Friday, July 18, 2014
Hong Kong's top money spinners say they have no plans to distribute anti- Occupy Central signature forms to staff.
This comes a day after Hong Kong and China Gas was forced to stop asking staff to join a campaign for 800,000 signatures opposing the civil disobedience movement.
Meanwhile, Basic Law Committee member Maria Tam Wai-chu voiced hope that Occupy Central can be avoided as it would have a negative impact on local social and economic development.
Corporates commenting on the issue included Sun Hung Kai Properties co- chairman Thomas Kwok Ping-kwong who said the developer will not demand that staff express their stance on Occupy.
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The anti-Occupy alliance plans to collect 800,000 signatures, topping the nearly 790,000 votes cast in Occupy Central's unofficial referendum last month on electoral reform for 2017.
"We are politically neutral and we won't have such arrangements," a spokeswoman for StanChart said.
MTR Corp also said they have no plans to distribute petition forms of the alliance to staff.
The alliance signature campaign will last until August 17, with more than 100 stations set up to receive signatures.
Spokesman Irons Sze Wing-wai, who is also president of the Chinese Manufacturers' Association, said they will not ask businesses to help distribute signature forms to staff. "What we want is that citizens sign the forms on a voluntary basis and we don't want businesses to distribute signature forms to staff in offices," Sze said.
He said even if staff have signed up in offices, they need to bring their forms to alliance stations for volunteers to affirm their identities and rule out repeats.
Confederation of Trade Unions chief executive Mung Siu-tat criticized Hong Kong and China Gas for pressuring staff by distributing the petition forms.
The firm decided to stop distributing forms after some staff protested.
EDDIE LUK
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=11&art_id=147519&sid=42638274&con_type=1&d_str=20140718&fc=8
