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The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     Members of the Legislative Council (LegCo) held separate meetings today (May 31) with members of the Yuen Long District Council (DC) and the Kowloon City DC respectively at the LegCo Complex to discuss and exchange views on matters of mutual interest.
 
     During the meeting with the Yuen Long DC, LegCo Members discussed with DC members on the construction of a public market and a cooked food centre, as well as a multi-storey car park in Tin Shui Wai North; progress in extending the Government Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities to include residents’ buses; request for expediting the construction of an elevated pedestrian walkway over Yuen Long Nullah for connecting Long Ping Station of West Rail Line to Kau Yuk Road; and request for full replacement of sewers in Yuen Long Town. The meeting was convened by Ms Alice Mak, and attended by Ms Starry Lee, Mr Leung Che-cheung, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Mr Andrew Wan, Mr Chu Hoi-dick, Dr Junius Ho, Mr Holden Chow, Mr Luk Chung-hung, Mr Lau Kwok-fan, Mr Kenneth Lau, Dr Cheng Chung-tai and Mr Kwong Chun-yu.
 
     As for the meeting with the Kowloon City DC, LegCo Members discussed a number of issues with DC members, including strengthening rodent prevention and control work; addressing community problems in Kowloon City district arising from tourism activities and Mainland tour groups; introducing measures to extend the provision of fibre-based Internet services to old buildings; and building smart car parks in To Kwa Wan district. The meeting was convened by Dr Helena Wong, and attended by Mr Wong Ting-kwong, Ms Starry Lee, Dr Priscilla Leung, Mr Frankie Yick, Mr Yiu Si-wing, Mr Ma Fung-kwok, Mr Christopher Cheung, Dr Chiang Lai-wan, Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Dr Pierre Chan, Mr Lau Kwok-fan, Mr Jeremy Tam, Mr Vincent Cheng and Ms Chan Hoi-yan.

            

The following is issued on behalf of the Child Fatality Review Panel:
 
     The Child Fatality Review Panel today (May 31) published its fourth report on the prevention of child death. The report contains 53 recommendations for the prevention of avoidable child fatality following an analysis of the child death cases in 2014 and 2015 reported to the Coroner’s Court.
      
     Speaking at a briefing today, the Chairman of the Review Panel, Mr Herman Hui, said that children are our future and they should be protected, kept healthy and safe. Every child’s death is a tragic loss for the family, as well as society, particularly in those cases which could have been avoided. He expressed the hope that the work of the Review Panel could help prevent avoidable child deaths.
      
     The review covered the deaths of 166 children aged below 18 who died of natural (107) and non-natural (59) causes. The report revealed that most of the children who had died of non-natural causes lost their lives because of suicide (18), followed by accidents (12) and assault (nine). In light of repeated child deaths caused by co-sleeping with adults, inappropriate sleep arrangements, concealment of pregnancy and accidental falls, the Review Panel has continued the thematic review on these topics.
      
     Among the 18 child or youth suicide cases, 13 persons jumped from height to their death, with the youngest one aged 11. “Diagnosed/Suspected mental illness” stood out as the most frequent circumstance for death by suicide, followed by “Adaptation to Form One schooling”, “Parent-Child Conflict” and “Relationship Breakup”. As some of these children sent suicidal messages to their friends prior to their suicidal attempts, enhancing children/youths’ skills in responding to death threats from their peers might be helpful in preventing their deaths. A total of 18 recommendations were made in the report for the prevention of child and youth suicide.
      
     Among the 12 fatal child accident cases, six children died of falling from height or from a bed/chair and the others died from fire (three), choking (two) and a traffic accident (one). Twelve recommendations for prevention of accidents were made which include reminding caregivers not to leave children alone or unattended at home, to install proper window grilles and ensure that they are properly locked, to place slip-resistant rubber mats on the floor, not to arrange for children to sleep alone on a high bed without a fence, to enhance training on child safety for foreign domestic helpers, and to seek immediate medical attention when children sustain head injuries. Recommendations on safe sleeping arrangements, strengthening public education on fire prevention and safety and proper use and installation of electrical home appliances were also made.
      
     A total of nine children lost their lives as a result of assault. Seven children were assaulted by their parents, one by a relative and one by a stranger. A total of 11 recommendations were made to prevent such tragedies, including enhancing carer support services for parents with children with disabilities, further enhancing public knowledge of depression, educating youths on the importance of self-protection when using social media and strengthening co-parenting support services for divorced/separated families.
      
     Mr Hui expressed his heartfelt thanks to all of the front-line workers, professionals and managerial personnel of service organisations, professional bodies and government departments who assisted and participated in the review.
      
     The Assistant Director (Family and Child Welfare) of the Social Welfare Department (SWD), Ms Pang Kit-ling, expressed her gratitude for the efforts of the Review Panel. She acknowledged the value of the child fatality review to facilitate the improvement and enhancement of the current child protection and child welfare service systems. She said that the SWD has accepted the recommendations of the Review Panel and will continue to enhance multi-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration in protecting children.
      
     To identify and support students in the face of difficulties, the Government has, starting from the 2018/19 school year, provided public sector primary schools with additional resources through a new funding mode to enable them to implement the “one school social worker for each school” policy as soon as possible according to school-based circumstances. To enhance teenagers’ mental health and stress resilience, the Government will implement the measures of “two school social workers for each school” from the 2019/20 school year in some 460 secondary schools, together with a concomitant increase in supervisory support. In February this year, the Government also launched a three-year Pilot Scheme on Social Work Service for Pre-primary Institutions in phases in more than 700 pre-primary institutions for about 150 000 pre-school children and their families.

     The SWD will continue to collaborate with the Food and Health Bureau, the Education Bureau and the Hospital Authority to provide comprehensive support for students with mental health needs through the Student Mental Health Support Scheme. In 2019-20, the 24 Integrated Community Centres for Mental Wellness subvented by the SWD will extend support services to cover all secondary school students with mental health problems. The SWD will also deploy five mobile publicity vans in five regions across the territory to promote mental health. To enhance preventive and supportive services for vulnerable children and their families and prevent youth suicides, from 2019-20 onwards, the SWD will provide additional resources for 24 integrated family service centres and two integrated service centres operated by non-governmental organisations to recruit 26 more front-line social workers and 14 family aid workers.
      
     Furthermore, to strengthen the support for parents and relatives/carers of persons with disabilities (including those with special educational needs), the SWD will gradually set up an additional 13 Parents/Relatives Resource Centres from 2018-19 to 2019-20, making a total of 19 centres. In addition, to render support to divorced parents and their children, five specialised co-parenting support centres operated by non-governmental organisations will be set up across the territory in the third quarter this year to provide one-stop co-parenting support services for these families.
      
     Ms Pang stressed that the SWD will continue to work closely with relevant stakeholders in providing a comprehensive network of welfare services to strengthen family ties for people to prevent and handle personal and family problems.
      
     The full content of the Review Panel’s fourth report is available on the SWD homepage (www.swd.gov.hk) for public viewing.
    

  

     Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at Munsang College Topping-out Ceremony for its newly developed teaching complex today (May 31):
 
Dr Daniel Yung (Chairman, Munsang Education Council), Ms Lily Wong (Chairperson, Munsang College Foundation), Dr Alice Yuk (School Supervisor, Munsang College), Ir Gary Ko (Convener of Building Sub-committee, Comprehensive Roadmap of Strategic Succession, Munsang College), distinguished guests, principals, teachers, parents and students,
 
     Good afternoon. I am most delighted and honoured to join you all here this afternoon to celebrate the structural completion of the new teaching complex of Munsang’s Kowloon campus.
 
     This topping-out ceremony marks a key milestone in the continuous development of Munsang College, Munsang College Primary School and Munsang College Kindergarten. It also demonstrates clearly the dedicated commitment of the school management in providing quality education in Hong Kong.
 
     Founded in the year 1926, Munsang College began with the operation of just one class at each junior secondary level. Expansion followed with the setting up of the primary and kindergarten sections in the year 1927 and the senior secondary section in 1928. With the strong professionalism, dedication and visionary leadership of the management, the schools have become one of the leading education bodies in Hong Kong, currently accommodating a total of about 3 500 students. 
 
     Guided by the mottoes of “Light and Life” and “All For One, One For All”, the Munsang schools have earned an enviable reputation of offering a high quality, rigorous academic programme in a caring environment. Since their establishment nearly a century ago, the schools have nurtured generations of prominent leaders who serve the community with remarkable achievements across all sectors of the community.
 
     Our young people are the pillar of Hong Kong’s future, they are our hopes as well. Education therefore plays a crucial role in unleashing and realising their potential. The current-term Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is totally committed to investing in education. In its first year after inauguration in the year 2017, the Government increased by $3.6 billion recurrent resources to introduce a package of measures to increase additional manpower, funding and hardware to improve our quality of education. Last year, another $2 billion of recurrent funding was allocated to further enhance teacher development, kindergarten, and integrated as well as life-wide learning. In parallel, the Quality Education Fund also set aside $3 billion for school-based curriculum development, student support measures and other improvement initiative.
 
     This year, the total expenditure on education will increase remarkably to $124 billion, representing a surge of 12 per cent growth over last year. Of this, the recurrent expenditure on education will increase to $90.6 billion, representing a 6 per cent growth. Over the past 10 years, recurrent expenditure on education has increased by 77 per cent, with an average growth rate of 6.6 per cent per year. This massive investment in education fully demonstrates the Hong Kong Government’s commitment in nurturing talent for the long-term development of Hong Kong.
 
     I always give this example in my speeches: for every $100 we spend every day, roughly $21 goes to education, $19.70 goes to social welfare, and $17.50 goes to medical services. So in other words, education, welfare and medical services in that order – and this has been almost number one, the lion’s share of government spending all along. This is very simple. Hong Kong has no resources, except our people. Investing in human capital is the only way we keep Hong Kong going. If we don’t invest in our own young people, Hong Kong has absolutely no future at all. So education is a very, very important policy area. It’s an important investment for Hong Kong in the future. While the Government plays an active role in promoting quality education, success in education requires the collaborative efforts of all who care about our next generation. Munsang College, and Munsang School as well, have all along been our close partners in promoting whole-person education for our next generation, with the aim of nurturing them into quality citizens who are socially responsible and equipped with a love for Hong Kong, a sense of national identity, and of course an international outlook.
 
     Ladies and gentlemen, the completion of this 7-storey new teaching complex ties in well with the Government’s latest new initiative in enhancing the support to schools in widening students’ learning experiences. Indeed, education is founded on dedication, passion and commitment. The Munsang schools have been a shining example in cultivating our future generations for Hong Kong and neighbouring regions.
 
     I trust that the Munsang schools will continue their excellent work and make full use of all these new state-of-the-art facilities to accomplish their mission of developing students as self-motivated, resolute and devoted individuals with the spirit of “Light and Life”. On this encouragement note, I wish the schools continuous success in the many years ahead and all of you good health, every happiness and every success. Thank you very much.

    

     The Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, visited Wan Chai District today (May 31) and met with local District Council members to exchange views on district matters. He also visited a music academy in the revitalised Haw Par Mansion.

     Accompanied by the Chairman of the Wan Chai District Council (WCDC), Mr Stephen Ng, and the District Officer (Wan Chai), Mr Rick Chan, Mr Wong first visited Haw Par Music Farm. Located at Haw Par Mansion, the music academy is one of the projects under Batch III of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme. The old mansion has been revitalised into Haw Par Music Farm by the Aw Boon Haw Foundation for providing Chinese and Western music training and community outreach activities to promote music culture.

     During his visit, Mr Wong was briefed by a representative of the academy on details of the restoration and revitalisation of this Grade I historic building, including retaining as far as possible the interior layout of the mansion. The external walls, doors, windows and interior decorations have been restored to the former 1930s look, while the original furnishings of the mansion and the former owners’ private collection are conserved and displayed.

     The Development Bureau launched the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme in 2008. Through collaboration with non-profit-making organisations, historic buildings are preserved, revitalised and put into good use. So far, five batches of projects have been rolled out, involving a total of 19 projects. Haw Par Music Farm was soft launched at the end of last year and has been open with free guided tours to the public since April this year.

     Before concluding his visit, Mr Wong met with WCDC members to gain a better understanding of the latest developments and needs of the district, and listen to members’ views and suggestions on the work of the Government. read more

     The Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, visited Wan Chai District today (May 31) and met with local District Council members to exchange views on district matters. He also visited a music academy in the revitalised Haw Par Mansion.

     Accompanied by the Vice-chairman of the Wan Chai District Council (WCDC), Dr Jennifer Chow, and the District Officer (Wan Chai), Mr Rick Chan, Mr Wong first visited Haw Par Music Farm. Located at Haw Par Mansion, the music academy is one of the projects under Batch III of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme. The old mansion has been revitalised into Haw Par Music Farm by the Aw Boon Haw Foundation for providing Chinese and Western music training and community outreach activities to promote music culture.

     During his visit, Mr Wong was briefed by a representative of the academy on details of the restoration and revitalisation of this Grade I historic building, including retaining as far as possible the interior layout of the mansion. The external walls, doors, windows and interior decorations have been restored to the former 1930s look, while the original furnishings of the mansion and the former owners’ private collection are conserved and displayed.

     The Development Bureau launched the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme in 2008. Through collaboration with non-profit-making organisations, historic buildings are preserved, revitalised and put into good use. So far, five batches of projects have been rolled out, involving a total of 19 projects. Haw Par Music Farm was soft launched at the end of last year and has been open with free guided tours to the public since April this year.

     Before concluding his visit, Mr Wong met with WCDC members to gain a better understanding of the latest developments and needs of the district, and listen to members’ views and suggestions on the work of the Government.