The following is issued on behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund: The Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund held a ceremony today (July 26) to award scholarships, t… read more
The Home Affairs Department will open 18 temporary night heat shelters tonight (July 26) for people in need of the service.
The shelters will be open from 10.30pm until 8am tomorrow.
For further information, please call the department’s enquiries hotline before midnight on 2835 1473.
The 18 night heat shelters are located at:
Hong Kong Districts:
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Central and Western –
Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall
3/F, Sai Ying Pun Community Complex
2 High Street, Sai Ying Pun
Eastern/Wan Chai –
Causeway Bay Community Centre
Waiting Lobby, 3/F, 7 Fook Yum Road, Causeway Bay
Southern –
Lei Tung Community Hall
Lei Tung Estate, Ap Lei Chau
Kowloon Districts:
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Kowloon City –
Hung Hom Community Hall
Multi-purpose Room, 1/F, Kowloon City Government Offices
42 Bailey Street, Hung Hom
Kwun Tong –
Lam Tin (West) Estate Community Centre
71 Kai Tin Road, Lam Tin
Sham Shui Po –
Shek Kip Mei Community Hall
G/F, Block 42, Shek Kip Mei Estate
Nam Cheong Street, Sham Shui Po
Wong Tai Sin –
Tsz Wan Shan (South) Estate Community Centre
Hall, G/F, 45 Wan Wah Street, Tsz Wan Shan
Yau Tsim Mong –
Henry G Leong Yaumatei Community Centre
60 Public Square Street, Yau Ma Tei
New Territories Districts:
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Islands –
Tung Chung Community Hall
G/F, Tung Chung Municipal Services Building,
39 Man Tung Road, Tung Chung
Kwai Tsing –
Kwai Shing Community Hall
Podium, Block 6, Kwai Shing West Estate, Kwai Chung
North –
Cheung Wah Community Hall
Cheung Wah Estate, Fanling
Sai Kung –
Hang Hau Community Hall
G/F, Sai Kung Tseung Kwan O Government Complex,
38 Pui Shing Road, Hang Hau, Tseung Kwan O
Sha Tin –
Lung Hang Estate Community Centre
Lung Hang Estate, Sha Tin
Tai Po –
Tai Po Community Centre
2 Heung Sze Wui Street, Tai Po
Tsuen Wan –
Lei Muk Shue Community Hall
G/F, Hong Shue House, Lei Muk Shue Estate, Tsuen Wan
Tuen Mun –
Butterfly Bay Community Centre
Butterfly Estate (near Tip Sum House), Tuen Mun
Yuen Long –
Long Ping Community Hall
Long Ping Estate, Yuen Long
Yuen Long –
Tin Yiu Community Centre
Tin Yiu Estate, Tin Shui Wai
The temporary night heat shelters will resume their functions as either community centres or community halls in the daytime for hire by the local community and cannot continue to be open as heat shelters. People may choose to take refuge from the heat during the daytime in the common areas in any of the 21 designated community centres or community halls. Their opening hours are from 9am to 10pm. For addresses of the community centres or community halls, please browse the following webpage: www.had.gov.hk/file_manager/en/documents/public_services/emergency_services/List_CH_CC_Day_E.pdf read more
The Government announced today (July 26) that, notwithstanding the new statutory tolls of the Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) and Route 3 (Country Park Section) (Route 3) coming into effect on July 31 and August 1 respectively, the current actual toll levels payable by motorists will remain unchanged as the tunnel companies will continue to offer concessions to all types of vehicles.
The toll adjustment mechanisms for the WHC and Route 3 are specified in the Western Harbour Crossing Ordinance (Cap. 436) and the Tai Lam Tunnel and Yuen Long Approach Road Ordinance (Cap. 474) respectively. The franchisees of the WHC and Route 3 can effect statutory toll increases under the law if the companies’ actual net revenues fall short of the minimum estimated net revenues specified in the law.
A spokesman for the Government said, “The two franchisees recently notified the Government of the dates on which they would like the new statutory toll levels to take effect. However, the two companies will continue to offer concessions to all types of vehicles so that current actual toll levels payable by motorists will remain unchanged.”
The Commissioner for Transport will publish notices in the Gazette tomorrow (July 27) on the new statutory tolls of the WHC and Route 3. The relevant Legislative Council Briefs are at Annexes 1 and 2 respectively. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (July 26) the results of Survey on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)’ Credit Conditions for the second quarter of 2018.
Regarding SMEs’ perception of banks’ credit approval stance relative to six months ago, 72 per cent of respondents perceived similar or easier credit approval stance in the second quarter of 2018, compared with 77 per cent recorded in the previous quarter (Chart 1 in the Annex). 28 per cent of respondents perceived more difficult credit approval stance in the second quarter of 2018, as compared to 23 per cent in the previous quarter.
Of those respondents with existing credit lines, 94 per cent reported that banks’ stance on existing credit lines was easier or unchanged in the second quarter of 2018, up from 88 per cent recorded in the previous quarter (Chart 2 in the Annex). 6 per cent of respondents reported tightened banks’ stance in the second quarter of 2018, down from 12 per cent in the previous quarter.
The Survey also gauged the results of new credit applications from SMEs. 2.3 per cent of respondents reported that they had applied for new bank credit during the second quarter of 2018. Of those with known application outcomes, 98 per cent reported fully or partially successful applications; the proportion of respondents that reported fully successful applications increased to 67 per cent from 50 per cent in the survey of the previous quarter (Chart 3 in the Annex). The proportion of respondents that reported unsuccessful application declined from 9 per cent to 2 per cent. It should be noted that owing to a small sample size (i.e. 2.3 per cent of surveyed SMEs), the results on new credit applications from SMEs could be prone to large fluctuations. Care should be taken when interpreting the survey results.
About Survey on SMEs’ Credit Conditions
In light of the importance of SMEs to the Hong Kong economy and concerns about potential funding difficulties facing SMEs over the past few years, the HKMA has appointed the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) to carry out this Survey, starting from the third quarter of 2016. This Survey is conducted on a quarterly basis, covering about 2 500 SMEs from different economic sectors each time. The results of this Survey can help monitor the development of SMEs’ access to bank credit from a demand-side perspective.
The results of this Survey should be interpreted with caution. Similar to other opinion surveys, views collected in this Survey may be affected by changes in sentiment due to idiosyncratic events that occurred over the Survey period, which can make the results prone to fluctuations. Readers are advised to interpret the results together with other economic and financial information. In addition, views collected are limited to the expected direction of inter-quarter changes (e.g. “tighter”, “similar” or “easier”) without providing information about the magnitude of these changes.
Detailed tables and technical information of this Survey are published on the website of the HKPC (smecc.hkpc.org). read more
The Department of Health, in collaboration with the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative Hong Kong Association (BFHIHKA), the Hong Kong Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF HK) and the Hospital Authority (HA) today (July 26) held an event to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week (WBW) 2018 with a view to raising the community’s awareness on breastfeeding and calling for their support.
WBW is celebrated annually in the first week of August in more than 170 countries. The theme for this year is “Breastfeeding: Foundation of Life”. Addressing the event, the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, said breastfeeding offers the finest and the most natural nutrition for babies, benefits babies’ growth and development and promotes emotional bonding between mothers and babies. Benefits of breastfeeding are also proportional to duration and exclusiveness.
She pointed out that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that babies should be breastfed exclusively in the first six months. Thereafter, solid foods should be introduced while breastfeeding can continue until the child is 2 years old or beyond.
Professor Chan said that the local breastfeeding rate has been increasing steadily in the past 20 years. The breastfeeding rate on hospital discharge recorded a significant increase from 43 per cent in 1997 to 87 per cent in 2016 while the exclusive breastfeeding rate among 4-month-old babies grew from 6 per cent to 31 per cent in the same period. The result is encouraging, she added.
She emphasised that sustained breastfeeding relies not only on the hard work and perseverance of breastfeeding mothers but their family members and the community as a whole as well.
The Government has all along endeavoured to promote and support breastfeeding. Since the establishment of the Committee on Promotion of Breastfeeding under the Food and Health Bureau in 2014, the Committee has set various strategies. The Department of Health, in collaboration with various sectors, implements the relevant measures, including strengthening support for breastfeeding in healthcare institutions, encouraging adoption of the Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Policy, encouraging public places to become Breastfeeding Friendly Premises and to provide baby-care facilities as way to facilitate breastfeeding and lactation for breastfeeding mothers, promulgate and evaluate the effectiveness of the Hong Kong Code of Marketing of Formula Milk and Related Products, and Food Products for Infants & Young Children, and strengthen surveillance on the local breastfeeding situation.
In addition, the Government has been proactively promoting the provision of baby-care facilities in government premises and public venues. The Government will include a mandatory requirement for the provision of baby-care facilities and lactation rooms in the sale conditions of government land sale sites for new commercial developments comprising office premises and/or retail outlets, eating places and more. The Government will also take corresponding measures to mandate the provision of baby-care facilities and lactation rooms in certain new government premises.
Professor Chan said, “To date, there are already 301 government premises with baby-care facilities and lactation rooms. The Government also proactively encourages public transport facilities to support breastfeeding. Currently, some routes of New World First Ferry, MTR stations and passenger terminals of Hong Kong International Airport have already been providing baby-care facilities. The Government will continue to work with various sectors and organisations to promote and support breastfeeding initiatives on various fronts.”
Professor Chan added, “Apart from community support, professional support from healthcare facilities is of particular importance to breastfeeding mothers. Healthcare facilities provide antenatal education and offer comprehensive and timely professional support during their pregnancy, labour, birth and postnatal period, facilitating the effectiveness of breastfeeding. The implementation of Baby Friendly Hospital (BFH) Initiative in healthcare facilities is one of the key measures to support breastfeeding.”
Since August 2013, the HA has been implementing the initiative in its eight public hospitals with maternity wards and encouraging them to become BFH in phases. Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Queen Mary Hospital were awarded BFH in May 2016 and January this year respectively. The DH has also launched a pilot scheme of the Baby-Friendly Maternal and Child Health Centre (MCHC) Designation in three MCHCs in June 2016. The MCHCs are Sai Ying Pun MCHC, Kowloon City MCHC and Yaumatei MCHC.
Also attending the event, the Vice-chairperson of the BFHIHKA, Dr Patricia Ip, said, “The BFHIHKA conducts an annual survey of hospitals’ practices on the implementation of the WHO’s Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding with maternity units in Hong Kong and we have found that an increasing number of nurses are trained to support breastfeeding, while training for doctors could be strengthened. Currently, around 17 per cent of births take place in baby-friendly hospitals in Hong Kong.”
The Chairman of the Advocacy and Public Relations Committee of UNICEF HK, Miss Au King-chi, said, “UNICEF HK aims to launch a new ‘Breastfeeding Welcome’ pledge by the end of the year. Through this, we hope to encourage more restaurants and hotels to join hands with us in creating a welcoming environment for breastfeeding mums. Moreover, UNICEF HK is concerned about baby formula companies’ non-compliance with the voluntary Hong Kong Code, especially in deploying misleading marketing practices. We urge the trade to observe the Hong Kong Code and the Government to take positive action for the effective implementation of the Code.”
Breastfeeding not only provides the best nutrition for babies and strengthens their immunity, but also protects babies against childhood obesity and diabetes or other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in later life.
To combat the threat of NCDs, the Government this year announced “Towards 2025: Strategy and Action Plan to Prevent and Control Non-communicable Diseases in Hong Kong”, setting out nine local targets to be achieved by 2025 which include halting the rise in prevalence of diabetes and obesity. Successful prevention and control of NCDs relies on collaborative efforts by various sectors including the Government, non-governmental organisations, the private sector, academia and each and every member of society. The Government commends all parties for taking measures to protect, promote and support breastfeeding to combat childhood obesity.
More information on breastfeeding is available at the DH’s Family Health Service designated webpage. Members of the public can also download the DH’s “Info for Nursing Mum” mobile app to access information on breastfeeding anytime and anywhere. read more