Post-2000 public hospital doctors to receive pay rises
Frontline public hospital doctors will be given a pay increase ranging from 15 to 38 per cent in October, which will cost taxpayers an extra HK$355 million a year. The Hospital Authority will announce the new pay scale for doctors who joined after April 2000. It cut the pay scale for new doctors in 2000 due to the economic downturn. Starting salary, including allowances, will increase from HK$46,080 to HK$52,891, while the maximum salary will rise from HK$81,670 to HK$112,484. The authority will extend the contract term for new doctors from three years to nine. Frontline Doctors' Union chairman Ernie Lo Chi-fung said the union was not really satisfied with the new pay scale, because doctors who joined before 2000 were still earning under better conditions, but added that it appreciated the authority's efforts to improve packages.
December 2 by-election for seat left vacant by Ma Lik
The by-election for the Legco seat left vacant by the death of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong chairman Ma Lik will be held on December 2, the Electoral Affairs Commission announced, with the nomination period opening in mid-October. The commission said holding the poll for the Hong Kong Island seat on the same date as the district council polls on November 18 would confuse voters.
Public confidence in Tsang down, survey shows
Public confidence in Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has dropped 6 percentage points to 64 per cent over the past two weeks, a University of Hong Kong public opinion programme study showed. But the chief executive's score remained stable at 66.7 out of 100, while 53 per cent of the 1,010 respondents were satisfied with his policy direction. Pollster Robert Chung Ting-yiu said Henry Tang Ying-yen had been acting chief executive when Mr Tsang was on leave during the survey period.
