Residency proposals 'unfair, ridiculous'
THE requirements proposed for Hong Kong's overseas passports holders to acquire permanent residency have been branded as ''ridiculous, unfair and impractical''.
Guy Lam Kwok-hung, chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance of Chinese Expatriates, said the criteria suggested by the Preliminary Working Committee was not made according to laws.
Mr Lam, a Canadian passport holder, said the suggestion that using 1997 as a dividing line to allow people returning home to retain permanent residency was unjust.
''If an individual coming back in 1996 can retain his permanent residency and another in 1998 cannot, it is totally unfair.
''Besides, the latter will automatically be turned into a second-class resident of the Special Administrative Region if he is not entitled to the political rights which the former can enjoy,'' said Mr Lam, who is a solicitor and plans to take part in the 1995 Legislative Council elections.
He added: ''It will create contradiction when the Basic Law permits 20 per cent of the 60 Legco seats to be occupied by foreign passport holders.''
