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Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education

Liberal Studies

Independent Enquiry Study Report

Standard Covering Page (for written reports and short written texts of non-written reports starting

from 2017)

Enquiry Question: Should Functional Constituency elections in the Legislative Council be

abolished?

Year of Examination:

Name of Student:

Class/ Group:

Class Number:

Number of words in the report: 3162

Notes:

1. Written reports should not exceed 4500 words. The reading time for non-written reports should

not exceed 20 minutes and the short written texts accompanying non-written reports should not

exceed 1000 words. The word count for written reports and the short written texts does not

include the covering page, the table of contents, titles, graphs, tables, captions and headings of

photos, punctuation marks, footnotes, endnotes, references, bibliography and appendices.

2. Candidates are responsible for counting the number of words in their reports and the short

written texts and indicating it accurately on this covering page.

3. If the Independent Enquiry Study Report of a student is selected for review by the School-Based

Assessment System, the school should ensure that the student’s name, class/ group and class

number have been deleted from the report before submitting it to the Hong Kong Examinations

and Assessment Authority. Schools should also ensure that the identities of both the schools

and students are not disclosed in the reports. For non-written reports, the identities of the

students and schools, including the appearance of the students, should be deleted.

Sample

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Table of Contents

A. Problem Definition P.3

B. Relevant Concepts and Knowledge/ Facts/ Data P.5

C. In-depth Explanation of the Issue P.9

D. Judgment and Justification P.13

References P.18

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A. Problem Definition

The Functional Constituencies (FCs) have long been criticized without high representativeness

and violate the principle of democracy. Many people in the society ask for the abolition of it.

According to the recent political reform package, if the 2017 Chief Executive election in Hong

Kong conducted by universal suffrage, the Legislative Council elections in 2020 could also be

conducted by universal suffrage.1 It is arguable whether the FCs are incompatible or compatible

with universal suffrage. Therefore, whether to retain or abolish the Functional Constituency

elections in the Legislative Council is a controversial issue and there are divided views in the

community.

The FC first developed in the release of "Green Paper: A Pattern of District Administration in

Hong Kong" in July 1984.2 The introduction of FCs was part of an overall plan to develop

representative government in Hong Kong, and in Legislative Council (LegCo) particularly, during

the final years of British sovereignty.3 In the White Paper on the Further Development of

Representative Government in Hong Kong 19844, there are some objectives: first, the system of

representative government rooted in the community and be accountable to Hong Kong people;

second, to ensure broadly based selection method for the LegCo., third, to provide a foundation for

further development in composition and selection method in the LegCo.

It was a transitional arrangement before handover and acted as a buffer between direct and

indirect elections.5 Hong Kong society now is ready for a directly elected legislature as people are

more aware of their political rights and freedoms in recent years. The community as a whole is

better informed. Direct elections have been practiced for almost three decades and all the past

elections held were smooth and peaceful. The importance of FCs in Hong Kong has been greatly

declined and the demands for direct elections in the LegCo have been increasing among Hong Kong

people. Therefore, it is a debate on the abolition of the FC elections in the LegCo.

In 2012, the new arrangement in the Legislative Council election seems broaden the electoral

base of the Functional Constituencies election. However, the existing traditional Functional

Constituencies in the Legislation Council election are still undemocratic and hinder the democratic

development.

The aim of this report is to evaluate whether the FCs should be abolished in the Legislation

Council election by analyzing the relationship between the principles of universal suffrage and

1 Methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2014 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016 Public consultation, http://www.2017.gov.hk/en/home/index.html 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_constituency_(Hong_Kong) 3 A Critical Introduction to Hong Kong's Functional Constituencies Functional Constituency Research Project 2004 http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/118843 4 White Paper: The Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong, cited in A Critical Introduction to Hong Kong's Functional Constituencies Functional Constituency Research Project 2004 http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/118843 5 A Critical Introduction to Hong Kong's Functional Constituencies Functional Constituency Research Project 2004 http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/118843

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functional constituencies, the arrangement and electoral base of the FCs, the performance and the

popularity of FCs lawmakers, etc.

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B. Relevant Concepts and Knowledge/ Facts/ Data

Legislative Council arrangement

Currently, according to the 2012 LegCo election arrangement, there are 30 elected by 28

traditional FCs, whereas 40 out of the 70 Legislative Council seats are directly elected by the

general public (35 through Geographical Constituencies (GCs) and 5 through District Council

(Second) functional constituency). The details see the table below 6

Composition (70 seats)

- 35 members to be returned from Geographical Constituencies (GCs)

- 35 members to be returned from Functional Constituencies (FCs)

Geographical Constituencies (“GCs”) (35 seats)

(1) Hong Kong Island 7 seats

(2) Kowloon West 5 seats

(3) Kowloon East 5 seats

(4) New Territories West 9 seats

(5) New Territories East 9 seats

Voting system: List system of proportional representation

Functional Constituencies (“FCs”) (35 seats)

(1) Heung Yee Kuk* 1 seat

(2) Agriculture and Fisheries* 1 seat

(3) Insurance* 1 seat

(4) Transport* 1 seat

(5) Education 1 seat

(6) Legal 1 seat

(7) Accountancy 1 seat

(8) Medical 1 seat

(9) Health Services 1 seat

(10) Engineering 1 seat

(11) Architectural, Surveying and Planning 1 seat

(12) Labour 3 seats

(13) Social Welfare 1 seat

(14) Real Estate and Construction 1 seat

(15) Tourism 1 seat

(16) Commercial (first) 1 seat

6 http://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2012/eng/facts.html#Composition

6

(17) Commercial (second) 1 seat

(18) Industrial (first) 1 seat

(19) Industrial (second) 1 seat

(20) Finance 1 seat

(21) Financial Services 1 seat

(22) Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and

Publication

1 seat

(23) Import and Export 1 seat

(24) Textiles and Garment 1 seat

(25) Wholesale and Retail 1 seat

(26) Information Technology 1 seat

(27) Catering 1 seat

(28) District Council (first) 1 seat

(29) District Council (second) 5 seats

Voting systems: Different voting systems apply to different FCs, namely (a) for the 4 special FCs (marked with

* ), the preferential elimination system of voting; (b) for the District Council (second) functional constituency

(“DC (second) FC”), the list system of proportional representation; and (c) for the remaining 24 ordinary FCs,

the first-past-the-post voting system.

Number of electors

Geographical Constituencies: 3,466,201

Functional Constituencies: 240,735*

* Excluding 3,219,755 electors of the District Council (second) functional constituency

Election arrangement of LegCo in the Basic Law

Regarding the method for forming the Legislative Council, Article 68 of the Basic Law

stipulates that “... shall be specified in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special

Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The

ultimate aim is the election of all the members of the Legislative Council by universal suffrage.”

Therefore, implementing universal suffrage ultimately is a requirement under the Basic Law.

In additional, it is required that the constitutional development in HKSAR should adhere to the

following 4 main principles under the Basic Law7: first, meeting the interests of different sectors of

society; second, facilitating the development of the capitalist economy; third, gradual and orderly

progress and forth, appropriate to the actual situation in the HKSAR. It shows the arrangement of

7 Methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2014 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016 Public consultation http://www.2017.gov.hk/en/home/index.html

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the political arrangement in the LegCo need to follow the requirement in the Basic Law and it

shows the progress to democracy and universal suffrage ultimately.

The principle of balanced participation8

The principles of balanced participation ensure wide acceptance and support to the political

system, and hence maintain political stability as well as sustainable and orderly democratization.

Different countries have different perceptions of and planning for balanced participation and

according to their own conditions. While respecting the dignity and freedom of choice of

individuals, the design of the political structure and electoral systems of a place are determined by

other factors such as its own national conditions, history, tradition and culture, state of economy,

ethnic characteristics and established values. Therefore, it requires an open discussion to decide the

meaning of balanced participation in the LegCo with consensus in the society.

Universality and equality

According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 259, it

states,

Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctions

mentioned in article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:

(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen

representatives;

(b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and

equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will

of the electors;

(c) To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country.

In Hong Kong, according to the Basic Law 10

Article 39, the provisions of the International

Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, shall remain in

force and shall be implemented through the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In other words, the political arrangement should in compliance with these international standards

and under its protection -the open, free and equal right to vote and to be voted/elected in the

genuine elections.

8 Adoption of the Principles of “Universal Suffrage” and “Balanced Participation”－ Practices in Some Democratic Countries

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/english/panels/ca/papers/ca0320cb2-1307-a-e.pdf 9 http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx 10 http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/index/index.html

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Universal suffrage

Universal suffrage11

consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens, though it

may also mean extending that right to minors and non-citizens. Suffrage has two necessary

components, the right to vote and opportunities to vote. Where universal suffrage exists, the right to

vote is not restricted by race, sex, belief, wealth, or social status. In Hong Kong, it is granted in the

Basic Law that both the election of Chief Executive and the Legislative Council will practice

universal suffrage ultimately in future.

11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_suffrage

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C. In-depth Explanation of the Issue

Opinions support the abolition of FCs

1. Imbalance representativeness between FCs and GCs

Advocates for democratization in Hong Kong tend to see functional constituency elections in

the Legislative Council as politically retrogressive, protecting the business sector's interests, and

they ask for abolition.12

Although with new 5 FCs in 2012, the majority of the Hong Kong people cannot be

represented in the traditional constituencies which take 30 seats in the LegCo. As the electoral base

has great different between two constituencies, it roughly has around 230 thousand of voters in the

FCs whereas there are more than 3 million voters in GC. The franchise should be broadened in all

the functional constituencies, to include not only the elites in the various sectors but also all

employees.

The electoral base of traditional FCs could be shown in the following statistics13

:

Table 1: Distribution of registered voters in GCs and traditional FCs in 2013

FCs Registered

voters FCs

Registered

voters

1 Health Services 37353 15 Import and Export 1429

2 Engineering 9119 16 Information Technology 6322

3 Social Welfare 13885 17 Textiles and Garment 3196

4 Architectural 9119 18 Wholesale and Retail 7093

5 Education 91621 19 Catering 7673

6 Legal 6478 20

Sports, Performing Arts,

Culture and Publication 2554

7 Accountancy 25154 21 Agriculture and Fisheries 158

8 Medical 10825 22 Insurance 130

9 Heung Yee Kuk 145 23 Transport 201

10 District Council (1st) 412 24 Labour (3 Seats) 646

11 Commercial (2nd) 1668 25 Tourism 1336

12 Industrial (1st) 604 26 Commercial (1st) 935

13 Construction 740 27 Industrial (2nd) 825

14 Financial Services 594 28 Finance 140

Total 238,022

12 'Scrap-or-keep' debate on functional constituencies leads us nowhere, SCMP, 21 October, 2013

13 Vote Registration Statistics : Functional Constituency in 2013

http://www.voterregistration.gov.hk/eng/statistic20133.html

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GCs Registered voters

1 Hong Kong Island 601,110

2 Kowloon East 563,604

3 Kowloon West 437,228

4 New Territories East 879,288

5 New Territories West 990,193

Total 3,471,423

From the tables, the electoral base of the traditional Functional Constituencies is much

narrower than the Geographical Constituencies. For example, the lawmakers are just elected by a

small group of the population (around 240,000 out of 7 million eligible voters). Some of the

Functional Constituencies only consists of several hundred registered voters which cannot really

represent the whole sector. The narrow electoral base in the election may cause unequal meaning of

representativeness.

2. Nomination requirement

The right to vote and being vote is not fair.14

They are two main types of voters in FCs;

cooperate vote and individuals vote. For cooperate vote, this means the voting power on the owner

of the business instead of the all participate in the field. In every Hong Kong workplace where one

finds employees (or the employer itself) eligible to vote in the FCs, there will inevitably be a

number of employees in the same workplace who are ineligible.15

In 2009, there were 12940

participates in the Insurance sectors, but only 141 registered cooperate votes whereas there were

118,337 participates in Financial Services but only 578 registered cooperate votes in this sector.16

It shows this arrangement strongly distorts the meaning of representation and lots of voices cannot

be effectively reflected. This type of unequal treatment perpetuates social values of elitism which

are contrary to the values of equality.

3. Lack of competition

Some constituencies where their candidates were elected unopposed. These candidates may be

the cooperate voters rather than individual one. They represent the interest of business group and

pro-government group. In the 2012 LegCo election, candidates were returned unopposed in 16 of

the 30 seats in the 28 functional constituencies. Moreover, in the agriculture and fisheries functional

constituency, only 123 voters turned out. Compare that with the 61,705 voters for the educational

constituency - a turnout 500 times higher.17

14 `Should Functional Constituency be abolished’ http://cdehk.com/%E7%AB%8B%E6%B3%95%E6%A9%9F%E9%97%9C/%E6%87%89%E5%90%A6%E5%BB%A2%E9%99%A4%E5%8A%9F%E8%83%BD%E7%B5%84%E5%88%A5/?lang=en 15 A Critical Introduction to Hong Kong’s Functional Constituencies 16 解構功能組別(一): 何來「均衡參與」?

http://www.procommons.org.hk/%E6%A2%81%E5%85%86%E6%98%8C%E3%80%81%E9%83%AD%E6%A6%AE%E9%8F%97-%E8%A7%A3%E6%A7%8B%E5%8A%9F%E8%83%BD%E7%B5%84%E5%88%A5%E4%B8%80-%E4%BD%95%E4%BE%86%E3%80%8C%E5%9D%87%E8%A1%A1%E5%8F%83%E8%88%87 17 'Scrap-or-keep' debate on functional constituencies leads us nowhere, SCMP, 21 October, 2013

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Distribution of number of candidates in traditional FCs in 201218

FCs

No. of

candidates FCs

No. of

candidates

1 Health Services 2 15 Import and Export 1

2 Engineering 4 16 Information Technology 2

3 Social Welfare 2 17 Textiles and Garment 2

4 Architectural 3 18 Wholesale and Retail 1

5 Education 2 19 Catering 1

6 Legal 2 20

Sports, Performing Arts,

Culture and Publication 3

7 Accountancy 4 21 Agriculture and Fisheries 2

8 Medical 2 22 Insurance 1

9 Heung Yee Kuk 1 23 Transport 1

10 District Council (1st) 1 24 Labour (3 Seats) 3

11 Commercial (2nd) 1 25 Tourism 2

12 Industrial (1st) 1 26 Commercial (1st) 1

13 Construction 1 27 Industrial (2nd) 1

14 Financial Services 5 28 Finance 1

From the statistics, nearly half (13 out of 28) of the constituencies are uncontested in the

election. This revealed that the presence of the functional constituencies may hinder the competition

of seats in the sectors.

The system of functional constituencies is undemocratic because it confers a right to vote to a

small group of social, economic and political elites in the society. Since they are elected by a small

group of the population, they are not accountable to the public at large.

On the other hand, The FC electoral arrangements overwhelmingly favour the business and

professional elites rather than the general citizen. The system of FCs is therefore a representation of

special interests rather than public interest.

18 Other Functional Constituencies (30 seats) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_legislative_election,_2012

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The opinion of keeping the FCs

1. Realizing balanced participation

Some opinions stated that FCs can secure the principle of “balance participation” which

represents interest of different sectors of society.19

Hong Kong is a financial centre and focus on

economic activities, FCs have been playing an important role in the community as the voices of the

business and professional sectors have made contributions to the development of the capitalist

economy in Hong Kong. The abolition of FCs cannot protect their voices and affect the `balance

participation’ in council when dominated by the voices of anti- government. The past experience

has shown the constituency election was an effective way to ensure different walks of life and to

contribute the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong20

. Hong Kong has its uniqueness and as one of

our country’s special administrative regions, we cannot copy the political systems of another

country.

2. Performing safeguarding function21

If all councilors elected from geographical constituencies, Hong Kong might easily become a

welfare society. Therefore, the setting in the Basic Law with the idea of bicameral voting system

which the motion, bill or amendment introduced by individual members of councilors required a

simple majority vote of each chamber. Many motions, bills or amendment which are not conducive

to Hong Kong’s long-term economic prospects are filtered by the functional constituencies.

3. Avoid too political in the council 22

There are already lots of argument and disputes in the council nowadays. Many

anti-government voices with many activities hinder the operation in the law marking process. The

result is to postpone the effectiveness of the government. If no FCs gives advice and support to the

government, the discussion time will be longer and longer. But the loss will be the general public if

the government lack of the support and professional expertise from the FCs. The effectiveness of

the executive must be affected.

19 廢除功能組別必釀 5大惡果 http://paper.wenweipo.com [2013-11-12] 20功能組別議席是對全民民主的制約, 林貢欽 http://www.xmu.com.hk/view.asp?id=4688 21 `Function Constituencies help realizing balanced participation’ http://www.cgcc.org.hk/gb/chamber/bulletin/files/Bulletin_1275983302.34728_24-26.pdf 22廢除功能組別必釀 5大惡果 http://paper.wenweipo.com [2013-11-12]

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D. Judgment and Justification

I support to abolish the FCs or need to change the existing composition and arrangement. It is

based on the following aspects:

1. Convergence to the Basic Law

The Basic Law stated that the ultimate aim that all members would be elected by universal

suffrage in the LegCo.23

Moreover, Chinese official also claimed that if the 2017 Chief Executive

election in Hong Kong were to be conducted by universal suffrage, the Legislative Council

elections in 2020 could also be conducted by universal suffrage.24

It is proper and reasonable that

the FCs can be abolished as soon as possible and it is compatible with universal suffrage laid down

in the Basic Law.

2. Violate the principle of universal and equality

As mentioned above, the arrangement of FCs is controversial and the size of electorate and

electoral method in each FC seat may vary. Therefore, the representativeness is difficult among the

traditional constituencies as some adopt individual vote and some are cooperate vote. More badly, it

also has great different as compare with the GCs which represent about three million voters,

whereas the traditional GCs only represent nearly twenty three thousand voters. It is obviously

against the idea of “equal” suffrage. Therefore, the representative is different and easily controlled

by the cooperate voter who representing business interest rather than the general view.

The Hong Kong Bar Association has commented that functional constituencies must be

abolished in order for the Legislative Council to return by universal suffrage in compliance with

Article 25(b) of the ICCPR25

. The former Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr.

Stephen Lam also claimed that the existing electoral method for the FCs of the LegCo does not

comply with the principles of universality and equality. The existing electoral arrangements cannot

be maintained when universal suffrage for the LegCo is implemented.26

It means the government

also confess that the improper arrangement of the FCs which violate the idea of universal and

equality.

Some would say the existence of functional constituencies is to allow the voices of the

professional sectors to be reflected in the Legislative Council and to improve the quality of

23

The Basic Lawhttp://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/index/ 24

Methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2014 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016 Public consultation http://www.2017.gov.hk/en/home/index.html

25

Hong Kong A step taken in development of political system http://www.hkba.org/whatsnew/misc/HKBA_Constitutional-related_articles_July_2010.pdf 26

LCQ5: Functional constituencies http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201005/26/P201005260149.htm

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governance. 27

They assume they could provide professional advice directly and effectively to the

Government’s policy. But they is no strong evident that only FCs can perform better advice than the

members in GCs. Instead, the members from FCs have poorer performance in LegCo.

3. Poorer performance from FCs

3.1 Weak in uphold the duty and supervision of the government

The performance of the Function Constituency Lawmakers could be demonstrated in the

following statistics28

:

Table 2.1: The average number of questions initiated by lawmakers in 2012-13 Legislative Council’s meetings

Function Constituency lawmakers Geographical Constituency lawmakers

Average Number of questions 8.2 9.8

Table 2.2: The average number of motions and amendments to the motion proposed by lawmakers in

2012-13 Legislative Council’s meetings

Function Constituency lawmakers Geographical Constituency lawmakers

Average Number of questions 3.6 5.1

Table 2.3: The average number of speeches initiated by lawmakers in 2012-13 Legislative Council’s meetings

Function Constituency lawmakers Geographical Constituency lawmakers

Average Number of questions 23.9 29.9

From the above tables, the performance of Function Constituency Lawmakers is not as good as

those Geographical Constituency lawmakers in general. One of the functions of the LegCo is to

supervise the performance of the government, if the members from FCs with less time ask questions,

make speeches and absent from meeting, it shows they cannot uphold they duty well as compare

with the stronger competitive members whom directly elected from the higher representativeness in

GCs.

Besides, in the 2012-2013 LegCo sessions, there were three councilors without any motion and

amendments, and all three, Lau Wong-fat, Wong Ting-kwong and Cheung Yu-yan, were come from

FCs. As it is their basic duty for them to raise questions to government, they did not perform it well

and not accountable to their voters. However, as they are come from FCs, their responsibility was

not high as they did not directly elected. In order to make the councilor more effective and

accountable, it is a need to abolish the FCs and introduce direct election of their posts.

3.2 Weak in popularity

27

Frequently Asked Questions on Functional Constituencies http://www.procommons.org.hk/newsletter-on-political-reform-3-%E6%94%BF%E6%94%B9%E9%80%9A%E8%A8%8A%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%89%E6%9C%9F

28 Catholic Monitors on Legislative Councilors 2012-2013 Monitors Report

http://www.legco-monitors.org/

15

The University of Hong Kong conducts a survey “Ratings of top 10 Legislative Councillors”

regularly. The survey can reflect the popularity of lawmakers among the public. The following table

shows the result:

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Table: The top 10 best-known legislative councillors recognized by the public between 2011 and 2014

Top

10

Period

14-17/4/2014 12-17/7/2013 15-21/1/2013 12-19/7/2012 26-31/1/2012 11-20/7/2011

1 Jasper Tsang Jasper Tsang *Chan Yuen-han Audrey Eu Regina Ip Audrey Eu

2 Regina Ip Regina Ip Jasper Tsang Jasper Tsang Jasper Tsang Alan Leong

3 James Tien Michael Tien Regina Ip Regina Ip Audrey Eu Regina Ip

4 Alan Leong Alan Leong James Tien James Tien Lee Cheuk-yan Jasper Tsang

5 Michael Tien James Tien Emily Lau Alan Leong Emily Lau Regina Ip

6 Emily Lau Emily Lau *Albert Ho Lee Cheuk-yan Alan Leong Albert Ho

7 Lee Cheuk-yan Lee Cheuk-yan Paul Tse Albert Ho Tam Yiu-chung Lee Cheuk-yan

8 *Albert Ho *Albert Ho Wong Yuk-man Albert Chan Albert Ho Tam Yiu-chung

9 Leung Kwok-hung Leung Kwok-hung Leung Kwok-hung Wong Yuk-man Leung Kwok-hung Wong Yuk-man

10 Wong Yuk-man Wong Yuk-man Albert Chan Leung Kwok-hung Wong Yuk-man Leung Kwok-hung

* Elected by the new Functional Constituency (DC 2nd

)

Among the top 10 best-known legislative councilors recognized by the public, none of them are

from traditional Functional Constituencies. The result from the above table reflected that lawmakers

from traditional Functional Constituencies are much less popular than lawmakers from

Geographical Constituencies among the public.

4. Veto by minority in LegCo

The minority from the FCs can reject the decision by split voting in two chambers by pass

motions suggested by the councilors. This minority voice in FCs represents the business group

rather than the interest of grass-root from geographic constituencies. Any motion, bill or

amendment pass, it must obtain a simple majority of votes in each chamber. This arrangement can

give the minority FC members a veto over legislative action introduced by GC members whom are

presenting the 3 million voters. It is unfair arrangement of GC which distort the representativeness

of general public.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, I agree to abolish the FCs as soon as possible because it is no

longer as the best way to transit the council with more direct elected seats. The more important is

the FCs violates the democratic values such as universal suffrage, the balanced participation and the

universality and equality.

There is a say that it is a time to reveal a more suitable grouping of functions in FCs29

. As the

society is changing and many new occupations exist and becoming more important. The existing

functional constituencies need to be revealed and invite a discussion in the society for further

decision in the FCs.

29香港立法會有長期保留功能組別的必要香港調查研究中心 / 2010-01-20 http://www.hongkongirc.org/articles_page.php?aid=194

17

Moreover, other view such as a demanding the electorate base of the FCs should be

broadened.30

For example, by allowing the FCs to nominate candidates for election by all voters of

Hong Kong, i.e. the "one-person-two-votes" model whereby each voter can cast one vote in the

geographical constituency (GC) election, and the other in the FC election.

My view is open to the above two suggestions if it can fulfill the principle of the universal and

equality. But it requires a serious and fair discussion which can balance the various interests and get

the consensus among the society. If there is no consensus to abolish the FCs immediately, asking

for broadening the nomination requirement and expanding the electoral base are important. As there

is a schedule as early as in 2020 for LegCo election with universal suffrage, it is a good time to start

the discussion and debate for this issue.

30功能組別存廢爭持激烈 Mingpao 2013年 12月 16日

http://specials.mingpao.com/cfm/News.cfm?SpecialsID=277&News=885b8595ba7315e7cae95196207306b6caf8c513323854e7aaca

18

References

News article

1. “The Legco no-show”, SCMP, 18 July 2013.

2. `Scrap-or-keep debate on functional constituencies leads us nowhere’, SCMP, 21 October,

2013.

3. 廢除功能組別必釀 5大惡果, Wenweipo, 12 Nov 2013, http://paper.wenweipo.com

4. 功能組別存廢爭持激烈 李慧 聞小圈提名大圈投票方案, Mingpao, 2013年 12月 16

日,

http://specials.mingpao.com/cfm/News.cfm?SpecialsID=277&News=885b8595ba7315e7ca

e95196207306b6caf8c513323854e7aaca

Websites

1. 2012 Legislative Council Election Result

http://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2012/eng/result/rs_fc_FC.html

2. A Critical Introduction to Hong Kong's Functional Constituencies Functional Constituency

Research Project 2004, http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/118843

3. Adoption of the Principles of “Universal Suffrage”and Balanced Participation”－ Practices

in Some Democratic Countries,

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr05-06/english/panels/ca/papers/ca0320cb2-1307-a-e.pdf

4. Basic Law, http://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/index/index.html

5. Catholic Monitors on Legislative Councillors 2012-2013 Monitors Report,

6. http://www.legco-monitors.org/

7. Fact about the election, http://www.elections.gov.hk/legco2012/eng/facts.html#Composition

8. Frequently Asked Questions on Functional Constituencies,

http://www.procommons.org.hk/newsletter-on-political-reform-3-%E6%94%BF%E6%94%

B9%E9%80%9A%E8%A8%8A%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%89%E6%9C%9F

9. Functional constituency, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_constituency

19

10. `Function Constituencies help realizing balanced participation’

http://www.cgcc.org.hk/gb/chamber/bulletin/files/Bulletin_1275983302.34728_24-26.pdf

11. FUNCTIONAL CONSTITUENCIES PART I : COMPOSITION

http://www.eac.gov.hk/pdf/legco/2012lc_guide/en/chapter_3.pdf

12. Hong Kong A step taken in development of political system,

http://www.hkba.org/whatsnew/misc/HKBA_Constitutional-related_articles_July_2010.pdf

13. LCQ5: Functional constituencies,

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201005/26/P201005260149.htm

14. Methods for selecting the Chief Executive in 2014 and for Forming the Legislative Council

in 2016 Public consultation, http://www.2017.gov.hk/en/home/index.html

15. Nominations for 2012 Legislative Council Election

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201206/22/P201206220326.htm

16. Other Functional Constituencies (30 seats),

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_legislative_election,_2012

17. Package of proposals for the methods for selecting the Chief Executive and forming the

legislative council in 2012, http://www.cmab-cd2012.gov.hk/en/home/index.htm

18. “Ratings of top 10 Legislative Councillors survey” Public Opinion Programme, the

University of Hong Kong http://hkupop.hku.hk/chinese/popexpress/lcrating/topten2.html

19. `Should Functional Constituency be abolished’

http://cdehk.com/%E7%AB%8B%E6%B3%95%E6%A9%9F%E9%97%9C/%E6%87%89

%E5%90%A6%E5%BB%A2%E9%99%A4%E5%8A%9F%E8%83%BD%E7%B5%84%E

5%88%A5/?lang=en

20. Universal suffrage, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_suffrage

21. Vote Registration Statistics : Functional Constituency in 2013,

http://www.voterregistration.gov.hk/eng/statistic20133.html

22. White Paper: The Further Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong, cited

in A Critical Introduction to Hong Kong's Functional Constituencies Functional

Constituency Research Project 2004, http://hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/118843

23. 功能組別議席是對全民民主的制約, 林貢欽, http://www.xmu.com.hk/view.asp?id=4688

20

24. 香港立法會有長期保留功能組別的必要香港調查研究中心 / 2010-01-20,

http://www.hongkongirc.org/articles_page.php?aid=194

25. 解構功能組別(一): 何來「均衡參與」?

http://www.procommons.org.hk/%E6%A2%81%E5%85%86%E6%98%8C%E3%80%81%

E9%83%AD%E6%A6%AE%E9%8F%97-%E8%A7%A3%E6%A7%8B%E5%8A%9F%E

8%83%BD%E7%B5%84%E5%88%A5%E4%B8%80-%E4%BD%95%E4%BE%86%E3%

80%8C%E5%9D%87%E8%A1%A1%E5%8F%83%E8%88%87

21

題目

Title

分數*

Marks*

評語

Comments

Should

Functional

Constituency

elections in

the

Legislative

Council be

abolished?

AB

8 Defined the objective of the enquiry study clearly

Elaborated clearly on some concepts/ basic facts related to the study but the role of the concepts in the enquiry was not well articulated

Explained the importance of some of the concepts (e.g. the principle of balanced participation) to the discussion of Functional Constituencies

(FC), but seemingly biased to the concepts related to the abolition of FC. The concepts such as “principles of gradual and orderly progress”

(Article 68, Basic law of the HKSAR) and “populism” or “welfarism” could have been included in the report

CD

8 Showed a good understanding of the controversy of the abolition of FC

Provided an in-depth analysis of the need to abolish functional constituencies with regard to the crux of the contention discussed in Part C, e.g.

the Basic Law, equality and the functions of FC, demonstrating multiple perspective thinking and profound knowledge of relevant concepts

Was able to substantiate his/her arguments logically with evidence from various sources

Could have scored higher if the discussion of the abolition of FC was extended further to other impact (e.g. the impact on the society and

livelihood)

PO

9 Was able to express his/her ideas clearly throughout the report, with clear paragraphing, logical and well-supported arguments

Acknowledged the sources in detail

The organisation of Parts A to D is coherent and well structured

* AB: 題目界定和概念／知識辨識 (A及 B部分)

Problem Definition and Identification of Concepts/Knowledge (Parts A & B)

CD: 解釋和論證 (C及 D部分)

Explanation and Justification (Parts C & D)

PO: 表達與組織 (整分報告)

Presentation and Organisation (the whole report)