Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals: The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 2… read more
Performances by the Wenzhou Opera Research Institute will be presented in August to mark the closing of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Chinese Opera Festival 2019. Three full-length productions, “The Legend of the White Snake”, “Killing a Dog to Admonish Her Husband” and “Gao Ji and Wu Sanchun”, will be staged, and the performers will include two leading lights in Ou opera today, Fang Rujiang, a winner of the Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre, and Cai Xiaoqiu, a winner of the Lead Actor Award in the Shanghai Magnolia Performing Arts Award.
Ou opera, originally known as “Wenzhou luantan”, is one of the regional theatrical genres. It was inscribed onto the second list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2008. The vocal styles are diverse, and the works consist of both civil and martial repertoire, with the former distinguished by delicate singing and the latter having uniquely devised stunts.
“The Legend of the White Snake” is a classic in Ou opera known for a balanced focus on both singing and acting. Fang Rujiang won the first Plum Blossom Award in the history of Ou opera with his portrayal of the male protagonist, Xu Xian, in “The Broken Bridge” from this classic. “Killing a Dog to Admonish Her Husband” is one of the four major “nanxi” (Southern opera) plays of China. Sharing its origin with the “nanxi” of the Song and Yuan periods, Ou opera of Wenzhou retains age-old elements but gives them new adaptations. The staging is also modelled on the old “nanxi” and has impressive effects. “Gao Ji and Wu Sanchun” tells the story of a pair of lovers who, despite social class differences, dare to challenge feudal inhibitions. Their tragic love story has been a folk tale popularly told in the Zhejiang area. Since becoming part of the Ou opera repertoire, the work has won rave responses from audiences all over China.
Details of the performances (with Chinese and English surtitles) are as follows:
August 16 (Friday), 7.30pm
“The Legend of the White Snake”
August 17 (Saturday), 7:30pm
“Killing a Dog to Admonish Her Husband”
August 18 (Sunday), 3pm
“Gao Ji and Wu Sanchun”
All performances will be staged at the Auditorium of the Ko Shan Theatre New Wing. Tickets priced at $160, $260 and $340 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk) and the Xiqu Centre Ticket Office. For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7325 or visit www.cof.gov.hk/2019/en/ou.html.
A Meet-the-Artists Session: A Close Encounter of Southern Opera and Ou Opera – On the Traditional Opera of Wenzhou (In Putonghua), with free admission on a first-come, first-served basis will be held. Details are as follows:
August 15 (Thursday), 7.30pm
AC2, Level 4, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Speakers: Fang Rujiang and Cai Xiaoqiu
Moderator: Elbe Lau read more
Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 2) that due to big wav… read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council:
The Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council announced today (July 2) that applications for its Fellowships and Scholarships for Overseas Studies (including the award for students with disabilities) for the academic year 2020/21 are now open.
The fellowships and scholarships aim at encouraging outstanding students to pursue further studies in reputable institutions overseas. Successful candidates for the awards are expected to have a strong sense of commitment to Hong Kong and be ready to contribute significantly to the community upon graduation.
The fellowships are for studies leading to postgraduate degrees either by research or by coursework; the scholarships are for studies leading to undergraduate degrees.
The applicants will be responsible for fulfilling all application procedures and admission requirements of the academic institutions of their choice.
The maximum value of a fellowship is HK$300,000 per year, tenable for up to three years for a doctoral degree or two years for a master’s degree. The maximum value of a scholarship is HK$280,000 per year, tenable for up to three years.
Application forms and information notes can be downloaded from the website of the Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency at www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/sfo/en/forms/form.htm.
The documents are also available at the following offices:
(a) Student Finance Office
Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency
Reception Hall, 11/F, Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices
303 Cheung Sha Wan Road
Kowloon
(b) Trust Funds and Temples Joint Secretariat
Reception Counter, 34/F, Wu Chung House
213 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai
Hong Kong
For enquiries, please call (852) 2150 6097 or (852) 2150 6098.
The closing date for all applications is September 16, 2019. For Fellowships and Scholarships for Overseas Studies, short-listed applicants will be invited to attend interviews in person in Hong Kong. The first round of interviews is scheduled for January 2020. If found suitable, applicants will be invited for a final interview to be held around February/March 2020. Applicants short-listed for the Overseas Fellowship/Scholarship for Disabled Students will be invited to attend one round of interview in person in Hong Kong around February/March 2020. read more
Following is the transcript of remarks by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam; the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee; and the Commissioner of Police, Mr Lo Wai-chung, at a media session today (July 2):
Reporter: (inaudible)
Chief Executive: Let me just repeat very briefly what I have said in Cantonese. On July 1, that is the 22nd anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, we have seen two entirely different public scenes. One is a regular march on July 1. Regardless of the number of participants in the march, the march was peaceful and generally orderly, and this fully reflects the inclusiveness of Hong Kong society and the core values we attach to peace and order. The second scene that we have seen, which really saddens a lot of people and shocks a lot of people, is the extreme use of violence and vandalism by protesters who stormed into the Legislative Council (LegCo) building over a period of time. This is something that we should seriously condemn because nothing is more important than the rule of law in Hong Kong. I hope community at large will agree with us that with these violent acts that we have seen, it is right for us to condemn it and hope society will return to normal as soon as possible.
Reporter: Mr Lo, Police Commissioner, can you tell us why there were no police officers inside LegCo building? What kind of games is the police playing? Are you setting a trap on protesters? And Mrs Lam, sorry, I have a second question for you. Do you feel that personally you are responsible for the violence tonight because of your lack of positive response to the protesters’ demands? Thank you.
Commissioner of Police: Let me answer first, I totally disagree with what this gentleman has just said. We had officers inside the LegCo defending LegCo for nearly eight hours. During the period, we had been under siege of the protestors. They kept on using violent tactics to try to intrude into the LegCo. It was until nine o’clock at night time, several incidents happened that made us to do a temporary retreat.
First of all, there were many protestors outside the LegCo main entrance and they were starting using violent tactics to charge the inner door of the LegCo.
Secondly, due to the local environment, we were unable to use some of the force that we could use in open ground.
Thirdly, we found that there were some protestors tempering with the electricity boxes, and we found that some of the lights had gone out. And in fear of a total dark out that some protestors turned off the lights, I’m afraid there will be people stepping people, or there will be wrong move on either side, both the Police and the protestors.
And lastly, but not the least, during the charging they threw in some white smokes. As you know there was already a toxic powder attack on my officers in the afternoon. So without knowing whether this was another toxic powder attack, we had no other choice but to temporarily retreat from the LegCo.
Before we retreated, we had already asked the LegCo security to appeal to all working staff within the LegCo to leave due to the incident. And by 9pm, we had been told that all working staff had left. That meant we were sure that no other civilians were within the building, so my officers had no choice but to temporarily retreat, to do a regrouping and to do some redeployment to take back LegCo later on.
Chief Executive: It is not true to say that the Government has not responded. We have not responded to every demand asked because of good reasons. First of all, if the cause of the social tensions that we have seen is a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, on June 15 I have announced the suspension of the bill. Subsequently we have explained and elaborated that by suspending the bill at this point in time with no timetable and no plan to resume the debate of the bill in the Legislative Council, the bill will expire, or the bill will die, in July 2020 when the current LegCo term expires. That is a very positive response to the demands that we have heard.
As for some of the other demands, let me come back to this very important principle of the rule of law. To demand the Government, without any investigation and checking with the law about whether offences have been made, that we should release everybody arrested, we should not take any follow-up action against some of the violent acts we have seen or even to grant an amnesty to all those involved in these protests, all these will not be in accordance with the rule of law. The rule of law is exactly what I have been talking tonight. I hope we all agree that this is something of paramount importance to Hong Kong and will continue to guide the Government’s reactions and responses to social issues and to demands and aspirations of our people.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
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