There had been a lot of misunderstanding and distortions of the Race Discrimination Bill, the home affairs minister said yesterday as the Legislative Council gave the draft legislation its first reading.
Patrick Ho Chi-ping said he disagreed with criticism that the protection the bill offered minorities had been severely weakened because of the exemptions it contains.
He stressed that to attain racial equality and social harmony, a balance must be struck between protecting minority rights and respecting the freedom of others.
'Every exemption is supported by sufficient grounds,' Dr Ho said.
The minister sought to ease fears that people might be put behind bars for calling expatriates gweilos or Indians ah cha, pledging that any ambiguities would be tackled during the legislative process. He said people would not be jailed if the use of colloquial terms did not result in racial vilification.
The bill does not cover discrimination through use of a particular language. Dr Ho said it would be impractical to remove this exemption - one of the bill's most controversial. To do so would imply that public services had to be delivered in every language.