The Hong Kong House at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2024, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and organised by the Art Promotion Office (APO) in collaboration with the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee, will be staged in Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, from tomorrow (July 13) until November 10. Hong Kong artists Matthew Tsang and Cordelia Tam will connect urban life in Hong Kong with nature in Echigo-Tsumari through their artwork "Two Places Under the Same Sky".
      
     People in Hong Kong, surrounded by skyscrapers, often work around the clock. Echigo-Tsumari is a region with great mountain ranges, and its famous local rice is the product of the farmers' respect for and adaptation to seasonal changes and the natural environment. Inspired by these, artists Tsang and Tam shredded waste paper from Hong Kong and Tsunan to make handmade paper and transformed it into a natural shanshui (mountain and water) landscape which provides a metaphorical cleansing of urban trivialities. The exhibition also makes use of projections and lighting effects to create an animated sky scene. With the passing hours projected on a wall, the work mirrors the rapid pace of urban life. Handmade soil plates symbolise the enduring bond between farmers and the four seasons. While a mechanical device rotates farm tools on the soil plates to the speed of the hand of a clock, which depicts city dwellers pacing their lives to the ticking of a mechanical clock, the farmers follow the rhythms of nature, which reveals an interesting perception of time between the two places. Through the work, the artists pay tribute to the local way of living in harmony with nature and invites the audience to reflect on their way of living. Despite the differences between the two places, they are under the same sky, and time and nature still flow in parallel.
      
     In addition to the display of the work, papermaking workshops will be held during the exhibition period to forge a bridge of communication and express the friendship and care between Hong Kong and Tsunan through the art of handmade paper and artistic creations.
      
     In addition, the activity collaborator, Make A Difference Institute (MaD), will organise a community-based project "Minna no Tsukemono", with the theme of food culture, to look into the stories behind food preservation in Tsunan and Hong Kong, and will invite participants to taste tsukemono (preserved vegetables) from home and from afar. The Hong Kong House project has also invited the School of Creative Media at City University of Hong Kong to be the internship programme collaborator, offering opportunities for students from the School to gain practical experience and interact with the artists and collaborators involved in the Hong Kong House project.
      
     The Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, to be held once every three years, is one of the largest international outdoor art festivals in the world. With the support of the Tsunan Town Government and in collaboration with the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee and the NPO Echigo-Tsumari Satoyama Collaborative Organization, the APO of the LCSD launched the Hong Kong House in Tsunan, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, in 2018. This year's participating artists from Hong Kong, Matthew Tsang and Cordelia Tam, were selected through an open call for proposals by the joint adjudication panel of Hong Kong and Japan in 2023.
      
     For details of the exhibition, please visit the APO's website at www.apo.hk/en/web/apo/there_hkh2024_two_places_under_same_sky.html, the Facebook pages of Hong Kong House at www.facebook.com/apo.hkhouse , Instagram at www.instagram.com/hongkonghouse , or call 2512 3018/ 2512 3019/ 2512 3020.

              

     The Transport Department (TD) today (July 12) alerted members of the public to fraudulent SMS messages purportedly issued by the HKeToll. The SMS messages spoof the name of "HKeToll" and provide hyperlinks with the domain names (https://t[.]ly/autotolle and https://qrco[.]de/HKetoll) to fake HKeToll websites, which seek to deceive recipients into making payments and obtain their credit card information.

     The TD clarifies that the SMS messages were not issued by the HKeToll and has referred the case to the Police for follow-up. Members of the public are reminded that the HKeToll will not send SMS messages or emails to vehicle owners with hyperlinks which direct them to the websites to carry out transactions. If a vehicle owner wishes to pay an outstanding toll online, they must log in to the HKeToll website (hketoll.gov.hk) or mobile app.

     Members of the public should stay alert when receiving unidentified messages. They should not visit suspicious websites and disclose any personal information. Anyone who has provided their personal information to the websites concerned should contact the Police. For enquiries about the HKeToll, please call 3853 7333.

     The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) today (July 12) gazetted a notice to invite tenders for the contract for site formation and infrastructure works for public housing development near Chai Wan Swimming Pool, Chai Wan (Contract No. SD/2024/03). The closing time for the tender is noon on September 20.

     The works mainly include:

• formation of a work site of about 2.3 hectares and construction of associated retaining walls and slopes;
• construction of a single two-lane carriageway with a length of about 150 metres and a width of about 8.2m, and a roundabout; provision of a new lay-by and associated road improvement works connecting San Ha Street and the proposed public housing development;
• construction of a covered footbridge (including associated lift facilities) with a length of about 60m and a width of about 3m, and a covered walkway with a length of about 95m and a width of about 3m connecting Siu Sai Wan Road and the road mentioned above;
• road improvement works at (i) the junction of Wing Ping Street/Chai Wan Road, (ii) the junction of Wing Ping Street/San Ha Street, (iii) the junction of Chai Wan Road/San Ha Street and (iv) the roundabout of Chai Wan Road, Wan Tsui Road and Island Eastern Corridor; and
• ancillary works including reprovision of existing skateboard ground, drainage, sewerage, water supply and landscaping works. 

     The works are scheduled to commence in the first quarter of 2025 and will take about 45 months to complete.

     The CEDD has commissioned AECOM Asia Company Limited to design and supervise the works. Interested contractors can download the tender forms and other particulars from the e-Tendering System (e-TS). Tenderers must submit their tenders in electronic format via the e-TS.

     Details of the tender notice are available on the CEDD website (www.cedd.gov.hk/eng/tender-notices/contracts/tender-notices/index.html). For enquiries, please call AECOM Asia Company Limited at 3922 9000 during office hours.

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 (Jul 12) that due to inclement weather, the red flag has been hoisted at Clear Water Bay Second Beach in Sai Kung District. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     The Financial Secretary has, under the authority delegated by the Chief Executive, appointed two new Convenors and one new member to the Financial Reporting Review Panel (FRRP) and re-appointed nine incumbent members for a term of three years from July 16, 2024, to July 15, 2027. 
 
     The appointments and re-appointments, made in accordance with the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (Cap. 588) (AFRC Ordinance), are:
 
New Convenors
—————–
Mr William Lo Chi-chung
Professor Phyllis Mo Lai-lan
 
New member
—————
Mr Mak Kwong-fai
 
Re-appointed Members
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Ms Bella Chhoa Peck-lim
Ms Caroline Chiu Su-yuen 
Ms Irene Chu Ngar-yee
Mr Benny Chung Koon-chung
Ms Bernardine Lam Sin-yu
Mr Gilbert Lee Man-lung
Ms Alva Lee Yi-ling
Mr Benjamin Lo Man-chuen 
Mr Simon Ng Wing-fai
 
     A spokesman for the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau today (July 12) said, "The Accounting and Financial Reporting Council (AFRC) is a key regulator for corporate governance of companies listed in Hong Kong. One of the statutory functions of the AFRC is to initiate enquiries concerning non-compliance with legal, accounting or regulatory requirements in a listed entity's financial reports.
 
     "The FRRP, a statutory body established under the AFRC Ordinance, is indispensable to the discharge of the AFRC's statutory functions of enquiries. The work of the FRRP will benefit from the rich experience and professional knowledge of the members."
 
     "We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt appreciation to the five outgoing Convenors and six outgoing members for their valuable contribution to the work of the FRRP in the past years," the spokesman added.
 
     When an enquiry case arises, the AFRC may appoint one Convenor and four or more members from the FRRP to form a Financial Reporting Review Committee which will enquire into the relevant non-compliance of the case. The Committee will submit an enquiry report on the case to the AFRC for consideration and, where appropriate, follow-up action.