********************************
Following is a question by the Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (November 27):
Question:
The authorities indicated in March this year that the review of the Chinese Temples Ordinance (Cap. 153) (the Ordinance) was near completion, but so far they have not yet proposed any legislative amendment to the Ordinance or conducted public consultation. Some members of the public have relayed to me that in recent years, the private columbarium businesses operated by quite a number of temples registered under the Ordinance (registered temples) have irregularities. However, the authorities have neither taken law enforcement actions to rectify such irregularities nor monitored the financial situations of such temples. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it can provide information on the revenues and expenditures of various registered temples in the past three years; if it cannot, of the reasons for that;
(b) whether it knows the registered temples that are currently operating the business of selling columbarium niches or other commercial activities and the revenues so derived by each of these temples in the past three years, broken down in table form by revenue item; whether the authorities will consider exercising the powers conferred by the Ordinance to require the temples concerned to transfer their surplus to the Chinese Temples Fund; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) whether the authorities received any complaint in the past three years about malpractices in the administration or financial management of registered temples; if they did, of the number and contents of the complaints, the names of the temples involved, as well as the relevant follow-up actions taken; and
(d) when the authorities will complete the review of the Ordinance, and whether they have drawn up work plans and timetables for amending the Ordinance and the relevant consultation procedures; if they have, of the details; if not, whether they will draw up such plans shortly; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Chinese Temples Ordinance (Cap. 153) (the Ordinance) was enacted in 1928 in the light of the social needs at that time. Due to social changes, some of the powers conferred by the Ordinance to the Chinese Temples Committee (the Committee), including that the revenues, investments and properties of all Chinese temples shall be under the control of the Committee, and that the Committee may require any person in possession of any property held by any Chinese temple to transfer any such property to the Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated, etc., no longer meet prevailing community expectations of protecting private property rights. The SAR Government respects the autonomy of religious organisations. Upon review of the Ordinance, the Administration is of the view that amendments have to be made to the Ordinance with an aim to better serve prevailing social needs by removing out-dated regulation over Chinese temples.
(a)&(b) Twenty-five temples are directly under the administration of the Committee. The accounts of these temples are prepared by the Secretariat of the Committee. In accordance with the Chinese Temples Fund Regulations (Cap. 153A), revenue from these 25 directly-administered temples shall be transferred to the Chinese Temples Fund (CT Fund). The overall accounts of the CT Fund are audited by the Commissioner of Audit and then submitted to the Legislative Council every year. The revenues and expenditures of the 25 directly-administered temples in the past three years are at Annex I. The 25 temples under the direct administration of the Committee do not operate any columbaria or engage themselves in other commercial activities.
The Committee does not exercise the powers conferred by the Ordinance to require registered temples not under its administration to provide financial information in the past three years. Nor does it require such temples to transfer their surplus to the CT Fund.
The Committee does not require temples registered under the Ordinance to submit information concerning any of their operation of private columbaria or other commercial activities.
The land/lease and town planning information on the private columbaria that is known to the Lands Department and/or Planning Department is regularly released by the Development Bureau. While such information is by no means exhaustive in listing out all private columbaria within the territory, it is hoped that such information could be made available to the public in a more systematic manner. For details, please refer to the Development Bureau's relevant webpage www.devb.gov.hk/tc/issues_in_focus/private_columbaria. Same as all other industries in Hong Kong, any registered or unregistered temple engaging in the operation of columbaria shall abide by the law and comply with the Government's requirements. Government departments concerned will within their ambit continue to take enforcement actions against irregularities in private columbaria in accordance with relevant legislation and administrative measures. A bill to regulate private columbaria by means of a licensing scheme is underway.
(c) Over the past three years, the Committee received a total of 46 complaint cases pertaining to the 25 directly-administered temples mainly involving the work conducted by the organisations responsible for temple operation or that conducted by the temple keepers, such as the procurement of products or services from temple keepers (22 cases in total) as well as the operation, charges and opening hours of the temples or the arrangements of altar displays in the temples (24 cases in total). Upon receipt of a complaint, the Committee shall conduct investigations in light of the information furnished by the complainant. If the complaint is substantiated, the Committee shall make suggestions or issue warnings to, or discipline the parties concerned, or require the temple to improve its services. Also, a reply shall be given to the complainant. Details are at Annex II. In addition, the Committee received 14 complaint cases in connection with other registered temples over the past three years, mainly involving temple operation or the internal management of the organisations responsible for temple operation. There were no complaint cases concerning columbaria or other commercial activities under their charge. The Committee will refer complaints relating to these temples to them for action.
(d) The administration is reviewing the Ordinance. We are currently seeking legal advice, with a view to reporting the outcome and recommendations to the Legislative Council in 2014.
Ends/Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:45
NNNN
