Rubbish charge of $30 seems okay

(The Standard P.16  27 Sep 2013) Three out of five people are willing to pay HK$30 a month for handling household waste, a green group claims.

World Green Organization recently surveyed 1,005 people, aged 18 and above, and found that 59.1percent of them are willing to pay HK$30 a month.

Another 24.6percent are willing to pay HK$50 a month.

Nearly 65percent want households to be charged by volume (數量), saying it is fair, and that it effectively reduces waste and encourages recycling.

The group, whose advisory(顧問) members include Bernard Charnwut Chan, chairman of the Council for Sustainable Development (可持續發展), suggests the government set the waste charge at a reasonable HK$30.

Nevertheless, it believes charging by volume is the most effective way to reduce waste.

A four-month consultation (咨詢) on household waste disposal (家居廢物處理)  was launched on Wednesday.

Speaking on an RTHK program yesterday, Chan admitted the various payment schemes suggested are controversial (爭論的), and each of the options (選擇) has its pros and cons (利弊). For example, if fees are charged on the basis of households, special garbage bags will be needed.

Chan said Hong Kong may consider adopting (採用) a hybrid approach (混合法) in implementing (政策) a quantity-based waste charging mechanism (機制).

He said this after members of the public voiced concern that it is unfair to charge on the basis of a building, because the amount of waste varies according to families.

Secretary for the Environment Wong Kam-sing promised that the government will put more resources into supporting the recycling industry.

"Charging for waste has been brewing (計劃) for almost a decade. We now think we will no longer be able to delay [its implementation]."

Winnie Chong

Maid torture couple caged

(The Standard P. 2   19 Sep 2013) A couple dubbed (被封稱) by protesters as "Mr and Mrs Evil" were jailed yesterday for what a judge described as "cruel" and "inhumane" treatment (不人道的對待) of their Indonesian maid over two years.

The District Court heard the pair beat the maid with clothes hangers, shoes and a bicycle chain from 2010 to 2012.

They also tied her up at night, wounded her with a paper cutter and burned her with a clothes iron.

Hospital care worker Catherine Au Yuk-shan, 41, was sentenced to 5 years on two charges of assault (襲擊) causing actual bodily harm and four counts of wounding, three with intent (意圖).

Her husband, electrical appliance salesman Tai Chi-wai, 42, got 3 years on one count each of assault causing actual bodily harm and wounding.

But deputy judge So Wai-tak found them not guilty of false imprisonment (非法禁錮) over an allegation (指控) that they left the maid without food or water after tying her to a chair and forcing her to wear a diaper (尿片) while they went on a five-day vacation (度假).

The judge ruled (裁決) that many of the 45 injury marks found on the body of Kartika Puspitasari, 30, were unlikely to be self-inflicted (自己造成的). The assaults did not happen occasionally, but were repetitive (重複).

In a courtroom (法庭) packed with rights activists, Indonesian workers' groups, reporters and representatives of the Indonesian consulate, So described Au as "cruel and vicious (兇狠的)."

She took the leading role and used an iron and a cutter to hurt the maid.

So said employers should be patient and tolerant, and not to use violence to solve problems or regard their maids as targets to vent (發洩) their anger.

For everyone working in Hong Kong should be protected by law, regardless ( 無論什麼) of occupation(職業) or nationality.

Rejected, however, were some of the maid's allegations (指控) that the judge said were "unbelievable and exaggerations (誇大)."

The latter included the maid's allegation (申述) that her employers forced her to wear transparent (透明的) plastic bags as clothes as Au was unlikely to allow the maid to appear nearly naked (裸體的) at home.

Protesters outside the court held a placard (標語牌) dubbing the couple "Mr and Mrs Evil" and called on the community to "end the social exclusion (排斥) of foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong."

Winnie Chong

i-learner01

http://zello.me/PBML

Chan idea 'unthinkable,' says CY green adviser

(The Standard P.2  11 Sep 2013) Cutting up country parks to make room for housing is "unthinkable," a former Hong Kong Observatory director said.

 
Lam Chiu-ying was reacting (反應) to ideas floated(提出) by development chief Paul Chan Mo-po.

 

Lam, who helped draft Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's environment policy before the election, said the idea is like "a tumor (腫瘤)" - and once one hectare (公頃) of country park is used for housing, another will follow.
  

He said Chan's question whether using country parks to meet housing demands is an entirely (完全地) "untouchable" idea is a "cancerous (像癌的) tumor of thoughts."
 

"The idea should not cross our minds," Lam told a radio program.

 

"If an inch is given away, another foot will be given away in the future. It is a matter of values."

Country parks are "a space for different classes of Hongkongers in this international city to breathe," he said.

Lam pointed to many other alternatives (替代的), such as land previously (以前) used for industrial purposes and old car parks.

Meanwhile, former lawmaker Lee Wing-tat urged the government to consider building homes on rural land (農地).

Lee, who now runs policy think-tank Land Watch, said village lands cover 900 hectares and will not be used up until 2047 as there are only 3,000 to 4,000 applications to build village homes each year. "If the government considers developing country parks and reclamation (開墾), then it should also consider village lands for housing development," he said.

 

He claimed the government is avoiding this as it is afraid of offending(觸怒) the Heung Yee Kuk and indigenous residents (原居民).

Kelly Ip

Youngsters get creative spin from liaison chief

(The Standard P.4  10 Sep 2013) The younger generation in Hong Kong should look beyond cyberspace when communicating or seeking information, Beijing's top representative in the SAR said.

  

Central government liaison office director Zhang Xiaoming was speaking at the Boao Youth Forum at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre yesterday.

 

The one-day forum on "Creative Youth, Innovative (創新的) Asia: Joining Hands for a Better Future" was designed as a brainstorming session for the territory's (領土) young to tap into the ideas of business leaders, such as HSBC Asia-Pacific chief executive Peter Wong Tung-shun and Liu Mingkang, former chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

 

"Young people should not only use microblogs, WeChat or WhatsApp to communicate," Zhang said. "They should also not just shop at Taobao [one of the mainland's online shopping websites] or Amazon, or only read comments about restaurants made by bloggers. They should instead widen their vision. Don't just be a beneficiary (受惠者) of creativity (創造力)."

 
Zhang said while it was nice to see that Hong Kong was rated the seventh most competitive region (地區)in the world, the SAR lagged (落後) behind in creativity. 
 

He also said that Hong Kong's being ranked 23rd in innovation in the latest World Economic Forum is far from satisfactory (不令人滿意的).

 

Zhang said it is necessary for the SAR government and society to invest (投資) in creativity to prevent Hong Kong's economy from sliding.

 

Speaking at the same forum, acting chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the young should expand (擴大) their horizons (視野) and equip (裝備) themselves to face challenges. The SAR government has always supported the young who use creativity to carve out a business of their own, she added.

 

Hong Kong Economic and Trade Association president Eddy Li Sau-hang said the young are generally less hardworking because they face no great pressure to make ends meet though many are of a creative bent(天分).

 

Eddie Luk

Scheme urged for safer flats

(The Standard  P.6  4 Sep 2013 licensing scheme should be created to make subdivided flats safer and more hygienic, the Long-Term Housing Strategy Steering Committee has proposed.

 

Anthony Cheung, who chairs the committee, said safety standards and living conditions rather than rent are the top concerns.

 

"The committee is well aware of potential diverse (不同的) views but a licensing or landlord (房東) registration system will only affect illegal subdivided units such as those in industrial buildings."

 

He admitted the regulation may push up rents as landlords will have to improve safety standards and hygiene if they register.

 

The committee said time and resources (資源) are the concerns for implementing the scheme. Legislation (立法) is also expected.

 

A survey may be required to establish (確定 ) the number of subdivided flats and prevent them from increasing further.

 

Rehousing arrangements may also become necessary if tenants (住戶) of such flats move out as a result of the scheme. The committee estimated that 74,900 families live in 66,900 subdivided flats.

 

The government could explore (探索 ) the feasibility(可行性) of providing transitional (過渡期的) housing on temporary vacant sites in urban areas, it added.

 

Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the Community Care Fund providing subsidies to subdivided flat tenants in industrial buildings contradicts (否定) the law on illegal subdivided flats.

 

"The Community Care Fund aims to provide aid to those in need. The Community Care Fund and the Commission on Poverty decided to provide subsidies after considering the fund's purpose," she said.

 

Lam said one-off subsidies should not have a significant (有效的) effect on rents. She added the government does not tolerate any residential units in industrial buildings.

Kelly Ip

New subsidy for poor families urged

(The Standard P.10  2 Sep, 2013) The director general of aid organization Oxfam Hong Kong has called for a new cash subsidy for families who have been living under the poverty line but do not receive welfare assistance.

Stephen Fisher, a former director of social welfare, estimated (估計) about 80,000 families would benefit if the subsidy is introduced. Fisher said he is concerned that these families still earn less than half of the median wage, no matter how hard they work.

 

Over the past 10 years, the salary of the highest 10 percent income group kept increasing, but the salary of the lowest 10 percent remained the same.

"This shows Hong Kong has serious income inequality (不均等) and a poverty gap because only the wealthy enjoy the economic benefits," he told Commercial Radio.

Fisher said that while the government wants a policy of poverty relief, it lacks determination.

"Many times when it encounters (遇到) some strong opposite views, it hesitates," Fisher said.

 

Many people who live under the poverty line do not rely (依靠) on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (綜援).

 

"These are the people who need assistance most," he said. They cannot make ends meet even if they have jobs because they have more children on whom their daily expenses go.

 

Fisher said the government should consider giving HK$800 a month each for the first and second child, HK$600 for the third and fourth and HK$400 for the fifth, and onwards.

 

"This is to put their income slightly (稍微地) above the poverty line, or near the poverty line, but not higher than CSSA. Otherwise they'll be discouraged from working," he said.

Hilary Wong