Author Archives: hksar gov

     Owing to the thunderstorm warning, the flag-raising ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 8am today (September 7) will be cancelled. read more

     Owing to the thunderstorm warning, the flag-raising ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 8am today (September 7) will be cancelled. read more

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London (London ETO) is supporting Hong Kong’s creative industries by sponsoring a Hong Kong Pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2018 in Somerset House and by hosting a reception to launch the Pavilion.

     Every two years the London Design Biennale challenges designers from around the world to respond to an overall theme. This year the theme is “Emotional States” and reveals how design influences our emotions. Designers, innovators and curators from 40 countries, cities and territories, including Hong Kong, are represented in this year’s event. The Hong Kong Pavilion, titled “Sensorial Estates” and co-chaired by Hong Kong designers Wendy Fok and Elaine Young, plays with the idea of scent as a tool for triggering memories. It features not only the sights of Hong Kong, but also the smells of it, with “scratch-and-sniff” wallpapers and boxes filled with aroma-infused objects alongside each other, exploring nostalgic representations of the city.

     Speaking at the reception yesterday (September 5, London Time) at Somerset House, the Director-General of the London ETO, Ms Priscilla To, said: “We are very pleased to support the Hong Kong Pavilion to take part in this important event in the field of design, alongside other participants from six continents. The Pavilion takes you back to Hong Kong, the place we call home, through sensorial experience of smell.

     “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to the creative industries, and design is among the fastest-growing sector of our creative industries.  We believe that there is immense development potential in these sectors as a driver of the Hong Kong’s economy, and at the same time their development will create synergy with our traditional pillar industries, such as tourism and the convention and exhibition industry.

     “As announced earlier this year, it is exciting to see the return of the UK as the partner country of the Business of Design Week 2019, after their initial and successful collaboration back in 2006.  We are looking forward to being inspired by design masters and design-minded business leaders from the UK, through their unique insights, good designs and sharing of their enterprising spirit at the event.”

     Around 150 guests from different sectors attended the reception. A guided private view of the Hong Kong Pavilion by the design team was also arranged to allow the guests to explore the various smells of the city of Hong Kong, and the stories told by selected cultural icons and experiences through specially designed objects representing the unique local cultures and regionality of Hong Kong. The London Design Biennale 2018 and the Hong Kong Pavilion will be open until September 23 (London time).

            

     Having regard to the community’s interest on the various levels of the West Kowloon Station (WKS), the Transport and Housing Bureau today (September 6) further provided the following information:

     The WKS is a large scale railway station. To support station operation, there are back of house areas between levels in the station for use by staff of the operator of the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL), and for rescue and escape in case of emergency and fire. 

     Apart from “B5 level”, “B1M level” above the B1 Ticketing Hall, “B2H level” above the B2 Arrival Level, “B3M/B3H level” above the B3 Departure Level, and “B4M level” above the B4 Platform Level also have back of house areas designated for housing station facilities and for use as office by staff of the operator of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL. These back of house areas are managed by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) as the operator of the Hong Kong Section of the XRL. The Mainland Port Area comprises the designated areas on B2 and B3 Levels, the platform areas on B4 Level as well as the relevant connecting passageways, these back of house areas are not within the Mainland Port Area.

     A typical level of the WKS has a floor area of around 110 000 square metres, and the floor areas of “B1M level”, “B2H level”, “B3M/B3H level” and “B4M level” are only around 5 600 square metres, around 10 300 square metres, around 7 200 square metres and around 4 200 square metres respectively. Such floor areas have been included in the construction floor area of 430 000 square metres announced before. In particular:

     On “B1M level”, there are ventilation shafts, offices of the railway operator, as well as plant rooms for air conditioning system.  A section is used as restaurant open to the public;

     On “B2H level”, there are ventilation shafts and a refuse collection room;

     On “B3M/B3H level”, a section (known as “B3M level”) is used as passageways to the subway that connects to the Lin Cheung Road for public use. The other sections known as “B3H level” are all back of house areas in the station with ventilation shafts installed;

     On “B4M level”, there are offices of the railway operator, switch rooms and plant rooms for air conditioning system, as well as refuse collection and equipment maintenance rooms.

     Back of house areas are not for passenger use. Other than personnel who enters back of house areas for performance of duties with authorisation from MTRCL, or during rescue and escape in case of emergency and fire, no person shall enter back of house areas. All exits and entrances to back of house areas, including relevant passageways, doors and lifts that connect with the public areas or the Mainland Port Area in the WKS, are locked by security systems. MTRCL has a stringent control mechanism and has assigned patrols to prevent unauthorised entry into back of house areas. In addition, security systems such as closed-circuit television and alarm systems have been installed together with clear warning signs so as to prevent unauthorised persons from entering.     read more

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
 
     The University Grants Committee (UGC) held a presentation ceremony for the 2018 UGC Teaching Award today (September 6) to honour academics of the UGC-funded universities for their outstanding teaching performance and achievements, as well as their leadership and scholarly contributions to teaching and learning within and across universities.
 
     The recipients of the 2018 UGC Teaching Award, in alphabetical order, are:
 
General Faculty Members/Teams
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The Leadership and Intrapersonal Development Team of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, led by Professor Daniel Shek (Chair Professor and Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programme)), with Dr Lu Yu (Assistant Professor), Dr Cecilia Ma (Assistant Professor), Ms Yammy Chak (Teaching Fellow) and Dr Li Lin (Research Assistant Professor) as team members
 
Early Career Faculty Members
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Dr Jason KK Chan, Lecturer, School of Science/Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
 
Dr Kang Jong-hyuk David, Assistant Professor, Department of Literature and Cultural Studies, Education University of Hong Kong
  
     The citations of the awardees are at Annex 1.
 
     The Chairman of the UGC, Mr Carlson Tong, congratulated the awardees and nominees on their accomplishments, and thanked the UGC-funded universities for their support for the UGC Teaching Award. Mr Tong said, “The UGC attaches great importance to quality teaching and learning. The UGC Teaching Award provides an annual opportunity to acknowledge teaching excellence in the UGC sector.” He added that all the nominees had made great efforts in teaching and motivating their students to learn.
 
     The three recipients of the 2018 UGC Teaching Award were selected from among 22 outstanding nominees through a rigorous process undertaken by a Selection Panel convened by Professor Jan Thomas. The selection criteria and the composition of the Selection Panel for the 2018 UGC Teaching Award are at Annex 2.
 
     When announcing the results of this year’s UGC Teaching Award, Professor Thomas said, “The Selection Panel was deeply impressed by the nominees’ commitment to their own teaching and to the learning of their students.”
 
     The presentation ceremony was well attended by UGC Members, representatives of the UGC-funded universities including their Council Chairmen and Heads, as well as those nominated for the award.