Debate on the 2012 political reform package

Controversies over the 2012 political reform package can be a good issue worth discussion in the L.S. lessons. Before analysing the issue in depth, students can organize and list the contentions of the Pan-democrats and pro-establishment camp. Here are some of their arguments:

Pan-democrats

(1) The proposal does not confirm whether the functional constituency will be abolished or not because its existence does not conform with the principle of universal suffrage.
(2) The proposal does not delineate the road map to electoral arrangement of universal suffrage of the Chief Executive in 2017 and the Legislative Council in 2020.
(3) No clear definition of "universal suffrage" has been made.
(4) Allocating the new functional seats to the existing district council constituency only assures the long-live existence of the functional constituencies.

Pro-establishment

(1) The National People's Congress Standing Committee's decision requires that the 2012 Legislative Council should still have an equal number of lawmakers returned by geograhical direct elections and by functional constituencies.
(2) The SAR government is constitutionally restricted by the so-called five-step process.Under the restriction, the current government is only mandated to deal with electoral arrangements for 2012 but not the arrangements for universal suffrage in 2017 and 2020.
(3) The 2012 package using elected district councillors to elect six "new functional constituency", together with five additional geographical directly elected seats, can extend the democratic element of the legislature and to dilute the influence of narrowly based business and professional functional constituencies.
(4) Another setback in political reform will make the society more confrontational and ungovernable as people become desperate about the prospect of democracy.


The following video links of some commentators may help you think about this issue from various perspectives.

ATV Newsline (13-6-2010)Part 1 & Part 2

http://app2.hkatv.com/v3/webtv/webtv.php?program=3000006

以富士康事件作為通識科跨單元學習的例子

發生在內地富士康廠房的連環跳樓事件被傳媒廣泛報導，這一連串的悲劇反映當前國內哪些社會問題呢？而同學又可以如何從跨單元的視角去分析這個議題呢？

首先，同學可先綜合不同報章的評論，並嘗試從不同單元所學到的基礎理論作分析框架，以提問的方式引導自己從不同的角度去思考並對事件作深入的理解。以下列出一些提問的例子供同學參考﹕

單元一 (個人成長與人際關係)
 (1) 選擇輕生的員工面對什麼逆境呢？
 (2) 當客觀環境不能改變時，有何正面方法可以幫助他們更好地面對逆境？
 (3) 有論者認為內地年輕一代普遍在較富裕的環境中成長，因此抗逆能力較低。你是否認同這說法呢？

單元三 (現代中國) 及 單元四 (全球化)
 (1) 從富士康事件和本田零件廠爆發的工潮來看，中國改革開放後賴以成功的經濟模式，即是以大量廉價勞工支持的加工出口業能否持續呢？為什麼？
 (2) 中國推行了三十一年的一孩政策對中國將來的勞動力造成什麼影響？
(參考意見: 年輕勞動力萎縮，勞動市場面對壓力，工資成本上漲，企業經營困難)
 (3) 隨著工資成本上漲，中國還能保持「世界工廠｣的地位嗎？
 (3) 在內地，由政府向企業要求提高工資是普遍的做法，這方法有何利弊呢？
(利: 立竿見影。弊: 政府過度介入企業的營運)
 (4) 針對上述的弊端，政府應如何作出改善？
(參考意見: 政府應透過稅收進行再分配，建立完善的社保制度)
 (5) 現時在工廠打工的大多是第二代的農民工，他們面對的困難和第一代的農民工有什麼不同？
(參考意見: 現時80後的民工是一孩政策下的一代，對工作環境及公平待遇有較高的要求；作為獨生子女，背負獨力養父母的責任，但奈何收入未能追上城市的生活指數，生活素質下降，工作無前景但後退無路，因為他們大多一出生便在城市生活，無法可以和上一代一樣，返回農村務農為生。)

同學可以從不同報章評論找到以上提問的答案，透過這些自問自答的活動，能有效加深同學對議題作跨單元分析的能力。