The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will present a Lunar New Year thematic lantern display entitled "Glittering Peacocks in Full Bloom" at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) Piazza from today (January 25), featuring colourful peacocks, a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture, to celebrate the advent of the Lunar New Year. Admission is free.
 
     The exhibition will showcase various eye-catching peacock lanterns. A giant peacock lantern over 5 metres tall and 15m long will be the centrepiece, with its long glittering tail forming an archway between the two pools. In addition, more than 10 lanterns of peacocks, elegant vases and colourful peonies will also be on display, wishing the public abundance and success in the New Year. 
 
     The "Glittering Peacocks in Full Bloom" lantern display will run until February 24 and the lanterns will be lit up from 6pm to 11pm daily.
 
     Apart from the lantern display, the LCSD will also hold three lantern carnivals featuring a variety of cultural programmes to celebrate the coming Spring Lantern Festival. They will be held at North District Park on February 17 (Sunday), at Tin Shui Wai Park and Ginza Square on February 18 (Monday), and at the HKCC Piazza on February 19 (Tuesday). 
 
     For more details, please call 2591 1340 or visit the website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/eo/territoryevents/lunarnewyearlantern/lunarnewyearlantern2019.html.

    

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:

     At the Housing Authority (HA) meeting today (January 25), the HA endorsed the Corporate Plan for 2019/20, the 2018/19 Revised Budget and the 2019/20 Proposed Budget, and also noted the Financial Forecasts for 2020/21 to 2022/23. 
 
     In 2019/20, the HA will continue to focus its efforts on providing quality homes, promoting sustainable living, optimising and rationalising the use of public resources, and enhancing the attractiveness of its commercial properties. Based on the above four main themes, the Corporate Plan covers a total of 51 key activities and 19 key performance indicators of the Authority's work in the year.
 
     "The 2019/20 Corporate Plan provides a platform on which the HA will direct its work and concentrate its efforts in the face of multiple challenges. The HA will continue to seek the Government's provision of suitable sites for developing both public rental housing (PRH) units and subsidised sale flats (SSFs). The HA will also continue with the efforts in increasing the supply of Home Ownership Scheme and Green Form Subsidised Home Ownership Scheme flats based on the revised pricing mechanism and tightened alienation restrictions to address the home ownership aspirations of Green Form applicants and low to middle-income families. Having regard to the housing policy initiatives announced by the Chief Executive in the 2018 Policy Address, the HA will also consider introducing new measures to make more effective use of existing public housing resources (including PRH and SSFs)," a spokesman for the HA said.
 
     "We will also continue to study ways to further enhance the buildability and productivity of public housing developments, assist those who are in financial hardship, and make cost-effective use of resources," the spokesman added.
 
     On the basis of the prevailing assumptions, the cash and investment balance of the HA is projected to decrease slightly from about $45 billion at the beginning of April 2018 to about $41 billion by the end of March 2023. It is also projected that the HA will have the necessary financial resources to meet its recurrent expenditure and implement its current public housing construction programme and maintenance programme during the budget and forecast period.  
 
     "The HA's proposed budgets and forecasts are projected on the basis of a series of assumptions. If and when there are changes to any of the assumptions, the projected financial position will be different. According to the Long Term Housing Strategy Annual Progress Report 2018 announced by the Government last month, the public housing supply target for the 10-year period from 2019/20 to 2028/29 has increased by 35 000 units, from 280 000 units announced last year to 315 000 units. The impact arising from the change in the relevant target will be reflected in the annual rolling five-year budgets as appropriate. The Government stands ready to increase spending on public housing and has set aside about $82.4 billion as the Housing Reserve to provide financial support to the HA. According to the existing mechanism, the HA will conduct the annual rolling five-year budgeting process and assess its financial position and future funding requirements," the spokesman said.
 

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

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) and its Committees will hold 14 open meetings and a closed meeting during the week from January 28 to February 1 in the LegCo Complex. Details of the meetings are available in the meeting schedule attached.

     The information in the meeting schedule is subject to change. Please refer to the "LegCo Calendar" on the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk) for the latest details of meetings.

     Members of the public are welcome to observe open meetings of LegCo and its Committees. Interested individuals and groups are advised to make advance booking of seats by calling the LegCo Secretariat at 3919 3399 during office hours. Members of the public can also listen to or watch all open meetings via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website.

     A red tide has been sighted over the past week, an inter-departmental red tide working group reported today (January 25).
 
     The red tide was spotted by staff of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) at Hoi Ha Wan on January 23.
 
     The red tide has dissipated and no associated death of fish has been reported.
 
     A spokesman for the working group said, "The red tide was formed by Akashiwo sanguinea, which is commonly found in Hong Kong waters and is non-toxic."
 
     The AFCD urged mariculturists at Tap Mun, Kau Lau Wan and Sham Wan to monitor the situation closely and increase aeration where necessary.
 
     Red tide is a natural phenomenon. The AFCD's proactive phytoplankton monitoring programme will continue monitoring red tide occurrences to minimise the impact on the mariculture industry and the public.

     A woman was fined $10,000 at the Tuen Mun Magistrates' Courts today (January 25) for contravening the Hotel and Guesthouse Accommodation Ordinance.

     The courts heard that in September last year, officers of the Office of the Licensing Authority (OLA), Home Affairs Department, inspected a suspected unlicensed guesthouse on Sha Tsui Road in Tsuen Wan. The OLA officers posed as lodgers and successfully rented a room in the guesthouse on a daily basis.

     According to the OLA's records, the guesthouse did not possess a licence under the Ordinance on the day of inspection. The woman responsible for operating the premises was charged with contravening section 5(1) of the Ordinance.

     A department spokesman stressed that operating or managing an unlicensed guesthouse is a criminal offence and will lead to a criminal record. Upon conviction, the offender is liable to a maximum fine of $200,000 and two years' imprisonment.

     The spokesman appealed to anyone with information about suspected unlicensed guesthouses to report it to the OLA through the hotline (Tel: 2881 7498), by email (hadlaenq@had.gov.hk), by fax (2504 5805) using the report form downloaded from the OLA website (www.hadla.gov.hk), or through the mobile application "Hong Kong Licensed Hotels and Guesthouses".