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CHAPTER 9 : APPROACH TO THIS REPORT
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areas being the school building programme and the supply of trained teachers.
9.4 As far as we are able to ascertain at the present time, the additional expenditure involved in implementing this programme will rise from a modest $34.71 million in 1991-92 to a peak of $574.40 million in 1995-96, settling back to around the $400 million mark in the second half of the decade*. It should be noted, however, that our forecasts do not include the expenditure arising from the implementation of future measures which are still dependent on research. For example, we cannot now ascertain the full cost of implementing our proposed framework of attainment targets and related assessment, nor the cost of bridging courses proposed in our programme of language reforms.
9.5 We are aware that this programme area will be expensive to implement, but it is clear to us that the measures involved will have less impact on improving the quality of education in schools if they are not implemented in parallel. The Government would be well advised to develop a financing plan for funding this programme in full.
* Forecast of known additional expenditure arising from implementation of the recommendations in this report ($ million at current prices)
-1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96
Recurrent 27.38 105.74 159.37 224.47 286.34
Non-recurrent 7.33 35.29 97.92 255.57 288.06
Total 34.71 141.03 257.29 480.04 574.40
1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01
Recurrent 341.68 380.09 392.11 400.89 408.44
Non-recurrent 141.67 128.89 148.39 41.14 14.98
Total 483.35 508.98 540.50 442.03 423.42
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Annex 1A Behavioural problems in schools
Information on behavioural problems in primary schools is collected through the Student Guidance Service of ED. In secondary schools, surveys of behavioural problems have been conducted since 1982 by the Standing Committee on Unruly and Delinquent Behaviour in Schools every four months. Statistics on incidents of behavioural problems in primary schools and on unruly and delinquent behaviour in secondary schools from 1986-87 to 1988-89 are at Appendix a and b respectively. (At Appendix c is the summary based on 98 returns, of a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Association for School Discipline and Counselling Teachers in 1987 on Behavioural Problems for reference). At Appendix d and e are statistics on criminal offences committed by children of primary and junior secondary age during the period 1978-87.
2. We would caution that this information has to be interpreted carefully. Some of the categories are difficult to define and schools providing the information have different notions as to what constitutes a recordable offence. Moreover, it is impossible to tell whether the reported incidents are "one-off" offences committed by separate individuals or multiple offences committed by a much smaller number. Nonetheless, the statistics indicate the perception of teachers as to the nature and extent of various problems and the way in which patterns change over time.
3. An analysis of the data does not indicate that in primary schools unruly behaviour is widespread - there were just over 3200 cases recorded in 1988-89. This is an increase of 1.9% in the number of cases over the previous year and 12.1% over 1986-87. The most common problems. in 1988-89 were behavioural or emotional difficulties and unsatisfactory classroom conduct which together comprised 30.2% of the total. As for the more serious criminal offences among primary students, only 1050 cases were recorded in 1989 which represent a decrease of 9.5% over 1988 and a decrease of 32.6% over 1987. This followed a trend of gradual increase between 1982 and 1987. The largest category of offence relates to theft and shoplifting which in 1989 comprised 66% of the total. Although recently the number of cases has declined, we note that the total in 1989 is nearly double that in 1980.
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4. In secondary schools over half of the incidents of unruly behaviour reported in 1988-89 comprised less serious offences such as habitual lateness, failure to hand in assignments and failure to bring textbooks to school -the latter two offences having increased by 20% over -the previous year. The more serious offences such as rebellious behaviour and malicious damage to property comprised just under 12% in 1988-89. There has been a very small increase in these offences over the previous year. The number of cases of habitual truancy has also increased by about 20%. Overall, the number of incidents of unruly behaviour is on the rise. There were 8%
more cases in 1988-89 over the previous year and 16% more cases in that year over 1986-87. This is worrying.
Delinquent behaviour in secondary schools is also on the increase. The number of cases increased by 14%
between 1986-87 and 1987-88 and 1.5% between 1987-88 and 1988-89. In terms of category of offence, gambling was up by just over 40% but involvement in the following offences showed an encouraging decline : involvement in sex offences (-37.9%), possession of pornographic materials (-26.2%), stealing (-6.2%), suspected involvement in triad activities (-2.7%) and intimidation (-4%). As for criminal offences committed by young offenders aged between 12 and 15, there were just over 6300 cases recorded in 1989 of which about 1800 comprised shop theft and other miscellaneous theft ie 28.5%. As with primary age children, the number of cases has increased so that in 1989, the number of cases is just under double that in 1980.
5. Through our discussion of these problems with primary and secondary school teachers during our programme of school visits and panel discussions and ED's contact with them, we have learned that teachers support in general the impression given by the statistics that the problem of unruly and delinquent behaviour and indeed criminal behaviour of our students is not great and that it is within teachers capacity to cope with. While we agree with this assessment, we are concerned by the rising trend in the number of cases and on these grounds we believe that there is no room for complacency.
6. The root cause for many behavioural problems in our schools is the boredom and frustration felt by students who are unable or unwilling to cope with the common-core curriculum or, indeed, are not sufficiently stretched by it. Another major cause is the difficulty faced by students in coping with English as the medium of instruction. Students may vent their feelings through undesirable behaviour. Some may become so alienated that they drop out of school altogether. Over the past few years there have been 8000 to 10000 suspected cases each year of school dropouts. However, on investigation by SGOs, only a few of them, less than 0.2% of the total enrolment of all primary and junior secondary pupils, proved to be genuine dropouts at the end of each academic year. Figures are shown below
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85-86 86-87 87-88 88-89
Total pupil enrolment (primary & junior secondary)
792742 (100%)
796944 (100%)
800326 (100%)
798754 (100%) No. of cases investigated (primary &
junior secondary)
8399 8218 8964 10958
No. of genuine dropouts (primary &
junior secondary) as counted by end of each academic year
443 (0.06%)
601 (0.08%)
794 (0.1%)
1351 (0.17%)
The others had, for example, either reached the age of 15, returned to school after detection or emigrated without informing their schools. SGOs make every effort to convince parents and their children of the value of education and the need to comply with the law requiring children to attend school. The return to school also reduces the likelihood of dropouts being approached by triads and other undesirable elements.
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Appendix a Behavioural problems in primary schools,
1986/87, 1987/88 and 1988/89
1986/87 1987/88 1988/89 % change
over
Type of problem No. % No. % No. % 1987/88
Behavioural
behavioural/emotional difficulty
699 24.4 711 22.6 639 19.9 -10.1
non-attendance 261 9.1 168 5.3 191 5.9 +13.6
unsatisfactory classroom conduct
340 11.9 400 12.7 331 10.3 -17.2
truancy 168 5.9 186 5.9 198 6.2 +6.4
discontinued schooling 10 0.3 8 0.3 27* 0.8 +237.5
stealing 13 0.5 20 0.6 166** 5.2 +730.0
Sub-total 1491 52.1 1493 47.4 1552 48.3 +3.9
Other problems*** 1372 47.9 1656 52.6 1659 51.7 +0.1
Total 2863 100.0 3149 100.0 3211 100.0 +1.9
* The number of primary students who discontinue schooling has increased largely due to emigration.
** This figure comprises stealing in school and shop lifting. Some of the latter cases may also be included under shop theft in Appendix d. A child caught shop lifting may be reported to the police or the school or both.
*** Other problems include those arising from students' health, family and relationship with peers.
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Appendix b Incidents of unruly behaviour in secondary schools,
1986/87, 1987/88 and 1988/89 Type of
unruly
1986/87 1987/88 1988/89 % change
over
behaviour No. % No. % No. % 1987/88
Insolent or rebellious behaviour
20260 12.0 20848 10.6 20971 9.9 +0.6
Disciplinary offences to attract attention
17755 10.5 21187 10.8 20579 9.7 -2.9
Habitual truancy 10913 6.4 10924 5.6 13077 6.2 +19.7
Acts of dishonesty such as cheating
10541 6.2 12272 6.3 11515 5.4 -6.2
Regular use of foul language
7876 4.6 7424 3.8 6916 3.3 -6.8
Malicious damage to property
3506 2.1 3931 2.0 3963 1.9 +0.8
Bullying 2485 1.5 2659 1.3 2727 1.3 +2.6
Habitual lateness 29802 17.6 33055 16.8 33991 16.0 +2.8
Failure to hand in assignments / bring textbooks to school
54591 32.2 65442 33.4 77862 36.8 +19.0
Others* 11610 6.9 18366 9.4 20224 9.5 +10.1
Total 169339 100.0 196108 100.0 211825 100.0 +8.0
* Others include smoking, improper uniform, etc.
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Incidents of delinquent behaviour in secondary schools, 1986/87, 1987/88 and 1988/89
Type of delinquent
1986/87 1987/88 1988/89 % change
over
behaviour No. % No. % No. % 1987/88
Acts of physical violence 5050 38.3 5582 37.1 5650 37.0 +1.2
Stealing 3525 26.7 4209 28.0 3947 25.8 -6.2
Involvement in gambling 2209 16.8 2181 14.5 3089 20.2 +41.6
Suspected involvement in triad activities
745 5.6 637 4.2 620 4.1 -2.7
Intimidation such as blackmail
739 5.6 802 5.3 770 5.0 -4.0
Possession of
pornographic materials
664 5.0 1298 8.6 958 6.3 -26.2
Involvement in sex offences
126 1.0 219 1.5 136 0.9 -37.9
Conviction of one or more crimes
128 1.0 115 0.8 101 0.7 -12.2
Total 13186 100.0 15043 100.0 15271 100.0 +1.5
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Appendix c (Translation)
Report on the Questionnaire Survey on the Work of School Discipline and Counselling Teachers By Mr HUI Po-wing, Chairman of the Hong Kong Association for
School Discipline and Counselling Teachers
In May 1987, the Hong Kong Association for School Discipline and Counselling Teachers set up a questionnaire design and analysis group internally., Members of the group comprised Mr HUI Po-wing, Mr CHAN Ying-nam, Mr CHUNG Yum-cheung and Mr HO Chau-pang. The aims of the questionnaire were : (1) to study students' behavioural deviation tendency at school and identify ways to counsel problem youngsters; (2) to probe into the work pressure on school discipline and counselling teachers and arouse public awareness; and (3) to find out the member schools' expectation of the Association and invite suggestions on services that the Association should provide. On 1 September 1987, the Association sent out 375 copies of the questionnaire. In the survey, secondary school discipline or counselling teachers in Hong Kong were the target and each secondary school was treated as a representative unit. Eventually in early October, 98 completed questionnaires were received, and the responding rate was 26.13% which was 1.94% higher as compared with the responding rate of 24.19% last year. The findings of the survey are now given below.
The questionnaire was divided into 4 main parts.
2. Part 1 : The aim was to find out the degree of students' behavioural deviations at school. There were 20 questions on this part and the students' behavioural deviations were listed below in order of their incidence : (1)
"Habitually late" -45.91%; (2) "Failure to do homework" - 39.79%; (3) "Theft at school" - 33.67%; (4)
"Rebellious behaviour" - 30.61%; (5) "Foul language" - 19.38%; (6) "Absence from school without leave and playing truant" - 15.3%; (7) "Dressed in a trendy way" - 14.28%; (8) "Damaging public property - 14.28%; (9)
"Dishonesty" - 13.26%; (10) "Bringing objectionable publications to school" - 10.2%; (11) "Smoking" - 7.14%;
(12) "Congregating with trouble-making youngsters at entrances of schools after classes" - 7.14%; (13) "Uttering triad language" - 7.14%; (14) "Fighting" - 6.12%; (15) "Staying overnight away from home without parents' consent" - 5.1%; (16) "Gambling" - 5.1%; (17) "Recruiting henchmen" - 4.08%; (18) "Triad infiltration into school" -2.04%; (19) "Taking soft drugs" -2.04%; and (20) "Students having sex with the opposite sex" - this did not occur frequently.
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3. Summing up the rule-breaking behaviour of students at school, "habitually late", "failure to do homework", "theft at school", "rebellious behaviour" and "foul language" were the items registering the highest incidences. The item "habitually late", in particular, was up by 7.86% as compared with last year's 38.5% while
"failure to do homework" had an incidence of as high as 39.79%. Some students may find their courses of study uninteresting and school life dull, and feel that the subjects they are studying will not be of direct help to their employment and life in future. Therefore the Association suggests that the authorities concerned should review the design and arrangement of the overall secondary school curriculum with a view to introducing more practical subjects and subjects of interest. For example, computer studies should be extended to junior secondary school students. In my personal opinion, the present subjects of civic education, moral education, family life education and sex education can be combined into a single subject called "life education". Only in this way can the curriculum be innovated to cope with the progress and needs of the times. Secondly, the Association suggests that schools should innovate their extra-curricular activities to make them more diversified and attractive and students be encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities so as to enhance their sense of belonging to their schools. Furthermore, students should also be made to cultivate a spirit of punctuality and self-discipline.
The best way to achieve this is to allow the students to form class associations on their own while teachers are to give assistance when necessary. This is to make use of team-related restrictions to discourage students' bad habits of being late and failing to do homework. Compared with last year, the figure relating to the problem of
"triad infiltration into school" is down by 5.05% whereas those relating to the problems of "recruiting henchmen at school", "uttering triad language" and "congregating with trouble-making youngsters at the entrances of schools"
show marked decreases. This indeed is very encouraging.
4. Part 2 : The aim was to find out the problems faced by discipline and counselling teachers in the course of their work. There were altogether 24 questions. Among the problems that discipline and counselling teachers considered to be insolvable, the one relating to "students playing truant but shielded by parents who wrote letters to ask for post-approval for the leave" was top on the list, and 26.53% of the respondents held such view. Last year, the list was topped by the same problem. Therefore, the Association suggests that schools should set up
"parent-teacher associations" to step up the link and communication between the school and parents, to discuss the behavioural conduct of students both when they are at school and outside school on a regular basis and to review the progress they make in their studies. These meetings may be held on a monthly or quarterly basis and are believed to be of help to the growth of students. What follow are "students having sex with the opposite sex"
- 15.3%, "students staying overnight away from home without parents' consent" - 14.28% and "students taking soft drugs" - 10.2%. Based on the
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findings of the survey, other issues that called for attention were the 10 cases of students taking soft drugs and 11 cases of students having sex with the opposite sex. This was rather serious. Therefore, schools should place greater emphasis on these two aspects when drawing up the general programme for moral education so that by inculcating youngsters with knowledge about sex and a sense of responsibility to the community, the above-mentioned problems can be prevented from further deteriorating. Finally, there was the problem of "students having repeatedly broken school regulations and incurred the maximum number of major demerits but they could not be dismissed because the schools concerned were governed by the Code of Aid for Secondary Schools".
59.18% of the respondents had encountered such a problem. As some of the inferior students who violate school discipline with malicious intent do not have their hearts in their studies and seriously affect the others who need to study, the Association suggests that these students should be dismissed. Dismissing bad students can serve a deterrent effect and uplift the morale of the school whereas the students concerned can rebuild their confidence as a result of a change of the learning environment. The authorities concerned should set up schools of a greater variety and provide a wider range of subjects of practical use and interest to accommodate these students. For example, specialized vocational training schools which offer courses such as hair-styling; fashion garment-making;
fast service shop attendants training; security guard training; building management training and beauty care training etc., should be set up.
5. Part 3 : 76.53% of the respondents thought that they were "unable to do teaching at the same time because discipline and counselling work was very time-consuming and they were already working overtime". This was the most serious problem encountered by discipline and counselling teachers in the course of their work. The Association suggests that the authorities concerned should reduce the number of periods, preferably to less than 15, that discipline and counselling teachers have to teach so that they can have more time to have contacts with the students and to deal with the increasing caseload. The second most serious problem, as indicated by 71.42%
of the respondents, was "parents shielding students and being unreasonable". The Association suggests that education of parents and refresher courses for discipline and counselling teachers should be organized. It is only through further learning by both sides and through mutual understanding and accommodation that we are able to help our next generation. The dignity and prestige of schools should by no means be undermined. Parents should know that if they want to earn their children's respect, they should first respect the schools, or else it will only encourage some of the inferior students to be afraid of nothing. The third most serious problem, as indicated by 59.18% of the respondents, was "lack of counselling rooms" as it is essential that the questioning of rule-breaking students should be carried out confidentially; 60% of the discipline and counselling teachers do not have a workplace of their own. Apart from these
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problems, there were 31.63% of the discipline and counselling teachers who felt that they lacked protection for their personal safety, 18.36% had been threatened and 2.04% had been attacked. Despite the various problems encountered, 50% of the discipline and counselling teachers said that they were willing to continue to do their work which they regarded as challenging.
6. Part 4 : The aim was to find out members' expectations of the Association and invite suggestions from them. The suggestions received were as follows : the Association should publish newsletters on a regular basis to facilitate the exchange of information relating to discipline and counselling work; organize training courses and seminars to help improve counselling techniques; and conduct questionnaire surveys on an annual basis to gather information.
7. Ways of handling the findings of the questionnaire survey : (1) to be published via the press; (2) to be submitted to the Education Department; (3) to be submitted to the Education Commission; (4) to be submitted to all the educational organizations concerned; and (5) to be kept as the Association's internal reference material.
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Appendix d Criminal offences committed by children of primary school age (7-11 years)
Crime 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Violent Crime
Indecent assault 1 1 3 2 3 2 4 3
Woundings 7 3 2 1 5
Serious assault 5 13 4 8 13 38 21 31 31
Cruelty to child 1
Criminal intimidation 1 1 2 2
Robberies 21 29 8 12 16 15 14 39 46 51
Blackmail 7 14 9 1 9 4 5 5 9 5
Arson 2 2 5 12 2 6 13
Sub-total 34 57 27 20 41 41 73 74 96 106
Preventive crime
Possession of arms and ammunition 1 1 1 1
Possession of offensive weapon 3 1 1 3 4 7
Going equipped for stealing 2 3 2 1 1 2 2 1 1
Possession of unlawful instrument 3 2 1 2
Tampering with vehicle 1 8 4 6
Unlawful possession 9 11 7 9 2 7 3 4 2 5
Loitering and trespass 2 4 3 1 1 4 1
Sub-total 20 19 14 13 4 13 8 16 12 21
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Crime 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Other Crime
Burglary with breaking 25 20 14 15 26 25 11 31 20 15
Burglary without breaking 39 48 19 25 28 45 17 33 28 49
Theft (snatching) 6 5 2 5 4 9 4 7 6 14
Theft (pickpocketing) 6 9 8 6 6 6 3 5 15 7
Theft (shop theft) 104 198 192 359 337 898 839 1100 737 526
Theft from vehicle 49 53 31 35 27 22 18 23 25 29
Taking conveyance without authority 2 7 3 2 2 4
Abstracting electricity 1
Theft from construction site 11 5 1
Theft of bicycle 179 184 185 17 21 37 47 47 31 48
Other miscellaneous thefts 132 127 151 147 147 129 167
Handling stolen goods 7 3 4 3 8 3 4 5 8 13
Deception 3 1 5 4 1 1
Forgery and coinage 1 2 1
Other offences against public morality 1
Trafficking in dangerous drugs 1 1
Possession of dangerous drugs for trafficking 2 1 4 2 5 2 1
Perjury 4 2 2 1 1 8 2 7 5 8
Escape and rescue 3
Other offences against lawful authority 11 20 16
Using ID card relating to another 1
Criminal damage 27 27 35 20 23 27 22 37 17 16
Other offences against person 2 1
Offences against public order 3 1 1 7 3 1 3 14
Unlawful society offences 2 2 1 6 3 2 2
157
Crime 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Serious gambling offences 1
Conspiracy 1 1 1 2
Other crime 2 12 11 21 10 14 14 9
Sub-total 464 585 520 640 637 1262 1142 1469 1052 923
TOTAL 518 661 561 673 682 1316 1223 1559 1160 1050
* The above statistics are provided by the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.
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Appendix e Criminal offences committed by children of junior secondary school age (12-15 years)
Crime 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Violent Crime
Rape 2 4 1 2 4 3 5 7 5
Indecent assault 50 47 46 27 33 64 46 51 64 74
Murder and manslaughter 8 6 8 9 9 3 2 1 4 8
Woundings 36 52 43 54 63 51 105
Serious assault 234 250 276 281 315 306 305 401 448 419
Assault on police# 12 7 7 4 2 4 4 17
Kidnapping 1
Cruelty to child 2
Criminal intimidation 34 29 13 20 54 41 13 32 38 49
Robberies 337 435 266 329 342 458 385 582 777 920
Aggravated burglary 1
Blackmail 110 151 89 120 158 125 114 118 126 142
Arson 5 3 6 11 20 15 18 27
Sub-total 777 922 716 834 976 1059 944 1272 1537 1768
Preventive Crime
Possession of arms and ammunition 14 3 3 1 5 3 7 7
Possession of offensive weapon 65 64 60 65 82 71 60 96 140 217
Going equipped for stealing 45 30 29 14 14 21 14 17 60 67
# This category includes resisting arrest from 1978 to 1982. A breakdown of these two offences prior to 1983 is not available.
Crime 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Possession of unlawful instrument 13 14 11 15 13 26 15 14 43 39
Tampering with vehicle 14 47 37 49
Unlawful pawning offences 2
Unlawful possession 72 64 68 75 66 73 51 64 66 84
Loitering and trespass 67 55 53 60 55 49 23 23 20 32
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Sub-total 276 230 224 230 235 240 180 268 366 497
Other Crime
Burglary with breaking 215 189 111 152 143 181 111 171 140 200
Burglary without breaking 166 178 166 162 139 146 136 198 168 123
Theft (snatching) 13 31 25 39 32 36 34 52 47 84
Theft (pickpocketing) 23 31 56 31 23 15 26 16 41 24
Theft (shop theft) 617 729 567 920 916 2029 1735 2218 1537 1232
Theft from vehicle 235 178 229 251 176 163 138 126 206 275
Taking conveyance without authority 61 49 58 33 38 19 27 28 44 78
Abstracting electricity 4 3 1 3 3 1
Theft from construction site 20 32 31 13
Theft of bicycle 1109 1062 826 135 79 135 123 127 205 195
Other miscellaneous thefts 633 744 753 739 795 789 969
Handling stolen goods 46 37 48 42 22 48 53 43 49 70
Deception 75 46 26 41 54 43 27 37 52 46
Forgery and coinage 6 13 31 20 29 14 14 17 25 17
Unlawful sexual intercourse 31 31 23 29 36 35 51
Keeping vice establishment 18 12 19 1 2
Procuration, abduction of female 1 1 3 6 1
Unnatural offences 6 4
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Crime 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Other offences against public morality 4 2 3 4 1 3
Trafficking in dangerous drugs 2 7 4 10 5 5 2 1 4
Possession of dangerous drugs for trafficking 26 43 57 56 34 42 44 35 51 46
Perjury 19 11 11 6 7 25 17 21 25 25
Resisting arrest 2 6 8 5 6 13 20
Escape and rescue 15 1 2 2 2 5 8 6 9 10
Other offences against lawful authority 17 23 27 4 3 5 1
Aiding and abetting of illegal immigrants 3 1 1 6 6
Using ID card relating to another 8 11 17 19 28 36
Other serious immigration offences 4
Criminal damage 99 155 126 114 167 166 158 209 168 171
Other offences against person 1 1 4 2 4 7 3 5 1 3
Offences against public order 124 79 129 107 151 164 127 134 126 138
Unlawful society offences 112 146 124 119 187 253 134 186 178 199
Money lending 4 2
Serious gambling offences 2 2 1 7
Conspiracy 19 20 7 8 15 8 11 29 28 42
Other crime 8 5 20 13 24 29 34 38 32
Sub-total 3026 3054 2658 2947 3031 4336 3770 4599 4060 4122
TOTAL 4079 4206 3598 4011 4242 5635 4894 6139 5963 6387
* The above statistics are provided by the Royal Hong Kong Police Force.