房屋問題被港府視為施政重中之重，亦是社會關注焦點，新一年度施政報告在這方面花了不少篇幅。然而，以民意代表自居的立法會議員卻是說一套做一套，平時滔滔不絕，一旦立法會討論房屋問題，他們卻無影無蹤，以致再次發生流會鬧劇，既令人遺憾，也令人憤慨！

立法會房屋委員會原定舉行特別會議，聽取房屋及運輸局局長張炳良匯報施政報告的房屋政策，結果全體二十五名委員竟然只有四人準時出席，與法定人數八人相距甚遠，被迫宣布流會。立法會被市民形容為「垃圾會」，豈是無因？

可笑的是，缺席議員的理由千奇百怪，有人睡過頭、有人賴塞車、有人稱病、有人諉過於的士司機兜錯路、有人稱看錯開會時間。其實大家都知道，近年立法會出席率每況愈下，流會幾乎成為家常便飯。本報統計顯示，由二○一二年十月開始的本屆立法會，至今最少出現四次流會，其中四名議員次次都有份，成為「流會積犯」，這班政客尸位素餐，究竟還有何資格代表市民？

立法會議員作為政治人物，享受高薪厚祿，理應以身作則，惟現實卻是，不少議員敷衍塞責，開會不是失蹤，就是遲到早退，連最基本的職業道德也沒有。他們不僅愧對選民，也愧對納稅人！

When will the farce of aborted LegCo meetings end?

The Hong Kong government has always regarded housing as one of the most important issues it has to tackle. Rightly so, since this issue is also the greatest concern of the community. In the new Policy Address, a wide coverage was given to the problem. However, the deeds of the Legislative Councillors, who claim to have the people's mandate, do not match their words. While they would normally pour out words in the Legislative Council （LegCo）, they all vanished into thin air when the lawmaking body was poised to discuss the new housing initiatives. To the public's regret and indignation, yet another LegCo meeting had to be aborted!

On 21 January morning, the LegCo Panel on Housing originally scheduled a special meeting for briefing by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Anthony Cheung, on relevant policy initiatives in the Policy Address. However, out of a total of 25 members, only 4 showed up at the scheduled time. As the number of attendees fell far short of the quorum of 8, the meeting had to be aborted. Is this not another good reason why the LegCo has been nicknamed TrashCo by the public?

The kinds of strange excuses that the absent lawmakers came up with are ridiculous：oversleeping, traffic jam, illness, the taxi driver taking the wrong way, misreading the meeting time…… In fact, it is known to all that the attendance rate of LegCo meetings has been deteriorating in recent years. Aborting meeting has become an almost common occurrence. According to the statistics compiled by our newspaper, at least 4 meetings have been aborted since the beginning of this LegCo term, and there were 4 very same councillors involved each time, turning them into “recidivists of aborted meetings”. This tribe of politicians holds an office and enjoys all the privileges, yet does not do a stroke of work. How on earth are they qualified to represent the people？

As political figures, LegCo members enjoy high pays and great benefits. They should set an example by their own actions. But the reality is many of them just muddle through their work by either missing from meetings completely, or arriving at meetings late and leaving early. Without even the most basic professional ethics, they should feel ashamed before all taxpayers, and not only when facing their own constituents!

重要生字

Legislative Councillors, LegCo members, lawmakers 立法會議員

to abort a meeting 流會

vanish into thin air 消失得無影無蹤

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