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 announced today (November 24) that Tuen Mun Swimming Pool in Tuen Mun District has been temporarily closed for cleaning and superchlorination following the discovery of a small amount of vomit in the pool.

     It will be reopened at 6.30am tomorrow.

     The department appeals to swimmers to be considerate and to keep the swimming pools clean. They are advised not to swim after a full meal and should use the toilet facilities if necessary before swimming.

     Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, at the 46th Annual Speech Day of the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School today (November 24):

Dr Yuk (School Supervisor of the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, Dr Alice Yuk), Mr Chan (Principal of the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School, Mr Chan Ka-yun), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, parents, teachers and students,

     It gives me great pleasure to join you at the 46th  Annual Speech Day of the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School to share the joy of the graduates this year.

     Founded in 1970 and guided by the motto "The Truth Will Make You Free", the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary school is committed to inculcating in its students the valuable qualities of a "LAMWOOER", i.e. Leadership, Ardour, Modesty, Wisdom, Optimism, Originality, Empathy and Responsibility. The school is devoted to providing students with all-round education with a wide range of learning experiences, equipping them with necessary skills and instilling in them positive values and attitudes.

     This echoes well with the vision of the current-term Hong Kong Special Administration Region Government. We believe that talent is the most important element in Hong Kong's continued development and education is the key to nurturing talent. Government expenditure on education is therefore the most meaningful investment for our future development. The sound education infrastructure, renowned universities and outstanding research personnel in Hong Kong help cultivate our future generations and train talents from other places.

     To this end, the Government has attached great importance to strengthening support for schools in life planning education. We have set up the Youth Development Commission under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary for Administration to strengthen coordination within the Government and reinforce our connection with the next generation and relevant stakeholders to address issues of concern to young people. In particular, it gives specific attention to issues on youth education, career pursuit and home ownership as well as the participation of young people in politics and their engagement in public policy discussion and debate.

     To strengthen life planning education for secondary students, we have introduced the Career and Life Planning Grant for schools to enhance the capacity of their teaching team responsible for life planning education so as to take forward comprehensive life planning education and career guidance service. We also offer the option of turning this Grant into regular teaching posts and for enhancement of online resources and establishment of district-based development networks.

     From the 2019/20 school year onwards, we will further offer a new recurrent Life-wide Learning Grant for schools to organise more out-of-classroom experiential learning activities covering various curriculum areas, such as humanities, STEM education, physical and aesthetic development, and moral and civic education. Activities like community service, field studies, exchange activities outside Hong Kong and workplace experience will also be provided to students to strengthen their whole-person development.

     To provide career exploration activities and work experience opportunities for students, the Government has introduced the "Business-School Partnership Programme" which has attracted over 300 enterprises to join the programme, offering more than 3 600 work experience activities that benefited 930 000 students. In addition, we launched the "Work Experience Movement" in the 2016/17 school year, attracting more than 200 business and community organisations to offer over 3 000 work experience places across 30 trades and industries to broaden the horizons of students and assist their future career planning.

     We will continue to perform the role of "promoter" and "facilitator" in encouraging more business enterprises to join hands with the Government to help nurture our next generation. A youth mentorship scheme named "Life Buddies" has been launched since October 2015 to promote mentoring culture in the community and through which helps young people improve life skills and exposure, develop a vision for future and make preparation for achieving education, training and career goals. In the 2018/19 school year, mentoring teams formed by 48 Government departments, corporations, and organisations, as well as about 50 individual mentors from the community were matched with 52 local secondary schools.

     The programme "Be a Government Official for a Day" introduced this year under the "Life Buddies" programme offers an exciting opportunity to selected students to shadow a Principal Official on a working day. I am pleased to share with you that, Lam Pui-ka, who is a Secondary 6 student from your school was one of my "shadows" this year. Given the positive response to the programme, the Government will implement the programme again in 2019. I hope more students from the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School will be selected by the scheme again!

     Dear graduates, as you turn a new page of life, it is important that you set clear goals according to your interests and abilities, and strive to achieve these goals. Achieving goals requires both passion and action. Hence, your first step in goal setting and achieving your dreams is that you have to achieve your goal by identifying a critical path to define the key accomplishments along the way and the most important steps that must be taken to realise your goal.

     As President Xi Jinping said, "A nation will prosper only when its young people thrive; a country will be full of hope and have a great tomorrow only when its younger generations have ideals, ability, and a strong sense of responsibility." Hong Kong offers a promising future to young people to unleash their potential in different fields. Apart from our traditional pillars like financial services, trade and logistics, tourism and professional services, the current-term Government has allocated enormous resources to develop new industries such as innovation and technology and creative industry covering design, arts, film, cultural and communications sectors.

     Committing yourself to the path where your strength lies allows you to focus all your energy on the path chosen. While obstacles may arise on the road to success, you may find the path around or through them new avenues to achieving your goal. Obstacles compel you to turn your weaknesses into strengths, instead of shying away from them. All you have to do is to focus on your goal single-mindedly and whole-heartedly, not on the difficulty of getting there.

     On this note, I wish all of our graduates today successful years ahead and the S.K.H. Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School continued success. I am sure that the school will continue to excel and scale new heights. Again, my warmest congratulations to all the graduates and their families and teachers. Thank you.

The following is issued on behalf of the Road Safety Council:
 
     The Road Safety Council (RSC) 45th Anniversary Ceremony cum Safety Walk Carnival will be held tomorrow (November 25) at the Peak.
 
     This year, the Road Safety Council aims to enhance the community's awareness of road safety by inviting members of the public to participate in the event. There will be different road safety messages at the checkpoints along the route of the 3.5-kilometre safety walk and at the fun-filled game booths of the carnival to alert the members of public to the importance of road safety.
 
     The opening ceremony will be held at the Peak Galleria at 9.30am, and associated programmes will include an award presentation for those who have made outstanding contributions to road safety in 2017-18 and a stage performance. The Chairman of the RSC and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Tang Ping-keung; the Chairman of the Road Safety Research Committee and Acting Deputy Commissioner for Transport (Planning and Technical Services), Mr Wilson Pang; and the Chairlady of the Road Safety Campaign Committee, Miss Ma Ka-wai, will officiate at the ceremony.

     The safety walk will be held from 9.45am to 2pm. The walking route is from Harlech Road to Lugard Road, with a total distance of 3.5km. Around 1 000 members of the public have enrolled. A Road Safety Carnival will be held at Mount Austin Playground from 10.30am to 3pm, featuring fun-filled game booths with the theme of road safety. Members of the public are welcome to attend for free.

     Senior Police Call (SPC) held the “Share the Love – Senior Police Call 2018” at the Police Sports and Recreation Club today (November 24) with the aim of expressing care and love to the elderly.

     Officiating at the kick off ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Lo Wai-chung said that “Share the Love – Senior Police Call” was one of the highlights of the SPC events in the year. Following the ceremony, SPC members would visit and distribute blessing bags to the solitary or hidden elderly in 21 Police districts to express care of the Police and the community.

     Six “SPC Fight Crime Vigour” publicity trucks were also launched in the ceremony. The publicity trucks would assist in promoting the event and disseminating the messages of anti-deception and road safety to the elderly community in every district.

     During the ceremony, artistes Sit Ka-yin (SPC Community Care Ambassador), Woo Fung (SPC Fight Crime Ambassador) and Fung So-bo joined SPC members in a singing performance, while artistes Ha Yu and Lee Sze-kei performed in a drama to remind the audience to stay alert to deception.

     In addition, Professor Hui Sai-chuen of Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, joined hands with sports elite Lisa Cheng to demonstrate a body-building exercise. They encouraged senior citizens to strengthen their physical fitness through exercises in order to continue to serve the community.

     Other officiating guests in the ceremony included the Executive Director, Charities and Community, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Leong Cheung, the Chief Social Work Officer (Elderly) of the Social Welfare Department, Ms Woo Mei-hing, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Tang Ping-keung, the Police Director of Operations, Mr Siu Chak-yee, the Chairman of SPC Central Advisory Board and the Regional Commander of Hong Kong Island, Mr Yu Tat-chung, the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Support), Ms Lam Hiu-tong, and members of SPC Central Advisory Board, Dr Cheng Kam-chung, Mr Lam Kin-hong, and Mr Wu Chor-nam. Some 600 SPC members and guests participated in the event today.

     The SPC Scheme, rolled out in February 2014, aims to promote crime prevention, fight crime, domestic and road safety messages to the elderly. It also provides a platform for the elderly to participate in meaningful activities as well as serve the community. As at October 31, more than 10,100 senior citizens have joined the SPC Scheme.

        

     The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, chaired the Summit on Disability Inclusion today (November 24). Stakeholders of the rehabilitation sector and employer representatives shared their views and experiences in promoting the employment of persons with disabilities and their participation in arts in a panel discussion on building a disability inclusive society.

     About 500 guests attended the summit, including members of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee (RAC) and its Sub-committees, Working Groups and Task Forces as well as various stakeholders from self-help organisations of persons with disabilities, parent/carer groups, schools council, arts groups, the business sector and non-governmental organisations. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, as well as Principal Officials, Under Secretaries and Heads of Departments of relevant policy areas also participated in the summit.

     Following the opening remarks by the Chief Executive on building a disability inclusive society was a panel discussion presided by the Chairperson of the Rehabilitation Programme Plan Review Working Group, Mr Fung Pak-yan, and Hong Kong wheelchair fencing athlete, Miss Yu Chui-yee. Speakers included the Chairperson of the Direction Association for the Handicapped, Ms Rabi Yim; the Director of Corporate Affairs and Philanthropies of Microsoft Hong Kong Limited, Ms Ada Ng; the Chairperson of the Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong, Ms Ida Lam; an Executive Officer of the Government, Miss Agatha Ng; and two artists with disabilities, Ms Lo Pui-yung and Mr Wong Wing-hong. They exchanged views and shared their experience from different perspectives on promoting the employment of persons with disabilities and their participation in arts.

     In the second half of the summit, Mrs Lam; Mr Cheung; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong; the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan; and the Under Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, exchanged ideas with participating guests on policies and measures to promote the well-beings of persons with disabilities. Views on a variety of issues related to persons with disabilities were expressed enthusiastically.

     The Chief Executive proposed in 2017 to hold Chief Executive Summits on important policy areas. The Summit on Disability Inclusion today is the fourth summit she chaired since assuming office, during which she directly listened to views of the sector and stakeholders, enhancing liaison and communication between policy bureaux/departments concerned on disability affairs within the Government and relevant stakeholders.

     The summit also marked the start of the second stage of a public engagement exercise on "Formulation of Recommendations" for the formulation of a new Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme Plan (RPP). The public consultation period of the "Formulation of Recommendations" Stage will commence on December 5, 2018, and last until April 4, 2019. The RAC will hold four public consultation sessions in early December 2018 and a number of seminars in the first quarter of 2019 to collect views from stakeholders, with a view to mapping out the strategic directions and recommendations of the new RPP.