9 July 2003

Dear Fellow Engineer

Thank you for your e-mail message requesting to be included on the mailing list for receiving materials regarding my LegCo work. 

From time to time, I consult the engineering electorate on important issues including the controversial National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill through various channels which include my frequent direct contacts with engineers at various engineering activities, monthly LegCo News in the HKIE's “Hong Kong Engineer” Journal, e-mail messages to 3,000 engineers in my database and my website at www.raymondhochungtai.org.hk which has been set up and running since 1998. 

For your reference, I attach the three e-mail messages on the National Security Bill which I sent out to the engineers in the past fortnight in case you have never received them. They will give you a pretty good idea how I conducted the consultation with the fellow engineers in my database.

In the heat of the debate on the National Security Bill in late June, several engineers suggested that I should conduct a general survey among the engineering electorate. In fact, this is not an option for me as I do not have a full electorate list. Firstly, it is illegal to use the electorate list provided by the government during the last election. Secondly, it is the HKIE's policy that their membership database is not to be released to any outside party, including the LegCo representative.

Despite this limitation, I am still trying my best ways and means to reach as many engineers as I can to gather their views on the Bill. For the purpose, I have also written to the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, the Association of Consulting Engineers of Hong Kong, the 10 government engineering staff associations, the Consultant Engineering Firm Resident Site Staff Association and the Government Young Engineers Subcommittee of the Government Local Civil Engineers Association to seek their positions on the Bill. These organisations have either given me their positions or informed their members to give their individual views to me direct. On the part of the HKIE, members were advised through a letter posted on their webpage asking them to give their views direct to me. I hope the above explanation clears up queries on my consultation process. 

Back to your request to be included on my mailing list, I am most willing to do so. Given the fact that there are about 800 engineers on my regular circulation list who would like to receive materials regarding my work in LegCo including speeches on a weekly basis (Group1 ) while the rest only prefer to receive messages on important issues (Group 2), I have established 2 circulation lists– Group 1 and Group 2. In order to ensure that you are put into the right one, I should be grateful if you could indicate your preference in your return e-mail.

Regards,

Yours



(signed)
Ir Raymond HO Chung-tai