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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council will hold a meeting on Wednesday (May 25) at 11am in the Chamber of the Legislative Council Building. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on safeguarding freedom of the press and the right to expression.
The motion, to be moved by Hon Cyd Ho, states: "That this Council urges the authorities to safeguard freedom of the press and the right to expression."
Hon Emily Lau, Hon Lee Cheuk-yan, Dr Hon Philip Wong and Hon Alan Leong will move separate amendments to Hon Cyd Ho's motion. Meanwhile, Hon Cheung Kwok-che will move an amendment to Dr Hon Philip Wong's amendment.
Hon Lau Kong-wah will move a motion on Hong Kong as a sustainable regional cultural hub. The motion, states: "That the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) has designated a conceptual plan as the master plan for developing the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), and the authorities will launch the Stage 3 Public Engagement Exercise in summer this year to consult the public on the development plan of the WKCD; whether the WKCD can develop into a first-class arts and cultural facility in the world will largely depend on Hong Kong's overall cultural development, and whether we can seize the opportunity presented by the WKCD to upgrade people's cultural qualities as well as artistic tastes, so as to establish Hong Kong's cultural edge and status; in order to build Hong Kong into a sustainable regional cultural hub, this Council urges the Government to:
Perfection of framework and policies-
(a) explore the establishment of a cultural and education bureau to co-ordinate the policies and resources presently scattered among other government departments, and explore and formulate territory-wide and regional policies as well as development strategies for culture and the arts;
(b) enhance the professional composition of the Advisory Committee on Arts Development and its function as a think tank;
(c) formulate a checklist with culture and arts as the core to assist various government departments in giving more attention and consideration to the needs of local culture and arts in the process of policy evaluation and project implementation;
Resources allocation and market development-
(d) increase participation and investment in culture and arts by requiring the Government and major public bodies to spend 1% of the construction expenses of their public works projects on public arts;
(e) provide major performing arts groups with venues that suit their needs and financial support, so as to foster their sustainable and healthy development and drive the upgrading of Hong Kong's overall cultural level;
(f) assist in building a vibrant cultural and arts market, and allocate resources to train talents of the relevant industries, and attract more people to participate in the relevant intermediary industries and professional services;
(g) enhance support for young art workers, so as to encourage more young people to join cultural and artistic industries;
(h) promote arts popularisation, with a view to enlarging Hong Kong's arts appreciation population;
Facility and space enhancement-
(i) establish regional cultural and arts resources centres in various districts, so as to more effectively foster the promotion and education on traditional folklores, festivals and customs in the districts, encourage the development of budding arts talents and provide room for community activities;
(j) through various policies, encourage private developers to provide cultural and arts facilities, and flexibly utilise the existing district resources for increasing the number of cultural and arts venues, so as to progressively form a cultural ambience in society;
(k) open more public space to street performers, so as to enable performing arts to enrich streets in Hong Kong, and relax the existing legislation on street performances, so as to encourage public arts to enter the communities;
Promotion of public arts education-
(l) promote public arts education, and intensify public education and promotion, so as to reacquaint people with arts and culture as well as their professional nature and status;
(m) station in each secondary school and primary school a sufficient number of professionally trained teachers, and provide ample teaching facilities and room, so as to facilitate the full-scale, universal and professional conduct of arts education;
(n) establish a close partnership among the WKCDA, arts organisations and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, so as to bring in professional perspectives to assist in the development of the WKCD and promote culture and arts education, and to strengthen the professional development of local arts and culture in the WKCD;
(o) develop the WKCD into an international cultural district with Asian, Chinese and Western cultural features;
Provision of an information and exchanges platform-
(p) establish a systematic and free public cultural channel, including a public television channel and an arts web, so as to enable the arts sector to conduct publicity and exchanges; and
(q) through the Broadcasting Authority, encourage free television channels to provide daily newscasts on cultural affairs."
Hon Lee Wing-tat, Dr Hon Pan Pey-chyou and Hon Tanya Chan will move separate amendments to Hon Lau Kong-wah's motion.
On Bills, the Enduring Powers of Attorney (Amendment) Bill 2011 and the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2011 will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debate on the bills will be adjourned.
Members will also ask the Administration 20 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.
The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo InfoFax Service (Tel: 2869 9568) or 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 in the LegCo website.
Members of the public are welcome to observe the proceedings of the meeting from the public galleries of the Legislative Council Chamber. They may reserve seats by calling 2869 9399 during office hours. Seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis. Members of the public can also listen to the meeting via the web broadcast system on the Legislative Council homepage.
Ends/Monday, May 23, 2011
Issued at HKT 19:13
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