â€‹The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, arrived in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan, yesterday evening (May 22) to continue his visit. Mr Lau met with the Governor of Kagawa Prefecture, Mr Keizo Hamada, to learn more about the Setouchi Triennale 2019.

     First held in 2010, the Setouchi Triennale is an international art festival which showcases contemporary art on the islands in the Seto Inland Sea. This year, works by Hong Kong artists are being exhibited in the art festival.

     Today (May 23), Mr Lau also viewed exhibits of the art festival on various islands to learn more about how art connects the islands and how cultural bases were constructed to integrate with nature. In the evening, he will depart for Tokyo to begin the last stop of the visit.

      

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has announced that the lifesaving services at Cafeteria Old Beach in Tuen Mun District resumed today (May 23). The lifesaving services at the beach were suspended earlier due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty.

     The Constitution and Basic Law Parent-child Workshop organised by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau will be held this Saturday and Sunday (May 25 and 26) in the Central Atrium on the ground floor of Olympian City 2, 18 Hoi Ting Road, West Kowloon.
 
     Apart from colourful exhibition panels, interesting handicraft workshops and interactive story-telling sessions will be available for children to gain a better understanding of the Constitution and the Basic Law.
 
     The workshops and story-telling sessions will be conducted in Cantonese and will take place from 11am to 7pm. Children aged 6 to 12 and their parents are welcome. While admission is free, seats are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
 
     For event details, please visit www.basiclawevent.com.
 

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
 
 
     The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited on fraudulent website, which has been reported to the HKMA.  Hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website for ease of reference by members of the public.
      
     Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to the website concerned or has conducted any financial transactions through the website should contact the bank concerned using the contact information provided in the press release, and report to the Police or contact the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

     The Task Force on Promotion of Vocational and Professional Education and Training (VPET) released a consultation document today (May 23) to solicit views from members of the public on its preliminary recommendations.

     The Chairman of the Task Force, Dr Roy Chung, said, "VPET plays a pivotal role in broadening learning opportunities for youngsters and in-service personnel as well as nurturing the requisite human capital in support of Hong Kong's development. As society develops, VPET covers a wide spectrum of disciplines including engineering, business and administration, social service and other service sectors such as hospitality. There is room for the Government to step up its efforts to enable stakeholders to have a more comprehensive understanding about the latest developments of VPET so that more informed decisions can be made about pursuing VPET or other education and training pathways.

     The Task Force was set up in April 2018 to consider how VPET can be better promoted in the career and life planning education in secondary schools to cater for students' diverse abilities and interests and how to foster closer business-school collaboration through the Business-School Partnership Programme to meet the manpower needs of Hong Kong, and to study other VPET promotion measures. The Task Force hopes to formulate its recommendations having regard to different perspectives to further enhance the image and professionalism of VPET. The Task Force has arranged focus group meetings with various stakeholders, including students, teachers and principals, as well as representatives of VPET institutions and employers, to listen to their views on further promotion of VPET.

     The Task Force has made preliminary recommendations on various aspects. The major recommendations include: promote VPET in secondary schools through various channels (such as encouraging Business-School Partnership Programmes partners to provide career exploration activities for junior secondary school students) and through continued implementation of applied learning; review the positioning of VPET in the higher education system in Hong Kong, explore the merits of developing professional vocational qualifications at the degree level (e.g. vocational degree with primary orientation towards practical skills) and reinforce the role of Higher Diploma qualifications as a key VPET pathway at the post-secondary level; and build clear articulation pathways in the vocational sector or industries for school leavers and in-service personnel to progress to the professional level by establishing vocational qualifications under the Qualification Frameworks.

     The consultation document of the Task Force on Promotion of VPET has been uploaded to the EDB's website (www.edb.gov.hk/en/about-edb/press/consultation/index.html). Stakeholders are invited to send their views and suggestions to the Task Force by post (Further Education Division, Education Bureau, 7/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong), by fax (2899 2967) or by email (taskforce_vpet@edb.gov.hk) on or before July 12, 2019.