Author Archives: hksar gov

     At its meeting today (June 14), the Land and Development Advisory Committee (LDAC) was briefed by the Development Bureau (DEVB) on two applications under the facilitation scheme for provision of pedestrian links by the private sector in areas outside Kowloon East (the Scheme). The applications involve the provision of two footbridges and a subway in Kowloon Bay and Wan Chai. The LDAC was also consulted by the Task Force on Land Supply (TFLS) in the context of the public engagement (PE) exercise on land supply.
 
     Members reaffirmed the benefits brought about by the Scheme through providing 24-hour barrier-free pedestrian links for the community. Members offered their comments on the two applications (location plans are in the Annex), and considered that both applications facilitated walkability. Taking into account assessment results based on the Scheme’s established evaluation mechanism, Members generally supported the DEVB’s recommendations to waive the premium payable for lease modifications arising from the construction of the three proposed pedestrian links under the two applications. With the LDAC’s support, the recommendations for premium waiver will be duly submitted to the Executive Council for consideration.
 
     Members were also briefed by the TFLS on the 18 land supply options and related issues put forward to the community in the five-month PE exercise that started on April 26, 2018. Members expressed their appreciation and support of the TFLS’ work, and shared their views and observations on various short-to-medium, medium-to-long and conceptual options, as well as on the overall PE arrangements and the follow-up. The TFLS took note of Members’ valuable views and will consider them when preparing its recommendations to be submitted to the Government, tentatively by the end of 2018. read more

     Two new special exhibitions entitled “Above and Beyond” and “Semper Paratus – The Government Flying Service” will be held at the Hong Kong Science Museum from tomorrow (June 15). The former exhibition will enable members of the public to experience the fun of flying on a simulated journey from the ground to the sky or even the edge of space, while the latter will introduce the daily work of the Government Flying Service (GFS) and its important role in emergencies.
 
     The opening ceremony was held today (June 14). Speaking at the ceremony, the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Cherry Tse, expressed the hope that the new exhibitions will enhance the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) capabilities of students and young people, provide them with an enlightening and inspiring interactive learning experience, and help broaden the horizons of young visitors and motivate them to continue to participate in STEM developments in the future.
 
     The “Above and Beyond” exhibition, which is sponsored by Boeing, offers an unprecedented interactive demonstration of human advances in aviation and aerospace, from the first powered flights to the newest innovations on earth and in space. Visitors can venture into the five main zones of the exhibition to interact with a number of flight-related exhibits. Visitors will also be able to experience a ride to the edge of space in a simulated space elevator, or test their own supersonic fighter-jet design in a virtual high-speed flying competition, as well as experience flying like a bird in a flock using motion-sensing image capture.
 
     The “Semper Paratus – The Government Flying Service” exhibition introduces the daily work of the GFS and its important role in emergency services, such as providing search and rescue and emergency air medical services, assisting in firefighting, performing photography for aerial surveys and supporting other government departments. The exhibition will include videos as well as various tangible objects including a fixed-wing training aircraft, scaled-down models of the service fleet, the main rotor blade and turboshaft engine of a helicopter, an air-droppable life raft and a specialised bucket used for aerial firefighting.
 
     Other officiating guests attending the ceremony included the Boeing Company’s Vice President of Communications, Mr Charlie Miller; the Controller of the GFS, Captain Michael Chan; the Acting Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Dr Louis Ng; and the Museum Director of the Hong Kong Science Museum, Ms Paulina Chan.
 
     The two exhibitions are presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, with the Hong Kong Science Museum co-organising them with Boeing and the GFS respectively. Both will run until October 17. The Hong Kong Science Museum is located at 2 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. For details, please visit http://hk.science.museum/ or call 2732 3232.

        

     The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, attended the 10th Lujiazui Forum 2018 in Shanghai today (June 14).

     Mr Lau first attended the opening ceremony in the morning, then took part in a plenary session on “Opportunities and Challenges in Fintech, Inclusive Finance and Green Finance”, where he spoke on Hong Kong’s strengths and opportunities.

     He said that given Hong Kong’s status as a leading international financial centre with a developed financial sector, sound rule of law and robust regulatory regime, together with its unique position connecting the Mainland with the rest of the world, Hong Kong has every advantage to develop FinTech.

     He said he was pleased to see that many world-renowned financial and tertiary institutions and research centres had chosen to set up laboratories, incubators and accelerators in Hong Kong in recent years.

     In addition, some Mainland technology giants are keen to leverage on Hong Kong’s ecology to support and finance the development of FinTech startups and set up research laboratories and training institutes to groom talents. He also noted that given the concerted efforts by the Government and regulators, Hong Kong has seen a bloom in FinTech developments.

     He added that Hong Kong would tap the opportunities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area development and collaborate with the cities there to advance the development and application of FinTech.

     The theme of this year’s forum is “Shanghai’s Development towards an International Financial Center in the New Era”. It is jointly organised by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking & Insurance Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, providing a high-level global platform for influential government officials, regulators, financial leaders and scholars to discuss major financial issues and foster international financial co-operation.

     On the margins of the forum, Mr Lau met with the Director-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government Financial Services Office, Mr Zheng Yang. Mr Lau said that Hong Kong and Shanghai are both important international financial centres of China, and enhancing financial co-operation between the two sides would be conducive to the further opening up of the financial services sector in the Mainland.

     Mr Lau will visit the Shanghai Stock Exchange and Alipay’s Shanghai branch tomorrow (June 15) and meet with the senior management team of Fosun International Limited before returning to Hong Kong in the afternoon.

    

     The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will present the latest edition of “The Writer/Director in Focus” series by focusing on director Li Pingqian, a master of Mandarin films, from July 14 to September 30. Guest-curated by film researcher Lau Yam, the programme will screen a selection of 18 films by Li at the HKFA Cinema. Some will be shown at the HKFA for the first time, namely “Bible for Girls” (1934), “The Young Mistress’ Fan” (1939), “The Imperial Maid Fei Zhen’e” (1939), “Mother and Son” (1947), “A Strange Woman” (1950), “Girl on the Front Page” (1960) and “The Seaman and the Dancing Girl” (1961).
 
     Li’s career ranged from black and white silent films to coloured sound films and from the pre-war and post-war periods to Shanghai and Hong Kong. With nearly 100 films as director and around 25 films as writer, Li’s works are as diverse in theme and genre as he himself was versatile – a true virtuoso of the cinema.
      
     Born to a traditional family of scholars in the early 20th century and experiencing the May Fourth Movement in person, Li was brought up in a blend of traditional and modern cultures. His movies about family dramas uphold traditional values, while some of his works express a progressive way of thinking. An adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, “The Young Mistress’ Fan” is Li’s earliest extant feature film in a modern setting, which portrays indirect motherly love and strong yet subdued emotions, showcasing Li’s style of undramatic storytelling. In “Mother and Son”, Li skillfully interweaves the disputes between two generations with the country’s condition into the plot. “Our Husband” (1949) is Li’s first directorial work in Hong Kong, which he adapted from the Hollywood movie “The Great Lie” (1941). The film features a wife who looks after another woman – a social butterfly who is pregnant with her errant husband’s child – so as to continue her husband’s bloodline. “Parents’ Love” (1953) tells of a poor family whose members secretly take part-time jobs to supplement the family income. Rather than being overwrought with sentimentality about sweat and toil, the film realistically depicts the spirit of sacrifice in familial love. “It So Happens to a Woman” (1955) explores the issue of career development among married women through a university graduate played by Hung Sin Nui.
 
   Li’s romantic works are entertaining, sometimes containing tragic elements but never excessively. “Three Charming Smiles” (1964) is a classic Chinese folk tale in which Li interestingly tackles all the clichés from a modern perspective, injecting elements of contemporary romantic comedies into the plot. Based on the Shaoxing opera classic, “The Princess Falls in Love” (1962) retains the unique traditions of the art of Shaoxing opera, and together with Li’s mise-en-scène and cinematography, the film is refreshingly operatic. Li works with scriptwriter Jin Yong in “The Three Loves” (1956), seamlessly integrating three short stories and portraying a sexual fantasy rarely seen in Hong Kong cinema. “The Green Swan Nightclub” (1958), a hybrid of romance, humour and suspense, features a daughter sneaking into a nightclub to investigate the murder of her father, through which she falls in love with one of the suspects. 
 
     Heroines serving the country are a classic Chinese cultural symbol, but their patriotism is portrayed from an unusual variety of perspectives in Li’s works. “The Imperial Maid Fei Zhen’e” features Nancy Chan as Fei Zhen’e, who bravely assassinates a traitor for her country. In “A Strange Woman”, Bai Guang intends to help her lover, a revolutionary, to escape from warlords but she then falls into a lust-filled relationship with the head of the secret service. Centred on the ageless tale of the “Theft of Tiger Tally to Save the State of Zhao”, “The Peerless Beauty” (1953) follows the patriotic concubine Yu, played by Hsia Moon, who sacrifices herself for the country – a new angle compared with the traditional male perspectives on the same story. The classic women’s film, “Bible for Girls”, is a collaboration between Li and another eight directors, and highlights the respective experiences and desires of a group of women at a secondary schoolmate reunion organised by Butterfly Wu.
 
     Li once worked at the Shenzhou Film Company founded by Wang Xuchang, after which his later works maintained the “Shenzhou” characteristics of mixing education and entertainment. “Awful Truth” (1950) depicts all walks of life in the post-war society and the use of foul means to scramble for money, mocking the twisted society of the time. Fu Che in “Tales of the City” (1954) is initially unemployed but later becomes a lottery winner, and the film portrays the ugliness of humans through his ensuing experience. “Laugh, Clown, Laugh” (1960) features Bao Fong, who is laid off and turns to making a living by performing comedy, but as it shames his family he keeps it a secret. Following an unfolding news story, “Girl on the Front Page” recounts the sad life and psychological journey of a young girl, from being charmed to committing a crime, with Li again exposing the dark side of humanity. Li conveys his understanding of society in his vivid portrayal of characters in “The Seaman and the Dancing Girl”, telling the story of a daughter who becomes a taxi dancer to feed her family. Director Cheng Bugao’s classic silent film “Spring Silkworms” (1933) which is adapted from the original by Mao Dun, will also be shown for reference.
 
     In addition, three seminars entitled “Subtle Smile Towards the World – Hong Kong Odyssey of a Great Director” (July 14); “Deception by Him and Her – Sex and Otherwise in Li Pingqian’s movies” (August 18) and “Between Red and Grey – Individuals and Society in Li Pingqian’s Cinematic World” (September 22) will be held at the HKFA Cinema at 4.30pm with Law Kar, Lau Yam, Dr Yau Ching and Dr Lo Wai-luk as speakers. In addition to the seminars, a number of screenings will also be followed by post-screening talks, all conducted in Cantonese with free admission.
 
     “Our Husband”, “Parents’ Love”, “It So Happens to a Woman” and “The Three Loves” are in Cantonese and “The Princess Falls in Love” is in Shanghainese, while the other films are in Mandarin. “Three Charming Smiles” has Chinese and English subtitles; “The Princess Falls in Love” has Chinese subtitles; part of “The Peerless Beauty” has English titles,”Spring Silkworms” has Chinese and English inter-titles and the other films are without 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/2018lpq/index.html.

            

     The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Edward Yau, visited Eastern District today (June 14) to get a better grasp of the district’s latest developments. He also met with members of the Eastern District Council (EDC) and toured the Hong Kong Film Archive, a self-service library station and a social service organisation.

     Mr Yau first met with EDC members to exchange views on developments and issues of concern in the district, including matters relating to tourism, creative industries, telecommunications and postal services.

     Mr Yau then visited the Hong Kong Film Archive and toured an exhibition and facilities at the Resource Centre. Mr Yau was briefed by the Head of the Hong Kong Film Archive on the work of its Conservation Unit. He said he was pleased to note that the Archive has restored dozens of films and made significant contributions to the safekeeping and restoration of film-related materials.

     Mr Yau said the Hong Kong Film Archive has maintained a large collection of precious materials of the Hong Kong film industry to showcase the industry’s amazing achievements. The film industry is among the eight major creative industries in Hong Kong. The Government will continue to promote the long-term development of the local film industry through the Film Development Fund and relevant measures.

     Mr Yau then proceeded to visit the self-service library station located at the Island East Sports Centre Sitting-out Area. The facility is the city’s first self-service library station and was launched in December last year to provide round-the-clock library services such as borrowing and return of library materials.

     Before concluding his visit, Mr Yau visited the headquarters of Youth Outreach in Sai Wan Ho. He took the opportunity to talk to young people there to learn more about their daily lives. The organisation is dedicated to providing crisis intervention services for marginalised youth. It also provides overnight outreach, employment and social enterprise services. read more