The Lands Department has issued demand notes for Government rent in excess of $100 per annum for the half year ending December 25 in respect of properties subject to the Government Leases Ordinance (Chapter 40) and certain other properties.

     Payers can settle Government rent through various electronic means including autopay, bank automated teller machines (ATMs), e-Cheque/e-Cashier's Order, payment by phone service (PPS), and bill payment services provided by banks and PPS on the Internet. Payment may also be made in person and in cash at designated convenience stores. For details, please visit the Treasury's website at www.try.gov.hk.

     For payment made by a crossed cheque, please send it to PO Box No. 28000, Gloucester Road Post Office, Hong Kong, or deliver in person to any post office. Please ensure sufficient mailing time and postage to make delivery in order. Underpaid mail will be rejected. For locations and opening hours of post offices, please call Hongkong Post's enquiry hotline on 2921 2222 or visit its website at www.hongkongpost.hk.

     Government rent payers who have not received their demand notes should enquire at the Government Rent and Premium Unit of the Lands Department at 1/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong. Enquiries can also be made at 2231 3033.

     Purchasers of properties are strongly advised to instruct their solicitors to ensure that Government rent has been paid to date at the time of purchase. Enquiries on outstanding accounts can be made at 2231 3033. An enquiry fee is payable for each property if a written confirmation of accounts position is needed.

     The results of Primary One discretionary places for September 2019 will be released on Monday (November 26) by all government and aided primary schools.

     "There are 51 460 children applying for discretionary places in government and aided primary schools this year, of whom 22 702 will be offered a place in these schools," an Education Bureau spokesman said today (November 23). "A total of 12 055 are applicant children with sibling(s) studying or with parent(s) working in the schools that they have applied to, whereas the remaining 10 647 are selected according to the Points System."

     Parents are reminded to bring the parent’s copy of the Application Form for Primary One Admission and check the results of their application between 9am and 5pm on Monday (November 26) or Tuesday (November 27) at the school to which they have applied.

     The registration of successful applicant children should be made on Wednesday (November 28) or Thursday (November 29) during school hours.

     Parents whose children have been offered a Primary One place are advised to note carefully the registration procedures and requirements of individual schools, such as bringing the parent’s copy of the Application Form for Primary One Admission and the number of photographs required for registration purposes.

     "Parents who cannot register within the specified period should notify the responsible person of the school in advance to make alternative arrangements. Otherwise, they will be deemed to have given up their discretionary place," the spokesman said.

     Under the Primary One Admission System, each government or aided primary school may make use of about 50 per cent of its total Primary One places as discretionary places. The remaining 50 per cent will be reserved for Central Allocation at a later stage.

     "Parents of applicant children who have failed to secure a discretionary place or who have opted for Central Allocation only will be invited by letter from the Education Bureau in mid-January 2019 to make choices of schools for Central Allocation at a designated Central Allocation Centre on January 26 or 27. Primary One places will then be allocated to these children in Central Allocation. For applications for participation in Primary One Admission 2019 after January 27, parents need to complete the necessary procedures with the School Places Allocation Section of the Education Bureau. The Education Bureau will separately arrange a Primary One place for the applicant children in June 2019," the spokesman said.

     "Parents should note that once their children have been allocated a Primary One place, they cannot take part in the Primary One Admission System again in future," he said.

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (November 23) released the latest grading of water quality for nine gazetted beaches. Other beaches have been closed to swimmers from November 1 for the winter season.
        
     Nine beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:        

 
* Big Wave Bay Beach, Clear Water Bay Second Beach, Deep Water Bay Beach, Middle Bay Beach and Stanley Main Beach remain closed until further notice due to the severe damage brought about by Typhoon Mangkhut earlier. 
 
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
      
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the department's websites on Beach Water Quality (www.beachwq.gov.hk and www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.

     Ensemble Kamaan will stage a concert entitled "Iranian Alchemy" in January 2019. The four main members of the troupe are Amir Amiri (who plays santur), Showan Tavakol (kamancheh), Behnaz Sohrabi (rabab) and Olivier Marin (viola).
 
     In the Ensemble Kamaan's eclectic musical universe, borders are abolished to make way for a bewitching alchemy of mystical conversation. Drawing on the cultural diversity of their homeland Iran, they create a unique fusion that combines the refinement of traditional and classical Persian music with regional rigour and folkloric influences.
 
    Also performing will be "whirling dervish" Shraddha Blaney. Through the trance induced by whirling, whirling dervishes seek to obtain a divine state. By performing the ritual of rotation and becoming aligned with cosmic motion, a dervish (literally "doorway") is the entrance between the material world and the spiritual world – a connection between the two worlds.
 
    To the sound of the Ensemble Kamaan, the whirling of the dervish will be accompanied by a series of photographs of doors and windows, open and closed, taken in the Iranian countryside.
 
     Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, concert "Iranian Alchemy" by Ensemble Kamaan will be staged at 8pm on January 12, 2019 (Saturday) at the Theatre, Hong Kong City Hall. Tickets priced at $150 and $250 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_687.html.

  

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, will lead a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government delegation to visit Fujian from the afternoon of November 27 to November 29. Mr Cheung will co-chair the Third Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Fujian Co-operation Conference with the Vice-Governor of Fujian Province.
 
      The Conference will be held in Fuzhou on November 28. During the Conference, Hong Kong and Fujian will discuss the strengthening of mutual co-operation in various areas. While in Fujian, the delegation will also meet with officials of the Fujian Provincial Government and the Xiamen Municipal Government, and visit Wuyishan to explore youth co-operation between the two places. In addition, the delegation will meet with Hong Kong people working, doing business and studying in Fujian.
 
     Members of the HKSAR Government delegation will include the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip; the Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Dr David Chung; the Under Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-Lin; the Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan; the Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan; and the Under Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Jack Chan.
 
     The delegation will return to Hong Kong in the evening on November 29. During the absence of Mr Cheung and Mr Nip, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, and the Under Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Andy Chan, will be the Acting Chief Secretary for Administration and the Acting Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs respectively.