LegCo to debate motion for adjournment of Council on issue relating to handling of people's assemblies by SAR Government and Hong Kong Police
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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (October 15) at 11am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(2) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion, to be moved by Mr Alan Leong, states: "That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the handling of people's assemblies by the SAR Government and the Hong Kong Police since September 26 this year."

     Mr Wong Yuk-man will debate a motion for the adjournment of the Council under Rule 16(4) of the Rules of Procedure. The motion, to be moved by Mr Wong Yuk-man, states: "That this Council do now adjourn for the purpose of debating the following issue: the security arrangements adopted by the Legislative Council in respect of large-scale public events."

     Meanwhile, Mr Tam Yiu-chung and Mr Ip Kwok-him, as well as Mr Sin Chung-kai and Dr Kwok Ka-ki will present petitions to the Council respectively. Details please refer to the attachments.

     On bills, Members will resume Second Reading debate on the Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2014. If the Bill is supported by Members and receive its Second Reading, it will then go through the Committee stage and be read the Third time.

     The District Cooling Services Bill will be introduced into the Council for First and Second Readings. Second Reading debate on the bill will be adjourned.

     On Members' motions, Mr Michael Tien will move a motion on returning a happy childhood to students. The motion states: "That the majority view of society has all along held that 'pressure leads to progress'; nowadays, there are many books and discussions available at the market about 'tiger moms and dads', 'helicopter parents' and 'monster parents, etc. for boosting children's learning, but excessive boosting may likely increase pressure on children and dampen their learning interests; the results of a survey conducted by the Programme for International Student Assessment show that some Hong Kong parents excessively intervene in children's learning and drill them by being over-anxious for results, rendering a decline of children's motivation to learn and a negative impact on their academic results; quite a number of media reports have also pointed out that some Hong Kong students have emotional problems because of heavy study pressure, and they become easily anxious and have symptoms such as insomnia, loss of appetite and irritability, etc.; all these problems are attributable to the education system which emphasises solely on examination results; at the stage of kindergarten education, parents have already enrolled their children in many types of interest classes and request them to do dictation and spelling exercises, etc.; at the stage of primary education, students need to participate in the Territory-wide System Assessment, the Internal Assessments for Secondary School Places Allocation purpose that take place at the end of Primary Five and both in mid-year and at the end of Primary Six, and the Pre-Secondary One Hong Kong Attainment Test; at the stage of secondary education, students are faced with a shortage of university places and the 'die or live' pressure from the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination; in contrast, the education systems and teaching modes in many advanced places are better able to provide students with room for exploring their interests to enhance their creativity development; in this connection, this Council urges the Administration to:

(1) assess afresh the pressure and psychological impact of the existing education system on students, and comprehensively review the examination system, the curriculum contents and the mechanism for progression in education;

(2) enhance parental education to avoid parents from excessively boosting children's learning; and

(3) enhance the support for school social workers and teachers to facilitate them to early identify whether or not students are under excessive pressure."

     Dr Helena Wong, Ms Alice Mak, Mr Ip Kin-yuen, Dr Priscilla Leung and Mr Charles Peter Mok will move separate amendments to Mr Michael Tien's motion.

     Mr Kenneth Leung will also move a motion on reorganising the Government's structure to improve its policy implementation. The motion states: "That the current-term Government has repeatedly committed blunders in its policy implementation, and the policies as implemented are not in place and unable to respond to people's demands, coupled with the situations where a number of officials successively committed scandals and serious dereliction of duty, resulting in serious doubts about the Government's ability to govern and implement policies; in this connection, this Council urges the Government to examine afresh its operating structure, and after consulting the Legislative Council and the public, to effect improvement, adjustment and division of labour in respect of the functions, objectives and policy portfolios of various policy bureaux, and to conduct structural reorganisation on a need basis for enhancing the quality and competence of various policy bureaux and the departments under their purview in policy formulation and execution, making the Government's policy implementation more open, closely follow public opinions, integrated and consistent."

     Ms Emily Lau, Dr Elizabeth Quat and Mr Charles Peter Mok will move separate amendments to Mr Kenneth Leung's motion.

     Meanwhile, Ms Alice Mak will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Food and Drugs (Composition and Labelling) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014, laid on the table of LegCo on June 18, 2014, to the meeting of November 12, 2014.

     Mr Dennis Kwok will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Rules of the High Court (Amendment) (No. 2) Rules 2014 and the Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 2014, laid on the table of LegCo on July 2, 2014, to the meeting of November 12, 2014.

     Dr Lo Wai-kwok will move a proposed resolution under section 34(4) of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to extend the period for amending the Road Traffic (Amendment) Ordinance 2012 (Commencement) Notice, laid on the table of LegCo on July 2, 2014, to the meeting of November 12, 2014.

     On Government motions, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development will move a proposed resolution under section 54A of the Interpretation and General Clauses Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to transfer the relevant statutory functions under the Electronic Transactions Ordinance from the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development and Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communication and Technology) to the Secretary for Innovation and Technology and Permanent Secretary for Innovation and Technology. Mr Chan Chi-chuen and Mr Albert Chan will move amendments to the proposed resolution.

     The Secretary for Food and Health will move a proposed resolution under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance to seek the Council's approval to the Pharmacy and Poisons (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014 and the Poisons List (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulation 2014 made by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board on June 16, 2014.

     In addition, Mr Frederick Fung will ask an urgent oral question on "Immediate measures to guard against the use of inappropriate weapons by the Police on protesters; Ms Cyd Ho will ask an urgent oral question on "Immediate review of the decision-making mechanism concerning the use of weapons to disperse participants of peaceful assemblies; Dr Helena Wong will ask an urgent oral question on "Immediate measures to protect the personal safety of assembly participants and journalists"; Dr Kwok Ka-ki will ask an urgent oral question on "Immediate review of the display of warning banners to protesters by the Police; and Mr Tam Yiu-chung will ask an urgent oral question on "Formulating measures right away to alleviate the impact of Occupy Central movement on society". Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via 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 Chamber of the LegCo Complex. They may reserve seats by calling 3919 3399 during office hours.  Members of the public can also watch or listen the meeting via the web broadcast system on the LegCo Website.

Ends/Monday, October 13, 2014
Issued at HKT 21:00

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