Hong Kong should brace itself for tough questions over anti-discrimination laws
Bernard Chan says some proposals by the Equal Opportunities Commission to update our legislation are likely to run into strong opposition, such as the call for government agencies to be bound by the laws against racial discrimination
Equality laws need urgent reform if Hong Kong is to keep its status as an international business centre
Looking through the report, it is surprising just what is still missing from our anti-discrimination laws. One minor example: there is no protection from discrimination against people with guide dogs. This may be understandable, as guide dogs are relatively new in Hong Kong. But their numbers are growing, and there has already been a case where a bus driver would not allow a guide dog to board the vehicle.
Another example is the lack of protection for women who breastfeed. Since breastfeeding is hardly new – and nursing women have long complained about being treated badly – this is overdue.
These are probably not at all controversial. By contrast, some other reforms could run into opposition.
Women do not have a legal right to return to their previous (or an equivalent) job after maternity leave. Some employers claim that maternity leave rights cause them inconvenience and extra costs. Yet, such discrimination holds woman back economically, and reduces their incentive to have children. Hong Kong lags behind many developed economies in this area, and I would guess we will see some progress here.
One of the biggest gaps is that government agencies and public authorities are not always bound by the government’s own laws against racial discrimination. The commission’s report discusses this in some detail.
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There are all sorts of practical issues here. To take a small example, is it economical to make all publicly funded vocational training available in English as well as Cantonese? But the report also presents policymakers – and indeed the whole community – with a very significant challenge: does the government have a duty to actively promote equality and fight discrimination? At the moment, our system essentially sees individuals, or victims, as mainly responsible for fighting discrimination.