​The Environmental Protection Department has not received the formal notice of the judicial review application. The department will study the content of the application in detail and handle the judicial review application in strict accordance with statutory procedures. It would be inappropriate for the department to make further comments at this stage.
The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, today (August 1) met with over 40 university students participating in the Administrative Service Summer Internship Programme to hear them share their experiences gained from the internship, and encouraged them to apply for the Administrative Officer (AO) post.
Mrs Yeung said, "I strongly encourage young aspiring people who are committed to serving the community to actively consider joining the civil service. Whether you are graduating from the university next year or in 2026, if you plan to join the Government after graduation, now is the time to learn more about the employment and development opportunities offered by the Government. It is encouraging to note that this round of Internship Programme has attracted a record high number of applications from a total of 303 students from local, Mainland and overseas universities.
"Opportunity favours the prepared. In the past five years, roughly one in every four newly recruited AOs were participants of the Administrative Service Internship Programme. The newly recruited AOs this year also include two Year 3 students from local universities who enrolled in the summer and winter cohorts of the Internship Programme last year and are now among the first batch of candidates recommended for 'advanced conditional offers'. I look forward to having internship participants becoming AOs in the near future to serve the public and contribute to our country and Hong Kong with their strengths."
AOs play a pivotal role in the Government and are responsible for the formulation of government policies, co-ordination and monitoring of the implementation of various programmes, and management of the use of public resources. The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) organises the Administrative Service Internship Programme every summer and winter, offering students who wish to pursue an AO career an opportunity to work with serving AOs for around eight weeks, thereby gaining practical experience of government work at an early stage to facilitate future planning. The Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Clement Leung, and Deputy Secretary for the Civil Service Ms Eureka Cheung also joined the sharing session with the interns and listened to their internship experiences.
Mr Boey Lam, who is pursuing a double degree in Psychology and Public Administration at a local university, is one of the interns and has been posted to the division on mental health and healthcare manpower under the Health Bureau. Sharing his experience, Mr Lam said that during the internship, he had the opportunity to study overseas experience in promoting mental health awareness, assist in the preparation of policy papers and witness the passage of the Nurses Registration (Amendment) Bill 2023 at the Legislative Council. He found the experience most invaluable and appreciated in particular the need for public policy formulation to take into account different perspectives and balance the interests of stakeholders.
Miss Naomi Lai, who is studying International Politics at a Mainland university, has a placement at the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau, taking part in anti-drug prevention and promotion work. She assisted in the organisation of an anti-drug summit in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the promotion of anti-drug messages to youth at the Hong Kong Book Fair and the Ani-Com & Games Hong Kong. Through the experience, she learnt about the importance for the public service to be agile, innovative and collaborative having regard to stakeholder interests.
A new round of the Common Recruitment Examination (CRE) and the Basic Law and National Security Law Test (BLNST) (degree/professional grades) is now open for application, while the recruitment exercises for the posts of Administrative Officer, Executive Officer II, Assistant Trade Officer II and Transport Officer II will begin in September. Prospective applicants for these posts should apply on-line before the deadline of 5pm on next Friday (August 9) for taking the CRE and the BLNST in order to attain the requisite results. For details, please refer to the CSB’s website (www.csb.gov.hk/eng/cre.html).
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), today (August 1) expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Xi Jinping for his reply letter to a group of Hong Kong entrepreneurs of Ningbo descent. President Xi's letter conveyed his recognition and warm encouragement to the entrepreneurs for inheriting their ancestors' fine tradition of patriotism, as well as for their contributions to the development of their home town and the country.
Mr Lee noted that descendants of the pioneering generation of Ningbo-born Hong Kong entrepreneurs, including Ms Anna Pao Sohmen and Mr Chao Kee-young, recently wrote to President Xi to report on their efforts in carrying on the fine traditions of their ancestors and supporting national development, expressing their ongoing commitment to contribute to the modernisation of the country. Mr Lee added that the reply letter from President Xi was deeply encouraging and inspiring, particularly for Hong Kong entrepreneurs of Ningbo descent and those from other parts of the country, reinforcing their confidence and determination to build on past successes and break new ground while upholding fundamental principles, so that they could continue leveraging their strengths to serve and contribute to their home town and the country.
Mr Lee stressed that the HKSAR Government will continue to unite Hong Kong's patriotic forces that love the city and their home towns in the local business sector and the wider community, and encourage them to fully utilise their expertise in their respective fields to better integrate into the overall development of the country. They are encouraged to help make Hong Kong's contributions in the nation's journey towards becoming a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation.
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, today (August 1) led the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) delegation to continue their visit in Hanoi, Vietnam.
In the morning, Mr Lee had breakfast with staff of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at a local restaurant to better understand their work and experience the unique Vietnamese food culture.
Afterwards, Mr Lee met with Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Mr Tran Luu Quang. They jointly witnessed an exchange of eight memoranda of understanding (MOUs) between government departments, enterprises and organisations of the two places in areas including economic and trade, aviation services development, and financial and capital market development.
Following the exchange of MOUs, Mr Lee led the HKSAR delegation to join a meeting session with Mr Tran Luu Quang. Mr Lee remarked that Vietnam has experienced rapid economic developments in recent years, while Hong Kong serves as an international financial, trade, shipping, logistics, and professional services centre. He encouraged more Vietnamese enterprises to leverage Hong Kong's advantages to tap into the Mainland and international markets.
In the afternoon, Mr Lee met with the President of Vietnam, Mr To Lam, to exchange views on issues of mutual interest. Mr Lee highlighted that Hong Kong and Vietnam have always maintained close bilateral trade relations, and that Vietnam is the seventh-largest trading partner of Hong Kong and the second-largest one among the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He added that Hong Kong treasures the relations with Vietnam and he looks forward to paving the way for new co-operation opportunities between the governments and business sectors of the two places through this visit. He also expressed his hope for Vietnam's continuous support for Hong Kong's early accession to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to further contribute to regional economic developments.
Mr Lee then met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Mr Xiong Bo. Mr Lee thanked Ambassador Xiong and the Embassy for their thoughtful arrangements for the visit, as well as their continuous support for the HKSAR Government's liaison and promotional work in Vietnam. The HKSAR Government will continue to promote economic, trade and cultural exchanges between the two places, he added.
Mr Lee will depart for Ho Chi Minh City this evening and will continue his visit tomorrow (August 2).
The 2024 provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists for geographical constituencies (GCs), functional constituencies (FCs) and Election Committee subsectors (ECSSs) were released today (August 1). The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) appeals to members of the public to check their registration status and particulars through "iAM Smart", the voter registration website (vr.gov.hk) or inquire via the REO hotline at 2891 1001 during office hours. For enquiries, members of the public may contact the REO on or before August 25.
Compilation of provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists
The 2024 provisional register for GCs contains about 4 207 500 registered electors. In the 2024 voter registration cycle, there are about 18 900 new registration applications and about 138 000 applications for updating particulars from registered electors of GCs. Moreover, the records of about 29 900 and about 112 500 electors have been removed from the provisional register by entering on the omissions list due to death and as a result of other inquiry processes respectively.
As for FCs, the provisional register contains about 197 700 registered electors. The figure has factored in newly registered electors, electors with a change in the FC registered, and electors entered on the omissions list due to death or as a result of other inquiry processes, etc.
As for ECSSs, the provisional register contains about 8 600 registered voters. The figure has factored in newly registered voters, voters with a change in the ECSS registered, and voters entered on the omissions list due to death or as a result of other inquiry processes, etc.
"The REO has earlier mailed to the relevant electors/voters to confirm their new registration or change of registration particulars. Those who have provided mobile phone numbers or email addresses would have received the messages concerned. All SMS messages issued by the REO will start with the prefix '#' in the sender ID for identification," a spokesman for the REO said.
Prompt reply to reminding letters if requested
Electors/voters entered on the omissions lists will receive a reminding letter from the REO to confirm their eligibility. The envelopes of the reminding letters are beige in colour and with a message, "Immediate action required. Your voting right is at stake" printed in red. Recipients must reply on or before August 25 by scanning the QR code or log on to the website (www.reo-form.gov.hk), or provide supplementary information by email, post or fax so that they may, with the Revising Officer's approval, keep their registration status and be included in the final registers of electors/voters. In addition, the REO will contact individual electors/voters on the omissions lists by phone to remind them to confirm their eligibility as soon as possible. For any enquiries, members of the public may call REO's hotline (2891 1001) during office hours.
Lodging statutory claims and objections
Any electors/voters entered on the omissions lists; any individuals/bodies who have applied for registration but no such record is found in the relevant provisional register(s); or any registered elector/voter with incorrect particulars recorded in the relevant provisional register(s), may lodge a claim in person with the REO. Also, anyone who considers an individual/body in the provisional register(s) not eligible to be so registered may lodge an objection in person with the REO. The statutory period for lodging claims or objections ends on August 25. The Revising Officer will consider the evidence provided by the applicant and make a ruling according to law.
The specified forms for lodging claims and objections can be downloaded from the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/appeal.html) or obtained from the two offices of the REO (8/F, Treasury Building, 3 Tonkin Street West, Cheung Sha Wan, Kowloon, and 29/F, Standard Chartered Tower, Millennium City 1, 388 Kwun Tong Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon) or the Home Affairs Enquiry Centres of respective District Offices.
Information on the hearings of the claims and objections will be uploaded to the REO website (www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/appeal.html) before the day of the hearing for reference by members of the public.
Arrangements for inspection of provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists
All individuals or body electors may check their registration status and particulars, including whether they have been entered into the omissions lists, through "iAM Smart" or the voter registration website (vr.gov.hk).
Notices on the inspection of the provisional registers of electors/voters and omissions lists were gazetted for promulgation today. According to law, a copy of provisional registers and omissions lists containing entries relating to individuals may only be shown in accordance with the statutory requirements, and made available for inspection by specified persons only. A copy of provisional registers and omissions lists containing entries of corporate electors/voters (i.e. without entries relating to individuals) may be inspected by any member of the public. For details and arrangements regarding the inspection, please refer to www.reo.gov.hk/en/voter/checkvrstatus/registers.html.
Other information
Related statistical information about provisional registers of electors/voters has been uploaded to the voter registration website (vr.gov.hk).
The REO will publish the final registers of electors/voters on or before September 25. Next year will be an election year. The REO will contact persons who had registered before but lost their registration status for some reason by email and phone to invite them to re-register as electors.