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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Lam Tai-fai and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (June 27):
Question:
Some members of religious groups have relayed to me that the Government lacks support for the religious groups in Hong Kong for a long time and has not formulated any appropriate support policy to facilitate diversified development of different religions in Hong Kong. They have also pointed out that owing to insufficient ancillary facilities, some religious groups often find it difficult to organise more religious activities of different types. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the number of different religious groups in Hong Kong in the past five years, and set out in table form the names of such groups, the number of believers, and the geographic distribution of their self-owned permanent sites and various religious facilities;
(b) of the respective government expenditure in support of various different religious groups in the past five years, and set out in table form the names of the religious groups receiving such support, and the amount and purposes of the funding support;
(c) whether it will consider reviewing the number of days of general holidays involving various religions, including providing additional general holidays for other religions (e.g. Confucianism, Taoism and Islam); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) whether it will, without affecting the total number of days of general holidays, consider setting individual religious days for other religions (e.g. Confucian Day, Taoist Day and Islamic Day); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(e) whether any religious group had applied to the Government in the past five years for hiring vacant government properties (e.g. vacant school premises or government quarters) to hold any form of religious activities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(f) whether any religious group had applied to the Government in the past five years for changing the use of vacant government properties (e.g. vacant school premises or government quarters) to provide more ancillary facilities for religious activities; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(g) whether it will offer interest-free loans to religious groups to help them acquire permanent sites and religious facilities; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(h) whether it had consulted different religious groups in the past five years to understand the actual difficulties faced by them in their development and their views on the Government's provision of support measures; if it had, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(i) whether it will conduct a comprehensive review of the support policy for religious groups and provide different religious groups with different forms of support; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply,
President,
(a) Both the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance give protection to Hong Kong residents' right to freedom of religious belief. Moreover, the laws of Hong Kong do not regulate the operation of religious groups. The Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) does not make any registration of religious groups and, therefore, is unable to provide records related to such groups.
(b) and (g) Under the prevailing policy, the Government may give policy support to religious groups' applications for government land for the purpose of building religious facilities, and concessionary rates may be adopted in calculating the land premium of the floor areas occupied by such facilities. Other than this, HAB does not provide any other financial support or loans to religious groups for organising religious activities or acquiring religious facilities.
(c) The Administration understands individual religious groups' requests for designating their commemorative days as general holidays. It should be noted that the consensus on capping the number of general holidays at 17 days in a year has been reached gradually through years of community-wide consultation, and that any amendments may have impact on the community, economy and people's livelihood. Therefore, we must handle the issue with care.
(d) Different religions have their own celebrative festivals. The Government does not set any restrictions on the commemoration or celebration of such festivals, and religious groups may set religious days of their own.
(e) and (f) The following is the record over the past five years on religious groups' applications to the Government for hiring vacant government properties to hold religious activities:
Year Religious Details of application
group
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2009 Hong Kong Application for a short-term
Evangelical tenancy of the Ex-Man Kei Public
Yan Din School site in Lung Tin Tsuen,
Church Yuen Long, New Territories for
religious and other uses
2009 Atisha Application for a short-term
Buddhist tenancy of the vacant government
Society property at Dragon Road, North
Limited Point to hold religious activities
2010 Catholic Looking for vacant government
Diocese properties for religious use
of Hong Kong
2011 German-Speaking Looking for vacant government
Evangelical- properties for religious use
Lutheran
Congregation
in Hong Kong
(h) and (i) HAB plays a co-ordination role in local religious affairs, by providing policy support to the development of various religious groups, maintaining cordial relationship with them, including the Colloquium of Six Religious Leaders of Hong Kong, and participating in their activities from time to time. While adhering to the principle of non-intervention of the freedom of religion and religious groups' internal affairs, we are happy to listen to their views and render assistance to them through appropriate channels.
Ends/Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:45
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