The Civil Aid Service (CAS) held the Mountaineering Safety Promotion Day 2018 with various government departments and mountaineering organisations today (October 14) at Tuen Mun Cultural Square to enhance the public's knowledge of hiking safety with a view to reducing the accident rate of mountaineering activities.
 
     The opening ceremony was attended by officiating guests including the Controller of the Government Flying Service, Captain Michael Chan, and representatives of the CAS; the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; the Auxiliary Medical Service; the Office of the Communications Authority; the Fire Services Department (FSD); the Hong Kong Observatory; the Hong Kong Police Force; the Lands Department; and various mountaineering organisations.
 
     The Chief Staff Officer of the CAS, Mr Cheung Tat-yin, also presented certificates to participants of the Mountain Casualty Handling Course and Safety Workshop for Hiking Leaders at the ceremony. 
 
     Mountaineering equipment, such as digital maps and global positioning system devices, were showcased. Skills on mountain search and rescue as well as handling of injured persons were demonstrated by CAS members. The use of night vision goggles and a weather forecasting mobile application were also introduced to enhance the public's understanding of mountain rescue work.
 
     Other attractions included mountaineering safety promotion talks, performances by police dogs and introduction of FSD rescue dogs. A recruitment exercise for CAS adult members was also conducted at the event.
 

                

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government hosted a Welcome Home Ceremony at Hong Kong International Airport today (October 14) to greet the Hong Kong, China Delegation to the Indonesia 2018 Asian Para Games (APG) on their victorious return from the games.
 
​     Speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah, commended the athletes for their outstanding performance following prolonged arduous training. With their determination, never-give-up spirit and strong will that were fully demonstrated during the competitions, they made remarkable achievements to win a total of 48 medals at the games, comprising 11 gold, 16 silver and 21 bronze.
 
​     Mr Lau also said, "The Government has implemented the recommendation of the consultancy study on 'Sport for People with Disabilities in Hong Kong' to provide full-time training opportunities to athletes with disabilities. With the subsequent implementation of the Pilot Scheme for Elite Vote Support System for Disability Sports, athletes with disabilities will be able to receive more systematic support to enhance the quality of their training so as to achieve breakthrough results."
 
​     The 2018 APG was held from October 6 to 13 in Jakarta, Indonesia. A total of 101 Hong Kong athletes took part in 10 events at the games, comprising archery, athletics, badminton, boccia, lawn bowls, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tenpin bowling and wheelchair fencing.

​     Other guests attending the ceremony included the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Cherry Tse; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Michelle Li; the Honorary President of the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee & Sports Association for the Physically Disabled (HKPC & SAPD), Dr York Chow; and the President of the HKPC & SAPD, Mrs Jenny Fung.

        

     The award presentation ceremony for the Outstanding Youth Commendation Scheme and the Outstanding Youth Activity Commendation Scheme organised by the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) and the Youth Development Commission (YDC) was held today (October 14). Thirty-six young people were commended for their outstanding achievements in personal development, leadership and social services. Eighteen outstanding youth activities were also commended.

     The Under Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Jack Chan, and the Chairman of the Task Force on Youth Development Fund and Programmes of the YDC, Mr Chan Pok-chi, attended the ceremony to commend the awardees.

     Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Jack Chan praised the awardees for serving the community in different areas. He encouraged the awardees to continue to inspire more young people to strive for self-improvement, embrace challenges and build a brighter future for Hong Kong.
 
     He said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to youth development work. The YDC led by the Chief Secretary for Administration was set up this year to enhance policy co-ordination within the Government. This can forge cross-bureaux and cross-departmental collaboration effectively to address young people’s needs and provide more development opportunities for them. The HAB will continue to collaborate with the YDC on youth development and provide diversified platforms for young people to bring out their best.

     By giving recognition to outstanding young people, the Outstanding Youth Commendation Scheme aims to encourage youths to set targets for their personal development and to actively take part in community building and social services, thus setting an example for fellow young people.

     The young awardees were nominated by the 18 districts in the Open Category and the Secondary School Category. After two rounds of interviews, the judging panels selected the Star of the Stars of the respective categories and the Top 10 Outstanding Youths, as well as awardees of the Stellar Accomplishment Award, the Youth Leadership Award, the Social Service Award and the Personal Breakthrough Award.

     The Outstanding Youth Activity Commendation Scheme is also held to give recognition to innovative, purposeful and popular district youth programmes and encourage the organisation of more quality and effective activities to promote youth development in the districts. The scheme also serves as a platform in which districts can learn from one another and further enhance their creativity in organising different kinds of activities benefiting young people.

     The award recipients of the 2017-18 Outstanding Youth Commendation Scheme and the Outstanding Youth Activity Commendation Scheme are listed in the Annex.

        

     Following is the transcript of remarks at a media session by the Secretary for Development, Mr Michael Wong, after attending a radio programme this morning (October 14):

Reporter: Mr Wong, can you explain how the reclamation will improve the traffic of north-western New Territories? And you mentioned during the programme that Hong Kong’s land reserve will be used up by 2032 if the reclamation doesn't take place?

Secretary for Development: The second question first. That is not what I said. What I was saying is that if you look at our demand for housing, if you look at the figures under the ten-year Long Term Housing Strategy, nowadays every year we are talking about 46 000 units. A few years ago we were taking about 48 000 units. So let's say it’s about 40 000 units every year. Year by year, in 15 years' time, we will be talking about 600 000 units. This is basically what we have to prepare under the current situation, about intensifying the development density of existing areas and also about the upcoming new development areas (NDAs), Kwu Tung North, Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu. We will use that up.

     What I didn't say is if we don't do reclamation, we will be at a total loss. What I said was that we need a sizeable source of land supply. Somehow we will need it. The Government, under Mrs Lam's vision, has come up with the 1 000-hactre phase one reclamation at Kau Yi Chau which will help us solve this problem.

     You may say that the community doesn't like reclamation at Kau Yi Chau. Then you have to look at other sources of sizeable supply. What I said was, if you talk about, not reclamation but resumption of land, cost-wise, the difference is not that substantial. In terms of infrastructure, we still need to put on a layer of infrastructure. In terms of difficulty and costs, it is not necessarily easier. Actually, if you have gone through the process of trying to put on sizeable infrastructure in built-up areas, the challenges are greater. The costs are likely to be higher. So that was what I said.

     Your first question is about traffic. Just look at the location. The location of Kau Yi Chau allows us to have a good linkage point further up north to Sunny Bay and then Tuen Mun South. And you know that for Tuen Mun South, there are other plans ongoing and being under study as in the Railway Development Strategy 2014. The expansion of Tuen Mun South is being looked at. From Kau Yi Chau to the east, basically the link goes back to the northern side of Hong Kong Island. And we are talking about a distance around 4 kilometres. It's a short distance and very convenient driving. So that is an advantage of Kau Yi Chau which is unparalleled by choices such as Tseung Kwan O.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)

The following is issued on behalf of the Liquor Licensing Board:

     The Liquor Licensing Board will meet on Tuesday (October 16) to consider three applications for renewal or transfer of liquor licences.

     The applications are (not in order of discussion):
 
Hong Kong:
——–
Farmar and INFINITI C in Kennedy Town
BURGER KING (STAUNTON STREET) in Central
 
     The board will also consider revoking the liquor licences of Dijaya and KOREAN KAM SHING RESTAURANT in Tsim Sha Tsui.
 
     The meeting will be held at 9.45am in the conference room, Room 102, 1/F, 258 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai. Members of the public are welcome to attend, except during the private session on confidential items.