Career Skills Training

SOWK 0060

Project Report onDistrict Councilor

Group 19

2001707423 Law Tin Pui Maggie BBA (A&F) III2001435630 Lee Cho Him Morris BBA (A&F) III

0

2001114755 Ng Ka Lai KylieBEcon&Fin III

2001114494 Tam Junita Long Ching BBA (A&F) III2001712155 Tam Wing Sze Vincy BEcon&Fin III2001046099 Yip Hiu Man Ankei BBA (A&F) III

ContentsIntroduction Page 2 - 3

Background Page 3 - 13

Research

Career of a District Councilor Page 14 - 27

Job Market

Job Duties

Entry requirements

Working Hours & Remunerations

Career Path

Skill level

Character

Training

Job Satisfaction

Job Pressure and Difficulties

1

Interviews Page 27 - 37

Conclusion Page 37 - 40

Individual Learning Reflections Page 40 - 46

Appendix Page 46 - 51

References Page 51 - 52

Introduction

Why do we investigate into the career of District

Councilor?

We are a group of students from the Faculty of Business and Economics who

have no particular background of politics. In the course of discussion, all of us just

have some idea about what a

District Councilor does and how

far he/she can help us in our

daily life. In fact, District

Councilor is one of the major

persons in our daily life, they

play the role as a bridge linking

between the Government and the general public and make every effort to enhance

liaison and communication with people from all walks of life in the District and to

reflect the public opinion to the Government while letting the public understand the

objectives of the Government's policies. Therefore, with this close relationship

2

between District Councilor and us, we decided to improve our understanding of

District Councilor.

To evaluate people’s understanding about the works of District Councilor, we

have conducted a survey via the internet. (This online survey can be found at:

http://www.my3q.com/home2/36/legislative_councilor/45129.phtml) Among the 158

respondents, we found that only a few people have knowledge about what a District

Councilor does. In sight of this, we interviewed three District Councilors with different

political backgrounds so as to understand the job market, entry requirements, job

duties, skills level required, characters, on-the-job training, employment condition,

career path and knowledge of a District Councilor.

As this is a career skills training course, we hope that we can help students in

finding a good and suitable job. As a result, we will also give some recommendations

on how a current graduate student can equip oneself to be a competent District

Councilor in the future.

BackgroundAccording to the District Councils Ordinance Chapter 547 Section 9 (Appendix I),

a District Council is consisted of elected members, appointed members and ex officio

members. For a person to be eligible for appointment as a member of a District

Council, in accordance to the District Councils Ordinance Chapter 547 Section 12,

he/ she must have reached 21 years of age, is an elector, is not disqualified from

voting at an election, is not disqualified from being an appointed member by virtue of

3

section 14 or any other law, and has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the 3 years

immediately preceding the appointment.

There are a total of 18 District Councils in Hong Kong (Appendix II). Their

mission are to facilitate the running and funding of community activities with a view to

improve the environmental facilities, protecting a pleasant and tranquil environment

for living in the district and have a place where the residents work and live

comfortably for the enjoyment of different lifestyles. They concern about various local

and territory-wide issues which affect people's livelihood. In addition to their

commitments to solve problems for the community, they also act as a link between

the Government and the community to reflect the public opinion to the Government

and to let members of the public understand the objectives of the Government's

policies.

In our project, we have put our emphasis on the Kowloon City District Council.

The Council composes of 27 members and 5 committees, namely the Housing and

Infrastructure Committee, Traffic and Transport Committee, Community Building

Committee, Food and Environmental Hygiene Committee and Culture, Recreation

and Sports Committee, each committee is held responsible for resolving problems

and implementing projects in relation to different areas of concern.

The District Council provides services to and promotes the well-being and

development of the community, such as to undertake a number of environmental

improvement and community involvement projects to improve the living environment

of the district and enhance the residents' sense of belonging. On top of that, the

4

District Council also plays an active linking role between the Government and the

local residents and reflects to the Administration the latter's needs and aspirations.

Results of the Research

The followings depict the questions and the results that we have drawn from our

online survey. In the questionnaire, there are 14 questions in total.

Question 1: Sex ( 你的性別 )

Of the 158 respondents, 86 were female and

72 were male.

Question 2: Age ( 你的年齡 )

Most of the respondents were from the

age of 15 -30.

Question 3: Education Level 你的教育程度 )

5

Sex of Respondents

Male46%

Female54%

Age of Respondents

5 7 1

145

0

100

200

< 15 15 - 30 31 - 50 > 51Age

Frequency

A large proportion of the

respondents have attained

tertiary education while

some may have education

above the tertiary level.

Question 4: Monthly Salary ( 你的收入 )

As most of the respondents

are having tertiary

education, we foresee that

the income of the

respondents will largely

below average income level.

Question 5: Do you know who the district councilors in your district are? ( 你知道自己

所屬選區的區議員有哪幾位嗎﹖ ) Almost 70% of the respondents did not

know the district councilors in their

respective district.

6

Education Level of RespondentsPrimary Education

0%SecondaryEducation

19%

Beyond TertiaryEducation

11%

Tertiary Education70%

Income of Respondents

23 9 2 3

121

050

100150

< $5,000 $5,000 -$10,000

$10,001 -$20,000

$20,001 -$30,000

> $30,000

Monthly Salary

Freq

uenc

y

Do You Know Who the District Councillorsin Your District Are?

Yes32%

No68%

Question 6: Do you know what the job duties of a district councilor are? ( 你認識區議

員的工作嗎 ) Options available are:

Consultation for the citizens (會見市民)

District Patrol (地區巡視)

Organize social/ cultural/ sports activities (舉辦文娛康樂活動)

Attend District Board Meetings (參與區議會會議)

Air Opinion to the Government (向政府反映意見)

Respondents have

given a rather equal

distribution on the job

duties of a district

councilor. However, a

relatively less

respondents stated

that the job duties of a

District Councilor included Organizing social/culture/ sports activities may account for

these activities are usually held in weekends and public holidays, the respondents

may not aware that these activities are included in their job duties.

Question 7: Are you interested in becoming a district councilor? ( 你有興趣成為區議員

嗎？ )

7

Do You Know What the Job Dutiesof a District Councillor Are?

101

75

122 121130

0

50

100

150

Consultation forthe citizens

District Patrol Organize social/cultural/ sports

activities

Attend DistrictBoard Meetings

Air Opinion tothe Government

Over 90% of the respondents did

not show an interest in becoming

a district councilor. There seems

to be rare incentives for people to

join the district council.

Question 8: If so, will you consider district councilor as your life-long career? ( 你會視

區議員為你的終身職業嗎 ?) Of those showed up with an

interest in pursuing the career of a

district councilor, most of them did

not regard the job of a district

councilor on a life-long basis. Yet,

all of our interviewees consider

District Councilor as their life-long

career.

Question 9: What are the ways to become a district councilor? ( 你認識有那些途徑可

成為區議員呢？ )

8

Are You Interested inBecoming a District Councillor?

Yes8%

No92%

Will You Consider DistrictCouncillor as Your Life-long

Career?

Yes33%

No67%

What are the Ways to Become aDistrict Councillor?

9965 69

7

126

050

100150

Vol

unte

er

Ref

erra

l

Join

ing

polit

ical

parti

es

App

oint

men

t

Oth

ers

Options available are:

Volunteer (自薦)

Referral ( 業 內 人 士 介紹)

Joining political parties

(加入政黨)

Appointment (委任)

Others (其他)

In fact, volunteer, joining political parties, and appointment are the ways to access to

District Council. Most people thought that joining a political party was one of the

main accesses to the job of a district councilor. There are also plenty number of

people believed that running for an election of the district board was another way to

join as a district councilor. One of the respondents has thought that the post of a

district councilor might be attained by bribes. Fewer respondents stated that

appointment is a way to access the job, this may be explained by in a district, there

are fewer numbers of appointed members than elected members. Nevertheless, any

way to access to this job requires District Council Election (except those appointed

one).

Question 10: What are the qualities/ personalities required in a district councilor? ( 你

覺得成為區議員 需具備什麼性格特點呢？ ) Options available are:

Dare to speak out (敢言)

9

What Are the Qualities/ PersonalitiesRequired in a District Councillor?

100 83 7695

5

124131

0

50

100

150

Dar

e to

spea

k ou

t

Havi

ng a

sens

e of

just

ice

Willi

ng to

sacr

ifice

Held

resp

onsi

ble

for p

eopl

e

Polit

ical

lych

arm

Aggr

essi

ve

Oth

ers

Having a sense of justice (富正義感)

Willing to sacrifice (富犧牲精神)

Held responsible for people (富承擔感)

Politically charm(有政治魅力)

Aggressive (進取)

Others (其他)

In reality,

above all the

qualities and

personalities

are helpful to

the career.

Concerning the

qualities or personalities that are necessary to a district councilor, most respondents

believed that he/ she should dare to speak out as they might think that district

councilor should air people’s opinion to the Government, sometimes they might also

have to criticize the wrong doings of the Government. Besides, a large part of the

respondents thought that district councilors should be politically charming and

possess a sense of justice.

Some people believed that a district councilor should be politically intelligence and

have excellent presentation skills. These two qualities are apparently related to the

job nature of a district councilor who has to attend meetings with various parties

frequently.

10

Question 11: What are the factors leading to the success of a district councilor? ( 你認

為區議員若要成功需要配合其他什麼因素呢？ ) Highly Educated (具高學歷)

Good Family Background (良好家庭背景)

Economically wealthy (經濟富裕)

Experienced in social servicing (豐富地區服務經驗)

Affinity with citizens (形象親民)

Others (其他)

Most of the

respondents highly

regarded experience

in social services and

affinity with the

citizens to be two

most important

elements to the success of a district councilor. Some respondents opted for other

factors, such as understanding the needs of the people, be sincere in serving people,

equipped with abundant of political knowledge. There is a fewer respondents stated

that economically wealthy is the factors to success in the career, however, according

to one of our interviewee, he emphasized that sometimes economically wealthy is

important, as most of the appointed members of District Council are well off.

11

What are the Factors Leading to theSuccess of a District Councillor?

7538

18

135117

50

50100150

Hig

hly

Edu

cate

d

Goo

d fa

mily

back

grou

nd

Eco

nom

ical

lyw

ealth

y

Exp

erie

nced

in s

ocia

lse

rvic

ing

Affi

nity

with

citiz

ens

Oth

ers

What is the Monthly Remunerationof a District Councillor?

5

66

160 1

70

020406080

< $10,000 $10,000 -$20,000

$20,001 -$50,000

$50,001 -$80,000

$80,001 -$100,000

> $100,000

Question 12: What is the monthly remuneration to a district councilor? ( 你認為作為區

議員，平均一個月可以獲得多少酬勞 ?) In fact, the salary of a

District Concilor is set

at HK$17,000 (subject

to change with the

CPI(A)). However,

among those

respondents, almost

equal proportion of

people believed that

the monthly salary to a district councilor should be $10,000 - $20,000 or $20,001 - $

$50,000. A fair number of respondents thought that a district councilor should be

rewarded as high as $50,000 to $80,000 per month.

Question 13: What are the sources of pressure to a district councilor? ( 你認為一位區議

員的工作壓力來自哪方面？ ) Options available are:

Maintaining good image (顧全形象)

Loss of privacy (沒有私隱)

Negative news (負面新聞)

Fail in re-election (不獲連任)

12

Lack of supporters (缺乏支持者)

Political pressure from the belonging party (黨內壓力)

Political pressure from other parties (其他政黨壓力)

Family pressure (家庭壓力)

Others (其他)

Most respondents believed that district councilors would face political pressure from

their respective political parties. In addition, more than half of the respondents

thought that district councilors perceived pressure if they were unable to keep their

good image and

lose supporters,

hence affecting

their chance of

winning in the

election. A

relatively fewer

respondents

said that family

is one of the source of pressure although it is true among all our interviewees as their

working hours are irregular and they are required to work on weekends.

Question 14: Do you think that people in Hong Kong are politically indifferent? ( 你認

為普遍的香港人是否屬於政治冷感嗎 ?)

13

What are the Sources of Pressure to a DistrictCouncillor?

90

43

82

48

9684

222

110

0

40

80

120

Maintaininggoodimage

Loss ofprivacy

Negativenews

Fail in re-election

Lack ofsupporters

Politicalpressurefrom the

belongingparty

Politicalpressure

from otherparties

Familypressure

Others

More than half of the respondents

believed that people in Hong Kong

are rather politically indifferent. This

is also revealed in the previous

questions that near 70% of the

respondents did not know their

District Councilors in their Districts,

and most of the respondents have no interest to pursue District Councilor as a

career.

The Career of a District Councilor

In order to explore the career of a District Councilor, we divide the discussion

into several sections. First, we will take a look into the job market of District Councilor

and the requirements and access to become a District Counilor. Then we will

evaluate what skills level and characters are necessary for a District Counilor. Finally,

we will trace the sources of job satisfaction and perceived job pressure and

difficulties faced by a District Councilor. The information we obtained was mainly

from the interviews that we conducted with the three Kowloon City District Counilors

and the government websites.

1. Job Market

Current Vacancies

Although the District Council Election of 2003 has been over, there are still job

vacancies in the position of district councilor assistant. When there is a job vacancy,

14

Do You Think that People inHong Kong are Politically

Indifferent?

Yes56%

No44%

they usually advertise through “Ming Pao” Newspaper. 1

Job Outlook

The outlook for local

government representatives is

good. There are currently 400

elected members, 27 ex-official

members (Rural Committee

Chairmen in New Territories) and

102 appointed members serving

on 18 districts. (See figure 1)

This number is expected to remain stable over the next four years. (See Appendix II)

The roles and tasks of district councilors are specific to the needs of their

districts. District council also handles environmental issues: the use of water, air and

land; local insecurity; land transport planning; harbor safety and marine pollution.

District councils deal with issues such as community development, recreation and

culture, and development control.

The District Council Election adopts the first-past-the post voting system. Each

elector shall vote for only one candidate in the constituency concerned. The

candidate who receives the largest number of votes will be elected.

Nowadays, district councilors are required to take in more information than

they might have done in the past. As a result, councilors may need to use different

1 Information provided by Miss Mok Ka-Han, Running Kowloon City District Councilor

15

District Councilor

0100200300400500

Electedmember

Ex-officalmember

Appointedmemebr

No.

of m

embe

rs

skills. Councils are likely to provide training for councilors where it is necessary. For

example, soft skills training and also technical skills training.

The system of remuneration for a district councilor has also been revised at a

rate of 16690 per month.

District Council Elections are held once every four years, resulting in moderate

to high turnover among district councilors as new candidates are voted in and other

councilors lose their seats or retire.

2. Job Duties

District Councilors are elected by the people of a specified district to act in the

best interests of the community, make decisions on spending and the provision of

services, and ensure that policy is made fairly and honestly. The job duties can be

classified as followed.

Respond to enquiries from individuals in the community

District Councilors will sharp the future of their local community in order to make a

difference by improving life in their local community or handle enquires from general

public for any problems related to the environment. They will deal with

correspondence and face to face meetings with citizens.

Attend meetings

District Councilors act as a mediator between the residents and the Owners’

Corporation for the sake of the maintenance of building during meetings and to settle

16

any disputes arise between them. District Councilors normally need to attend the

Council meeting, Committee Meeting and also the meeting with the residents. The

frequency of Council meeting is based on the needs of the district. For instance, the

Council meeting of the Wong Tai Sin district happens every two months. During the

meeting, they need to discuss policies and proposals with other councilors and

community officials related to the community. Then they will vote on proposals so as

to make policy decisions on the provision of health services of the community.

Study reports, proposals, complaints and petitions

District Councilors will articulate the views and needs of their constituents as

representatives of the district that they are belonged to. Also they will conduct survey

related to the legislation or environment. For instance, they may conduct

transportation survey to see if the frequency of bus services can satisfy the people’s

needs. For some circumstances, they will make phone calls to discuss issues on

behalf of the general public with Council Officers and other officials.

Organizing social activities

They will help any societies or organizations which are for the disabled people or

single parent’s services for organizing activities and providing necessary helps. For

example, they may help those organizations in raising fund activities.

3. Entry requirements

According to the District Councils Ordinance, an eligible appointed member or an

elected member should (a) be age of 21 or older; and (b) be an elector; (c) not

disqualified from voting at an election; and (d) is not disqualified from being

17

nominated as a candidate or elected as an elected member by virtue of section 21 for

elected members or section 14 for appointed members (see appendix 2 for the

details of section 14 and section 21) or any other law; and (e) has ordinarily resided

in Hong Kong for the 3 years immediately preceding the nomination.

As for District Councilor Assistant, no specific requirements are stated by law; the

requirements are depending on the preferences of different political parties and

District Councilors.

4. Working Hours & Remunerations

Some District Councilors work full-time, like all our interviewees, but many work

part-time as District Councilors and also work in other jobs. District Councilors

usually work irregular hours such as evenings and weekends. Also, many of the

problems do not necessarily arise during working hours. At the present time, there is

a mix of daytime and evening meetings. For example, meetings for Owners'

Corporations are usually held at night; the “Meet-the-public” Scheme in Kowloon City

District meets in the evening from 8pm to 10pm on a Tuesday every week. Some

District Councilors’ mobile phone is stand-by 24 hours a day, seven days a week for

the public.

It must also be said that being a Councilor does, to some extent, impact on family

life and an individual's career, and can involve work during unsocial hours.

Earning capacity

In the meeting of the Panel on Home Affairs on 28 th November, 2003, the

monthly salary of a District Councilor in 2004-2007 is set at HK$17,000, while the

18

monthly salary of the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the District Council will be

HK$34,000 and HK$25,500 respectively, and it is subject to the fluctuation of the

CPI(A), with adjustments made every year. In 2004, the monthly salary of a District

Councilor is HK$16,690.

The general rule of thumb is that the ratio of a District Councilor, the Chairman

and the Vice Chairman of the District Council is 1: 1.5: 2.

Aside for the basic salary, there is an accountable allowance which is a lump

sum allowance of HK$204,000 per year (or HK$17,000 per month) in reimbursement.

This accountable allowance is mainly used for the salaries for District Councilor

Assistant and the rental fee of the office. However, claimed by many District

Councilors, this allowance is not enough for both expenses. Political Parties may

sponsor some of the expenses. For those who do not have the support from political

parties, they have to pay out of their pockets. As above, this allowance is subjected

to the fluctuation of the CPI(A).

Other fringe benefits such as housing allowance and medical allowance is not

included and the salary of the District Councilor is fixed once in four year in the

legislative meeting.

The salary is no difference between a part-time and a full-time councilor.

However, the lack of supervising body from the government make the inequality

between part-time and full time District Councilor as there is no guideline about the

working hours, job nature, or workload of a part-time District Councilor who may be

19

heavily depends on his/her District Councilor Assistant. Even, they are not required

to have an office in the district. Some suggested that the indifference in the salary

drive Councilors away in serving the government.

5. Career Path

District Councils are either appointed or elected. Once a person is eligible, he/she

can participate in the election. However, since popularity is the key to success in the

election, in order to let electors be familiar with you before the election, one can

become the district councilor assistant; participate in the Residents Association, or in

Political Party. Starting as a District Councilor Assistant is the most popular path.

After being elected in the District Council, there are basically a few paths in the

career life of a district councilor. In a large extent, the path depends on the

Councilor’s political aggressiveness and the will of his/her affiliated political party.

One of the paths is that he/her can be a Vice Chairman or a Chairman of the District

Council, receiving higher salary. A further path may be taken is that one can go for

the election of the Legislative Council and become a Legislative Councilor to receive

even higher salary. Before the dismissal of the Urban Council, District Councilors can

have postings in Urban Council, and then go for the Legislative Council. Now, they

can directly fight for the only seat for District Council in the functional constituency

instead. However, the job nature and duties will be totally different from what in

District Council. Mr. Ip Kwok Him was the example. However, since he was not

elected in the last District Council, his seat will be replaced by other District

Councilors.

20

Once a councilor is not elected for the next term, unless they are part-time,

usually they will stay in serving the community in other means. For example, they can

work in their affiliated political parties, still participating in various functions in the

community, only without the title of “District Council”, and wait for another four years

to be elected. Those do not have affiliated political parties; they can set up an

unofficial association and continue their community work in the area.

6. Skill level

There is no statutory skill requirement for being a District Councilor. However,

possessions of certain skills are definitely useful in carrying out daily duties of a

District Councilor. Here we had divided “skills” in mainly three categories, namely

professional knowledge, communication skill and leadership skill.

Professional Knowledge

21

District Councilor

Chairman of District Council

Residents Association

Vice Chairman of District Council Legislative

Councilor

Political Party

District Councilor Assistant

ElectedAppointed

A sample career path of a District Councilor.

For direct benefit, it is likely that Councilor would touch on some legal issues

when meeting with citizens. If the Councilor possesses professional knowledge, they

maybe able to solve the problem more effectively and provide satisfactory reply to

citizens. Professional knowledge is a useful tool for the Councilor in helping the

public to solve complex problem which concern interests of various parties.

For indirect benefit, the group of profession in the society is often regarded as the

“middle class”. Their social status is usually higher than ordinary people. This is very

helpful for the Councilor to project a positive image to the voters.

Communication Skill

Communication skill here have three dimensions, namely inter-personally skill,

language skill and counseling skill. Inter-personal skill is helpful in developing social

network. In the time of election, good inter-personal skill can create an extensive and

strong voter base for the candidate. One of the main factors to consider when

appointing the chairman for the Council is relationship with other Councilors. Good

inter-personal skill is therefore essential for being a successful District Councilor.

Language and counseling skill can help the Councilor to handle daily duties. Good

written Chinese is a must when the councilor needed to communicate with different

organizations. Sometimes Councilor may encounter family problem, counseling skill

would be helpful in the sense that it could provide comfort to the family before the

problem turned into violence or become worse.

Leadership Skill

A successful promotion campaign would be crucial during the time of election.

The candidate would need to coordinate his supporters to do the promotion and

22

preparatory work. Conflicts would arise when the work involved a large group of

people which has different characters and from different backgrounds. Leadership

skill could help the Councilor to resolve the conflicts and develop synergy among the

group. When the Councilor becomes the chairman of the council, leadership skill

plays a very important role in the efficient operation of the council.

Government and political parties provides different formal training for the

Councilor to learn the above skills. Councilor could also learn their skills from their

experience. Nonetheless, these skills are not requirement but are very important for a

successful District Councilor.

7. Character s

Sincerity

All the three interviewers emphasize on sincerity – service from the heart.

People who come to the Councilor for help do not always count on the outcome to

assess the Councilor’s performance. In many cases nothing or limited things could

be done to solve the problem, but it is important that the Councilor had tried his best

to solve the problem.

Devoted to serve the public

Councilors are usually very busy. Their heart to devote becomes a significant

source of energy. Monetary return for a Councilor is in fact not much compared to his

heavy work load. Therefore the genuine heart to serve the public is somehow more

important than his ability to perform.

Sociable

23

As Councilors are the bridge between government and the citizens. They are

exposed to people from different backgrounds in the society. A good social network

is therefore essential during liaison with different parties when carrying out his work.

Self-motivated

A successful District Councilor does not wait to response to problem, but to plan

for the public to avoid any foreseeable problem. Not only should they come up with

some feasible ideas to avoid the problem, they should also implement them early

before the problem occurs.

Able to work under pressure

District Councilors are representative of the “District”. The public would pay a lot

of attention on Councilors’ performance. Inevitably, Councilors faced a great deal of

pressure from various parties. It is important for him to continue to work effectively

under such a pressure.

Able to listen to people’s need

People would only choose those candidates who could reflect their needs to the

government. Listen is therefore very important because it helped the councilors to

understand their needs better. Even though their needs may sound unreasonable to

certain people, it is the Councilor’s responsibility to reflect the situation to the

appropriate parties if it is truly his people’s needs.

Hardworking

24

This is a fundamental factor to success no matter in which career, especially as

being a Councilor. The work load is so high that even a very hardworking person may

found it impossible to handle all the cases he received from citizens. It is because

that the society is changing at all time and people’s need would change accordingly.

Integrity

During the time of election some candidate would make promises to his voters.

The Councilors have to fulfill his promises made to the public. Otherwise, the basis of

trust would melt down. This is very dangerous since Councilor may found low level of

support to his policies and work or he may even fail in the next session of election.

8. Training

According to our interviewee, no one will tell you what to do or how to do in the

job. Sometimes one will feel frustrated and alone. Mostly, skills are gained on the job,

that is, learning from doing.

Moreover, the government will provide some seminars once in a while like

building management or soft skills like taking to the public. Quotas are given to

District Councilors, and it can be transferred to their Assistants as well. Some political

parties provide training which the nature is similar to the government to their

members as well.

9. Job Satisfaction

As a district councilor, job satisfaction will be gained starting from the time of

getting elected and can be classified into intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction.

25

Intrinsic Job Satisfaction

After the success in improvement of environment, District Councilor will feel

satisfied and happy when they receive vote of thanks from the citizens. If the District

Councilor can successfully provide services for those less fortunate or grassroots in

needs, they will feel encouraged. For instance, the social welfare policies for the

single parent’s financial supports are passed; it will directly help those minorities

group. Throughout the jobs, they will feel their importance towards the public since

they are basically acting as a bridge between the Government and the community.

Moreover, they will feel popular and welcomed from the general public when they

succeed in defending his position in the election. At the same time, some District

Councilor will feel superior due to their status which is different from a chairman of a

non-profit making organization or Councilor Officer.

Extrinsic Job Satisfaction

Success in improving the environments and providing provisions of services

by making polices and rules.

10.Job Pressure and Difficulties

Apart from the pressures from family, their political parties and other political

parties

District Councilors also feel stressed out because they need to keep their images,

do not get re-elected or lack of supporters, do not have any “personal secrets” and

receive “negative news.”

26

Family pressure

Since District Councilors have lot of works to handle, they may not have time to

stay with their families. Therefore, they may have a poor relationship with their

families and family pressure may arise.

Pressure from their political parties and other political parties

Every political party will have his strategies and ideas; they will try to compete

with each other for more support from the public. Political parties may give pressure

towards their members during elections campaign.

Keeping images

Most of the time, District Councilors need to keep their images since many

people are interested towards their daily life. Moreover, if their images once get

affected, it may soon affect the images and reputation the political parties that they

belong to. As a result, keeping images are important to them.

Pressure from multi-media

District Councilors will lose their “personal times” as many reporters will follow

them throughout the day to see if they have any personal secret that have not been

disclosed to the public. If any personal inappropriate activities have been discovered,

“negative news” will come up and destroy the images and reputation will be affected.

Thus, District Councilors handle carefully towards their personal affairs.

27

The Job difficulties occur when District Councilors cannot successfully solve out

the problems in related to their districts and misunderstanding between public and

they are happened. Sometimes, District Councilors may be blamed by the general

public for not able to finish the jobs. Another job difficulty is that they may be

discouraged when they do not get re-elected and cannot continue to perform

services in their districts. Moreover, they may have difficulties when they have

disagreement with other District Councilors towards policies making.

The InterviewsWe have conducted three interviews with District Councilors. Coincidently,

they are all from Kowloon City District. Mr. Ip and Mr. Lau worked as District

Councilors for many years while Ms. Mok is relatively young in her job. We

summarize their interviews into seven parts about their entry to the job (How and

Why), vision, job satisfaction, pressure & difficulties, memorable experience, and

past experiences.

1. Interview with Councilor Mr IP Che-kin ( 葉志堅議員 )

Councilor Mr IP Che-kin (葉志堅議員) (Elected councilor)

Political Affiliation: Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong

Kong

Occupation: Full-time District Councilor

Why is Mr. Ip interested in District Councilor’s work?

28

Mr. Ip has been living in Hung Hom District for more than 30 years. When he

was living in tenement-house in Whampoa Street, indecent assault happened to a

girl from the 1st floor of his building. After that, the residents from the building agreed

to add a gate at the entrance, however, no one took the job up to install it. Therefore,

He asked someone from his secondary school (Mongkok Workers' Children School)

who works as craftsman to install it at cost. Then, he has no clue how to collect the

money from other residents he spent. He consulted the District Administration

Department and got a great help from Mr. Tsang in the District Administration

Department. Mr. Ip started interest in community works.

How Mr. Ip stepped into District Council?

Mr. Tsang then introduced him to work voluntarily under Area Committee (AC)

under the District Administration Department as Mr. Ip showed his interest in

community works. He also offer his services in Mutual Aid Committees which is a

voluntary body formed by the residents of a building in the 70’s. Ip experienced two

failures in the District Council election. In the first time he failed because the other

candidate was an experience person who serves the area for a long time. The

second time he failed because the residents in Lok Man District claimed that Ip did

not actually lived there. Then, Mr. Ip concentrated his community work back to Hom

Hung District, and was elected from 1988 to now. Mr. Ip asserted that his entry to the

District Council was way before the formation of Democratic Alliance for Betterment

of Hong Kong.

Mr. Ip’s vision about District Councilor?

29

Ip declared that one’s financial background will determine his/her class in

District Council, when he was referring to being elected for Chairman and Vice

Chairman of the District Council. Despite this inequality, the most important element

for being a successful District Councilor is the acceptance from the residents.

Mr Ip’s job satisfaction

Mr. Ip likes to help others. Especially

when he is the “leader” of the area, he feels

extremely important to help people out to

make the community a better one. He loves

the feeling when he could really help

someone after he has done something for

him/her.

Pressure and Difficulties of District Councilor

Mr. Ip gets frustrated when he comes across problem which he cannot solve

which is either the problem is out of his scope to help or the public is too demanding.

When he explains the real matter to the public, they would be rude to him. Ip also

claims that sometimes the public just over-use the utilities provided.

Memorable experience of Mr. Ip in his job

Mr. Ip encountered many complicated situations. He shared one of them with

us. Mr. Ip received a complaint about leaking from the upper floor from a building. He

consulted the Housing Authority, however, the HA did not process further as they

claimed that the building did not have immediate danger, so it would not be a matter.

30

Then, he consulted the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, they did

nothing about it because the gutter was private and the Department advised Mr. Ip to

resolve the problem by those tenants themselves in which the tenants whose

apartment leaks usually will not take the responsibility to fix it first. He felt as if he has

no way to assist the tenants. At last, by his excellent communication skills, he

conveyed the tenant to pay for the repayment.

How Mr. Ip past job experience affects his as a District Councilor?

Mr. Ip was an editor in Zhong Liu Publication ( 中流出版社 ) since 1957 and

retired in 2002. He found it important to become literate with writing skills because he

argued that the writing skills of university graduates are not as good as the past

graduates. And with his reading and writing skills, he can communicate effectively

with other government bodies and the public. He also contributed in the working

report of Kowloon District Council as the chief editor. He believes in the power of

words.

2. Interview with Councilor Ms. MOK Ka-han, Rosanda ( 莫嘉嫻議員 )

Councilor Ms. MOK Ka-han, Rosanda (莫嘉嫻議員 ) (Elected

councilor )

Political Affiliation: Hong Kong Association for Democracy and

People's Livelihood

Occupation: Full-time District Councilor

How she start her work as a District Councilor??

31

She started her career as a Councilor Assistant in another political party until

when she found that their working style was not the same. So she resigned and

joined the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood as

Councilor Assistant for Councilor Liu Sing Lee. After two years working in the

community, the political party decided to nominate her to be a candidate in the 1123

election. She is now one of the District Councilors in Kowloon City.

How the past experiences apply to current job?

When she worked in the first political party as a Councilor Assistant, she found

her interest in this field because she can help the residents through carrying out her

job duties. This experience helped her a lot in understanding what a District

Councilor does and which government department she can refer to.

Pressure and Difficulties

Rosanda’s pressure comes from several aspects, such as re-election, family,

and multi-media. When the time for election comes, almost every acting District

Councilor would feel the pressure from re-election, which is the same case as

Rosanda. She had thought about what she would do when she could not be re-

elected – she would act as a Councilor Assistant again and wait for another

opportunity.

Rosanda’s family gave her pressure also. Since a District Councilor’s work

requires her to be on call 24-7, and she is working in an estate with a majority of

population as elderly, she has little chance to meet new friends. Her family always

32

want her to get married and blamed that the job had imposed barrier for her to meet

boyfriends.

Rosanda once had a meeting with a reporter discussing about Article 23. But

the reporter later did not fully disclose what she said, and Rosanda was

misunderstood by the public that she supported Article 23. This lesson made her

understand that she had to be very careful when facing and talking with reporters.

Since she is working in an aging estate, she always experienced

communication problem with elderly at initial times. Apart from listening to the

provisional accent of the elderly, she also had to adjust herself to talk wholly in

Chinese in order to let the elderly understand her. But now, she has totally overcome

this difficulty and many elderly come to chat with her every day.

Job Satisfaction

Rosanda’s job satisfaction comes from the recognition of the residents in

Kowloon City. Since Rosanda loves to help people, whenever she received some

vote of thanks from the residents, such as Thank you cards and some accessories,

she feels that this is very rewarding.

Vision

Rosanda vision is to serve people so that they could have better living

environment and standard. Moreover, she wants to be the first one to speak out for

the people in her District.

33

Memorable experience

There was a mentally retarded guy who was laid off by his employer years

ago. One day, a shop owner who worked nearby where the guy lives brought him to

Rosanda saying that he didn’t eat for 3 days. They found out that the employer had

opened a joint bank account with the guy. At first, they thought that the employer held

up his money, but after some investigation, they found out that the employer used to

deposit some money into the account for the guy to use, but he was not in Hong

Kong those few days so he cannot deposit money and finally came out with this

misunderstanding.

3. Interview with Councilor Mr LAU Wai-wing ( 劉偉榮議員 )

Councilor Mr LAU Wai-wing (劉偉榮議員) ( Elected councilor )

Political Affiliation: Nil

Occupation: Full-time District Councilor

Personal Information

Mr. Lau is one of the elected councilor of Kowloon City District. He is a full

time councilor of the area Whompoa West in Kowloon City District. Before working as

a full time district councilor, he worked as shipman and shipping clerk before. In

1994, he started working as a district councilor. Up to now, he has been serving in

Kowloon City District for ten years.

34

Why choose to work as a District Councilor?? How the past experience apply

to current job?

Mr. Lau worked as a shipman in 1967. Just like the other shipmen, he had

joined the Hong Kong Sea Transport and Logistics Association. As told by Mr. Lau,

there are lots of disputes on each journey of shipping. To enable the work runs

smoothly and together with his “loving to help” character, he became a middleman in

settling disputes among shipmen. Since shipmen’s work are quite boring, he also

actively in organizing different social activities for the shipmen. On one hand, this

facilitates the relationship among the shipmen. On the other hand, this lessens the

dispute between one another. All these finally help Mr. Lau in building up the skills of

dealing with problems of others.

Apart of this, the job nature of shipmen is to

require one whom is hard work and could

work under harsh environment. This helps

Mr. Lau to build up a tough character. This

character enables him to work as a District

Councilor later years.

As times goes on, working as a shipman no longer with a high earning

capacity. To support his basic living, Mr. Lau turned to work as a shipping clerk. This

is because he was more familiar with those works that relating to shipping. In 1984,

he started living in Kowloon City. Not only working as a shipping clerk, he also

concentrates on the social affairs of his own district area: Whompoa West.

35

With the changing structure of the district councils, the seats for district council

have been increased. Together with the support from the resident of Whompoa West,

he decided to elect as district councilor of Whompoa West. Finally, Mr. Lau has been

elected as the councilor of Whompoa West in the first District Council Election in

1999. At the time being, he was only a part time district councilor. He also worked as

a shipping clerk that time. However, Mr. Lau found that he should concentrate more

on serving the resident of Whompoa West. Finally, he chose to quit the job- shipping

clerk and became a full time district councilor.

To sum up, there are three reasons

for Mr. Lau to turn becoming a district

councilor. Firstly, the changing structure of

the District Council which increased his

chance of being elected and to serve as a

district councilor. Secondly, he has

accumulated his experience of helping other and dealing with the social affairs of his

District, Whompoa West. Finally, his work has been well appreciated by other

resident in the Whompoa West District, which in turn supporting Mr. Lau to go for the

election.

Pressure and Difficulties

Mr. Lau thinks that he doesn’t feel much pressure from his current work. This

is because he loves his job and he has put his very effort in dealing with his job.

Because of this, he found no way to be under pressure. Even though he has

obtained complaints from some resident, he doesn’t feel unhappy with them. Since

he has worked his very best thus he won’t feel guilty of being complaint.

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Memorial Incident

One of his most memorial incidents is that he obtained 1642 votes in the

2003’s District Council Election. His competiting candidate was one of the

Democratic Party’s members. Besides, this candidate obtained the support from

nearly all members of the Democratic Party. Facing with such a keen competition,

Mr. Lau still won the election finally. This provides him with a source of job

satisfaction .Mr. Lau also believe that this was a kind of proof to his work

achievement.

Vision

Mr. Lau wants to serve the public in representing them to speak to the related

departments or Legislative Councilors for any problems concerned to the public.

Job Satisfaction

During the interview, Mr. Lau shared with us that he felt extremely happy when

the public thank him for what he had done for them. For example, in Chinese New

year, people might come to the Legislative Councilor’s office and bring him some

cakes. In Christmas, Mr. Lau would receive greeting cards from people who have

already immigrated to other countries. Apart from the above, Mr. Lau was most

touched when he noticed that there were a growing number of votes supporting him

in the past three elections from 700 votes to 1,600 votes.

Job Difficulties

37

During the interview, Mr. Lau also shared with us about the job difficulties. Mr.

Lau got elected as the first president of the

Legislative Councilor, but he was not able to

get elected again, so he felt disappointed

about it. Moreover, during the period before

the election, Mr. Lau may not get enough

support financial support since he does not belong to any party. He also needs to do

more than others candidates since he cannot rely the party to show the things that he

did for the public, so he needs to put more efforts than other candidates to show that

he is competent and sincere. Another difficulty is that sometimes he may not be able

to solve out the problems for the public, and may be blamed by the public through e-

mail or telephone calls. Therefore, Mr. Lau needs to spend times to explain to the

public for the incidents to gain for the understanding from the public.

ConclusionIn conclusion, our group would like to give some advice to the students if they

want to be a district councilor in the future. But, before this, we would like to discuss

how a district councilor can become successful.

How to succeed as a District Councilor?

Know the District well

A district councilor should know the representing district really well. This is

because most of the works of a District Councilor concerns the development of the

district, so he/ she has to know almost everything about the district in order to carry

38

out the duties efficiently. However, it takes time to know the district, so many district

councilors will run election in the district which they have be living in for a long time.

Interact with the community

Because the support of the people is the main determinant to the success in an

election, it is apparent that what a District Councilor does to win an election is to

develop a trust-worthy relationship with the citizens. The most direct way to win

supporters’ trust is to serve them well with a sincere heart. A successful district

councilor should not be isolated from the community, rather he/ she should be

involved in the life of the community, willing to help those needy citizens when

troubles/ problems arise.

Representative for the people

District Councilor is produced through elections, it is obvious that he/ she acts as

representative of the community. Therefore, a district councilor should present the

people’s opinion to the Government for the betterment of the living of the community.

In essence, people counts for the key to excel as a successful district councilor.

In essence, our group believes that the key to success rests on one word –

PEOPLE. They are Personality, Energetic, Organization, Passion, Listen and most

importantly ELECTED.

H ow to equip ourselves as a fresh graduates ?

39

Drawing from our knowledge about the career of a district councilor, we would

like to give some suggestions to students on how to equip themselves to be a district

councilor.

Take part in volunteer services to gain experience

The job of a district councilor is in nature a social service, so as a student, we

should participant in various volunteer services to gain some experience about social

service. In fact, participating in voluntary services is not only for gaining experience,

but it is also a way for us to contribute to our society.

Polish communication & presentation skills

Excellent communication and presentation skills are important in the sense that

these skills will facilitate relationship-building process. If we cannot communicate

effectively with the people, how can we serve them? Communication skill is important

to facilitate our understanding of the people’s needs. Presentation skills are

particularly needed in meetings that a district councilor has to attend as well as in

election campaigns.

Familiarize with Government’s policies

Because a district councilor acts also as a consultant for the people, and

sometimes they act as mediator between the people and the Government. Therefore,

it is important to understand the Government’s policies and the responsibilities of

different government departments, so as to help people solving their problems.

40

Attend courses on psychology / counseling workshops

As a district councilor may encounter issue such as family violence, there are

times that a district councilor needs to take care of people’s emotion. To be a

responsible and effective, it will be especially good for non-social work students to

attend some psychology training courses or counseling workshops to gain knowledge

in handling people’s emotional problems.

Individual Learning Reflections Maggie Law

Through this project, my knowledge and impression towards the District

Councilors were enhanced and changed. I learned about the structure of the

Government and the number of districts under Hong Kong Government.

Before the completion of this project, I only acknowledged about the

significance of the Legislative Councilors due to the reporting from news. Now, I

noticed that although District Councilors are relatively less significant compare with

the Legislative Councilors, District Councilors’ contribution towards the society are

more direct as they are the bridge between the Government and the public. They

have more communication with the residents, like the one day tour, and need to be

patient in listening to residents’ complaints. Despite of making policies and rules for

the environment, they also have to listen to the people in personal affairs or family

problems. Therefore, we should not overlook their importance towards the society.

41

From the interviews, I understand the District Councilors more such as the

career path and the job duties of the District Councilors. I am interested to work as a

District Councilor’s Assistant and to serve the society because I enjoy doing

volunteer work. At the same time, I am also getting more interested to find out about

my district. For example, the name of the District Councilor and policies or activities

that he/she organized.

Moreover, Hong Kong people are not as selfish and coldhearted as people

said as they will show their support towards the District Councilors. As we were told

by our interviewees that people sometimes will offer cakes or drinks during festivals

or they may show their support by a vote of thanks. I was impressed by the response

from the people towards the District Councilors.

Morris Lee

The work of a District Councilor is really not easy! I am surprised that they

have so many things to do every day. Even a delay of a bus or smelly drain will

cause complaint in the Councilor’s Office. Just imagine how many bus stop and drain

in a district and you will know how busy they are.

Frankly speaking, I have no idea about District Councilor before doing this

project. My impression of a District Councilor was almost the same as a Legislative

Councilor or any other politician, which was very vague and unclear. I could only

remember their promotion during election period. Not only did the project teach me

the work nature of a Councilor, I started to truly appreciate their work.

42

I believe most of the Councilors are not only working for their fame and salary,

but also because of us. As mentioned by one of our interviewees, they are working

for the benefit of the community. I am touched by their sincerity when carrying out

their work.

District Councilor is an attractive career. I believe it is not only suitable for

students majoring in social work but all fresh graduates. It is because many of us

should possess the heart to serve the society.

Kylie Ng

Although I have registered as a voter and have cast my vote in an election

some years ago, I did not have deep understandings of what a District Councilor can

really do for me or the community. Through conducting the three interviews with the

District Councilors, I got to know more about what a District Councilor counts.

Besides, I found that all of the three interviewees are friendly and very eager to help

us. At the same time, I think the workload of a District Councilor is quite heavy

especially due to the irregular working hours. I remember the night that I interviewed

Mr. Ip, he has received more than 10 telephone calls from the citizens within two

hours. Some of the calls were about minor issues such as drainage problem. After

that, I have an impression that a District Councilor acts like a manager in the district

who has to take care of many things and lead the community forward, to a better

living condition.

As the rationale of our project is to help ourselves as well as our classmates to

understand the career of a District Councilor quickly, I think we have met our

43

objectives to a large extent. At least, I believe that all of our group members have

changed their vision towards a District Councilor. In addition, I hope our project will

do persuade some students to join the career of District Councilor as I have already

been persuaded after this project.

Junita Tam

As a university student in Hong Kong, having a basic knowledge about how

the government works is a must, especially about the District Councilor who are so

closely related to our daily life. Not until studying in the career as a District Councilor,

I never had the determination to find out how the District Council works and how

District Councilors can help us.

This project gave me an opportunity, or strictly speaking, pushed me to study

in the career of a District Councilor, which I should have done many years ago, so

that I can know better the structure of the District Council, what a District Councilor

does every day, how to enter this job market, the career path and all the related

things about a District Councilor.

Having interviews with the three District Councilors had also broadened my

horizons in this career. Never got in touch with any District Councilors before, I learnt

that it is actually a hard work to be a District Councilor; you have to work under great

pressure, since you are representing residents from the whole district, work 24-7,

knowing everything happened in the district. But it would be really satisfying if you

can help a single resident. As told by Ms Mok, residents would show their vote of

thanks by offering some foods and drinks during festivals and by giving some thank

44

you cards and some hand make decorations. I also understand that there are many

restrictions for District Councilors in fighting for the residents with the Government,

and I would be more considerate towards their work and would not blindly blame

them for things they cannot achieve for the district.

After studying in this career, I would like to enter into a job that can help

people, because this would give me an excellent job satisfaction. This would not

necessarily be a District Councilor, since the underlying nature of a District Councilor

is to help people.

Vincy Tam

Before starting this project, I have no idea what district councilors do, because

I think I simply don’t need them anyway. To choose District Councilor as our center of

investigation is somehow challenging for me as I am such a political indifferent

person and I have no background about social sciences and politics. An economic

student like me is more aware of numbers instead of people. (I am not an elector until

April this year. I only went to register in a function held by Hong Kong Association for

Democracy and People's Livelihood which I have to do the film shooting for the

presentation.) After interviewed three district councilors in my district, not only I know

more about my district, I also feel that l love their job indeed. I wish I am not

graduating and have the whole summer to help them out!

To be frank, I like the job of District Councilor Assistant more than that in

District Councilor, because I am not really familiar with politics, not even politics in

people. Also, I think the more important thing is that I cannot handle the pressure

45

from the election. In order to stay in the job, I think everyday in that four-year term is

the Election Day for me.

I am glad in my university life I can do something other than “numbers”. In the

course of research for the materials I came across many government websites which

I didn’t think of and they are very useful. I do learn a lot which I didn’t expect in this

project and this course.

Ankei Yip

Before doing this project, I really don’t know much about the career- District

Councilors. I don’t know what their scope of work is, what a District Councilor’s

earning capacity is, what the entry requirements are…etc. I have really little

knowledge of this career.

After getting through this project, I gain a lot. Not only understanding more of

the career of a District Councilor, but also obtained a valuable experience in

interviewing with those District Councilors.

There is no denying that District Councilors takes a very important role in the

district. For those who are in need for help, District Councilors will try their very best

to help them. In each district, there are different problems arises, such as drainage

problem. If there is no any District Councilor, it may be very difficult for the residents

to air their opinion or to solve the problem by themselves.

Although my career goal is not working as a District Councilor, this

investigation project provides me with some insights. No matter working in which job,

46

I believe that we should do our best. We should not give up whenever we encounter

a big difficulty. If we have the belief to success, then, we can! Just like the District

Councilor Mr. Lau Wai Wing, he obtains complaints from the residents. However, he

still working at his very best to serve the Whompoa’s residents. Even though he has

encounter problem, he never give up in serving the public.

Appendix I Chapter: 547 Title: DISTRICT COUNCILS

ORDINANCE

Gazette

Number:

33 of 2002

Section: 14 Heading: Disqualification of appointed members

Version Date: 27/12/2002

(1) A person is disqualified for appointment and from holding office as an appointed

member, if the person-

(a) is-

(i) a judicial officer; or

(ii) a prescribed public officer; or

(b) has, in Hong Kong, or any other place, been sentenced to

death or imprisonment (by whatever name called) and has not

either-

(i) served the sentence or undergone such other

punishment as a competent authority may have

substituted for the sentence; or

(ii) received a free pardon; or

(c) has been convicted of treason; or

(d) without limiting paragraph (b), where the term of office is to

begin within 5 years after the date of the person's conviction, has

been convicted, or is convicted after the beginning of the term of

office-

(i) in Hong Kong or any other place, of an offence for

which the person has been sentenced to imprisonment,

whether suspended or not, for a term exceeding 3 months

47

without the option of a fine; or

(ii) of having engaged in corrupt or illegal conduct in

contravention of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal

Conduct) Ordinance (Cap 554); or

(iii) of an offence against Part II of the Prevention of

Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201); or

(iv) of any offence prescribed by regulations in force

under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Cap

541); or (Replaced 10 of 2000 s. 47)

(e) is a representative or a salaried functionary of the

government of a place outside Hong Kong; or

(f) is a member of any national, regional or municipal legislature,

assembly or council of any place outside Hong Kong, other than

a people's congress or people's consultative body of the

People's Republic of China, whether established at the national

level or local level; or

(g) is an undischarged bankrupt or, within the previous 5 years,

has either obtained a discharge in bankruptcy or has entered

into a voluntary arrangement within the meaning of the

Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap 6) with the person's creditors, in

either case without paying the creditors in full. (Amended 33 of

2002 s. 5)

(2) An appointed member is also disqualified from holding office if the person is found

under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) to be incapable, by reason of mental

incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and affairs. (Amended

33 of 2002 s. 5)

(3) Subsection (2) does not prevent a person from being eligible for appointment as a

member if subsequently it is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) that

the person has become capable of managing and administering his or her property

and affairs. (Amended 33 of 2002 s. 5)

(4) Subject to subsection (6), an appointed member is also disqualified from holding

office for the remainder of that member's term of office if the member does not attend

meetings of the District Council for 4 consecutive months ("disqualifying period")

without obtaining the consent of the Council before the end of that period.

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(5) The disqualifying period under subsection (4) begins on the day next following the

date of the meeting of the Council at which the member is first absent without

consent.

(6) If during the disqualifying period no meetings are held or only one meeting is held,

that period is extended to end immediately after the 3rd consecutive meeting from

which the member is absent.

(7) An appointed member is also disqualified from holding office if the person was not

eligible for appointment as a member under section 12.

Chapter: 547 Title: DISTRICT COUNCILS

ORDINANCE

Gazette

Number:

33 of 2002

Section: 21 Heading: When person is disqualified from being nominated as a candidate and from being elected as an elected member

Version Date: 27/12/2002

(1) A person is disqualified from being nominated as a candidate at an election, and

from being elected as an elected member, if the person-

(a) is-

(i) a judicial officer; or

(ii) a prescribed public officer; or

(b) has, in Hong Kong, or any other place, been sentenced to

death or imprisonment (by whatever name called) and has not

either-

(i) served the sentence or undergone such other

punishment as a competent authority may have

substituted for the sentence; or

(ii) received a free pardon; or

(c) has been convicted of treason; or

(d) on the date of nomination, or of the election, is serving a

sentence of imprisonment; or

(e) without limiting paragraph (b), where the election is to be held

or is held within 5 years after the date of the person's conviction,

is or has been convicted-

49

(i) in Hong Kong or any other place, of an offence for

which the person has been sentenced to imprisonment,

whether suspended or not, for a term exceeding 3 months

without the option of a fine; or

(ii) of having engaged in corrupt or illegal conduct in

contravention of the Elections (Corrupt and Illegal

Conduct) Ordinance (Cap 554); or

(iii) of an offence against Part II of the Prevention of

Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201); or

(iv) of any offence prescribed by regulations in force

under the Electoral Affairs Commission Ordinance (Cap

541); or (Replaced 10 of 2000 s. 47)

(f) is ineligible to be a candidate or to be elected as an elected

member because of the operation of this Ordinance or any other

law; or

(g) is a representative or a salaried functionary of the

government of a place outside Hong Kong; or

(h) is a member of any national, regional or municipal legislature,

assembly or council of any place outside Hong Kong, other than

a people's congress or people's consultative body of the

People's Republic of China, whether established at the national

level or local level; or

(i) is an undischarged bankrupt or, within the previous 5 years,

has either obtained a discharge in bankruptcy or has entered

into a voluntary arrangement within the meaning of the

Bankruptcy Ordinance (Cap 6) with the person's creditors, in

either case without paying the creditors in full.

(2) A person is also disqualified from being nominated as a candidate at an election if

the person is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) to be incapable, by

reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and

affairs, but a person disqualified under this subsection is eligible for nomination as a

candidate if, under that Ordinance, it is subsequently found that the person has

become capable of managing and administering his or her property and affairs.

(3) A person is also disqualified from being elected as an elected member if the

50

person is found under the Mental Health Ordinance (Cap 136) to be incapable, by

reason of mental incapacity, of managing and administering his or her property and

affairs, but a person disqualified under this subsection ceases to be disqualified if,

under that Ordinance, it is subsequently found that the person has become capable

of managing and administering his or her property and affairs.

(Amended 33 of 2002 s. 7)

Appendix II

Name of District Council Number of elected

members

Number of appointed

members

Number of ex-officio

members

Total

Central and Western District

Council

15 4 - 19

Wan Chai District Council 11 3 - 14

Eastern District Council 37 9 - 46

Southern District Council 17 4 - 21

Yau Tsim Mong District

Council

16 4 - 20

Sham Shui Po District

Council

21 5 - 26

Kowloon City District Council 22 5 - 27

Wong Tai Sin District Council 25 6 - 31

Kwun Tong District Council 34 8 - 42

Tsuen Wan District Council 17 5 2 24

Tuen Mun District Council 29 7 1 37

Yuen Long District Council 29 7 6 42

North District Council 16 5 4 25

Tai Po District Council 19 5 2 26

Sai Kung District Council 20 5 2 27

Sha Tin Distict Council 36 9 1 46

Kwai Tsing District Council 28 7 1 36

Islands District Council 8 4 8 20

Total 400 102 27 529

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References

1. Councilor Directory, 17th April, 2004

http://www.dphk.org/e_site/councilor_dir_db_e.htm

2. 1999 District Council Election, 16th April, 2004

http://www.elections.gov.hk/elections/dcelect99/

3. District Council Bill, 14th April, 2004

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr98-99/english/bills/c086_e.htm

4. Political Institution Development, 15th April, 2004

http://jpcom.catholic.org.hk/english/enfocus/political_inst_develop.htm#district_c

ouncils

5. Electoral Affairs Commission, 17th April, 2004

http://www.gov.hk/eac/en/distco/2003dc_elect.htm

6. Registration and Electoral Office, 16th April, 2004

http://www.gov.hk/reo/index_en.htm

7. 九龍城區議會工作報告 2000-2003, District Council Homepage, Retrieved 18

April 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.districtcouncils.gov.hk

8. Legislative Council, Retrieved 18 April 2004 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.legco.gov.hk

9. Civil Exchange, Retrieved 16 April 2004 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.civic-exchange.org

10. Hong Kong Unmasked, Retrieved 16 April 2004 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.hongkongunmasked.com

11. Bilingual Laws Information System, Retrieved 17 April 2004 from the World Wide

Web: http://www.justice.gov.hk/index.htm

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12. Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, Retrieved 16

April 2004 from the World Wide Web: http://www.adpl.org.hk/

13. Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong, Retrieved 16 April 2004 from

the World Wide Web: http://www.dab.org.hk/

14. District Council Election, Retrieved 17 April 2004 from the World Wide Web:

http://www.elections.gov.hk

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