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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (June 6) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, the Second Reading debate on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (Co-location) Bill will resume. If the Bill is supported by Members and receives its Second Reading, it will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bill and its report is adopted by the Council, the Bill will be set down for the Third Reading.

     The United Nations Sanctions (Amendment) Bill 2018 will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading.  The Second Reading debate on the Bills will be adjourned.

     On Members’ motions, Mr Leung Che-cheung will move a motion on cross-boundary elderly care. The motion states: “That, all along, quite a number of elderly persons in Hong Kong have chosen to spend their twilight years on the Mainland, but the current cross-boundary portability arrangements for welfare benefits made by the SAR Government have a very narrow scope, benefiting only eligible elderly persons who are receiving the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments or the Old Age Allowance and have moved to reside in Guangdong or Fujian Province on the Mainland; to facilitate more elderly persons in spending their twilight years on the Mainland, this Council urges the SAR Government to:

(1) extend the arrangements of the Guangdong Scheme and the Fujian Scheme to other provinces on the Mainland;

(2) introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Old Age Living Allowance to support eligible elderly persons who are receiving the allowance and have moved to the Mainland;

(3) abolish the existing absence limit for various welfare benefits under the Social Security Allowance Scheme, and conduct a study on developing an identity verification system with the relevant Mainland departments to obviate the need for elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland to return to Hong Kong for making applications for continuous collection of such benefits on a yearly basis;

(4) introduce cross-boundary portability arrangements for the Disability Allowance such that eligible elderly persons with disabilities aged 65 or above can choose to reside on the Mainland;

(5) optimise the existing Pilot Residential Care Services Scheme in Guangdong by, for example, purchasing residential care places for persons with disabilities from Mainland residential care homes, and purchasing more quality residential care places for the elderly in various major cities on the Mainland, as well as providing needy elderly persons who choose to reside on the Mainland with one-stop escort arrangements for travelling to and from Hong Kong;

(6) conduct a study on the implementation of a scheme for the transfer of medical records of Hong Kong residents under which, with the consent of the elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland, their medical records will be transferred to designated Mainland hospitals so that they can seek medical consultation conveniently;

(7) conduct a study on extending the scope of application of Hong Kong’s Health Care Vouchers to cover major hospitals and clinics on the Mainland, with a view to alleviating the burden of medical expenses on elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland;

(8) by drawing reference from the model of the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, co-establish hospitals in major Mainland cities by Hong Kong and the Mainland and adopt Hong Kong-style management to jointly provide quality healthcare services to elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland; and

(9) by drawing reference from the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly, conduct a study on providing elderly persons who have moved to the Mainland with support services for ageing in place.”

      Dr Priscilla Leung, Mr Wong Kwok-kin and Mr Alvin Yeung will move separate amendments to Mr Leung’s motion.

     Mr Ma Fung-kwok will move a motion on developing venues and creating room to support the development of local culture, arts, recreation and sports. The motion states: “That the lack of venues and room has all along been plaguing local cultural, arts and sports groups, and it is also an important barrier to the development of local culture, recreation and sports; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to take every possible means to create more venues and room for the local cultural, arts and sports sector, so as to promote further development of local culture, arts and sports; the relevant measures include:

(1) building more cultural venues and sports facilities, and expeditiously implementing the outstanding leisure and cultural services projects of the former municipal councils;

(2) reviewing the policy on industrial buildings and updating the definition of ‘use of industrial buildings’, so that cultural, arts and sports groups can operate in industrial buildings in a sensible, reasonable and lawful manner, and ensuring that future policies proposed on revitalising industrial buildings will be able to cater to the development needs of such groups and safeguard their room for survival;

(3) making better use of vacant school premises and vacant sites for cultural, arts or sports purposes;

(4) opening up more public spaces for cultural and arts purposes;

(5) enhancing the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme, including providing more assistance to schools that open up their school facilities, and extending the scheme to make it accessible by cultural and arts groups;

(6) enhancing the leasing policy for government venues to make such venues available for full utilisation by cultural, arts and sports groups, and curbing the recurrence of touting activities; and

(7) stipulating in the land lease covenants of suitable new development projects that developers should set aside space to develop certain cultural and arts facilities that have been compressed by market and business factors, such as performance venues and bookshops.”

     Mrs Regina Ip, Ms Tanya Chan, Mr Lau Kwok-fan and Mr Au Nok-hin will move separate amendments to Mr Ma’s motion.

     Meanwhile, Mr Dennis Kwok will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Practising Certificate (Solicitors) (Amendment) Rules 2018, laid on the table of the Council on May 16, 2018, to the meeting of July 4, 2018.

     Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies. 

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo website (www.legco.gov.hk). Please note that the agenda is subject to change, and the latest information about the agenda could be found on the LegCo website.

     Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also watch or listen to the meeting via the “Webcast” system on the LegCo website. read more

     Hong Kong Customs today (June 4) seized about 7 000 kilograms of suspected smuggled mercury from a shipping container with an estimated market value of about $2.8 million at the Kwai Chung Cargo Examination Compound. &n… read more

     The Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan Fan, will leave for Guangzhou tomorrow morning (June 5) and will have a meeting with the Guangdong Provincial Government on operational matters of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Ho… read more

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (June 4) investigating an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in a kindergarten in Southern District, and again urged the public, schools and institutions to maintain strict hand, personal and environmental hygiene.

     The outbreak affected 20 children, 14 boys and six girls aged 3 to 5, who have developed oral ulcers, rash and vesicles on their hands and feet since May 18. Among them, 16 sought medical attention and none required hospitalisation. All of them have been in stable condition.

     Officers of the CHP have conducted a site visit to the school and advised the management on necessary infection control and preventive measures. Investigations are ongoing.

     “HFMD is common in children while adult cases may also appear. It is usually caused by enteroviruses (EVs) such as Coxsackie virus and EV71. It is clinically characterised by maculopapular rashes or vesicular lesions occurring on the palms, soles and other parts of the body such as the buttocks and thighs. Vesicular lesions and ulcers may also be found in the oral cavity. Sometimes patients present mainly with painful ulcers at the back of the mouth, namely herpangina, without rash on the hands or feet,” a spokesman for the CHP said.

     To prevent HFMD, members of the public, and especially the management of institutions, should take heed of the following preventive measures:
 

• Maintain good air circulation;
• Wash hands before meals and after going to the toilet or handling diapers or other stool-soiled materials;
• Keep hands clean and wash hands properly, especially when they are dirtied by respiratory secretions, such as after sneezing;
• Cover the nose and mouth while sneezing or coughing and dispose of nasal and oral discharges properly;
• Regularly clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces such as furniture, toys and commonly shared items with 1:99 diluted household bleach (mixing one part of bleach containing 5.25 per cent sodium hypochlorite with 99 parts of water), leave for 15 to 30 minutes, and then rinse with water and keep dry. For metallic surfaces, disinfect with 70 per cent alcohol;
• Use absorbent disposable towels to wipe away obvious contaminants such as respiratory secretions, vomitus or excreta, and then disinfect the surface and neighbouring areas with 1:49 diluted household bleach (mixing one part of bleach containing 5.25 per cent sodium hypochlorite with 49 parts of water), leave for 15 to 30 minutes and then rinse with water and keep dry. For metallic surfaces, disinfect with 70 per cent alcohol;
• Children who are ill should be kept out of school until their fever and rash have subsided and all the vesicles have dried and crusted;
• Avoid going to overcrowded places; and
• Parents should maintain close communication with schools to let them know the latest situation of the sick children.

     The public may visit the CHP’s page on HFMD and EV71 infection and Public Health Advice for Play Facilities for more information. read more

     The meeting of the Legislative Council Subcommittee on Medical Council (Election and Appointment of Lay Members) Regulation originally scheduled for tomorrow (June 5) at 8.30am has been cancelled. read more