The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) today (May 23) appealed to eligible persons/bodies who have not yet registered as geographical constituency (GC), functional constituency and/or Election Committee subsector electors/voters to submit registration applications on or before the statutory deadline of June 2 so that they can be included in the final registers of electors/voters to be published in September this year. From May 1 this year, new GC voter registrations are also required to provide address proof.

     There is no need for registered electors/voters (persons/bodies) to register again, but they are reminded to fulfil their civic responsibility by notifying the REO of any changes in residential address or other registration particulars by the statutory deadline of June 2. Electors must submit their applications for changing their residential address along with address proof for verification by the REO.

     A spokesman for the REO said, "As a measure to assist electors, applicants who are the registered occupants of public rental housing under the Housing Department or subsidised housing under the Hong Kong Housing Society are exempted from the address proof requirement, be it for application for voter registration or application for change of residential address by registered electors."

     The specified application forms can be obtained from the REO, the District Offices and the management offices of public housing estates. They can also be downloaded from the voter registration website (www.voterregistration.gov.hk). When submitting their application forms, applicants should also provide their telephone numbers and email addresses, so that the REO can contact them more promptly and efficiently when needed.

     Completed application forms may be submitted no later than the statutory deadline of June 2 via the following channels:
 

• by email to (form@reo.gov.hk) – please do not attach a large number of application forms to a single email and send it to the REO's email account, as the large file size may cause delivery failure. Also, application forms and supplementary documents should be attached to the email. The REO does not accept submissions through email by providing a hyperlink to cloud storage. After sending their applications through email, applicants are advised to check if they receive a confirmation email (see attached), which is automatically sent by the REO email server. If they do not receive such a confirmation email, applicants are advised to resubmit their applications by email or via the other submission channels;
• through the REO e-Form Upload Platform (www.reo-form.gov.hk) – if submitting via this channel, please take note of the application number generated by the system so that the application status may be checked afterwards when needed;
• by post to the REO office, 13/F, Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay – for applications submitted by post, the date of the postmark will be taken as the date of submission. The REO reminds members of the public to send out their application forms early in order not to miss the statutory deadline; or
• by fax to 2891 1180.

     "The REO office on 13/F of Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, will remain open until 11.59pm on the statutory deadline of June 2 to receive application forms from members of the public who wish to submit the forms in person," the spokesman added.

     In addition, the REO again urges registered electors who received inquiry letters issued by the REO to, as per the instructions of the letter, reply as soon as possible by the statutory deadline of June 2 via post, fax or email, so as to maintain their voter registration status.

     Members of the public may check their registration status and particulars by logging into the Online Voter Information Enquiry System (www.voterinfo.gov.hk) or calling the REO hotline at 2891 1001.

     â€‹Hong Kong Customs conducted a one-month joint operation with Mainland and Macao Customs from April 22 to yesterday (May 22) to combat cross-boundary counterfeiting activities in the three places and with goods destined for overseas countries. During the operation, Hong Kong Customs seized about 32 000 items of suspected counterfeit goods with an estimated market value of about $13.5 million.

     This was the first joint operation mounted this year, during which the three Customs administrations have stepped up inspection of goods across the three places and destined for North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and elsewhere to effectively curb cross-boundary counterfeit goods transshipment activities. The suspected counterfeit goods seized by Hong Kong Customs included sports shoes, handbags, mobile phone accessories, watches, sunglasses and clothes.

     Hong Kong Customs will continue to work closely with Mainland Customs, Macao Customs and overseas law enforcement agencies to combat cross-boundary counterfeit goods transshipping activities vigorously through intelligence exchanges and joint enforcement actions. 

     Under the Trade Descriptions Ordinance, any person who imports or exports any goods to which a forged trademark is applied commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $500,000 and imprisonment for five years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected counterfeiting activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk).

  

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will host a wealth of cultural, arts, recreational and sports programmes from May to the end of 2022 to celebrate with members of the public the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China.
 
     The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series (HKJC Series) and some of the programmes are among the initiatives exclusively supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club's approved donation of $630 million to the Government to mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
 
Arts and culture
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     Various HKJC Series and large-scale exhibitions will be staged in the LCSD's museums starting from May including the anamorphic illusion projection works (also called "naked eye 3D") and installations with arts and technology incorporated at the new extension of the Oi! art space; the exhibition "The Big Eight – Dinosaur Revelation", showcasing precious dinosaur fossil skeletons; "Dunhuang: Enchanting Tales for Millennium", displaying the arts and culture of Dunhuang grottoes; and the exhibition "The Road to the Baroque – Masterpieces from the Capodimonte Museum", showing visitors top-notch Italian paintings from the Baroque period. Audiences will be able to explore the world of Chinese landscape paintings through modern technology in "Mastering Masterpieces: The Essentials of Chinese Landscape Paintings", and "Women and Femininity in Ancient China: Treasures from the Nanjing Museum ", showcasing feminine characteristics and daily lives in ancient China (for exhibition dates and details, see Attachment 1).
 
     The LCSD will also work with private organisations K11 Group, Kerry Group and Sino Group to present the project "Art@Harbour" and set up multiple outdoor art installations and a digital art façade along the promenades of Victoria Harbour. Under the project "Art@Harbour", the LCSD will present "The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Science in Art", in which a series of art installations with the theme of science will be displayed in the Tamar Park area, while the three private organisations will feature art installations created by various artists at the Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom promenade.
 
     In addition to holding large-scale exhibitions, the LCSD will bring audiences a wide spectrum of performing arts programmes including a concert screening of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Cantonese opera programmes, Hong Kong Ballet's Cinderella adapted from the classical fairy tale, inspiring art-tech programmes under the International Arts Carnival and the New Vision Arts Festival, carnivals, and more (see Attachment 2). To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Hong Kong City Hall (HKCH) and showcase the cultural achievements of the Government over the past six decades, HKCH together with the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Public Libraries will organise various celebration activities (see Attachment 3).
 
Recreational activities
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Blossom Around Town
 
     The LCSD will hold the Blossom Around Town programme to carry out beautification works at 48 prominent locations and parks from June to October. The beautification works will include large floral displays, floral walls, a Jurassic maze garden, themed garden displays and enhancements of roadside amenity areas with colourful flowers and signature plants with ornamental value to enhance the landscape across the territory.

Happy@Parks
 
     The LCSD is organising a series of Happy@Parks activities. Each is fun, with distinctive characteristics (see Attachment 4) and will be held from June to December in LCSD parks across the territory to allow users to experience the parks' vibrant and joyful atmosphere with their family members through joining a variety of recreational activities and games during holidays.
 
Sports activities
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     Apart from the Sport For All Day 2022 to be held on August 7, the LCSD will on July 1 hold the "25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR – Free Use of Leisure Facilities" to encourage people of all ages to form the habit of exercising. On the event day, most of the fee-charging leisure facilities under the LCSD will be open for free use by the public. Also, the LCSD will organise roving sports demonstrations for all to be held in shopping malls or performance venues on weekends in June and July. Each demonstration will feature one thematic type of sport including dance, wushu, rope skipping and physical fitness exercise to promote the health benefits of regular exercise.
 
     Meanwhile, the LCSD has invited an illustrator to design a board game with the theme of celebration activities, and adapt the board game to a floor sticker that will be displayed at nine LCSD leisure and cultural venues (see Attachment 5) starting from mid-June for public enjoyment. The LCSD will also launch a souvenir redemption scheme for members of the public who participate in various celebration activities of the department to redeem the limited edition of the board game as a souvenir.
 
     For details of the LCSD activities in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, please visit the department's dedicated website www.25A-LCSDevents.gov.hk.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     Result of the tenders of the People's Bank of China RMB Bills held on May 23, 2022:
 

     The Tuen Mun District Office together with the Tuen Mun Police District and the Department of Health (DH) conducted an enforcement operation today (May 23) at a building in Tuen Mun, which was included in a compulsory testing notice earlier. The operation started at around 7.30am and ended at around 10am today.

     Starting from around 7.30am today, persons subject to compulsory testing of Block 13, Lung Mun Oasis, Tuen Mun, were requested to provide the SMS notification received through a mobile phone or related certification containing the results of COVID-19 tests, to show that they had taken such tests as required pursuant to the compulsory testing notice of the building within the specified period issued by the Government earlier on. The Government arranged for staff to verify the testing certifications of the persons subject to compulsory testing at the entrance/exit of the building to verify whether persons subject to compulsory testing had undergone testing in compliance with the requirement.

     During the operation, test records of around 300 persons were checked. Among them, 17 persons were found to have violated the compulsory testing notice. The Government has issued compulsory testing orders to them, requiring them to undergo testing within a specified period. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 5 ($50,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     The Government wishes to thank the many residents who had complied with the compulsory testing notice for their co-operation to fight against the virus together. The Government will continue to enforce the law strictly. All persons subject to compulsory testing should comply with the compulsory testing notice. Any person who fails to comply with the compulsory testing notices commits an offence and may be fined a fixed penalty of $10,000. The person would also be issued with a compulsory testing order requiring him or her to undergo testing within a specified time frame. Failure to comply with the compulsory testing order is an offence and the offender would be liable to a fine at level 5 ($50,000) and imprisonment for six months.

     The Tuen Mun District Office is grateful for the support and co-operation of the Police and the DH to enable the enforcement action to be carried out smoothly. The Government understands that the enforcement process may cause some inconvenience to the residents, but hopes that the residents can understand.