The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present a new chapter of its lecture demonstration series, to be hosted by acclaimed local jazz guitarist Mark Leung in February and March.
 
     In the three-lecture series entitled "First Experience of Jazz", Leung will play various jazz masters' records and analyse their playing styles. With live demonstrations by Leung, bassist Barry Lam and drummer Felix Leung as well as guest demonstrators Moon Wong (guitar) and Billy Yeung (Piano), participants can also bring their own instruments as there may be an opportunity to jam with the musicians. All lectures (to be conducted in Cantonese) will be held at 7.30pm at CR2, 7/F, Concert Hall Backstage, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Details are as follows:
 
February 26 (Tuesday)
Topic: "Definitive Guide to Jazz Songs"
 
March 5 (Tuesday)
Topic: "Concert and Jam Session Guide for Dummies"
 
March 12 (Tuesday)
Topic: "Jazz FAQ"
 
     Mark Leung is an active jazz guitarist in Hong Kong and Macao and has worked as an instructor on the Introduction to Popular Music course under the Associate Degree programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong.
 
     Tickets priced at $80 (for each lecture) are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/programs_717.html.

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will visit Guangzhou tomorrow (January 19) to attend the plaque unveiling ceremony of the Greater Bay Area Youth Home and a youth exchange activity organised by the New Home Association.
      
     The Youth Home aims to provide service to Hong Kong youngsters who start businesses and live in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
      
     Mr Cheung will return to Hong Kong in the evening on the same day.

     Nominations for the by-election for the Tai Nan Constituency of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council will be accepted between February 8 and 21, 2019.
 
     "If the number of validly nominated candidates is more than one at the by-election, a poll will be held on March 24, 2018 (Sunday) to fill the vacant seat of the elected member in the constituency," a spokesman for the Registration and Electoral Office (REO) said today (January 18).
 
     "A nominee must be a registered geographical constituency elector aged 21 or above who has ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for the three years immediately preceding his or her nomination. Details on the eligibility to be nominated as a candidate, disqualification for being nominated as a candidate and from being elected as an elected member, and the requirements to be complied with by persons nominated as candidates are set out in sections 20, 21 and 34 respectively of the District Councils Ordinance.
 
     "A nomination form must be subscribed by 10 registered electors of the Tai Nan Constituency. Each elector is allowed to subscribe only one nomination," the spokesman added.
 
     The nominee must personally hand in the completed nomination form and an election deposit of $3,000 to the Returning Officer for this by-election within the nomination period. Nominations are accepted from 9am to 5pm, Mondays to Fridays, and from 9am to noon on Saturdays.
 
     The District Officer (Yau Tsim Mong) has been appointed as the Returning Officer for this by-election, and her office is located at 4/F and 6/F, Mong Kok Government Offices, 30 Luen Wan Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon.
 
     Nomination forms are available at the office of the Returning Officer or can be downloaded from the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk). They can also be obtained at the REO at 10/F, Harbour Centre, 25 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The office will extend its service hours to include Saturday mornings from 9am to noon until the end of the nomination period.
 
     "Nominees are advised to submit their nominations as early as possible to allow time to correct mistakes, if any, in the nomination forms before the deadline," the spokesman said.
 
     Details of the by-election, the appointment of the Returning Officer and the Assistant Returning Officer, and the appointment of the Nominations Advisory Committee were published in the Gazette today.
 
     Enquiries can be made to the election hotline on 2891 1001.

     The Government today (January 18) announced the appointment of five new non-official members and re-appointment of two incumbent non-official members to the Construction Industry Council (CIC) for a two-year term from February 1, 2019 to January 31, 2021. The appointments were made by the Secretary for Development.

     The five new non-official members are Ms Ada Fung Yin-suen, Mr Eddie Lam Kin-wing, Ms Lee Sau-king, Professor Lo Hong-kam and Mr Ken Wong Kin-wai. The two re-appointed non-official members are Dr Derrick Pang Yat-bond and Mr Ringo Yu Shek-man.

     "We welcome the new members and look forward to working closely with the members for the healthy and continuous development of the construction industry. We would also like to express our gratitude to the four outgoing members, Mr Allan Chan Sau-kit, Mr Lai Chi-wah, Mr Robert Lam Ping-hong and Professor Wong Sze-chun, for their contributions to the CIC in the past six years," a spokesman for the Development Bureau said.

     The CIC was established in February 2007 as a statutory body with the mission to forge consensus on long-term strategic issues concerning the construction industry, convey the needs and aspirations of the industry to the Government, and provide a channel for the Government to solicit advice on all construction-related matters. Since its establishment, the CIC has embarked on a range of initiatives to elevate the quality of construction and to uphold the professionalism of the construction industry in Hong Kong.

     The appointments were published in the Government Gazette today.

     Membership of the CIC as from February 1, 2019 will be as follows:
 
Chairperson
————-
Mr Chan Ka-kui
 
Members
———-
Mr Chan Chi-chiu
Mr Chan Kim-kwong
Mr Chan Pat-kan
Mr Chow Luen-kiu
Professor Chung Kwok-fai
Mr Ivan Fu Chin-shing
Ms Ada Fung Yin-suen
Mr Alex Kwan King-fai
Mr Stephen Lai Yuk-fai
Mr Eddie Lam Kin-wing
Ms Lee Sau-king
Professor Lo Hong-kam
Mr Kenneth Mo Kon-fei
Mr Pan Shujie
Dr Derrick Pang Yat-bond
Mr Rocky Poon Lock-kee
Mr Simon Wong Hin-wing
Mr Ken Wong Kin-wai
Ms Eliza Wong Yeuk-lan
Mr Yu Sai-yen
Mr Ringo Yu Shek-man
Permanent Secretary for Development (Works)
Permanent Secretary for Transport and Housing (Housing)
Director of Buildings

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, will depart for Switzerland in the early hours on January 21 and will attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos from January 22 to 24. The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, and the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, will join part of the visit.
 
     Mrs Lam will meet with local government officials and members of the business sector in Zurich on January 21 to update them on the latest developments of Hong Kong. She will then go to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, at which she will address a session on the emerging markets outlook. During her stay in Davos, she will meet with leaders of various economies, the World Economic Forum and the business sector. She will also address the Belt and Road Seminar co-organised by Tsinghua University and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, and the Hong Kong Night co-organised by the HKSAR Government and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited.
 
     Mrs Lam will leave Davos on January 25 (Switzerland time) and arrive in Hong Kong on January 26. During her absence, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will be the Acting Chief Executive.