Paternity leave – Wong Kit Cheng brought a question to the plenary regarding the long-awaited recognition of “paternity leave,” to which the CE responded that he is in favor of a paid paternity leave scheme. “I personally support the introduction of paid paternity [leave],” he said, recalling that in order to achieve a fair compromise, the government and the Standing Committee for the Coordination of Social Affairs (CPCS) have analyzed the systems in neighboring regions.
The CE said that a consensus should be reached soon, and he believes that the final solution to be implemented will grant fathers “between 3 to 5 days” of paid leave. The current law only allows fathers two days of justified absence from work after the birth of their children.
On Saturday, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lionel Leong, commented on Chui’s statement, stating, “I believe that call-out is a positive reminder for the members of the CPCS to reach a solution as soon as possible.”
Shortage of bilingual staff – Lawmaker Cheang Chi Keong questioned the CE over the shortage of “bilingual staff,” asking how many are required to achieve the goal of making the region a platform connecting China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
Cheang added that the measures in this “important field” might not be working with sufficient haste and proposed the idea of making the learning of the Portuguese language mandatory from primary level at all schools in the territory.
The CE acknowledged that there is “a great lack of bilingual staff” including in the government and especially in the legal field. Chui Sai On also said that is a shortage of 126 translators in the administration, and confirmed that the topic is a priority for the government in its forthcoming five-year plan. Regarding the school proposal, the CE said that there are now 3,800 students learning Portuguese in private schools, representing an increase of about 20 percent.
Non-political municipal bodies – Ng Kuok Cheong took the opportunity to once more raise the topic of the creation of so-called “non-political municipal bodies.” The CE replied that work in that area is proceeding cautiously, and that they have now entered into a “phase of study and work preparation regarding [their] composition and constitution.”
Chui added that there is a “historical sequence” that must be taken into account, and said that the proposal will be ready for public consultation in the second semester of this year, concluding that he hopes the completion of all preliminary work and the creation of the “non-governmental municipal bodies” would be finalized by 2018.
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