The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (September 10) that the Edward Youde Aviary of Hong Kong Park will be temporarily closed from September 17, 2018 to February 1, 2019 for the first phase of refurbishment works.
 
     The second phase of refurbishment works is expected to be conducted around mid-2019.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will hold “Jazz Up 2018” from October to December, featuring two concerts by highly acclaimed ensembles as well as a lecture demonstration series. Details are as follows:
 
Pablo Ziegler Latin Jazz Trio
Auditorium, Sha Tin Town Hall
October 16 (Tuesday), 8pm
Tickets: $180 to $420
 
     Buenos Aires-born and award-winning pianist Pablo Ziegler performed in the great tango music maestro Astor Piazzolla's legendary quintet for over a decade. He is also one of the most important figures of the Argentinian New Tango movement. Ziegler will collaborate with versatile guitarist Quique Sinesi and remarkable bandoneon player Walter Castro for their Hong Kong debut of 2015 release "Desperate Dance". Not to be missed!
 
 
Ron Carter Trio
Auditorium, Tsuen Wan Town Hall
December 1 (Saturday), 7.30pm
Tickets: $180 to $420
 
     Ron Carter, now 81, is one of the greatest double bassists in jazz history and his musical prowess and achievements have long been recognised. For a musician to be chosen as a member of the Ron Carter Trio serves as a considerable honour. Hence the two musicians picked out by Carter – pianist Donald Vega and guitarist Russell Malone – should not be overlooked. Hong Kong jazz lovers will also be excited about Ted Lo's presence as a special guest. Long a key figure in the local jazz and pop scene, Lo is a former member of the Ron Carter Quartet. Audiences can expect sparks to fly at this long-awaited reunion!
 
"Jazz Classics: Let's Listen, Let's Jam!" Lecture Demonstration
GR3, 8/F, Back Stage, Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
November 13, 22 and 29 and December 6, 13 and 20, 8pm
Tickets: $80 (for each talk)
 
     In these six lectures, local jazz guitarist Alan Kwan will review the influences of and share some interesting stories about various legends of modern jazz including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Nat King Cole, Wes Montgomery and Wayne Shorter. The lectures will be conducted in Cantonese and supplemented with live demonstrations by Kwan (guitar), Patrick Lui (piano), Wong Tak-chung (double bass) and Ted Lo (drums).
 
     Tickets for the above programmes 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/groups_632.html.

     The Labour Department (LD) will hold a public talk entitled "Occupational safety and health (OSH) for confined space workers" on September 17 (Monday). To enhance workers' OSH awareness in confined spaces, the talk will explain the related OSH hazards as well as measures to prevent them.
 
    The talk, to be given by the LD's occupational hygienist, occupational safety officer and occupational health nurse, will be held at 3pm in the Lecture Hall of the Hong Kong Space Museum, 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.
 
     The LD will hold another talk entitled "Manual handling operations and prevention of back injuries for workers of residential care homes" on September 26 (Wednesday). To raise OSH awareness of workers in residential care homes, the talk will include an introduction of the structure and functions of the back, causes and preventive measures of back injuries, discussions about proper manual handling operation as well as demonstration of workplace exercise.
 
    The talk, to be given by LD's occupational health nurse, will be held at 2.30pm at the lecture room of Fanling Occupational Health Clinic (7/F, Fanling Health Centre, 2 Pik Fung Road, Fanling).
 
     Both talks will be conducted in Cantonese. Admission is free. For enquiries or registration, please call 2852 4040.

     The Mid-Autumn Festival this year falls on September 24 (Monday) and the full moon (Note) will occur in the morning on the day following the Mid-Autumn Festival. If weather permits, a bright round moon will be observable at night during the Mid-Autumn Festival period.
 
     To assist moon watching by the public, the times of moonrise, transit, moonset and full moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival period are listed in the table below. At transit, the moon passes the local meridian due south and its elevation is the highest of the night.
 

 
     For the latest weather conditions during the Mid-Autumn Festival period, please refer to the nine-day Weather Forecast issued by the Hong Kong Observatory (www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm) for the planning of moon-watching activities.
 
Note: At full moon, the Moon as seen from the Earth is completely illuminated with the Moon and the Sun located on the opposite sides of the Earth.

The following is issued on behalf of the Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong’s Franchised Bus Service:
 
     The Independent Review Committee on Hong Kong’s Franchised Bus Service will hold hearings to receive oral evidence from the invited parties as follows:
 

 
     The Committee's rules of procedure for the receipt of oral evidence and notice to the public attending the hearings to receive oral evidence are available on the Committee's website (www.irc-bus.gov.hk/eng/press.html).
 
     Having received and considered written submissions from various interested parties, and in order to obtain further information, the Committee is in the process of inviting specific interested parties to give oral evidence to the Committee through nominated representatives. Twelve hearings have been held so far to receive oral evidence from:
 
(A) Representatives of:

• the Transport and Housing Bureau;
• the Transport Department;
• Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited and Long Win Bus Company Limited
• the New World First Bus Services Limited and Citybus Limited;
• the New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited;
• Tai Po, Shatin and Sham Shui Po District Councils;
• ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Openmatics s.r.o.;
• the Community for Road Safety;
• the Motor Transport Workers General Union, including its sub-unions of Citybus Branch, KMB Branch, Long Win Bus Branch, New Lantao Bus Branch and New World Bus Branch;
• The Federation of Bus Industry Trade Unions, including its members of KMB Staff Union, New World First Bus Company Staff Union and Citybus Limited Employees Union;
• the KMB Employees Union;
• the Staff Rights Association of KMB;
• the Monthly-Rated Drivers Union; and
• the Part-time Drivers Union

 
(B) Former employees of the KMB:

• Mr Alok Jain; and
• Mr Raymond Cheng
   

(C) Employees of the KMB:

• Ms Debby Wong; and
• Mr Kelvin Yeung

 
     A transcript of that evidence (and a translation in Chinese) is available on the Committee's website (www.irc-bus.gov.hk/eng/transcripts.html).
 
     The Committee wishes to invite family members of the victims and passengers on board the bus involved in the fatal incident on Tai Po Road, and other recent serious incidents involving franchised bus services, to attend the hearings, and invites them to contact the Secretariat in advance of the hearings if they wish to attend. Except for seats reserved for such persons as well as the media and specifically identified interested parties, all available seats in the hearing venues will be open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. A registration counter will open at 9.30am on September 12 and 15.
 
     Enquiries regarding the hearings may be directed to the Secretariat of the Committee at 2867 5324.