The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Wednesday, August 29, 2018 is 103.8 (up 0.1 against yesterday's index).

     The retrospective "Glory Days: When Leslie Met Anita" presented by the Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department several months ago was well received by the audience. To revisit the glory days of superstars Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, the HKFA has selected seven movies from the series to have encore screenings at North District Town Hall from September 28 to October 1.
 
     "Rouge" (1988), the only film co-starring Cheung and Mui as leads, will once again be the first movie shown. Directed by Stanley Kwan, the film tells of the romance between famous courtesan Fleur and wealthy playboy Pang in the 1930s. The film won various prizes at film awards and festivals. The screening will include a three-minute music montage specially edited from a rarely seen international cut.
 
     Both iconic figures in Cantopop, Cheung and Mui occasionally introduced music elements and enriched their works with their attractive voices. The musical drama "The Phantom Lover" (1995) features Cheung as a popular opera star, and the theme song composed and performed by Cheung won a Best Original Film Song nomination for the Golden Horse Awards. In "Au Revoir, Mon Amour" (1991) with the Sino-Japanese War as the story setting, Mui plays a songstress who guards her beloved regardless of the unstable political environment. The strong-willed character is consistent with Mui's own personality.
 
     Cheung and Mui contributed to a wide range of genres in their acting careers. From their comedies, the HKFA picked the Chinese New Year screen classic "All's Well End's Well" (1992) and "Justice, My Foot!" (1992), which saw Cheung and Mui separately co-star with king of comedy Stephen Chow. Both stood on an equal footing with Chow, and the two works are among the top classics in the acting careers of Cheung and Mui. "All's Well End's Well" will be accompanied by a post-screening talk hosted by director Clifton Ko and film critic William Yuen.
 
     Both Cheung and Mui took part in the romance movie series "He's a Woman, She's a Man" (1994) and "Who's the Woman, Who's the Man" (1996). The first film, starring Cheung and Anita Yuen, features crossed relationships and gender confusion, while in the latter film Mui joins the cast with an androgynous stage persona, making the story more complicated and daring.
 
     All films are in Cantonese. "Au Revoir, Mon Amour" is without subtitles, while the other films are with Chinese and English subtitles.
 
     Tickets priced at $45 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries, please call 2739 2139 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/HKFA/en_US/web/hkfa/programmesandexhibitions/2018gdwlma-ndth/index.html.

  

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (August 29) that due to inclement weather, red flags have been hoisted at Lido Beach, Casam Beach and Ting Kau Beach in Tsuen Wan District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at these beaches.

     The Transport Department (TD) today (August 29) reminded students to attend school early on the first school day next Monday (September 3) as traffic is expected to be busier than normal.
 
     "Students, especially those attending a new school, should familiarise themselves with the public transport routes to be taken to school and allow more travelling time on the first school day. Students living on the outlying islands or attending schools on the outlying islands should check the ferry schedules, the vessel types to be used and journey times for their intended ferry trips beforehand. Students are also reminded to pay attention to road safety when attending school," a department spokesman said.
 
     Major public transport operators have been reminded to provide adequate public transport services to meet the transport demand on the first school day.
 
     "The TD's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre (ETCC) will closely monitor the traffic situation and public transport services on September 3. The department will maintain close liaison with major public transport operators and relevant government departments. Staff will be deployed at various major locations throughout the territory to observe the traffic conditions and provide on-site information to the ETCC for arranging public transport service enhancement or informing the Police for traffic regulation when necessary," the spokesman added.
 
     More information may be obtained through the following hotlines and websites of major public transport operators:
 

 
     Motorists are advised not to drive to the school areas if possible. Drivers of nanny vans and school buses should not carry excess passengers or leave schoolchildren in vehicles unattended. An escort should be provided on board when serving kindergarten or primary school students. Parents should agree well in advance with schools, operators of nanny vans or school buses on the locations for picking up and dropping off their children.
 
     Members of the public are advised to pay attention to the latest transport and traffic news on radio and television before leaving home. For enquiries, please call the department's hotline at 2804 2600 or the 1823 Call Centre.

     The Labour Department (LD) today (August 29) reminded employers to make prior work arrangements for staff in times of rainstorms as soon as possible.
 
     "To avoid disputes and confusion, employers should make prior work arrangements for staff and contingency measures in times of rainstorms," an LD spokesman said.
 
     "In working out and enforcing the arrangements, employers should give prime consideration to employees' safety both in the workplace and during their journeys to and from work, and adopt a flexible approach. Whenever possible, they should consult their staff."
 
     The work arrangements should cover the following matters:
 
* Whether employees are required to report for duty when different rainstorm warnings are issued;
* After a rainstorm warning is cancelled, the time for staff who have not reported for duty to resume work and the arrangements;
* How wages and allowances (if any) will be calculated for staff who are required to report for duty and those who are late for work or absent from work during rainstorms; and
* For employees who are required to travel to and from workplaces during rainstorms, whether transport facilities will be provided to them and, if so, the arrangements.
 
     "Employers should make realistic assessments of the requirements for essential staff and require only absolutely essential staff to report for duty in adverse weather conditions. If an Amber, Red or Black Rainstorm Warning is issued during working hours, employees working indoors should remain on duty as usual and stay where they are unless it is dangerous to do so. Supervisors of employees working outdoors in exposed areas should suspend outdoor duties as soon as practicable. They should arrange for their employees to take shelter temporarily and resume duty when weather conditions permit. When the Black Rainstorm Warning is issued, those employees should not resume duty until the warning is lowered and weather conditions permit. If the Black Rainstorm Warning remains in force at the end of working hours, for safety reasons, employers should provide employees with an area in the workplace as temporary shelter for them to stay if they want to.”
 
     "If possible, employers should provide transport services for employees who are still required to travel to and from workplaces when the Black Rainstorm Warning is in force, or give them a special travelling allowance as encouragement.”
 
     "For staff who have practical difficulties in resuming work promptly upon cancellation of a rainstorm warning, employers should give due consideration to the circumstances of individual employees and handle each case flexibly.”
 
     "As rainstorms are natural occurrences that cannot be avoided, employers should not deduct wages of employees who are absent from or late for work because of inclement weather. Neither should employers dismiss an employee summarily based on these grounds," he said.
 
     The spokesman also reminded employers to observe the statutory liabilities and requirements under the Employment Ordinance, the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance, the Employees' Compensation Ordinance and the Minimum Wage Ordinance.
 
     Employers should not deduct the annual leave, statutory holidays or rest days employees are entitled to under the Employment Ordinance so as to compensate for the loss of working hours resulting from employees' failure to report for duty upon the announcement of a Black Rainstorm Warning. An employer who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with relevant provisions under the Employment Ordinance is liable to prosecution.
 
     Employers should also note that they have an obligation to maintain a safe workplace for their employees under the Occupational Safety and Health Ordinance.
 
     "If employees are required to work in times of rainstorms, employers should ensure that the risks at work are properly controlled and reduced to levels that are as low as reasonably practicable," the spokesman said.
 
     Under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance, employers are liable to pay compensation for deaths or injuries incurred when employees are travelling by a direct route from their residences to workplaces, or from workplaces back to residences after work, four hours before or after working hours on a day when Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above or a Red or Black Rainstorm Warning is in force.
 
     To provide practical guidelines and samples of work arrangements for the reference of employers and employees, the LD has issued the booklet "Code of Practice in times of Typhoons and Rainstorms". The code can be obtained from the branch offices of the Labour Relations Division or downloaded from the department's webpage (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/public/wcp/Rainstorm.pdf).