Thank you, Deputy President. I have prepared three speeches which I originally intended to deliver within the five minutes of my time; but after listening to the remarks of the Secretary and my colleagues, I think I do not need to repeat their arguments.

I just want to point out that back in 2011, James TIEN and Vincent FANG of the Liberal Party started promoting a healthcare reform. I took over in 2015 and introduced a private bill. This motion is proposed by Ms CHAN Hoi-yan, and she was the Political Assistant to Dr KO Wing-man when I knew her. Since I was always mischievous, she was apprehensive, and she went into my office every now and then, trying to prevent a fierce “fight” between me and Secretary Dr KO. Although I may not have been concerned about this issue since the time of the former Legislative Council in the 1990s as Dr TIK Chi-yuen has just said, it goes without saying that I have been concerned about that for a very long time.

On the issue we are discussing, I disagree with some of my colleagues because the three terms of Chief Executives I have had exchanges with are very willing to promote a healthcare reform. But unfortunately, doctors and nurses have served as Secretaries and perhaps they found a reform particularly difficult because of the close working relationship between doctors and nurses. For the current-term Secretary, frankly speaking, if we were to have a fight, I think he would probably win. I think he is a good fighter and very determined. In the past two years or so, it is obvious to all that he has implemented a number of reform measures.

I would like to share some figures. Actually, I am sure the Secretary knows very well that all of the figures just quoted by Members are correct. I have been presenting these figures in this Chamber for many years, nearly a decade, and they are related to the doctor-to-population ratio in Hong Kong. Not so long ago, there were about 2.12 medical professionals per 1 000 population but the ratio has dropped to 1.9 to 2 medical professionals per 1 000 population since the “black-clad violence”. I do not know the latest figures but I have heard of such a situation. Many years ago, there were already 2.4 medical professionals per 1 000 population in Singapore; and the country has also set a target of 3.2 medical professionals per 1 000 population in the National 13th or 14th Five-Year Plan. I am sure the country is capable of achieving the target, and I have not checked the latest figure. What I would like to say is that if the Government and the Secretary fail to “loosen up” the supply of doctors, aside from the importation of doctors, it will be difficult to implement the proposals put forward by my colleagues if the ratio of 2.6 to 2.8 medical professionals per 1 000 population in Hong Kong cannot be attained for local doctors.

I want to make one point in particular as I want to get it off my chest. I do not understand why the Hospital Authority (“HA”) often makes it a recruitment requirement for doctors to be bilingual. In the 1990s, many people liked to seek medical consultation at public hospitals. At that time, many HA doctors were from the British Commonwealth, and they could not speak Cantonese or Putonghua. Has this led to medical incidents? Not that I am aware of. There were enough doctors back then. Twenty years later, have the English standard of Hong Kong people deteriorated so drastically that they cannot cope if doctors speak to them in English instead of Cantonese or Putonghua? If there is really such a problem, we can even ask medical students to act as interpreters. So, I think we need to “loosen up” in this regard and allow more doctors to practice in Hong Kong, just as the measures related to nurses and dentists introduced earlier.

(THE PRESIDENT resumed the Chair)

In addition, I would like to talk about specialist doctors. We should not keep the old mindset and always worry that specialists from other places will cause patients’ death. Although the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine has the gate-keeping responsibility, I think the more stringent the gate-keeping, the easier it is for truly experienced doctors to refuse to come to practice in Hong Kong, which will be a loss to the public. Therefore, I hope that the current regulations applicable to local permanent residents can be extended to all and should not be limited to Hong Kong permanent residents only.

I thank Ms CHAN Hoi-yan for proposing the motion. I support the motion.