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Sponsor Acknowledgement

Clear the Air wishes to thank local resident Mr Alexander Turnbull for his generous donation to enable Clear the Air’s purchase of a sophisticated hi-tech portable particulate measurement unit – Clear the Air intends to publish  actual lethal roadside particulate PM2.5, PM1 and PM10 pollution levels in Hong Kong’s urban canyons so the public is made aware of the actual levels of pollution they are inhaling daily rather than the  ‘High to Very high’ general readings offered by the EPD Air Quality Monitoring stations (which are sited with  their air sampling intakes between 2.5 and 5.5  meters above actual roadside height.) Hong Kong roadside air quality in Central is among the worst of almost 600 cities surveyed by the WHO whilst the EPD has yet to release data on its two most polluted locations in Causeway Bay and Mongkok.

About Us

Clear the Air is an NGO and registered Hong Kong charity which advocates and fights to improve the overall air quality in Hong Kong; our atrocious local air quality is compounded by Government’s prevarication and failure to adopt WHO Air Quality Guideline Standards and thus abrogates its Duty of Care to its citizens.

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Clear the Air is a volunteer run and operated Hong Kong NGO charity since 1997.

Companies and individuals interested in bettering the local environment and air quality may donate up to 35% of their yearly inland revenue tax payments to our registered Hong Kong charity to assist our continued operation and website upkeep.

Clear the Air says:

Maybe, someone should ask Tommy Cheung ($20 Cheung) when we can expect his predicted  demise to hit the catering industry ? – and why do they continue to elect him to oppose their best interests since his decisions always oppose their interests ?

The same way Cheung predicted doom and gloom for the catering industry when the anti smoking laws in the workplace were finally passed that he had opposed for 6 years ?  Since then the restaurant and catering industry has never been better – FACT. Check the Census and Statistics Department figures.

It’s time the  riff raff were voted out from Legco and replaced with people who are actually interested in serving the best interests of the people of Hong Kong rather than the political party funders from big business that pull their puppet strings in return for the undisclosed and hidden secret funding.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/69775/hk-minimum-wage-law-brought-more-benefits-than-problems-so-far/

HK minimum wage law brought more benefits than problems — so far

By Elmer W. Cagape Nov 19, 2011 12:13PM UTC

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Contrary to what some business owners fear, the introduction of minimum wage law in Hong Kong didn’t seem to hit hard the industries mostly affected by the standardization of wage floor. Minimum hourly wage was set at HK$28 since May and employers have expressed fears it could bring more unemployment and business closures.

Instead, lowest paid workers have the wage law to thank for. That’s because since the new hourly rate was implemented in May, those who belong in the bottom end of the payscale enjoyed increases in their monthly paychecks. This is not really surprising if they used to get paid much lower before.

The findings come from a survey conducted by the People’s Alliance for Minimum Wage, which asked 519 workers in September about their wages. The survey found out that workers in the catering industry benefited the most. Caterings and Hotels Industries Employees Union president Lee Wan-lung said that a dish washer in Hong Kong can earn up to HK$8,500 a month. Before the minimum wage low, its salary is not expected to go beyond HK$5,000.

However, it seems that wage hike is not enough. The survey also found out that some workers in the said industry preferred to move into other jobs that were perceived easier to carry out such as cleaners or security personnel. Being in the catering industry requires working at unusual hours; one to start early in the morning or leave work past midnight. Restaurants in the city needed 200,000 workers to function and with some employees leaving the industry, bringing in qualified workers often required higher salary offers.

While the increase benefited mostly those who were the lowest paid, workers who belong to the middle payscale barely had any positive salary adjustment. That said, claims by employers of a widespread unemployment should minimum wage be implemented is largely unfounded; Hong Kong’s jobless rate currently stands at 3.2 per cent, a 13-year low.

Somehow, the introduction of minimum wage law boosts the buying power of those who earn a little now that the city is facing inflation rates at unprecedented levels. For instance, cleaners’ salary rose by 23.7 per cent and security guards had pay rise of 7.8 per cent to meet the mandatory wage standard.

Although rising wages becomes an increasing concern, employers still think higher prices of ingredients and soaring rents are still the primary concerns.

Hong Kong Standard

Samson Lee

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Five of six pro-establishment lawmakers escaped disciplinary action, despite being named and shamed for lack of due diligence in reporting their financial interests.

According to a report released yesterday by the Committee on Members’ Interests, chairwoman Sophie Leung Lau Yau-fun and Andrew Leung Kwan- yuen both of Economic Synergy, Philip Wong Yu- hong of Business and Professionals Alliance, and their allies Chim Pui-chung and Timothy Fok Tsun-ting made mistakes in reporting their financial interests.

All five admitted their failings.

Only the complaint against Ip Kwok-him of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong was unsubstantiated.

The panel investigated complaints – arising from media reports in April – about the failure of lawmakers to furnish their registrable interests, comprising their directorships or shareholdings in several companies.

Ip is the only lawmaker not from a functional constituency.

As Sophie Leung is chairwoman of the committee, the investigation was led by vice chairwoman Emily Lau Wai-hing of the Democratic Party.

Ip was cleared because he resigned as director of a funeral company on August 14, 2007, before his current legislative term commenced in October 2008. The committee named and shamed the other five lawmakers for breaching Rule 83 of the Rules of Procedure that members of the Legislative Council should provide the legislature with details of their registrable interests, not later than the first meeting of each term.

However, it did not recommend any disciplinary action. Emily Lau said the six did not take part in the deliberations.

“We have no evidence to prove that. Also we did not find any conflict of interests,” said Lau, demanding that Legco study overseas cases on how to monitor the personal interests of lawmakers.

Ip welcomed the findings but said he was shocked by the complaint as he had already resigned as director before his current Legco term.

South China Morning Post – Nov. 7, 2011

The pro-Beijing camp scored a landslide victory in Monday’s district council elections – with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) and Federation of Trade Unions winning 146 of the 412 seats.

In contrast, the pan-democratic camp suffered an even worse defeat than it had experienced in 2007. On Monday, the Democratic Party won only 47 seats, while the Civic Party won seven.

A record turnout of 1.2 million people voted on Sunday in the most hotly contested district council elections in Hong Kong history – which saw 839 candidates contest 336 constituencies. Some 76 councillors were returned.

Of the 2.9 million eligible voters, 41.4 per cent cast their ballots – compared with a turnout of 38.8 per cent in the 2007 district council polls and 44.06 per cent in 2003 – when there were nearly 500,000 fewer registered voters.

DAB chairman Tam Yiu-chung said he was satisfied his party had secured more seats.

DAB lawmaker Ip Kwok-him defeated Leung Kwok-hung of the League of Social Democrat (LSD). Ip received 2,723 votes, while Leung, also known as “Long Hair”, only got 973 votes. Ip said this showed voters were unwilling to back radical politicians.

All the results were released by 4am, and it was soon obvious the pan-democrats were in for a long, painful night.

Civic Party legislators Tanya Chan and Ronny Tong Ka-wah both lost their seats. Chan was beaten by Liberal Party first-time candidate Joseph Chan Ho-lim in the Peak constituency of Central and Western. Tong lost to incumbent independent Wong Ka-wing in City One, Sha Tin.

Civic Party leader Alan Leong Ka-kit said the goal of achieving full universal suffrage would be more difficult after the landslide defeat. The party only won seven seats, despite fielding 41 candidates.

The Democratic Party also suffered, as its lawmakers Lee Wing-tat and Wong Sing-chi were defeated in Kwai Tsing and North District, respectively. The party’s vice-chairman and former lawmaker Sin Chung-kai lost to incumbent councillor David Wong Chor-fung, of the New People’s Party, in Wan Chai’s Tai Hang constituency.

However, party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan fended off a challenge from People Power candidate Albert Chan Wai-yip and independent Shum Kam-tim in Lok Tsui, the Tuen Mun District.

Ho said the party had “passed a test” because it did not lose too many seats. However, the party now has three fewer seats. He said the pan-democrats would need to review their strategy.

Democrat lawmakers Kam Nai-wai and James To Kun-sun held on to their seats in Central, Western and the Yau Tsim Mong District.

Radical pan-democratic group People Power – whose goal was to punish the Democratic Party and Association of Democratic and People’s Livelihood for backing the government’s reform package for the 2012 elections – was the biggest loser. Of its 62 candidates, only one achieved a victory. Its campaign mostly received lukewarm support from voters.

The radical LSD which fielded 28 candidates failed to win any seats. Party chairman Andrew To Kwan-hang lost his seat in Chuk Yuen North, the Wong Tai Sin district.

The New People’s Party – which contested the elections for the first time – secured four seats. The party fielded 12 candidates this year.

The Electoral Affairs Commission said it had received about 2,200 complaints from voters.

Full list of elected district councillors.

South China Morning Post – 21 Oct 2011

Concerns have been raised that lawyers are abusing the legal process for personal gain by handling judicial reviews challenging government policies. These are serious allegations. Thankfully, there is no evidence to suggest that this is happening. Applications for legal aid are subject to rigorous scrutiny. The merits of each case are carefully examined. There is no reason to think that this screening mechanism is not effective. Moreover, legal fees under the scheme are capped. For that reason, the question posed by pro-government lawmaker Ip Kwok-him on whether there is any mechanism to stop lawyers making money out of legally aided judicial reviews is one which could be seen as a thinly veiled attack on judicial reviews and the independence of the judiciary, prompted by rulings against the administration. Most notable among them is the recent High Court ruling in favour of right of abode for domestic helpers, a case in which opponents feel they have considerable public support.

Thanks partly to legal aid, judicial reviews, many of them against the government, have indeed been a growth area of legal work. The number of applications for help with judicial reviews granted by the Legal Aid Department has risen from 20 out of 147 in 2001 to 93 out of 268 last year. That is a big increase, but not inconsistent with the trend in other common law jurisdictions. Judicial review is a fast-developing area of law. It acts as a brake on abuse of executive power by ensuring that the government operates within the law.

The helper’s abode case, which will be subject to appeal, is not the only politically contentious one. Pro-government politicians have questioned whether lawyers from the pro-democracy Civic Party made any gains from the judicial review of environmental approval that delayed a start on our side of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge. This one was launched by a retired Tung Chung resident who said she was prompted by “unidentified parties”. The government has since successfully appealed. Concerns about the cost of the delay, which officials say will run into billions, are understandable. Both cases are controversial. But the court agreed to hear them and the government lost both in the first instance, so they cannot have been without merit.

Under Hong Kong’s rule of law an independent judiciary and equality before the law are fundamental principles. Judicial review is a means by which anyone can challenge actions of government they contend are unconstitutional and legal aid is a means by which people of limited means can have equal access to justice.

Any suggestion that lawyers are abusing the process to make money sounds like a cheap shot at the empowerment of ordinary citizens against big government, one aspect of our system that is widely envied and worth defending vigorously.

Download PDF : Policy11-12

South China Morning Post

The court ruling regarding right of abode and [foreign] domestic helpers is apparently very clear. It has been arrived at by a judge in a city that advertises the fact that it has the rule of law operated by an independent judiciary.

Asking Beijing for a ruling on a ruling is only to be expected from Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (“HK must seek Beijing ruling on right of abode for maids, Ip says”, October 3). She does not seem to understand the consequences of running to Beijing whenever something happens that she does not like.

If every decision, however minor, has to be taken by Beijing, surely it will decide that it is not even worth bothering with the pretence of electing a chief executive or a legislature, and just appoint a mainland official to do the job and impose the mainland legal system.

Beijing could argue what is the point of having independent judges. If Hongkongers want to be ruled in the same way as the mainland, then let it be so. What Mrs Ip and others like her should be doing is making sure that they address the problem, if there is one, in a mature manner.

They should address the implications of a minimum wage and hourly working week for the women who become permanent residents. I think the opposition to the ruling is driven by racism and money – people may have to pay more for their domestic help.

It may make people consider that the cost [of hiring a foreign helper] is too great and actually start to look after their own children. Surely no bad thing.

Michael Jenkins, Central

Interview with Dr J Mackay

UN Summit, Interview with Judith Mackay on Summit and NCD

20 September 2011

WBEZ, Chicago National Public Radio

Worldview. Archived at:  http://bit.ly/nXJ0vx

http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2003/05/03OTTAWA1364.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/05/us-hongkong-schools-idUSTRE7840NE20110905

HONG KONG (Reuters) – As global companies expand in Asia, financial hubs such as Hong Kong are suffering a shortage of international school places that may blunt the city’s competitive edge against regional rivals including Singapore.

International schools across Hong Kong are reporting record applications and lengthy waiting lists, prices of school debentures to guarantee places have soared and foreign business chambers are warning the situation is becoming critical.

“You can’t imagine the difficulty until you physically get here,” said Fiona Hunt, a British mother of two who recently moved to Hong Kong with her husband, a financial services professional. “You hear the stories day in and day out of all the people who have to go back home because they literally can’t find a place for their child.”

As a low-tax commercial gateway to China with some 36,000 international school spots, Hong Kong has faced cyclical shortages in the past. Indications suggest the current crunch, especially for primary school spots in top schools, is especially acute.

In April, a survey by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong noted “the inability to readily access a high-quality international standard education is detrimentally affecting businesses across Hong Kong.” Some companies are even going so far as to limit staff hires to single or childless candidates.

“There’s been a huge increase in applications pretty consistently over the last three or four years,” said Heather Du Quesnay, the chief executive of the English Schools Foundation (ESF), one of Asia’s largest international school providers with around 16,000 students in 21 schools across Hong Kong.

“The pressure’s huge and just managing the disappointment of parents is very demanding,” she said.

High annual school fees in Hong Kong ranging from $23,100 at the Hong Kong International School to $12,500 for an ESF secondary school place and debentures of up to HK$10 million ($1.3 million) at the Kellett School haven’t dented demand.

While waiting lists are often swollen by families making multiple applications, most kids do eventually find places even if they are not in the preferred schools.

Relocation experts say however, the uncertainty and stress are causing more and more expatriates to simply choose other cities for the sake of their kids.

ASIA GROWTH

With Asia already the fastest-growing international school market in the world, the necessity of building more private schools will only grow as the region gains in affluence and economic clout.

Major cities such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo are scrambling to attract and retain top global talent in sectors including banking and professional services as Western economies struggle and investment streams east.

This tug-of-war for talent makes it imperative for cities to provide broader lifestyle incentives for globally mobile executives to stay.

“At the moment we’re seeing quite a few issues with regards to Europe and the U.S.,” said Richie Holliday with Morgan McKinley, a recruitment consultancy.

“A lot of candidates are expressing a lot more interest in Asia. There’s a lot of growth here. There’s double-digit growth continually coming out of China. We have a lot of new wealth in the region which is driving investment in asset management.”

Asia, with around half the world’s total of nearly 6,000 international schools, is expected to drive growth in this sector in the next few years with school numbers expected to almost double globally by 2020 as demand surges, particularly amongst Asians opting for a broader, bilingual education.

“Almost two-thirds of the growth in schools and student numbers continues to be in Asia,” said Nicholas Brummitt, who heads ISC Research, which tracks the sector. “Greatest demand continues to come from increasingly wealthy families in Asia (and) the Middle East.”

To tap the booming multi-billion dollar industry, a slew of prominent U.S. and U.K. schools are establishing Asia campuses. These include Wellington College in China, Branksome Hall in South Korea, Dulwich College in Abu Dhabi, Epsom College in Malaysia, Harrow in Hong Kong and even a Haileybury in Kazakhstan.

Singapore, which vies with Hong Kong as a financial center, has also struggled to cater to swelling demand for places at international schools in the city state.

But with locals largely barred from enrolling in international schools and local schools offering schooling in English and Chinese anyhow, its seen to be far more receptive to the schooling needs of foreigners than Hong Kong.

HONG KONG VS SINGAPORE

Singapore’s tight supply is also expected to ease with the opening of new sites, including the launch of a second campus by the popular United World College that charges around $25,000 in tuition fees per year, while Cognitas, a U.K. education group, will open a 2,750 place school next year.

In space-starved Hong Kong, where land is among the most expensive in the world, the government says it is trying to ease the supply bottleneck by allocating new greenfield sites and buildings that will create 5,000 school places in the next few years.

Some say the government needs to do more, particularly with the former British colony’s business allure already hit by high property and rental costs, along with poor air pollution.

As Hong Kong drags its feet, the governments of Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea are gearing up to become educational hubs. Malaysia for example, is developing Iskander EduCity near Singapore, which has attracted major investment from Raffles Education Corp, one of Asia’s largest private education groups.

“It’s critical. If you don’t get that right or if we can’t offer that to people considering coming to Hong Kong, they’ll go to Singapore, they’ll go to Shanghai, or they’ll stay put, so it’s an absolute deal-breaker,” Robert Chipman, head of Hong Kong’s American Chamber of Commerce, told Reuters Insider TV.

“School spaces is such an important (factor) because it acts almost like a trump card. If you can’t do it, then the rest of the hand doesn’t make any difference. It’s extremely important.”

For the Mullins, a British family living in a breezy Hong Kong beachfront neighborhood, the stresses of finding a school for older son Harry meant they are taking no chances with newborn Jake and are putting him straight on a waiting list.

“It sounds crazy to plan it that far in advance,” said father Daniel Mullin.

“(But) if you don’t and you leave it to the last minute, then he stands literally no chance of getting in anywhere,” his wife Cathryn added.