The Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee

Notes of 1st meeting

Date: 16 October 2003 (Thursday)

Time: 10:30 a.m.

Venue: Home Affairs Department Conference Room, 30/F, Southorn Centre, 130 Hennessy Road, Wanchai

Attendance:

Professor Tam Sheung Wai (Chairman)

Mr Chan Cheuk-biu, Education and Manpower Bureau

Miss Johanna Tsao, Social Welfare Department

Mr Chui Pak Ming

Mr Ho Hon Kuen

Mr Ma Chiu Cheung, Andrew

Dr Tsang Fan Kwong, David

Professor Yuen Tsang Woon Ki, Angelina

Absent with apologies

Mr Stephen Fisher, Home Affairs Bureau

Secretary

Ms Esther Leung, Home Affairs Bureau

In attendance

Mr Ryan Chiu, Home Affairs Bureau

Mrs Wang Cheng Kwan Fun, Education and Manpower Bureau

By invitation

Ms Angie Lai, Caritas

Mr Joe Tang, Caritas

Miss Jacqueline Cheng, Hong Kong Education City

Miss Tung Tze Kwan, Hong Kong Education City

Mr Yiu Tze Leung, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Miss Bell Wong, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals

Welcoming remarks

The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting. This was the first meeting of The Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee (the Committee) and was open to public.

Preventive and remedial measures to address gambling-related problems (PWFAC Paper 01 – 03)

2. Ms Esther Leung introduced the paper.

3. In response to the enquiry of some members about the role of the Committee in advising the Secretary for Home Affairs (SHA) on the use and application of the Fund, Ms Esther Leung explained that some measures to address gambling-related problems were launched prior to the first meeting of the Committee as there was strong demand for the early implementation of the measures. In future, members’ views would be sought in deciding on the use and application of the Fund. The Home Affairs Bureau would also report on the implementation of the measures financed by the Fund.

4. Mr Andrew Ma asked what were the thirteen kinds of gambling activities mentioned in the “Study of Hong Kong People’s Participation in Gambling Activities” (the Study) conducted by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the power of investment vested in the Committee by the Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated Ordinance (the Ordinance). Ms Esther Leung said that the secretariat would provide copies of the report of the Study and the Ordinance to members for reference. She further explained that the power of investment was vested in the Committee by virtue of the Declaration of Trust of The Ping Wo Fund.

(Action: Secretary)

Operation of the Counselling and Treatment Centres for Problem and Pathological Gamblers

5. Mr Yiu Tze Leung briefed the meeting of the operation of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs) Even Centre.

6. Mr Andrew Ma asked if the lie/bet questionnaire could accurately identify the problem gamblers and whether the debt restructuring arranged by the financial institutions would have adverse impact on the gamblers as it might provide them with more money to gamble. Mr Yiu Tze Leung responded that the screening tool had been validated in other countries and the centre would adopt various screening tools in the counselling process to assess the severity of the problem of the help-seekers; and the debt restructuring arrangement sought to provide financial relief to the family of the gamblers rather than giving the gamblers money to gamble.

7. Prof. Angelina Yuen commented that the centre should place more emphasis on establishing relationship and trust with the clients before using any screening tools to assess the severity of the problems. Dr David Tsang agreed that care should be exercised in the use of screening tools as the clients might find it annoying if the tools were used mechanically.

8. Prof Angelina Yuen asked if the hotline service could cater for the need of non-Cantonese-speaking population. Mr Yiu Tze Leung said TWGHs would explore with Caritas in future if messages in other languages could be recorded in the hotline. Dr David Tsang suggested that hotlines in different languages could be set up to cater for the needs of different ethnic groups in the community.

9. Dr David Tsang opined that while the local clinical experience were valuable, the treatment model developed in other countries could still be adopted in Hong Kong if suitable adaptation was made.

10. Mr Andrew Ma asked if information about the profile of the callers would be collated. Mr Yiu Tze Leung said TWGHs had also collated similar data in their debt counselling centre and they would do the same in the Even Centre.

11. Mr Joe Tang briefed members of the operation of the Caritas A.G. Counselling Centre.

12. Miss Johanna Tsao commented that while the two counselling and treatment centres relied heavily on telephone hotline to reach out to the clients, it would also be important to reach out to potential clients through other channels. She also asked whether help-seekers who were not identified as problem or pathological gamblers would be referred to other services.

13. Ms Angie Lai responded that the Caritas adopted a community-based approach in service delivery and would form partnership with other service agencies to provide a wide spectrum of services to serve the clients’ need. The family service centres under Caritas were also ready to provide assistance to the help-seekers of the counselling and treatment centre. Mr Yiu Tze Leung said that TWGHs also had a hotline to provide counselling services for people with family problems.

14. Mr Chui Pak Ming commented that the location of the Caritas A.G. Centre might not be very convenient. Mr Joe Tang explained that the catchment area for the Caritas centre covered the whole New Territories and Tsuen Wan was accessible from both east and west New Territories. They would move to a permanent location in Tsuen Wan later when a suitable venue could be identified.

15. Dr David Tsang said that the two centres should monitor closely the overseas development in counselling and treatment for problem and pathological gamblers so as to learn from overseas experience and research findings. He noted that there was a trend to adopt the pharmacological approach in assisting the problem and pathological gamblers, while a harm reduction approach was being adopted in Australia and New Zealand to tackle the problems associated with gambling.

16. In response to Prof Angelina Yuen’s view that the two centres should interface with other agencies which adopt different approaches in the provision of counselling and treatment services for problem and pathological gamblers, Mr Yiu Tze-leung said TWGHs and Caritas were considering to organize a seminar for all local practitioners to exchange views and experience in the delivery of service for problem and pathological gamblers.

Gambling education programme targetting the adolescents

17. Miss Jacqueline Cheng briefed members of the plan of “Say No to Gambling” campaign.

18. Mr Ho Hon Kuen said that apart from the education campaign launched by the Hong Kong Education City, it would be worthwhile if the Fund could subsidize interested groups and individuals to launch gambling-related education programme at community level or in schools.

19. Dr David Tsang suggested that the website of the education campaign should include self-assessment tools and self-help advice to appeal to the adolescents. He also suggested that messages to warn against excessive gambling should be displayed in gambling outlets including off-course betting branches and mahjong parlours, and pamphlets on self-assessment tools for gambling problem should be distributed in those venues. The football betting licensee should also display pop-up messages on the betting website to warn the bettors against excessive gambling. From the perspective of user-pays principle, he suggested to impose a levy on the gambling proceeds to ensure a continued source of funding for preventive and remedial measures to address gambling-related problems.

20. Mr Andrew Ma said that the website of the education campaign should include information on the definition of gambling as the youths might not understand what kind of activities should be classified as gambling.

Item 4 – Any other business

21. The Chairman informed the meeting that Mr Lim Por-yen had donated $500,000 to The Ping Wo Fund. This was the first private donation to the Fund.

22. Mr Ho Hon Kuen said that apart from monitoring their performance, the Fund should cooperate with the relevant parties in the implementation of measures to address gambling-related problems. He also suggested that the Fund should have its own logo to facilitate the publicity in the future and effort should be made to enhance the public awareness of the work of the Fund.

23. Prof. Angelina Yuen suggested that the Committee should draw up a detailed work plan so as to map out the future direction of the committee. Ms Esther Leung said that the secretariat would draw up a work plan of the Committee for discussion at the next meeting.

(Action: Secretary)

Date for next meeting

24. The secretariat will inform members of the date for the next meeting later.

(Action: Secretary)

The Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee Secretariat