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SCMP Reporter

High-technology took a back seat in last week's policy address by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.

He concentrated on popular social issues such as education and welfare - mentioning the Internet just once, and offering no initiatives to bolster his plans for Hong Kong as a regional communications hub.

However, Democratic Legislative Councillor and information technology functional constituency representative Sin Chung-kai was generally supportive.

Mr Sin said he was disappointed at the lack of new policy initiatives, but impressed by the Government's progress to date.

'I think the Government is going in the right direction,' he said.

'The fact is we cannot expect everything to be done in one year.'

Mr Tung received widespread support for his first two policy addresses. In those, he announced the Government's plan to develop Hong Kong as an Asian technology centre.

His early announcements included the HK$5 billion Innovation and Technology Fund, telecommunications liberalisation, the Applied Science and Technology Research Institute, a city-wide public intranet, computers, Internet access and trained teachers in every school, and the opening of the much-delayed Science Park.

According to Mr Sin, most of these projects are underway.

'I think it is a matter of implementation now,' he said.

'I think we have to really push the Government to finish all of their jobs.'

Mr Sin added that poverty, unemployment and social welfare were a higher priority for Mr Tung than new hi-tech projects.

'He has to address the pain of the people,' Mr Sin said.

'There was not much [in the address] about technology actually. There was more about livelihood and the unemployed.'

Mr Sin also had praise for the Government's continued attempts to break the digital divide through improvements in education. Mr Tung said the Quality Education Fund would allocate HK$200 million to buy notebook computers which public-sector schools could lend to needy students.

Although Mr Tung failed to mention them, Mr Sin said the Government had continued to launch new technology projects since the last address.

'In this year, the Government said it would approve funding for Internet 2 [the next generation of high-speed Internet], it will further liberalise the wireline-based network . . . and there are initiatives to narrow the digital divide, though I do not think it is sufficient.'

On the security side, Mr Sin said the Security Bureau was drafting legislation to combat cyber-crime and the police would establish a forensic crime laboratory.



No fresh initiatives but councillor finds praise