The Youth Music and Dance Marathon will be staged at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza on January 5 (Sunday) from 1pm to 6pm, featuring more than 30 local music and dance groups sure to bring energetic performances to this outdoor event. Admission is free and members of the public are welcome to join.
 
     Event highlights include performances by singers and groups from the Renaissance Foundation and My Main Stage as well as other local bands such as Chonotenki and Gainorva. The School of Dance of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Hong Kong Schools Dance Association and other groups will also provide a variety of dance performances such as Chinese, street, jazz, modern, cha-cha-cha, jive, J-pop and more.
 
     The Youth Music and Dance Marathon is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Programme partners are the Renaissance Foundation, My Main Stage, the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association, the School of Dance of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Schools Dance Association.
 
     For more details, please call 2591 1340 or visit the website at
www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/cpo/territoryevents/youthbandmarathon/2020_ymadm.html.

    

     â€‹In the light of local demands for drugs during the long holidays, Hong Kong Customs mounted a special operation codenamed "Wave" from October 23 to December 31 last year to fight against drug trafficking activities involving cross-boundary express parcels. Seizures of different kinds of dangerous drugs worth about $39 million were made.

     During the 70-day operation, Customs officers detected a total of 15 dangerous drug trafficking cases using express parcels conveyed by incoming goods vehicles at the Lok Ma Chau Control Point. About 60 kilograms of suspected dangerous drugs including cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine and ecstasy with an estimated market value of about $39 million were seized.  

     After follow-up investigations of the abovementioned cases, Customs officers arrested five men and two women in town, aged between 16 and 46, and further seized about 480 grams of suspected dangerous drugs.

     To evade Customs officers' attention, criminals often adopt ever-changing concealment methods. The methods revealed in this special operation included the use of oil filters, sports shoes, puzzle play mats, trousers, powdered formula, drink powder, meat products, canned fruit, health supplements and packages of dog food as cover-ups.

     Hong Kong Customs has all along striven to eliminate dangerous drug inflows through passenger or cargo channels by strategies of risk-profiling and intelligence analysis. The "Wave" anti-narcotics operation achieved significant results in intercepting dangerous drugs. The department will continue its special enforcement operations from time to time to strengthen efforts against different kinds of dangerous drug trafficking activities. 

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment. 

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

                

     The Music Office Youth Choir (MOYC) and the Music Office Children's Choir (MOCC) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will jointly perform in an annual concert "Sing On" at the Theatre of Hong Kong City Hall at 2pm on February 2 (Sunday). The concert will present a splendid choral programme with works from the 16th century to the present.
 
     Dr Angelina Au, May Ho, Kobe Ip and Chan Wan-hong will be the conductors and pianists. The choirs will present a wide variety of pieces in different languages, including the classic English madrigal "Fyer, Fyer"; German composer Johann Kuhnau's "Tristis est Anima Mea (My Soul is filled with Sorrow)", a motet which describes the struggle of Jesus Christ during his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane; "Sanctus from Mass No.4, D.452", a lively and graceful piece composed by Franz Schubert; "O Schöne Nacht (O Beautiful Night)", one of the famous quartets by the romantic composer Johannes Brahms; Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's "La Danza! (The Dance!)", which portrays the joyful dancing scene of people; and "I'se the B'y", a Newfoundland folk song which depicts the daily life of a local fisherman.
 
     Other highlights include German composer Felix Mendelssohn's "Lift Thine Eyes"; English composer Edward Elgar's "The Snow"; "Blackbird" by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, members of the legendary band The Beatles; and American composer Jim Papoulis' "Music Changes the World".
 
     Established in 1980, the MOYC now has 71 members, with ages ranging from 15 to 25. In addition to performing in local concerts, the choir has toured overseas including Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and Austria. At the 11th International Johannes Brahms Choir Festival and Competition held in July, the choir won Gold Awards in the Youth Mixed Voices, Equal Voices (Female Choirs) and Equal Voices (Male Choirs), and was also named champion in the Youth Mixed Voices and Equal Voices (Female Choirs) categories.
 
     Since its establishment in 1981, the MOCC's membership has grown to 74, with ages ranging from 8 to 15. The choir performs both Western and Chinese choral works, including local premieres and operettas.
　　
     Tickets for the concert priced at $45, $55 and $65 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2796 7523 or 3842 7784 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/mo/newsandevent/upcoming/moyc2020.html.

     The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) will hold a dog inoculation campaign at various fishing ports in Hong Kong. Fishermen can have their dogs vaccinated against rabies and microchipped and the licences renewed.
 
     AFCD mobile vaccination teams will visit the following fishing ports according to the schedule below:
 
Aberdeen              　January 9
Sam Mun Tsai           January 10
Sha Tau Kok             January 15
Sai Kung                  January 16
Shau Kei Wan      　  January 16
Castle Peak              January 17
Cheung Chau     ã€€   January 21
 
     The half-yearly dog inoculation campaign was launched in 1980 with the aim of providing a licensing renewal and rabies vaccination service for dogs kept by fishermen who work on board fishing vessels most of the time. The vaccination teams will visit the fishing ports from 10am to 3pm. A fee of $80 will be charged for each dog. To date, more than 7 300 vaccinations have been given to dogs on fishing vessels.
 
     An AFCD spokesman said that the service is one of the proactive measures to prevent rabies, a fatal disease that is transmitted to humans from animals. Dogs on board vessels that have visited overseas countries may have come in contact with other animals carrying diseases, making them more susceptible to rabies infection.
 
     "Although Hong Kong has been free from animal rabies since 1987, we must remain vigilant to prevent any possible outbreak," the spokesman said.
 
     Under the Rabies Ordinance, all dogs aged over 5 months must be vaccinated against rabies, licensed and microchipped. Dogs have to be revaccinated against rabies and their licences have to be renewed at intervals not exceeding three years. Dog owners who fail to do so are liable to a maximum fine of $10,000.

     A penumbral lunar eclipse will occur in Hong Kong in the small hours of January 11 (Saturday). As the elevation of the moon will be rather high during the eclipse, the event can be best observed at most places with an unobstructed view towards the west to northwest if weather permits.
 
     The eclipse will begin at 1.05am and end at 5.15am, with the maximum eclipse occurring at 3.10am. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the moon only enters the penumbra of the Earth but not the umbra. During the event, the moon will become slightly dimmer.
 
     Details of the penumbral lunar eclipse are set out in the following table:
 

 
     For the latest weather conditions and the astronomical observation conditions on January 11, please refer to the nine-day weather forecast issued by the Hong Kong Observatory (www.hko.gov.hk/en/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm) and the Weather Information for Astronomical Observation webpage (www.hko.gov.hk/en/gts/astronomy/astro_portal.html).
      
     The next lunar eclipse observable in Hong Kong will occur on June 6 this year. It will be a penumbral lunar eclipse.