Following is the speech by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Joshua Law, at the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Tsuen Wan 5th Anniversary Dinner tonight (July 14):

President Kan (JCI Hong Kong 2018 National President, Mr Ronald Kan), Ms Lam (National Assigned Executive Officer, Ms Iris Lam), President Kung (President of JCI Tsuen Wan, Mr Brian Kung), Ms Wan (Banquet Chairlady, Ms Katie Wan), ladies and gentlemen,

     Good evening. It gives me great pleasure to join you all at the 5th Anniversary Dinner of Junior Chamber International Tsuen Wan.

     Over the past few years, JCI Tsuen Wan has undergone notable development in advancing its own leadership development and community projects. It also collaborates with JCI Hong Kong to work for the betterment of our society. As the pioneer JCI local chapter which attaches importance to the transformation of family businesses, JCI Tsuen Wan conducts the annual flagship project Outstanding Family Business Legacy Selection to provide young leaders with insights on the key factors in leadership and management strategies that drive innovation and transformation. On the social front, JCI Tsuen Wan is particularly devoted to promoting children's play rights. This is indeed a visionary initiative, for we could hardly expect a caring society if our next generation is not brought up in a mentally healthy state. Such remarkable achievements would not have been possible without the passion and devotion of JCI Tsuen Wan's office bearers from a wide range of trades and businesses.

     Today we celebrate the 5th anniversary of JCI Tsuen Wan. In terms of age, the current-term Government under Mrs Carrie Lam, our Chief Executive, is much younger. So we are even more energetic. Since the inauguration a year ago, we have handled together a number of highly politically charged subjects, including the passage of the relevant legislation for the co-location arrangements in connection with the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link. Despite such controversies, I think most people would agree that our society is moving forward on the right track. I am sure that many of you have also noted the positive changes on various fronts with our new style of governance.

     In the past year, Hong Kong enjoyed robust economic growth, with a 3.8 per cent increase in real Gross Domestic Product in 2017 being followed by an even higher 4.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2018. All economic indicators in the last couple of months showed that our economic performance remained impressive. While total employment continued to record sturdy growth, the unemployment rate dropped to a 20-year low of 2.8 per cent and people's earnings registered real improvements in general.

     Yet, there is no room for complacency. While fortifying the pillar industries of Hong Kong, the current-term Government has been striving to diversify our economy. In this regard, innovation and technology is considered to be the key to the future economic drive. So we have been speeding up the development of innovation and technology in Hong Kong in an unprecedented pace, through diverse means such as investment in infrastructure, collaboration on research and development, nurturing start-ups and promoting the development of industries. From a broader perspective, we are also working in full swing to grasp the vast opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development.

     On the back of our positive economic outlook, we will make our continued efforts to improve people's livelihood, covering a wide spectrum of initiatives from improving the teaching and learning environment, relieving the pressure on public hospitals to increasing the provision of elderly care and child care services. Right now, some 60 per cent of our recurrent budget is spent on education, social welfare and medical services. Needless to say, housing has been on the top of our agenda. Last month, the Chief Executive announced a package of housing policy initiatives, pending the conclusion of the public discussion on measures to increase land supply. Please rest assured that we are determined to address the community's housing need.

     Turning now to my portfolio which relates to the overall management of the civil service, in order to better equip civil servants to meet rising public expectations, we are planning for a new civil service college. In line with the Government's population policy, we will soon launch the initiative of allowing serving civil servants who joined the Government between June 2000 and May 2015 to choose to extend their service until 65 (for civilian civil servants) or 60 (for disciplined services). In 2018-19, the civil service establishment is expected to increase by 6 700 posts, or about 3.7 per cent, the highest year-on-year increase since reunification. The strengthened manpower could hopefully enhance the delivery of public services while relieving the work pressure of our civil servants.

     Young people are our future. In line with the "we care, we listen, we act" approach, the current-term Government has put much emphasis on intensifying our connection with young people. Our objective is very clear, that is to give specific attention to issues on youth education, career pursuit and home ownership as well as the participation of young people in politics and their engagement in public policy discussion and debate. In Chinese, we call it "三業三政：學業ã€�事業å�Šç½®æ¥­ï¼›è­°æ”¿ã€�論政å�Šå�ƒæ”¿". 

     In this respect, we have established a high-level Youth Development Commission chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration to enhance policy co-ordination within the Government. This will enable holistic and more effective discussion on issues of concern to our young people. We have also introduced and subsequently formalised the Pilot Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth for civic-minded young people to serve on advisory boards or committees so that their voices could be more directly heard. The Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office, which is re-organised from the former Central Policy Unit, has also recruited about 20 young people aspiring to pursue a career in policy research so that they can gain experience in public administration.

     In charting the future of Hong Kong, we need your staunch support. We also welcome very much your views, for example in the ongoing consultation for the 2018 Policy Address, so that we could shape our policies having due regard to the youth dimension. You may even consider playing your part in the government machinery as a way to serve the community. As I just mentioned, there will be thousands of civil service posts on offer. Let me call upon all of you to work together for the betterment of Hong Kong.

     Finally, I wish JCI Tsuen Wan every success in the years ahead and wish you all an enjoyable evening. Thank you.

     The Office for Film, Newspaper and Article Administration (OFNAA) today (July 14) awarded prizes of the 2017 Healthy Mobile Phone/Tablet Apps Contest and the 2017 Meritorious Websites Contest, and announced the results of the 9th Healthy Internet Video Contest. These programmes seek to promote the message of "Healthy Information, Healthy Mind" and advise youngsters to stay away from objectionable information.

     The Healthy Mobile Phone/Tablet Apps Nomination Programme has been held since 2011. Starting from last year, public voting has been added with a view to encouraging public participation and the use of apps with healthy, practical and educational contents in the community. A total of 283 app nominations were received and more than 5 600 participants cast their votes this year. After assessing the apps against the criteria including promotion of the development of a healthy mind, educational value, practicality and creativity, the judging panel has selected the following 10 winning apps (in alphabetical order):

1. Backpackers Map
2. Capheart
3. EC Dictionary
4. Food Bank for Persons with Hypertension
5. Hiking Guide
6. Hong Kong Astronomy
7. Kitchen Stories
8. Money Tracker – The Chin Family
9. Star Hoppers
10. Yahoo News Hong Kong

     The Meritorious Websites Contest was first held in 2000 and has entered its 18th year. The programme, with the theme "Surf Smartly and Spend Time Wisely" this year, seeks to encourage website producers to develop healthy websites for young people. A total of 183 nominations were received and more than 11 000 participants cast their votes. The 10 winners of the 2017 Meritorious Websites Contest, covering a wide range of topics such as healthy diet, voluntary services, local history, family bonding, conservation, child education and powerful talks, are as follows (in alphabetical order):
     
1. BBC Bitesize Highlights
2. British Council LearnEnglish Kids
3. Department of Health EatSmart Website
4. Food Angel
5. Happy Family Info Hub
6. Hong Kong Memory
7. KiddieWorld
8. Médecins Sans Frontières (Hong Kong)
9. Planting HK
10. TED: Ideas worth spreading

     Details of the winning apps and websites are available at www.merit.gov.hk.

     The 9th Healthy Internet Video Contest was co-organised by OFNAA and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. The programme aimed to encourage healthy and responsible online behaviour among youngsters and to advise them to stay away from harmful online materials. 

     A total of 131 entries (comprising 104 school entries and 27 public entries) competed for the awards of Best Video, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor/Actress and Best Visual Effects. The winning entries for Best Video selected by an adjudication panel are as follows:

Champion: VR Game
First Runner-up: A woman behind Youtuber
Second Runner-up: Horizon

     In addition, the new award School with Highest Number of Entries has been introduced this year with a view to encouraging participation. The award was won by Kwun Tong Kung Lok Government Secondary School.

     Members of the public may visit healthyvideo.m21.hk/2018/intro.php to view the winning entries.

     Hong Kong Customs today (July 14) held a graduation ceremony at the Customs Headquarters Building for the first Tutor Course of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Badge Programme for Youth Ambassador organised under the Youth Ambassador Against Internet Piracy Scheme (YAS). A total of 30 Youth Ambassadors were awarded the certificate for completing the Programme. They will assist in various events for promoting the awareness of respect and protection of intellectual property rights amongst the youth.

     Speaking at the ceremony, the Deputy Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Lin Shun-yin, said that stringent law enforcement is necessary to fight against infringing activities effectively, but in the long term, it is needed to promote public awareness of respecting and protecting IPR through publicity and education.

     "Youngsters are the future of society. It is particularly significant to let them understand the harms of infringing acts and build up their awareness of respecting IPR at an early age," Mr Lin said.

     The six-day training programme that the 30 Youth Ambassadors completed was rich in content. Besides having attended a four-day study tour on IPR in Korea co-organised by Hong Kong Customs and the Korea Customs Service, they also participated in training on discipline, leadership and presentation skills. They also attended seminars on customs law enforcement and IPR as well as a workshop on the latest Internet information. Visits to magistrates' courts were arranged, followed by dialogue with a magistrate and the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions.

     The Acting Deputy Director of Intellectual Property, Ms Joyce Poon, and the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Martin Hui, SC, joined Mr Lin to officiate at the graduation ceremony. They presented the Best Recruit Award, the Best Leadership Award, the Best Team Spirit Award and other awards to the participants with outstanding performance as a recognition of their achievements during the course.

     The YAS was first introduced by Hong Kong Customs in collaboration with the Intellectual Property Department and the IPR industry in 2006. It was established to foster youngsters' respect for IPR at an early age, with an aim of building a solid foundation for IPR protection in society by engaging the youth in combating Internet piracy and in participating in various kinds of educational activities on IPR.

     The membership of the YAS includes more than 250 000 members from 13 local youth uniformed groups whose ages range between 9 and 25. 

     In 2016, Hong Kong Customs launched the Programme as a new initiative. Through specially designed training programmes, youths gain opportunities to strengthen their awareness of respect and protection of IPR.

     Three levels of courses, namely the Foundation Course, the Advanced Course and the Tutor Course, are offered in phases under the Programme. The first Foundation Course, the first Advanced Course and the first Tutor Course were launched in phases between 2016 and 2018.

     Participants who finish all three levels of courses will be awarded the Certificate for completing the Tutor Course and an IPR badge, and become tutors for the Programme. They will be provided with opportunities to play an important role in the promotion and education activities organised by Hong Kong Customs, relevant government departments and various youth uniformed groups in the future.

    

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (July 14):
 
Reporter: Mr Chan, does the government has any plan to tighten regulations on resale of HOS flats? Can we expect any concrete measures any time soon? And for the trade war, can you tell us that you think Hong Kong is ready to brace any impact both on a short and long term?
 
Financial secretary: The measures you mentioned in relation to the housing market is in the context of home ownership scheme, right? On home ownership scheme, the policy consideration is to assist people to acquire their residence for self-occupation purpose. But on the other hand, we recognise that due to change in circumstances or career development, people may need to, say for example, trade up in the market. That's why, in the mechanism, they are allowed to resell the property to other buyers subject to certain restrictions. But the policy objective remains primarily for people to buy an affordable housing for self-occupation. In relation to trade war, the immediate impact on our GDP for the first round of the measures is estimated to be limited, but that is only the direct impact. But the indirect impact would be much wider, and with the heightening tension and the increasing coverage of the trade war, we expect the impact would be larger and this will hang around for a considerable period. Apart from affecting the real economy, it also affects the capital market and financial market as well as investment sentiment. That indirect impact on Hong Kong will be more significant but that remains to be seen because trade war involves multiple parties and the reaction of other parties are still unclear yet. We will continue to monitor this very closely and to roll out measures to support our small and medium-sized enterprises as needed.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

     In view of the lift incidents in recent months involving aged lifts that have yet to undergo modernisation works, the Government proposed earlier short, medium and medium to long-term measures to enhance the safety of those lifts. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) today (July 14) announced the implementation of the following two short-term measures:
 

1. Contractors shall conduct at least two special maintenance works each year for the important protective components (including brakes, traction machines and landing doors) of aged lifts that have yet to undergo modernisation works. Contractors are also required to submit to the EMSD the scheduled date, time and inspection results of the special maintenance works via an online platform. The EMSD will also step up inspection efforts; and                                         
2. Contractors shall record maintenance works on logbooks with an improved format to list the important protective components involved in each maintenance to facilitate more effective supervision of the contractors' maintenance works by the EMSD and the responsible persons for lifts.

     The EMSD briefed members of the Lift and Escalator Safety Advisory Committee (LESAC) at the Committee's meeting on July 13 and received their support. The EMSD will issue a notice in August on the aforementioned measures and will allow a grace period for the industry and responsible persons for lifts to be better prepared before the measures take effect. The EMSD will also issue letters to relevant stakeholders and step up inspections to ensure full and effective implementation of the new measures.

     Separately, the EMSD has completed the technical investigation into the lift incident at Waterside Plaza in Tsuen Wan on April 8 and has uploaded the report on the EMSD's website (www.emsd.gov.hk/en/lifts_and_escalators_safety/publications/general_report/index.html). The investigation revealed that the wearing down of a component in the brake system of the concerned lift had generated a considerable amount of debris that rendered the mechanical parts of the brake unable to function smoothly, thereby leading to the failure of the braking function at the time of the incident. The lift car failed to stop when it reached at the destination floor and was then pulled upwards by the heavier counterweight until it collided with the ceiling of the lift shaft.

     After the incident, the EMSD immediately requested the registered lift contractor concerned to conduct a special inspection for lifts of the same brand as in the incident during which no abnormality has been identified. Also, the EMSD issued letters to all registered lift contractors to remind that they must follow the requirements under the Lifts and Escalators Ordinance and Code of Practice for Lift Works and Escalator Works to ensure proper maintenance has been carried out for the brake systems of the lifts under their maintenance. While the technical investigation is now completed, criminal investigation of the incident is still pending. The EMSD emphasised that the law will be strictly enforced if contraventions are identified.

     Modern lifts are equipped with more comprehensive safety devices than the aged ones and therefore there is room for improvement and enhancement. In view of this, the EMSD promulgated the Guidelines for Modernising Existing Lifts in 2011 to recommend the responsible persons for lifts installation of safety devices (including the unintended car movement protection device, the ascending car overspeed protection device, etc.) to enable safer, more reliable and comfortable lift operation. The EMSD appeals to all the responsible persons again to carry out modernisation works as soon as possible. Please refer to the EMSD's website for details of lift modernisation at www.emsd.gov.hk/en/lifts_and_escalators_safety/responsible_persons_corner/lift_modernisation_resource_corner/index.html.