'Co-working space' for half of all lawmakers unacceptable: Tik Chi-yuen

Lawmaker-elect Tik Chi-yuen from Third Side said on Thursday it is unacceptable for half of all legislators' offices to be housed in “co-working space.” 

A total of 90 lawmakers were elected at Sunday's patriot-only Legislative Council election, with 20 more seats before the reform imposed by Beijing. 

The increased number of lawmakers called for an expansion for the building. As the construction is still ongoing, the government has rented a three-story office at Citic Tower, located next to the complex, to house the offices of half of all new lawmakers and staffers from the secretariat. 

Yet the offices will take the format of co-working space. 

Tik, who won a seat in the social welfare functional constituency, found the arrangement unacceptable and said lawmakers have to handle a lot of confidential and sensitive information on a daily basis. He worried that the shared office space cannot provide sufficient privacy protection. 

He expressed concerns that some lawmakers may not be able to arrive at the complex in time if there is any ambush-style voting. 

The current council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen replied that Citic Tower, previously rented by an international accounting firm, is the best place the government can get for the moment. 

Leung added that lawmakers can divide the co-working space themselves in the future and it shouldn't be a privacy problem. 

Tik was among a large group of lawmakers-elect who visited the LegCo Complex and met secretary general Kenneth Chen Wei-on to understand the daily operations of the conference halls. 

Other visiting lawmakers-elect included Stanley Li Sai-wing, Chan Yung and Edward Leung Hei from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong; Connie Lam So-wai from Professional Power; and Chow Man-kong who won a seat in the Election Committee constituency. 

Chan said this will be his first time to handle council affairs as a lawmaker and it feels new. He believed he will soon familiarize himself with the council operations with help from party members.