Thank you, Deputy President. Today, I speak in support of Mr SHIU Ka-fai’s motion, which urges the Government to launch a Greater Bay Area (“GBA”) Manpower Importation Scheme expeditiously and allow workers imported from GBA to travel between Hong Kong and their place of residence in the same day. This can not only address the acute manpower shortage in various trades and industries in Hong Kong within a short time, but also provide an incentive for GBA residents to work in Hong Kong. Moreover, given that Hong Kong is a small and densely populated city, importing workers to Hong Kong would inevitably cause housing problems.

Whenever labour importation is suggested, trade unions will invariably give an array of oft-repeated reasons to oppose it. The so-called reasons they cite are predictable, such as “manpower shortage is attributable to low wages and inadequate fringe benefits”. Such arguments have been repeated over and over again for decades. Even if employers are now willing to offer higher wages, they are unable to attract new employees because some people may fail to meet the income limits for public rental housing after getting paid high wages and they would rather give up job opportunities so as not to affect their eligibility. A Member has just asked: What should be done for the 100 000 unemployed people? I dare say, Deputy President, an additional 8 000 to 10 000 workers could be employed easily if employers in the catering industry were allowed to pay their employees simply in cash without any legal consequences, or in other words, the employees went to work and the employers paid them in cash without making contributions to their Mandatory Provident Fund accounts. Yet, we are not allowed to do so.  Nowadays, many wage earners value work-life balance. They are determined to strike a balance between work and life. There is also a serious manpower shortage at Metro Radio, on which I present a programme. Someone from the radio station has recently said to me that some people request to work only half days while some request to work only three days a week, unwilling to work full time.

These two issues cannot be resolved by a pay rise. It is ridiculous that trade union representatives are still playing the same old tune, and some union leaders even claim that there are 100 000 unemployed people in Hong Kong who can fill the job vacancies. Some other people argue that the labour importation schemes are already working. Such people are just using misleading tactics and criticizing for the sake of criticizing.

The reality is that all trades and industries are hamstrung by severe manpower shortages. Take the catering industry as an example. I need not describe its manpower situation as anyone who has dined at a restaurant can sense how serious the shortage is. Are there any restaurants that are sufficiently staffed? Manpower shortage makes it difficult for the catering industry to operate, and its efforts are not appreciated. Customers feel that they are not properly waited on, due to staff shortage. The shortage of kitchen staff also affects the quality of the food, and customers may even complain that the food has got worse, wondering whether the service has deteriorated or the restaurant has changed its chef. Staff also suffer as manpower shortage means more work for them. After receiving various complaints and negative reviews, restaurant operators and staff feel their efforts are not appreciated and become disheartened. It is conceivable that other industries are also facing similar problems. If this situation persists, Hong Kong will become less competitive and less attractive to foreign investment.

The world is constantly progressing. Many places are relying on imported labour to contribute to their economic development, but only trade union representatives demonize the importation of labour and label employers as mean-spirited and unwilling to pay more wages. That is why I think nothing more needs to be said. As Mr SHIU Ka-fai has pointed out time after time in the past few months, we may compare Hong Kong with Singapore, Taiwan and Korea, and there are probably just 5 200 imported workers in Hong Kong, whereas such workers number hundreds of thousands or even over a million in other places. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Hong Kong already began importing labour, which was instrumental in fostering the development of the catering industry and attracting foreign investment to Hong Kong at that time.

Some colleagues have just asked why we need to import labour expeditiously. Frankly speaking, while the Chief Executive is now taking forward the “Hello Hong Kong” campaign to invite people from all over the world to come to Hong Kong, the four sectors responsible for serving tourists, namely hotel, transport, retail and catering, are all facing manpower shortage at the moment. If we do not take action quickly enough, even if the Hong Kong Government does a good job and succeeds in attracting people from all over the world to Hong Kong, tourists will be disappointed by their visit to Hong Kong, and we will be in serious trouble.

Lastly, I would like to reiterate that I hope the Government will introduce a labour importation scheme under which imported workers are allowed to travel between the Mainland and Hong Kong in the same day. This suggestion does not only take into account the issue of rent, but also allow GBA residents to enjoy working in Hong Kong more and see their families at home every day. Thank you.