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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Wong-fat and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, in the Legislative Council today (November 5):
Question:
The Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance stipulates that, whenever the national flag is flown together with the regional flag, or the national emblem is displayed together with the regional emblem, the national flag or the national emblem is to occupy a more prominent position. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether there are statistics on the existing number of government buildings and venues with two or more flagstaffs for flying the national flag together with the regional flag; and
(b) among the buildings and venues referred to in (a), of the number of those with flagstaffs of the same height, and thus failing to comply with the above requirement when the national flag is flown together with the regional flag, and as it has been over 10 years since the reunification of Hong Kong, whether the Government has any plan to carry out modification works to such flagstaffs, so as to meet the above requirement when the national flag and the regional flag are flown together; if so, when such works will be completed; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Government does not keep statistics on the number of government buildings and venues with two or more flagstaffs. However, according to government guidelines, the national flag shall be displayed at approximately 80 locations on designated dates. Besides, approval has been given to some venues managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, hospitals under the Hospital Authority and government schools under the purview of the Education Bureau to display the national flag on designated dates. Whenever the national flag is displayed at the above locations, the regional flag should also be displayed. The above locations therefore have two or more flagstaffs.
(b) The Regional Flag and Regional Emblem Ordinance stipulates that in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, whenever the national flag is flown together with the regional flag, the national flag is to occupy a more prominent position. Based on the above requirements, when the national flag is flown alongside the regional flag, the national flag is to be on the right and the regional flag on the left, and the regional flag should be smaller than the national flag; when the national flag, the regional flag and other flag(s) are flown together, the national flag should be in the centre or in a notable position.
When the Director of Administration approves individual departments to fly/display the national flag, the relevant departments are reminded of the details of flying/displaying the national flag and the regional flag. All government departments need to comply with the relevant requirements. The Administration Wing also issues circulars regularly to government departments to reiterate the relevant requirements.
Ends/Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:05
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