12-07-09 Volunteers participated in 712 Cultural Tour

Thanks to the arrangement of our chairman, Dr Keezhangatte James Joseph, our volunteers had the opportunities to know culture and religion of ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong . The cultural tour was held on 12 July during which participants had visited three places of worship: the Sikh Temple and the Masjid Ammar & O.R. Saddick Islamic Centre in Wan Chai; and the Hindu Temple in Happy Valley .

The purpose of the tour was to promote cultural and ethnic understanding. Besides witnessing different religious ceremonies, our volunteers had the luck to taste traditional Indian food in Sikh and Hindu Temple. On the whole, it was a new and memorable experience.

11-07-09 The First Photo class for Ethnic Minority Students

Thanks to our volunteer, an experienced photo journalist and freelance photographer Brian Ching, Hong Kong Unison manag ed to organize the first photo workshop for ethnic minority students. Beginning on 11 July, the four-session workshop was held in Pak Kau College . Besides basic knowledge and skills in photography, students would also be taught to develop a good sense and learn how to observe the world.

10-07-2009 Racial Discrimination Ordinance Comes Into Effect Now

The Racial Discrimination Ordinance (RDO) finally comes into effect on 10 July 2009 and those facing race discrimination now have a way to remedy, i.e., they could file a complaint to the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) and requesting damages or compensation from the one committing discriminatory act.

The RDO protects citizens in the following areas, i.e., employment, education, provision of goods and service s, disposal or management of premises, participation in clubs, eligibility to vote for or stand for elections etc . In relation to employment, a Code of Practice (COP) is ready and acts as guidance for both employer and employees to follow the new law, prevent them from committing racially discriminatory acts.

The EOC hotline for enquires and complaint is 2511 8211. For those who want to know more about the new law or seek advice before filing a complaint, please feel free to contact Unison at 2789 3246.

09/07/2009 -- Press release from EOC

Brief introduction about the RDO

The COP on Employment

07-07-09 Joint submission to the LegCo Panel on Constitutional Affairs on the Draft ed Administrative Guideline on Promotion of Racial Equality

(Click here for details / 詳情按此)

03-07-2009 EM Students and Parents Lodged Complaint before LegCo Members

About 10 EM students and parents lodged a complaint before Legislative Council, calling for equal Chinese Exam Fee as their Chinese counterparts.

In fact it is the second action from the EM community, calling for the reduction of GCSE Chinese Exam Fee, which is five times more than the HKCEE Chinese Exam. At 28 May, there were over 150 students and parents, joining the petition at the Government Headquarters. Since the latter still refused to give concrete promise, we asked our LegCo members to help following the issue.

Based on the principle of equality, we insist the Government should give subsidies to all students taking GCSE Chinese Exam so that they only need to pay the same amount as those taking HKCEE Chinese Exam. If the Government did not respond to our request, we would consider launching a judicial review.

The four LegCo members attending the meeting are Hon Cheung Man Kwong from Democratic Party, Hon Cyd Ho, Hon Leung Yiu Chung and Hon Starry Lee from DAB.

Our Leaflet for 703 Action

01-07-2009 Ethnic Minorities joined 7.1 Rally for the second consecutive year

Despite the hot and humid weather, our ethnic minority youth joined the July First Rally for the second consecutive year, calling for full democracy and equal opportunities for employment. Among all the participants that day, we are one of the groups having the highest morale, and kept on shouting slogans during the protest.

Before 1997, our ethnic minorities have equal opportunities in joining civil service . Yet the Government had since imposed Chinese Language requirement for all civil service posts, i.e., at least a Grade E in HKCEE Chinese Exam.

We consider it is unnecessary to impose Chinese Language requirement for all civil service posts. Such requirement may also constitute indirect race discrimination. So we call for the Government to review its employment policy and to recruit based on talent, but not on skin colour.

It should be noted that the Government has made minor adjustment last year, allowing applicants using Grade D in GCSE Chinese Exam as an alternative for a pass in HKCEE Chinese Exam, in the application of non-degree civil service post. Yet for degree post, a higher Chinese proficiency standard is still required. Besides, the Government have never publicized for such change. Not only have ethnic minorities, but also many government departments are unaware of the change.

Taking into account of the above situation, we called for:

1) For non-degree posts, promotion should be carried out among ethnic minority community, public and government departments, so that everybody knew the new requirement.

2) For degree posts, the present universal Chinese requirement, i.e., Level 1 or 2 in the Chinese subject of Common Registration Exam should be dropped. Requirement on Chinese Language should be set based on genuine occupational needs.

Our Press Release for 71 Rally (Chinese version only)

Our Leaflet for 71 Rally