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Following is the speech by the Secretary for Security, Mrs Regina Ip, in moving the second reading of the Karaoke Establishments Bill in the Legislative Council today (February 7):
Madam President,
I move that the Karaoke Establishments Bill be read the second time. The Bill seeks to improve fire and public safety in karaoke establishments by providing for licensing control of these premises.
At present, there is no specific control of karaoke establishments, other than some general requirements applicable to the premises in which they are located. For example, as some of the karaoke establishments also serve food and drinks or are attached to clubs or hotels, they are subject to different regulatory controls if -
(I) the karaoke business is conducted in a place licensed as a general restaurant or light refreshment restaurant under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance, or is operated with a liquor licence under the Dutiable Commodities (Liquor) Regulations; or
(II) the karaoke business is conducted within a clubhouse issued with a certificate of compliance under the Clubs (Safety of Premises) Ordinance, or within a hotel or guesthouse licensed under the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.
If a karaoke establishment does not operate as any of the above, it is neither subject to any legislative control nor required to provide any fire safety and public safety measures. As long as it holds a simple business registration certificate, it can conduct this kind of public entertainment business.
Without proper fire safety construction and installations, the risk of fire in a karaoke establishment is by no means negligible in the light of the unique characteristics of its operations. In general, the alertness of the customers may be affected by the consumption of alcoholic drinks and loud music inside the premises. The layout of small clustered cubicles accessed through long and narrow passages will make escape difficult in case of fire. General fire safety provisions cannot adequately address the fire risk associated with the special closed-cubicle layout and unique mode of operation of karaoke establishments. Therefore, we must introduce a set of prescribed minimum standards through a statutory licensing system to ensure that proper fire and public safety measures are provided in these establishments.
We propose that all establishments providing karaoke facilities, whether attached to restaurants or other licensed premises, should be brought under the control of a licensing scheme administered by the licensing authority, i.e. all karaoke establishments should be required to obtain a licence or permit for their operations. However, "bona fide restaurants" will be exempted from the licence requirement. A "bona fide restaurant" is one serving food and drinks as its main business with the aggregate area of all karaoke cubicles not exceeding 30 percent of its total seating area, and the number of karaoke cubicles not exceeding its total seating area divided by 100 square metres.
The licensing authority will adopt a pragmatic approach in implementing the new licensing scheme. In vetting an application from an existing karaoke establishment which has already been granted a separate licence for the purpose of, for example, restaurant, hotel or guesthouse, or a certificate of compliance for the purpose of club, the authority will streamline the licence processing procedures and reduce the scope of regulatory control by only requiring the applicant to comply with the additional fire safety measures specific to the special layout and mode of operation of the karaoke establishments. For karaoke establishments in restaurants or premises serving light refreshment, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene will act as the licensing authority. For other karaoke establishments, including those attached to hotels or clubs, the Secretary for Home Affairs will be the licensing authority. The "one-stop" approach should help avoid duplication of efforts and streamline the licence processing procedures so that karaoke establishment operators will obtain the required licences as early as possible.
An applicant for a karaoke licence will be required to meet prescribed fire safety, building safety, public safety standards and health requirements. However, for existing karaoke establishments, a transitional period of 12 months will be granted in the first instance to allow time for their compliance work. Another grace period of 12 months will be given if their licence applications made within the transitional period are refused.
To operate a karaoke business without a licence or permit is an offence punishable by law. The licensing authority may issue a direction if a licensee fails to comply with the licensing conditions. The authority may further apply to the District Court for a closure order and prohibit the use of the premises as a karaoke establishment if the operator fails to comply with the direction.
We conducted a three-month public consultation on the proposed licensing scheme from February to May 1998. The general public and the karaoke trade were generally supportive of our objective to improve fire and public safety of karaoke establishments. We have continued discussions with the trade and, in response to their views, have refined certain fire safety construction requirements and adopted a phased implementation approach to minimise the financial impact, while maintaining our objective to improve fire safety of karaoke establishments. For example, existing karaoke establishments may not be required to widen the corridor to 1.2 metres if basic fire safety measures have been installed; dead-end situations might be tolerated subject to additional fire safety provisions as may be required by the licensing authority; and as requested by the trade, the aggregate area of corridors will be excluded in calculating the permitted capacity of the premises. However, after careful consideration, we do not consider it proper to further relax the requirement that partition walls separating the cubicles from the main corridors within a karaoke establishment should have a fire-resistant capability of at least one hour. The one-hour requirement is already the minimum standard for necessary protection of a fire escape route. In case of fire, the fire-resistant partition walls will serve to keep the fire from spreading quickly, so as to allow time for customers to escape and facilitate firemen's fire-fighting and rescue work.
In addition, the Business and Services Promotion Unit of the Commerce and Industry Bureau has commissioned a consultant to carry out a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the licensing control of karaoke establishments. The analysis reveals that the introduction of the proposed licensing arrangements will bring considerable benefits to the general public, whereas the impact on the trade will be small when compared to the turnover and profitability of the trade as a whole. Some karaoke establishments which have poor cashflow or are located in buildings calling for substantial improvement works may face financial constraints if they are required to complete all the improvement works during the first year of implementation of the licensing system. To lessen the impact, we will adopt the consultant's proposal for a phased implementation programme to allow the trade to spread the cost of the required upgrading works over a longer period of time.
We consulted the two Provisional Municipal Councils on the licensing scheme in late 1998 and early 1999, while the Legislative Council Panel on Security was briefed in January 1999. Also, the Bill was introduced into the previous Legislative Council on March 15, 2000, but lapsed at the end of the last legislative session before the previous Legislative Council had time to scrutinize it. Re-introduction of the Bill is necessary.
I hope Members will support the above proposal and pass the Bill at an early date. We will give wide publicity to the provisions of the Bill and the licensing conditions before introducing the new licensing system so as to facilitate the trade's familiarization and preparation.
Madam President, with these remarks, I beg to move.
End/Wednesday, February 7, 2001
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