Page:Hong Kong Basic Law consultation report vol. 1.djvu/168

 welfare, the HKSAR would be subject to excessive restrictions, and welfare policies would become inflexible.

7.4 A member held that the existing social welfare policies were quite flexible and that such a characteristic should be preserved because social welfare policies should not be rigidly prescribed by law. As it would be undesirable to have too much or too little social welfare, it was proposed that the present practice be maintained.

7.5 It was suggested that the phrase "as prescribed by law" in "the right to social welfare as prescribed by law" should be deleted from Article 36. Since social welfare in Hong Kong is not prescribed by law and the majority of the social services are provided according to policies, if social welfare could only be enjoyed "as prescribed by law", it would only restrain the development of social services.

7.6 A member held that retaining the words "as prescribed by law" did not indicate that the standard of social welfare to be enjoyed by residents of the HKSAR would drop.

7.7 A member held that if the words "as prescribed by law" were retained, it would mean that all social services in Hong Kong would have to be prescribed by law, otherwise they would lose their meaning. This would entail much trouble.

7.8 It was held that the deletion of the words "as prescribed by law" from Article 36 would imply that residents of the future HKSAR would have the right to enjoy social welfare infinitely.

8. Other views

8.1 A member held that religious belief in Articles 32 and 140 of the Basic Law (Draft) did not provide for religious freedom to the extent of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Basic Law (Draft) should at least incorporate Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states: "Everyone shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. This right shall include freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice, and freedom, either individually or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching."

8.2 A member asked whether the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and government-subsidized schools were non-governmental organizations or not. A member pointed out that these educational institutions should be regarded as non-governmental organizations