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Following is a question by the Hon Alan Leong and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (May 8):
Question:
The Government launched the "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign (the Campaign) on April 23 and will stage more than 480 events and activities in various districts throughout the territory over the next eight months. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the amount of money to be allocated by each policy bureau/department participating in the Campaign, from its approved estimates of expenditure, for implementing the Campaign (and set out the amount and usage of each expenditure item);
(b) whether various policy bureaux/departments (in particular, the Information Services Department which is the Secretariat of the Campaign) have engaged public relations or design companies for the Campaign; if so, of the names of the companies engaged and the amounts involved;
(c) of the publicity materials, apart from file folders, badges and Octopus Card holders, to be produced by the Government for the Campaign; the parties responsible for designing various types of publicity materials and the design fees involved; the quantity to be produced and the estimated expenditure for each type of publicity materials; the channels through which the Government will distribute those publicity materials;
(d) of the amount of expenditure incurred and the number of government employees deployed for the launch ceremony held on April 23 this year;
(e) of the amount of expenditure incurred and the manpower deployed for the three-day district cleansing operations which started on April 26 this year;
(f) since the Government will distribute gift packs to 2 000 needy families on the Hong Kong Positive Energy Day to be held on May 26 this year, of the department(s) responsible for the activity, the name of the manufacturer of those gift packs and the amount of expenditure involved, the distribution channels as well as the organisations assisting in the distribution of the gift packs;
(g) how the Government evaluated, when preparing for the Campaign, whether the activities proposed by partner organisations could tie in with the theme and objectives of the Campaign; who was/were responsible for such evaluation and the criteria based on which the decisions were made; whether activities involving commercial elements could be included in the Campaign;
(h) whether the Government had evaluated, when it approved the inclusion of the "Eco-Quality Home" activity organised by The Hongkong Electric Company Limited (HKE) in the Campaign, if commercial elements would be involved in the activity (which includes providing market information of high energy efficiency products and visiting HKE's Electric Appliances Display Centre, etc.), and if such activity could tie in with the nature and theme of the Campaign; and
(i) whether the Government had evaluated, when it approved the inclusion of activities involving dinner gatherings (e.g. "Gorgeous Stage Tonight") in the Campaign, if such activities could tie in with the theme of the Campaign?
Reply:
President,
(a) The "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign (the Campaign) aims to disseminate positive messages, encourage care and mutual help, promote environmental hygiene, strengthen social cohesion through public participation, and to provide a common platform for all bureaux and departments and partner organisations involved which share the common goals to publicise events which tie in with the Campaign theme. No specific funds have been allocated to the Campaign and no funding has been provided to departments or organisations to organise events. So far, most events included under the Campaign platform are events already being planned by relevant departments and organisations, or which are part of their regular work, hence the expenditure incurred are not part of the Campaign expenditure. With the exception of small amounts of promotional souvenir items which may be produced to tie in with the publicity, all other relevant expenses will either be borne by the Information Services Department (ISD) or by departments' existing resources.
The launching ceremony held on April 23, 2013 was specifically organised for the Campaign. $2.76 million has been set aside for the launching ceremony and other publicity programmes prepared by ISD from its expenditure estimates for 2013-14. This sum includes approximately $630,000 used for the launching ceremony. The rest are production costs of publicity videos and audio tapes, promotional souvenir items, city dress-up and display for the Campaign. Meanwhile, Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) has used approximately $160,000 for the launching ceremony and Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) approximately $10,000 on venue management, making a total of approximately $800,000.
(b) Neither ISD nor other bureaux and departments hired any company to carry out public relations or design work for the Campaign.
(c) All promotional souvenir items for the Campaign were designed in-house by ISD staff. Apart from paper folders, badges, lapel pins and Octopus card holders, other souvenir items include T-shirts, polo shirts, self-inked stamps with the Campaign logo and paper carry bags. The total production cost is about $600,000. This includes ISD's own orders and orders placed on behalf of other bureaux and departments up to now. All souvenirs will be distributed as free promotional giveaway items at events and activities that fall under the Campaign's banner through bureaux and departments.
(d) Total expenditure incurred by ISD, RTHK and LCSD for the Campaign launching ceremony on April 23, 2013 was $800,000 and funds were met from the three departments' existing resources. The launching ceremony was attended by 16 Government officials who were officiating guests, 67 working staff and about 400 other participants.
(e) One of the main responsibilities of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is to provide a clean and hygienic environment for the public. FEHD staff and its contractors provide cleansing services for public streets, markets under its management and other services to upkeep environmental hygiene in all districts every day. In addition, FEHD's work also includes dissemination of the "Keep Hong Kong Clean" message through community involvement and organisation of publicity events. The district Clean Hong Kong events held between April 26 and 28 are part and parcel of the ongoing cleansing services and promotional activities of the FEHD. There is no itemised breakdown on the expenditure and manpower involved for these events.
(f) "Hong Kong Positive Energy Day" is organised by the Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS), a non-governmental organisation, with HSBC as the title sponsor, China Resources Vanguard (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd. as co-organiser and the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged provides matching grants to donations made to AVS. Materials in the gift packs are procured by AVS through tender or sponsored by corporations. AVS also welcomes donations by Hong Kong citizens. China Resources Vanguard (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd will provide free logistics arrangement for the gift packs. The gift packs will be distributed in all districts through volunteers from different welfare agencies, district organisations and corporate groups. May 26, 2013 is the kick-off day of the programme and about 2 000 gift packs will be distributed to needy families. The event does not involve any Government expenditure.
(g) Under the Campaign Task Force, there are four Working Groups that co-ordinate and promote activities relating to the four supporting themes of "Vibrant Hong Kong", "Hip Hong Kong", "Caring Hong Kong" and "Fresh Hong Kong". When deciding which activities are to be included under the Campaign, the Working Groups will take into consideration the following factors: whether the activities align with the Campaign's themes and objectives; whether the participating groups share common goals with the Campaign; the scale of the activities; the level of public participation and creativity of the activities. All activities must be non-profit making despite they may be paid events or events run by commercial organisations.
(h) In considering whether an event should be included in the Campaign, the Administration will consider if the event meets the criteria for inclusion. The main criteria include whether the event meets any one of the Campaign objectives and falls under one of its themes. The body running the event could be a private commercial firm but its proposed event must not be profit-making. For the "Eco-Quality Home" event, based on the information provided by the organising body, the event aims to encourage the use of energy efficient electric appliances, promote green living and is non-profit making, and hence fulfills the criteria above.
(i) When evaluating whether a partner organisation's activity should be included in the Campaign, the Administration will consider whether the activity ties in with the theme and aim of the Campaign, namely to inject positive energy into society, foster social cohesion, and to promote care, mutual help and solidarity. As a case in point, the "Gorgeous Stage Tonight" organised by the Women Service Association, with residents of Kwai Tsing district as its primary targets, encompasses parent-child activities and elderly/children performances to drive home the message of mutual help and care in the neighbourhood, to foster closer ties among neighbours and to inject positive energy into the community, all of which are in line with the theme of the Campaign.
Ends/Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 12:20
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