Minutes of the 2ndMeeting of
Culture, Leisure and Social Affairs Committee (2016-2017)
Central and Western District Council
Date / : / 25 February 2016 (Thursday)Time / : / 2:30 pm
Venue / : / Conference Room
14/F, Harbour Building
38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong
Present:
Chairman
Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, Stephen,BBS, JP*
Vice-chairman
Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing*
Members
Mr CHAN Choi-hi, MH / (2:30 pm - 3:59 pm)Mr CHAN Hok-fung, MH*
Ms CHENG Lai-king*
Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, JP / (2:38 pm - 4:21 pm)
Mr HUI Chi-fung / (2:30 pm - 4:42 pm)
Mr KAM Nai-wai, MH*
Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney, MH / (2:30 pm - 4:43 pm)
Miss LO Yee-hang / (2:30 pm - 4:11 pm)
Mr NG Siu-hong*
Ms SIU Ka-yi*
Mr YEUNG Hok-ming*
MrYIP Wing-shing, BBS, MH, JP*
Co-opted Members
Ms CHEUNG Kai-yin / (2:30 pm - 4:59 pm)
Mr IP Yik-nam / (2:30 pm - 4:59 pm)
Ms LAU Wai-yan,Vienna / (2:30 pm - 4:56 pm)
Mr LEE Man-sing*
Mr SHAM Chi-hang, Christopher / (2:42 pm - end of the meeting)
Remarks: *Members who attended the whole meeting
( )Time of attendance of Member
Guests
Item 6Mr LAI Kun-fai / Representative, Central & Western Working Group on Age-friendly Community
Item 7
Ms YANG Ka-yee
Mr CHUI Chi-keung, Chris
Mr CHAN Bak-hang
Item 8
Mr HO Ming-hoi
Mr CHAN Hon-cheung, John
Mr WONG Cheuk-him, Jason
Ms Esther WONG
Item 9
Mr Eric CHAU
Mr Terry YIU
Item 12
Ms Madelein Yap / Senior Forestry Officer/TMG, Architectural Services Department
Landscape Architect/TMG, Architectural Services Department
Senior Property Services Manager/Special Duties 1, Architectural Services Department
Senior Engineer/Slopes, Highways Department
Senior Landscape Architect/VM (U&Is), Highways Department
Landscape Architect/VM (SD), Highways Department
Representative, St. Stephen’s Neighbour Concern Group
Public Affairs Manager (Corporate Affairs), The Hong Kong Electric Co., Ltd
Assistant Public Affairs Manager (Stakeholder Engagement) , The Hong Kong Electric Co., Ltd
Chairlady, the Central & Western District Philharmonic
In Attendance:
Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze, Susanne, JP
Miss LAM Bing-bing, Erica / District Officer (Central and Western)
Assistant District Officer (Central and Western)
Ms BOOK King-shun, Emma / Acting Senior Executive Officer(District Council), Central and Western District Office
Mr CHU Kam-sing, Daniel / Assistant District Social Welfare Officer (Central Western, Southern and Islands) 2, Social Welfare Department
Ms Doris CHUN / Senior Community Relations Officer, Independent Commission Against Corruption
Mrs KWOK WONG Mun-yi / Senior School Development Officer (Central Western and Southern) 2, Education Bureau
Dr WONG Man-ching, Anna / Senior Medical and Health Officer (Community Liaison)2, Department of Health
Mr LAI Fai-keung / Neighbourhood Police Co-ordinator, Police Community Relations Office, Central District, Hong Kong Police Force
Mr CHAN Chun-wah / Neighbourhood Police Co-ordinator, Police Community Relations Office, Western District, Hong Kong Police Force
Ms CHOI Suk-kuen, Shirley / Senior Manager (Cultural Services) Hong Kong West,Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Ms LEE Wing-yee, Winnie / Manager (Hong Kong West) Marketing, Programme andDistrict Activities, Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Ms LIM Ting-ting, Sylvia / District Leisure Manager(Central & Western), Leisure and Cultural ServicesDepartment
Ms CHOW Pui-shan, Cindy / Deputy District Leisure Manager (District Support) Central and Western, Leisure and Cultural ServicesDepartment
Secretary
Miss TAI Lok-tung, Jovy / Executive Officer (District Council) 5,Central and Western District OfficeAbsent with Apologies:
MrCHAN Ho-lim, Joseph
Opening remarksThe Chairman welcomed participants to the second meeting of the Culture, Leisure & Social Affairs Committee (CLSAC) of the Central and Western District Council (C&W DC) (2016-2017).The Chairman welcomed the five co-opted members, as well as Dr Anna WONG, Senior Medical and Health Officer of the Department of Health and Ms Sylvia LIM, District Leisure Manager (Central & Western) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department attending the meeting for the first time.
Item 1:Adoption of the Agenda
- As Members had no comments on the agenda, the agenda was adopted.
- As Members had no comments on the draft minutes of the first CLSAC meeting, the minuteswereconfirmed.
- The Chairmansaid that the Home Affairs Department would continue to allocate funding to the C&W DC in the next financial year in order to strengthen the promotion of arts and cultural events in the district. As always, the CLSAC would organise the "Culture in the District" series as well as district arts and cultural activities. The Secretariat would soon invite arts groups in writing to apply for funding. It would upload the application form to the District Council website for public reference. The application deadline was 29 April this year. Later an informal meeting would be held to review the proposals by applicant groups, with the date to be determined.
Item 4:Terms of reference, organisation and membership of CLSAC (2016-17)
(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 1/2016)
(2:35 pm - 2:36 pm)
- The Chairman said that the current CLSAC included 15councillors and five co-opted members in total. Members had no comments on the paper. The Chairman announced the adoption of the terms of reference, organisation and membership of the Culture, Leisure & Social Affairs Committee under the Central and Western District Council (2016-2017).
Item 5:Formation and related arrangements of the working groups under CLSAC (2016-17)
(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 2/2016)
(2:36 pm - 2:55 pm)
- The Chairman said that the Working Group on Health Rehabilitation Service under the CLSAC was similar to the Steering Committee on Healthy City in the Central and Western District in nature, with overlapping duties. Therefore he proposed merging the works of the two organisations and abolishing the Working Group on Health Rehabilitation Service.
- Members had no objections, so the Chairman announced that the Working Group on Health Rehabilitation Servicebe abolished.
- The Chairman recommended retaining the Working Group on Elderly Service. Members had no objections. The Chairman invited Members present at the meeting to join the working group. At least four councillors did so by show of hands. The Chairman announced that the Working Group on Elderly Service be retained. And chairman of the working group was elected as follows:
Working Group / Chairman / Nominator / Seconder
Working Group on Elderly Service / Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing / Ms SIU Ka-yi / Mr Sidney LEE
- The Chairman invited Members to express their views on whether to retain the Working Group on Civic Education:
(i)Mr Sidney LEE pointed out that the Working Group on Civic Education was engaged mainly in processing fund applications,which were firstly approved by the working group before being submitted to the CLSAC and the Finance Committee (FC) for review. He proposed abolishing the working group and having fund applications directly reviewed by the CLSAC,as similar to the approval process for the "Culture in the District" series, that is, discussion at an informal CLSAC meeting and then processing by the FC.
(ii)Mr HUI Chi-fung proposed retaining the working group. He believed the working group had previously handled some controversial fund applications. He pointed out that the public was concerned whether applicant groups or related activities were involved in political indoctrination. While acknowledging previous funding approvals had become focus topics in society, he suggested the working group be retained and duly do its job as the "gatekeeper". He said that previous meetings of the working group could last up to three hours. He was worried the same could happen to CLSAC meetings in future.
(iii)Mr Sidney LEE opined that abolishing the Working Group on Civic Education could enhance the efficiency of processing fund applications, with three meeting discussions to be reduced to two. He added that the working group itself did not have the power to approve funding. It could only recommend approval or rejection, before submitting related application to the CLSAC and the FC for discussion andapproval.
(iv)Mr CHAN Hok-fung said that all the meeting documents and minutes of the CLSAC and the FC were uploaded to the District Council website. And such meetings were even open to the public to attend. Therefore the "gatekeeping" work would be more transparent after abolishing the working group.
(v)Mr NG Siu-hong opined that it was necessary to retain the working group, so that the public could have more time to be informed of and to discuss controversial applications.
(vi)Mr HUI Chi-fung opined that the working group could decide on the meeting dates in a flexible manner, in order to avoid the situation that a fund application could not be assessed at a meeting but was approved by circulation of papers instead.
(vii)Mr Sidney LEE pointed out that the CLSAC had held special meetings to process fund applications for civic education before.
(viii)Mr CHAN Hok-fung opined that fund applications were likely to be approved by circulation of papers if they were firstly discussed at the working group. Once the working group was abolished, such applications should be firstly discussed at CLSAC and the said circumstance could be avoided. Thus the process would be fairer and more open.
- The Chairman asked Members to vote on whether to retain the Working Group on Civic Education. After voting, the Chairman indicated that the Committee objected to retain the Working Group on Civic Education.
(3 affirmative votes by:Mr HUI Chi-fung, Mr NG Siu-hong and Ms CHEUNG Kai-yin);
(12 negative votes by:Mr Stephen CHAN, Mr CHAN Hok-fung, Mr CHAN Choi-hi, Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, Mr Sidney LEE, Ms LO Yee-hang, Ms SIU Ka-yi, Mr YEUNG Hok-ming, Mr IP Yik-nam, Ms Vienna LAU, Mr LEE Man-sing and Mr Christopher SHAM).
- Mr CHAN Hok-fung suggested discussion be held later on how fund applications for civic education should be processed. He took "Culture in the District" as an example and said fund applications for the series could be reviewed at informal CLSAC meetings.
Item 6:Identifying the reason(s) for not yet obtaining the accreditation for "age-friendly community" for the C&W District and seeking immediate support for the application for the accreditation
(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 4/2016)
(2:55 pm - 3:20 pm)
- Mrs Susanne WONG, District Officer (Central and Western), said that the Policy Address this year clearly indicated the Government's support for the promotion of age-friendly initiatives through DCs in the eighteen districts and the application for the related accreditation. The Labour and Welfare Bureau had also earmarked a grant for related initiatives across the territory. Since the Policy Address had been just delivered, relevant details were not available for the moment. Mrs WONG promised to report to the Committee once there were further details. In addition, she said the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) had engaged experts to study age-friendly policies in eight districts (including the Central & Western District) across the territory, in accordance with relevant guidelines of the World Health Organization on age-friendly communities. She said HKJC nearly completed the report and she had requested HKJC to report the results to Councillors as soon as the report was completed. She said HKJC had allocated a grant for age-friendly city projects in different districts. She suggested that the District Office submit relevant information after Councillors' being briefed on the HKJC report and expert advice, so that Councillors might discuss the matter in the Committee.
- Ms CHENG Lai-king said she started work on the age-friendly community with visits in the district as early as in 2006. She said she met many elderly citizens in the community, who expressed that much efforts had been made in this regard but felt disappointed about failing to get accredited. She believed the accreditation was about others' recognition, rather than self-recognition. She asked the District Officer about the procedures of applying for accreditation and hoped that the DC could set aside a grant for the accreditation.
- Mr LAI Kun-fai, representative of the Central & Western Working Group on Age-friendly Community (WGAC) had obtained the Chairman's consent before the meeting to give a three-minute speech. He said the WGAC started the age-friendly work in the district in 2008 and made recommendations on transport and road facilities. He hoped there could be channels for the elderly to comment on district facilities and social policies. He said the age-friendly community emphasized on exploring the needs and participation of elderly citizens from their perspective. He thanked the funding support by the Central & Western District Council over the years and thought that the efforts by elderly and the councillors over the years deserved the accreditation. He proposed establishing a steering committee on age-friendly initiatives and inviting Councillors to meetings, so that they and elderly citizens together could fully review community facilities and social policies.
- The Chairmaninvited discussion on the paper, withMembers' questions and views being summarised as follows:
(ii)Ms CHENG Lai-king hoped that all Members present at the meeting would support the accreditation and give funding priority to the issue.
(iii)Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing enquired about the allocation of resources for the accreditation.
(iv)Mr HUI Chi-fung expressed support for the accreditation. He believed the accreditation involved a wide scope of things as well as a lot of work on the operational level. He believed the issue should be discussed by all Councillors instead of only at the WGES under the Committee.
(v)Mr YEUNG Hok-ming supported the accreditation initiatives. He hoped they could be more concrete and believed the DC should do more than the accreditation required.
(vi)The Chairman supported the accreditation. He said he had attended an Asia-Pacific meeting on age-friendly communities on behalf of the Central Western District and presented the elderly initiatives organised by the C&W DC with different local organisations. He didnot think the Central & Western District did less than other districts in that regard. He believed the WGES should continue to follow up on the accreditation and report to the Committee on the matter.
- Mrs Susanne WONG, District Officer (Central and Western) responded to the question about resources. She said that she had consulted her counterparts in the three districts with the accreditation for "age-friendly community" and would provide the Committee with related information. She said that the expenses would cover the application fees for accreditation as well as the renovation of community facilities.
- Mr YIP Wing-shing said that all Councillors supported the work. He said the expenses should be arranged by the Central & Western District Officer and perhaps funds could be granted by the Working Group on Central & Western District Council Affairs.
Item 7:Request for preserving and stabilising the stonewall trees at Hollywood Road near PMQ to prevent unnecessary tree felling
(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 5/2016)
(3:20 pm - 4:00 pm)
- Ms YANG Ka-yee, Senior Forestry Officer/TMG of the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD), gave a presentation on the maintenance of stonewall trees. She explained retaining walls were artificial slopes, so all the trees on such walls fell under the purview of ArchSD. She said the ArchSD invited Professor C. Y. JIM to write a report in 2012 to raise the awareness of the department on stonewall trees. In 2013, the Development Bureau (DB) also issued guidelines on the caring of stonewall trees, so that the ArchSD had a clearer idea in that regard. She pointed out that the ArchSD's strategy of stonewall tree management was mainly to maintain the balance and stability of the trees as well as to strengthen their rootanchorage. For example, she said, the ArchSD had conducted structural pruning for trees in Hong Kong King George V Memorial Park. It had reduced the crowns and added cables for trees in Pound Lane. Besides, the Department had opened small holes in the concrete slopes at Ka Wai Man Road, so that the aerial roots of trees could contact with the soil. She said that the ArchSD had firstly tried adding planters in Hong Kong King George V Memorial Park for the extension of aerial roots. After the trial turned out to be successful, the ArchSD set out to identify places for additional planters for stonewall trees under itspurview.
- Mr Chris CHUI, Landscape Architect/TMG of the ArchSD, introduced ArchSD's work at PMQ. He said that most of the trees under the ArchSD's purviewwere located at Hollywood Road, Shing Wong Street and Aberdeen Street. He said that ArchSD's regular work included the removal of watersprouts, dead twigs and broken branches as well as structural pruning. He added that stabilising trees with cables could help the trees to grow upward, in order to prevent their excessive tilt over the road. He pointed out that the ArchSD's works at Shing Wong Street included the addition of planters on top of retaining walls, so that the aerial roots could contact with the soil and become lignified supports. He said the aerial roots of stonewall trees at Hollywood Road already reached underground sections. Therefore the ArchSD recommended adding planters for the lignifications. The ArchSD had already obtained the Notice of No Objection from the Development Bureau, the PMQ, the Lands Department, the Highways Department and the Transport Department and had consulted the Water Supplies Department and the Drainage Services Department as well. He said that the ArchSD had just completed the radar scanning of underground pipelines and found telecommunication cables under the proposed locations of planters. The ArchSD was discussing with the related company on the feasibility of relocation.
- Ms YANG Ka-yee of the ArchSD said she hoped to have the Committee's support. She said the ArchSD had yet to take over the management of the trees in Forbes Street but was actively studying the related maintenance.
- The Chairmaninvited discussion on the paper, with Members' questions and views being summarised as follows: