Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals: Members of the public are advised to report any street flooding that comes to … read more
In response to media enquiries on Exhibition Centre Station and To Kwa Wan Station of Shatin to Central Link works project, a government spokesman today (August 11) responded as follows: … read more
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 11) that due to big … read more
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will hold the second stage of Great Music 2018 from September to November, presenting five concerts by highly acclaimed international musicians and ensembles. Details are as follows:
Violin and Piano Duo Concert by Janine Jansen and Alexander Gavrylyuk
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Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
September 23 (Sunday), 8pm
Tickets: $200 to $420
Dutch violinist Janine Jansen performs regularly on world-renowned stages as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. She will come to Hong Kong with Ukrainian-Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk, the winner of the 2005 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, presenting a duo programme full of nuance and virtuosity. The programme will include Brahms’ “Sonata No. 2 in A” and Franck’s “Sonata in A” – both written in 1886 and rich in melodic invention – and other works by Schumann and Clara Schumann.
Piano Recital by Evgeny Kissin
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Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
October 24 (Wednesday), 8pm
Tickets: $250 to $880
Widely recognised as one of the world’s greatest living pianists, Evgeny Kissin will return to Hong Kong for an exhilarating recital, offering a selection of exuberant and colouristic preludes of Rachmaninov, and the grandest sonata Beethoven had ever written, “Sonata No. 29, Op. 106 ‘Hammerklavier'”. It is considered a monumental masterpiece in the piano literature for its sheer scale and technical difficulty.
Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma
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Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
November 22 and 23 (Thursday and Friday), 8pm
Tickets: $300 to $1,250
Led by its charismatic music director and conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Roma will make its debut in Hong Kong with two vibrant pianists, offering two consecutive concerts of spectacular music. The first concert, an all-Russian programme, will include Glinka’s “Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila” and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 4 in F minor”, as well as Rachmaninov’s “Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor” featuring Russian pianist Daniil Trifonov. The second concert will embrace the energy of Beethoven’s second and fifth symphonies, and Seong-Jin Cho will be the soloist of the virtuosic “Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor”.
Kodály Quartet
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Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
November 26 (Monday), 8pm
Tickets: $160 to $340
The Kodály Quartet has continued to exemplify the pinnacle of musical excellence for over five decades. Named after the great Hungarian composer and educator Zoltán Kodály, the ensemble is committed to presenting the rich Hungarian musical tradition and has long been regarded as the music ambassador of Hungarian string quartet culture. The group will perform string quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
Tickets for the above programmes are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/groups_502.html. read more
The Labour Department (LD) today (August 11) 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). read more