CY Leung blasts “undemocratic” protesters; HKFS suffers yet another blow; HKU teachers on the “Bullying Tsar”. Photo Credit: Chris Lusher
Politics (Gov’t & LegCo)
Carrie Lam holds back on street campaign and CY Leung blasts “undemocratic” protests.
– Chief Secretary Carrie Lam said while Government officials will continue to garner support for the political reform on the street, the authorities may not release the schedule in light of protests disturbing a promotional activity in Mei Foo
– CY Leung blasted (in Chinese) the protesters as “undemocratic” and said they were afraid of officials getting into the community
– Meanwhile, Democratic Party central committee members have all agreed to veto the proposals after a special meeting
– Former Chief Secretary Anson Chan criticised (in Chinese) the proposals as “disappointing” and warned about the danger of “pocket first” while her former colleague and Financial Secretary Antony Leung said there is no better and feasible alternative which could meet the needs of all parties
LegCo starts debates on amendment bills amid enduring filibuster.
– LegCo will continue to debate on the 618 amendments to the Appropriate Bill, of which LegCo president Jasper Tsang expected that the first 258 amendments could be handled by next Thursday
– Only Pan-dem lawmakers delivered their speeches during yesterday afternoon’s meeting, during which People Power’s Albert Chan proposed (in Chinese) cutting the CE Office’s annual budget to HKD1000 while Labour Party’s Lee Cheuk-yan proposed cutting the expense to purchase 3 water cannons by the Police
– There were two occasions when it was seconds away from adjournment after continuous attempts to request for counting for quorum by Albert Chan, Raymond Chan and League of Social Democrats’ Leung Kwok-hung
Retirement age raised for Hospital Authority new recruits.
– The Hospital Authority (HA) announced that all ranks of new recruits on or after June 1 will face a higher retirement age of 65
– The HA said the arrangement is adopted to meet an expected manpower shortage owing to “an aging population and a shrinking population force”
Appointments to the High Court.
– The Judiciary announced the four appointees as Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court
– The appointees include Her Honour Judge Bebe Pui Ying Chu, Principal Family Court Judge; His Honour Judge David Lok; His Honour Judge Joseph Yau Chi-lap; and His Honour Judge Albert Wong Sung-hau
Politics (general)
– Director of Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange Limited (HKMEx) Barry Cheung was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment for wage offence and default on awarded payment
– Cheung was also a former Non-official member of the ExCo and former chairman of the Urban Renewal AuthorityFurther blow to HKFS as HKBU quits.
– The troubled Hong Kong Federation of Students suffered yet another blow as students of Hong Kong Baptist University voted for pulling-out of the organisation by 913 to 613
– HKFS general secretary Law has pledged internal reforms and said they will focus on domestic affairs firstWidespread discontent in HKU against Arthur Li.
– It was found (in Chinese) that 85% of teaching staff at the University of Hong Kong were discontent with the new Council Member Arthur Li, with many describing Li as “bully” in the survey
– Li earlier made provocative remarks slamming students who joined the Occupy movement as “kids who wanted to feel like heroes in front of girlfriends”
– Meanwhile, the HKUSU expressed concerns over Dr Lo Chung-mau being elected as a member of the Council since Lo is widely seen as a supporter of CY Leung
