Following is the eulogy by the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, at the funeral service of Dr Chung Sze-yuen today (November 23):

     Last week, Hong Kong lost a distinguished, universally respected leader, a man who dedicated his life – such a long, eventful, brilliantly engaged life – to serving Hong Kong and everything that meant for him: family, community, country.

     Today, we gather together here to pay our last respect to this distinguished person – Sir S Y and to celebrate his good fortune – to have lived such a full and resplendent life and slipped away peacefully, surrounded by his beloved family. His words and deeds will remain in the hearts of many of us for a long time to come.

     Though Sir S Y had retired for almost two decades and rarely appeared in public since, my memories of him were fresh. As a relatively young member of his circle of friends, I had the fortune of being invited to attend his birthday parties in recent years. And earlier this month, on the 3rd of November, I had the honour of hosting a birthday party for him at Government House. It was a sunny autumn day and the party was filled with joy and warmth. There was no formality, no protocol and everyone has a chance greeting, hugging and even kissing Sir S Y on his 101st birthday. Those happy moments were captured in our respective iPhones.
     
     I have no doubt that every guest at the party find himself or herself fortunate to be on the invitation list of Sir S Y, not mine, and rejoice at our great good fortune to have known Sir S Y, to have worked with him, to have been touched by his vision and to have been inspired by his unassailable commitment to Hong Kong. So much of Sir S Y's life will remain memorable for all of us.

     Indeed, as Sir S Y remarked in the Foreword to his memoirs Hong Kong's Journey to Reunification, and I quote, "memory is very selective and porous. The mind is like a sieve, which as time goes by drains the fluid and leaves behind residues that are generally dramatic". Sir S Y's 20 years between 1979 and 1999 when he finally retired, were as dramatic for him as for Hong Kong. His contribution to the smooth transition and the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region was one that was most aptly described by himself as an accomplishment that "we can face our own conscience and sleep well at night."

     My own association with Sir S Y also started from that dramatic period of preparing for the Reunification. I had the privilege of working with him in the Budget Expert Group under the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group, which dealt with the transitional Budget for the 1997-98 fiscal year and related issues before Hong Kong's return to the motherland. He was an expert to the Chinese side while I was a Hong Kong official on the British side. During that one and a half year, I learned from Sir S Y the value of adhering to principles and objectives, the diligence in finding solutions and the dignity of speaking without fear or favour, though I have to say Sir S Y's Putonghua was often hard to follow. I was impressed by his leadership, but more so by what motivated him. And that was invariably the interest of the people of Hong Kong. 

     Born in Hong Kong, for almost half a century, Sir S Y participated in the administration of Hong Kong. He served the people of Hong Kong – generation after generation – and in so many ways.

     He was, first and foremost, an illustrious engineer who served as president of what was then the Engineering Society of Hong Kong, which later became the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, and led the Society in its path to become a statutory body. He won countless awards in engineering, and was well known for significantly reducing the cost of producing torches with new technology. Throughout his life, he had been highly respected by the engineering sector.

     But it was politics that captured his imagination, his dedication, his remarkable ability to get things done. He was indeed a rare talent in politics. Before Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Sir S Y had served as a member of the Legislative Council for 13 years and a member of the Executive Council for 16 years, with dual membership in six of the years. He became a Senior Unofficial Member in 1980, making him one of the top decision-makers in the Hong Kong Government. With that, he found himself at history's doorstep, witnessing the negotiations between China and the United Kingdom over Hong Kong's future. In the early 1980s, he tirelessly travelled between Beijing and London to voice his views, acting solely with Hong Kong's best interests in mind.  

     He retired from ExCo in the late 1980s, but was no doubt persuaded by the first Chief Executive, Mr C H Tung, to assume the position of Convenor of the first Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the age of 80 to provide a pair of safe and credible hands to put the reborn Hong Kong on her stable footing. After his official retirement in 1999, he still showed his care for Hong Kong by sharing his valuable insights on local issues from time to time. He was an important witness, and a huge contributor to Hong Kong's smooth transition and successful implementation of "One Country, Two Systems".

     It is no exaggeration to say, which I did say on his 101st birthday party, that Sir S Y's legacy is being felt up to this day. During my first official trip to Japan earlier this month, I was reminded that Sir S Y was one of the early chairmen of the Hong Kong–Japan Economic Cooperation Committee which helped to lay the strong foundation of Hong Kong's trade and investment links with Japan. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology which was established through his leadership and guidance is one of the best young universities in the world and a much sought after partner in developing higher education in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, and will play a pivotal role in our effort to build an international innovation and technology hub. As the founding chairman of the Hospital Authority, Sir S Y had led our public healthcare system into a new era.

     In recognition of his tremendous achievements, Sir S Y was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal, Hong Kong's highest honour, on July 1, 1997, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's establishment day.

     Sir S Y once said that his guiding light – the principles he lived and worked by – were, and I quote: "to act with conscience and consider the best interests of Hong Kong."

     Ladies and gentlemen, Sir S Y – a native son of Hong Kong – lived those principles to the fullest, completely and  selflessly. We were blessed to have him among us. And we are blessed today to enjoy the innumerable rewards he helped enable. May he rest in peace.

     The Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery Fun Day will be held this Sunday (November 25). Through a variety of delightful programmes, members of the public will be able to learn about the history of the fireboat Alexander Grantham and sea rescue services in Hong Kong. Members of the public are invited to attend and admission is free.
      
     The ship's wheelhouse will be open to the public on the Fun Day to enable them to see the original working conditions of the firefighters on the fireboat. Other not-to-be-missed activities will include the "Fireboat Elite" jumping bouncer, "Be a Firefighter" photo-taking sessions, "Hunting for Auxiliary Features On-Board" treasure hunt games, jigsaw puzzles, a display of rescue equipment, discussion sessions with retired firefighters who used to work on the fireboat, and a live band show by firefighters.
      
     The Fun Day will be held from 10am to 6pm. All programmes will be conducted in Cantonese. A fireboat water spray performance, one of the annual Fun Day highlight programmes, is scheduled to take place at 2pm, together with a bagpipe performance. Members of the public will also be able to enjoy a search and rescue dog performance (fireboat water spray performance and search and rescue dog performance are subject to cancellation in case of emergency or rescue mission).
      
     The fireboat Alexander Grantham went into service in 1953. Before being decommissioned in 2002, it served as the flagship of the Hong Kong Fire Services Department's fireboat unit, responding to fire alarms and conducting rescue operations both in Hong Kong waters and along the regional coastline. As well as being the first boat preserved as an historical relic in Hong Kong, it is also the largest "Made in Hong Kong" item in the Hong Kong Museum of History's collection.
         
     The above programmes are jointly organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Fire Services Department. For details, please visit the website at hk.history.museum/en_US/web/mh/about-us/fireboat-alexander-grantham-exhibition-gallery.html or call 3580 6770.
      
     The Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery is located at Quarry Bay Park, Hong Kong.      

     The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted a territory-wide anti-illegal worker operation codenamed "Twilight" on November 19 and 22. A total of five illegal workers and two suspected employers were arrested.
      
     During operations, ImmD Task Force officers raided 12 target locations including a retail store, a cleaning company, industrial buildings, residential flats and restaurants. Five illegal workers and two employers were arrested. The illegal workers comprised four men and a woman, aged 29 to 53. Among them, a man and a woman were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. In addition, a woman was suspected of using and being in possession of a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Meanwhile, two men, aged 30 and 62, were suspected of employing the illegal workers.
      
      "Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years' imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties," an ImmD spokesman said.
 
      The spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment should be applied in such cases. It is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine and up to 10 years' imprisonment. 
      
     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee's identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.
      
     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threat and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent interference, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.

     Hongkong Post announced today (November 23) that, as advised by the postal administration of Australia, due to the impact of bushfires, all mail delivery services to New South Wales (postcodes 1695, 2318, 2319, 2689 and 3129) are subject to delay.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (November 23) that due to the setting up of a media centre at Tiu Keng Leng Sports Centre (TKLSC) by the Registration and Electoral Office for the Legislative Council Kowloon West geographical constituency by-election which will be held on November 25 (Sunday), the facilities at TKLSC will be temporarily closed during the following periods:

(1) The main arena, activity rooms and table-tennis tables, indoor jogging track, children's play room and fitness room have been closed until November 27, while the outdoor climbing wall, changing rooms and toilets will be closed from November 24 to 26; and

(2) All facilities (including the Leisure Link booking counter) will be closed on November 25.

     During the closure period, members of the public may use similar facilities at the Hong Kong Velodrome, Hang Hau Sports Centre, Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre, Tsui Lam Sports Centre and Po Lam Sports Centre in the same district.

     Members of the public may call TKLSC staff at 2481 5033 for enquiries.