Following is the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at the 12th Spirit of Hong Kong Awards 2024 today (December 3):

Ms Catherine So (Chief Executive Officer of the South China Morning Post), Mr Daryl Ng (Deputy Chairman of the Sino Group), Mr Paulo Pong (Chairperson of the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards Judging Panel), Spirit of Hong Kong Awards judges and nominators, awardees and finalists, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, 

     Good evening. I'm delighted to be here, once again, for the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, the 12th edition. 

     Tonight's awards are unlike most prize ceremonies. This evening, we pay tribute not to the most celebrated or gifted at one thing or another – not to research or creative excellence in a given category – however much we certainly need, and count on, such remarkable individuals. 

     The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards honours those who exemplify Hong Kong's can-do spirit. The winners and finalists with us this evening, are not, for the most part, celebrities. They are ordinary people, doing extraordinary things. And doing them for the people of Hong Kong.

     We have been particularly blessed with such people this year – everyday individuals, imbued with the spirit of altruism and civic pride. Nominations, I'm pleased to say, have more than tripled for this year's Awards. 

     The individuals behind the nominations are helping so many Hong Kong people, in so many ways. They make a profound difference in areas ranging from health, education, employment and the environment, to charities, community service, art, sports, culture and more. Much more. 

     We are proud that these remarkable individuals – all of you – call Hong Kong home. We are grateful, too, to be inspired by you, and happy today to honour you. 

     Ladies and gentlemen, Hong Kong, as you all know, is now ushering in a new era of transformation. We are witnessing changes in modes of business, in economic activities, in the social ladder, and in the dynamics of the lives of the people of Hong Kong, day in, day out. 

     In times like this, we look to selfless individuals to step up, to make a difference for their neighbours, and the greater community. For all of Hong Kong.

     To all our winners and nominees, you are role models for Hong Kong. I count on you to continue spreading your positive impact in society. I am confident that with your spirit, the spirit of Hong Kong, there is nothing Hong Kong can't accomplish – for our economy, for our community. For each other. 

     I am grateful to the organisers of the Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, the South China Morning Post and the Sino Group. My thanks, too, to this year's prestigious panel of judges, whose selfless efforts reflect the spirit of Hong Kong. 

     My congratulations to the winners and finalists in this year's 10 categories. My thanks, as well, to the Hong Kong public, which voted for the Lion Rock People's Choice Award.
 
     Ladies and gentlemen, I know you will treasure this special evening. And I wish everyone a new year full of the spirit of Hong Kong. 

     Thank you.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Grantham Hospital (GH) made the following appeal today (December 3) regarding a patient leaving the hospital without notifying hospital staff:

     A 78-year-old female patient with dementia left the Geriatric Medicine ward of GH at around 4pm today without notifying hospital staff. Security guards were immediately deployed to search for the patient within the hospital compound and the vicinity, but could not locate the woman. The hospital is very concerned about the incident and immediately informed the patient's family, and asked the Police for assistance.

     The patient is about 1.54 metres tall, with grey and black hair and a medium body build. She was wearing a light blue long-sleeve jacket and dark pants when she left the hospital.

     GH has reported the case to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advanced Incident Reporting System. The hospital appeals to the public to contact Aberdeen Police Station at 3661 1614 if they know the whereabouts of the patient.

     The Maker in China SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Contest (MiC Global Contest) 2024 Final was held at Nansha, Guangzhou, today (December 3). Hong Kong representative teams achieved outstanding results. Among them, the next-generation photonic integrated circuits for future high-bandwidth optical links, sensing and computing by Kokoxili Photonics Limited and the all-scenario rapid testing platform against antimicrobial resistance by MicroFlow Innovation Limited were awarded Second Place and Third Place in the global contest, respectively.

     The Commissioner for Digital Policy, Mr Tony Wong, congratulated the award-winning Hong Kong teams. He said, "Representatives from Hong Kong have stood out among the winning teams from other regional chapters, with two teams being awarded Second Place and Third Place. This exemplifies Hong Kong's outstanding achievements and strong capabilities in innovation and technology (I&T) development. I firmly believe that the Hong Kong representative teams will continue to achieve more breakthroughs in I&T through their relentless efforts with the strong support of the MiC platform, thereby making greater contributions to the high-quality development of our country and Hong Kong."

     The MiC Global Contest Final 2024 featured winning teams from local contests in Hong Kong, Macao, Europe, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, Korea, and Central and Western Asia. The awards received by Hong Kong representative teams are as follows:
 

 
     Participating teams will visit the I&T park in Nansha tomorrow morning (December 4) to promote their innovation projects to industry representatives in Mainland China.

     The MiC Global Contest is organised by the SME Development Promotion Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China and the China International Cooperation Association of SMEs. It is one of China's innovation and entrepreneurship contests at the state level with significant global influence. Maker in China SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Global Contest – Hong Kong Chapter (MiCHK) is an important platform for Hong Kong start-ups and SMEs to better integrate into the overall development of the country and expand their business opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. Apart from representing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to join the MiC Global Contest Finals in Mainland China, winning teams can also gain business matching opportunities with a number of Mainland investors and enterprises, facilitating the establishment of their businesses in various cities in the Greater Bay Area. For more details about MiCHK, please visit makerinchina.hk/.

     Hong Kong Customs conducted anti-illicit cigarette operations in Tin Shui Wai, Kwai Chung and Yuen Long over the past week and detected two large-scale illicit cigarette smuggling cases. A total of about 15 million suspected illicit cigarettes and about 7,800 kilograms of suspected duty-not-paid manufactured tobacco with an estimated total market value of about $120 million and a duty potential of about $81 million were seized.
      
     In the first case, after an in-depth investigation, Customs on November 30 raided a logistics warehouse in Tin Shui Wai and seized about 5 million suspected illicit cigarettes from a batch of goods arriving from Malaysia en route to Australia via Hong Kong.
      
     In the second case, based on intelligence analysis, Customs yesterday (December 2) intercepted a 40-foot container arriving from Thailand, declared as carrying groceries, at the Kwai Chung Container Terminal. Upon inspection, Customs officers seized about 10 million suspected illicit cigarettes inside the container and arrested a 63-year-old male truck driver, who was suspected to be connected with the case. During the subsequent controlled delivery operation on the same day, Customs officers further seized about 7,800kg of suspected duty-not-paid manufactured tobacco at San Tin, Yuen Long, cracked down on a large manufactured tobacco storage centre and arrested four men aged between 32 and 40 who were suspected to be connected with the case, including the person in charge of the warehouse and three porters.
      
     Investigations of the two cases are ongoing.
      
     Customs will continue its risk assessment and intelligence analysis, and step up enforcement actions to combat cross-boundary illicit cigarette activities. Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.
      
     Under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance, anyone involved in dealing with, possession of, selling or buying illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected illicit cigarette activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002/).

  

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, led a delegation to Beijing to attend the 2024 World Conference on Traditional Medicine today (December 3) to have in-depth discussions and exchanges with attendees of the conference on issues including legislation and regulation, policy formulation, service development, education and scientific research on traditional medicine, as well as promotion of integration of traditional medicine into healthcare service systems.

     Jointly organised by the National Health Commission (NHC), the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM) and the People's Government of Beijing Municipality in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), the conference brought together representatives from the NHC, the NATCM and the WHO, senior health officials from around the world, as well as experts and academics in the traditional medicine field.

     Professor Lo said, "In terms of traditional medicine development, Hong Kong embraces a distinctive healthcare system with pure Chinese medicine (CM) as well as Chinese and Western medicine adopted on a dual-track basis. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government strives to make use of the city's advantages in medical education, regulatory regime, standard-setting, clinical research and more to leverage the role as a gateway to connect with the world, thereby developing Hong Kong into a bridgehead for the internationalisation of CM.

     "Over the past two decades, Hong Kong has made significant progress in CM education, research and service development, etc. CM and Western medicine synergistically complement each other in their respective areas of expertise. The Hospital Authority (HA) has been developing an innovative Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine (ICWM) service model in public hospitals, forming the leading force in the realm of traditional medicine. Hong Kong's first Chinese medicine hospital will commence services in phases starting from the end of next year, providing outpatient and inpatient services in pure CM, CM-predominant and ICWM. Serving as the city's flagship CM institution, the Chinese Medicine Hospital of Hong Kong (CMHHK) will co-ordinate with local, Mainland and international partner organisations to establish collaborative platforms focusing on service enhancement, multidisciplinary professional training, clinical scientific research in CM and exploration of the application of clinical big data to foster international research collaboration on herb-drug interaction, with a view to setting out internationally recognised guidelines for the use of Chinese and Western medicine and driving the integration of CM into the Western medicine-predominant healthcare systems worldwide."

     Regarding the establishment of CM standards, Professor Lo said, "Since the launch of the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards project in 2002, the Department of Health (DH) of the HKSAR Government has been developing standards for commonly used Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) in phases to ensure the safe use and the quality of CMM. The Chinese Medicine Regulatory Office of the DH has been designated as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Traditional Medicine since 2012. Moreover, the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute under the DH specialises in the testing of and scientific research on CM to establish internationally recognised reference standards for the safety, quality and testing methods of CM. In March this year, the DH launched the Digital Herbarium for Chinese Medicines, which is the first in the world using photogrammetry to produce three dimensional (3D) images on traceable CMM specimens, providing the public, the CM sector as well as research and development institutions around the world with comprehensive and accurate information on CM, thereby promoting traditional CM to go global."

     The Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, chaired the Panel Discussion at the conference, engaging with the WHO representatives, senior health officials from various countries/regions and academics, etc, to explore the role of traditional medicine in primary healthcare. Representatives of the DH and the HA also participated in Parallel Sessions under different themes, sharing their experiences of utilising acupuncture in supporting smoking cessation as well as the latest developments and policy visions in ICWM respectively.

     Members of the Hong Kong delegation include the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam; the Commissioner for Chinese Medicine Development of the Health Bureau (HHB), Dr Vincent Chung; the Head of Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office of the DH, Dr Fung Ying; the Assistant Director of Health (Chinese Medicine), Dr Edmund Fong; the Chairman of the HA, Mr Henry Fan; and the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko; as well as other officials of the HHB, the DH and the HA. The Hospital Chief Executive of the CMHHK, Professor Bian Zhaoxiang, joined the delegation for the conference. Professor Lo and his delegation will return to Hong Kong tomorrow (December 4).