Mainlanders seek judicial review over welfare

Two non-permanent residents from the mainland applied for a judicial review in High Court yesterday over the Social Welfare Department's refusal to grant non-permanent residents Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA).

The two women said it is unreasonable that the government only grants CSSA to residents who have resided in the SAR for at least seven years. The writ alleged that non-permanent residents are also Hong Kong residents so they have the same right to enjoy social welfare according to the Basic Law. It is discriminatory to classify residents into permanent and non-permanent, the writ said.

Media sees highest credibility rating in 9 yrs

The credibility of the local media has risen to the highest since early 1999, according to the Public Opinion Programme at the University of Hong Kong.

The 1,004 local people interviewed earlier this month gave the local media a rating of 6.29, up from 6.11 six months ago. Seventy-five percent of the respondents were satisfied with the degree of press freedom in the city and thought they enjoyed a high degree of freedom of speech. Yet less than 30 percent found the media to be responsible in their reporting while only about 44 percent considered the media to have practised self-censorship.

Wage commission to have high level of transparency

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung ensured yesterday that the work of the Minimum Wage Commission, an advisory body that reviews the level of minimum wage, will be transparent.

He said at the LegCo's Panel on Manpower that the formation and work of the commission will be included in the minimum wage legislation. The government will report the recommendations of the commission to the council, he said. It is too early to give the level of minimum wage at this stage because the commission will have to collect data early next year and conduct scientific analysis of the data later in the year, he said.

Brazil offers HK passport holders visa-free access

Hong Kong passport holders are now able to visit Brazil for up to 90 days without a visa, the Immigration Department announced yesterday.

Both governments signed an Agreement on Exemption of Visa Requirements in October 2005. The Brazilian government has completed the internal procedures for the agreement to enter into force, and the visa-free arrangement for Hong Kong SAR passport holders came into effect Wednesday.

There are now 136 countries or territories that grant visa-free access or visa-on-arrival to Hong Kong passport holders.

China Daily

(HK Edition 10/24/2008 page1)