The 2020 Honours List is published in the Government Gazette today (October 1). This is the 23rd Honours List since 1997. To accord top priority to the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and related matters, the Government announced in May this year that the 2020 Honours and Awards and appointment of Justices of the Peace exercise would be postponed with a view to announcing the various appointments on October 1 instead of July 1, 2020.
The Chief Executive has awarded a total of 687 persons in this year's Honours List, including:
| Award | Number |
| (a) Grand Bauhinia Medal (GBM) | 4 |
| (b) Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) | 15 |
| (c) Medal for Bravery (Gold) (MBG) | 4 |
| (d) Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) | 22 |
| (e) Medal for Bravery (Silver) (MBS) | 7 |
| (f) Distinguished Service Medals for the disciplined services and the ICAC | 14 |
| (g) Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) | 40 |
| (h) Medal for Bravery (Bronze) (MBB) | 8 |
| (i) Meritorious Service Medals for the disciplined services and the ICAC | 47 |
| (j) Medal of Honour (MH) | 78 |
| (k) Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service | 195 |
| (l) Chief Executive's Commendation for Government/Public Service | 253 —- |
| 687 |
The citations of the award recipients of the 2020 Honours List are provided in the Appendix.
The award recipients this year are from different walks of life with diverse backgrounds. They have made significant contributions to Hong Kong in different areas, benefiting various sectors of the community, including public and community service, medical and public health, charity and philanthropy, finance, trade and industry, research and technology, education, culture, arts, sports, youth affairs, women's affairs, ethnic harmony, and labour and welfare.
A government spokesman pointed out that the number of award recipients in the two categories of the Chief Executive's Commendation for Community Service and the Chief Executive's Commendation for Government/Public Service this year is exceptionally large in order to give recognition to meritorious performance by individuals involved in the handling of social incidents and the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic in the past year.
"The Chief Executive is grateful to all awardees for their contributions to Hong Kong and plans to host the presentation ceremony for the awards at Government House within this year. The exact timing and arrangement will have to take into account the social distancing measures in force," the spokesman added.
Announcement of next year's Honours List will return to be made on July 1.
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