681.html
Note 2: www3.ha.org.hk/ntwc/csc/health/Leaflet/O&G/O&G07.pdf and www3.ha.org.hk/ntwc/csc/health/Leaflet/O&G/O&G06.pdf (Only Chinese version is available.)

     Two men and a woman were fined from $2,000 to $6,000 at the Kowloon City Magistrates' Courts today (June 13) for contravening the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance.
      
     The courts heard that in November last year, officers from the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA) of the Home Affairs Department conducted inspections at three clubs on Nathan Road, Dundas Street and Portland Street in Kowloon which had been operating with certificates of compliance (CoCs).
      
     During the investigation in the club on Nathan Road, the OLA officers posed as customers and patronised the club for food and drinks without being asked to show their membership status or being invited to join the club as members. Also, the club was found to have a layout that deviated from the registered drawings and the number of people at the club during the inspection exceeded the maximum allowable capacity as stipulated in the CoC. Conditions 3, 6 and 19 of the CoC were breached.
      
     The club on Dundas Street also served non-members. Condition 19 of the CoC was breached.
      
     The club on Portland Street served non-members and the OLA officers also found that the exit route had been obstructed. Conditions 12 and 19 of the CoC were breached.
      
     The men and the woman, being the CoC holders of the clubs, were charged with contravening section 21(2) of the Ordinance.
      
     A spokesman for the department reminded all CoC holders to comply with the conditions as stipulated therein. Enforcement action will continue to be taken against illegal club operations.

     Following is a question by the Hon Paul Tse and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, in the Legislative Council today (June 13):
 
Question:
 
     After a number of drinking water samples taken from a number of public rental housing estates were tested and found in July 2015 to have a lead content exceeding the provisional guideline value set by the World Health Organization (lead in drinking water incident), the fresh water mains in a number of housing estates (including Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate) have been comprehensively replaced.  However, a number of residents of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate have recently complained to me, claiming that the quality of the drinking water supplied to their units was poor.  Based on my on-site observation, the drinking water is turbid and foamy and even looks like cappuccino when put in a coffee cup.  It is learnt that the residents of that estate have repeatedly enquired with the contractor engaged for the replacement of the fresh water mains and the Housing Department about the reasons for the drinking water being turbid and foamy, but the personnel concerned merely replied that the drinking water of that estate was of normal quality and advised the residents to run the tap for about half an hour every day before using the water for drinking.  On the other hand, rainfall to date this year has been lower than that in previous years, resulting in low water storage and dry bottoms of some reservoirs.  The Water Supplies Department also calls on members of the public from time to time to conserve water.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) whether it has studied the causes for the drinking water in Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate being turbid notwithstanding the fresh water mains therein have been comprehensively replaced;
 
(2) whether the authorities, following the replacement of fresh water mains for a number of estates in light of the lead in drinking water incident, have conducted regular sample tests on the quality of drinking water therein; if so, of the details, and set out the sampling dates and test results by name of estate; if not, the reasons for that; whether the authorities received complaints in the past three months about turbidity of drinking water in other estates;
 
(3) whether it has assessed, in the event that all of the households of Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate follow the advice to run the tap for half an hour every day before using the water for drinking, (i) the increase in the daily water consumption of that estate, (ii) the increase in the monthly water charge payable by each household on average, and (iii) whether the drying up of reservoirs will be exacerbated; whether it has assessed, when households of other estates who face the same situation of drinking water being turbid and foamy run the tap for half an hour every day before using the water for drinking, if the water consumption will increase substantially and result in the Government having to spend more public money on purchasing Dongjiang water in the next agreement on the supply of Dongjiang water to Hong Kong; and
 
(4) as the advice of running the tap for half an hour before using water is contrary to the Government's advice to conserve water, and members of the public are caught in a dilemma, how the authorities solve the hygiene problem of drinking water?
 

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Since March 2016, the contractors of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) have been carrying out replumbing works to replace sub-standard water pipes for the 11 affected public rental housing estates, including Lower Ngau Tau Kok (LNTK) Estate Phase 1.  The replumbing works comprise two parts, namely those in the communal areas and those inside individual flats.  All the works in the communal areas were completed in the second quarter of 2017.  At present, the contractors are replacing water pipes inside individual flats and have completed about 80 per cent of the works.
 
     Upon the completion of the works by stages, the contractor concerned has to comply with the requirements of the Water Supplies Department (WSD) to take water samples for water quality tests.  Only when the test results meet the standards would the WSD confirm the works is in compliance with the relevant requirements.  To date, the test results of all water samples taken from the communal areas and individual flats which have completed replumbing have met the required standards.
 
     The consolidated response to the four parts of the Hon Paul Tse's question is as follows:
 
     To follow up on the question about the quality of water supply to LNTK Estate, the WSD launched an immediate investigation.  On June 2, the WSD staff collected water samples from two government fire hydrants close to the water supply point to LNTK Estate and from a toilet in the LNTK Estate Plaza. According to the test results, the water samples met the required standards, indicating that the water supply to LNTK Estate was normal.
 
     The WSD and the Housing Department (HD) also checked records of the past three months and found no water quality complaints from LNTK, including those about odour and colour.  The HD received a report on unpleasant odour and turbidity in fresh water from the resident of a flat in Kai Ching Estate that has completed replumbing.  The contractor of the HA conducted an inspection and found no such water quality problems. Other than this case, neither the WSD nor HD has received report on water quality problems from other public rental housing estates that have completed repumbling similar to the one in LNTK Estate described in the question.
 
     Furthermore, the WSD monitors the quality of drinking water at consumers' taps through the Enhanced Water Quality Monitoring Programme that the participating premises are randomly selected from all water accounts, including those that have completed replumbing.  Test results of water samples collected from the premises will be compiled as water quality statistics for publication on the WSD's website which is updated once every week.
 
     Furthermore, the WSD promulgated the WSD Circular Letter No. 6/2017 in mid-2017 requiring all completed inside services of all new buildings to adopt a systematic flushing protocol in order to reduce metal leaching from the newly installed pipes and fittings to a low level.  As for the existing buildings, the WSD published the "Water Use Tips" to suggest residents run the drinking water taps every morning and night for about 15 minutes, and run the tap for two minutes each time before using the water for drinking or cooking purposes in the first three days following the completion of replumbing works.  Since residents can save the flushed water for non-potable uses, such as watering plants, cleaning floors and washing, there will not be water wastage.

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (June 13) held the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Certification Award Ceremony cum Technical Seminar to commend over 1 500 premises which have made efforts to enhance IAQ, of which 318 premises achieved Excellent Class IAQ while 1 244 premises achieved Good Class IAQ. Premises which have joined the IAQ Certification Scheme for Offices and Public Places for 10 years as well as the 10 organisations with the highest participation rates also received special awards.

     The EPD launched the Scheme in 2003 to promote good IAQ management practices. The number of premises participating in the Scheme has been continuously increasing and the premises cover various sectors, including office buildings, shopping malls, clubhouses, educational institutions, hotels and other public places. By the end of 2017, 1 562 premises in Hong Kong had obtained IAQ certificates, marking an increase of 12 per cent compared to 2016's figure and an approximately 18-fold growth compared to the number in 2004, showing that the community has become increasingly aware of the importance of IAQ management.

     The Government has all along been taking the lead in promoting good IAQ. According to the circular on Green Government Buildings, existing government buildings are required to strive for Good Class IAQ irrespective of their size. Speaking at the ceremony, the Deputy Director of Environmental Protection, Mrs Alice Cheung, said that maintaining good IAQ is very important as many people stay indoors most of the time every day. She also praised the premises owners and property management companies participating in the Scheme for setting a good example and helping to raise awareness in the community about IAQ.

     Mrs Cheung also pointed out that the EPD will continue to actively promote the Scheme by encouraging more premises to join, and is also planning to update the IAQ objectives to further enhance the IAQ of the participating premises of the Scheme.

     A technical seminar was held following the award ceremony, with a representative from the Hong Kong Productivity Council briefing the attendees on reducing exposure to volatile organic compounds in commercial premises, as well as professional and management representatives of a shopping mall and a private estate clubhouse sharing tips for achieving good IAQ.

     Any organisation or individual interested in joining or having a better understanding of the Scheme can obtain more information from the IAQ Information Centre or via its dedicated website at www.iaq.gov.hk.