In response to media enquiries on the water quality of the Shing Mun Reservoir, a spokesman for the Water Supplies Department said that staff were immediately deployed today (December 5) to inspect the Shing Mun Reservoir … read more
Police today (December 5) appealed to the public for information on a woman who went missing in Chai Wan. Suen Man-hung, aged 36, went missing after she left her residence in Siu Sai … read more
The Transport Department (TD) today (December 5) reminded the public that a number of special traffic and transport arrangements, including changes of bus services, will be implemented in the vicinity of Hong Kong Island North to facilitate the holding of the Hong Kong Island 10K City Race 2019 this Sunday (December 8).
The race will take a route via Convention Avenue, Hung Hing Road, Marsh Road, the Marsh Road flyover, Lockhart Road, Percival Street, Hennessy Road, Yee Wo Street, Sugar Street, Gloucester Road, the Victoria Road flyover and the section of the Island Eastern Corridor between North Point and Causeway Bay, and finish at Convention Avenue.
To facilitate the holding of the race, extensive road closures including closure of the section of the Island Eastern Corridor between North Point and Causeway Bay, the section of Hennessy Road eastbound near Causeway Bay, Yee Wo Street eastbound and the roads in the vicinity of Wan Chai North will be implemented in stages in Hong Kong Island North.
The TD anticipates that the traffic in the affected areas and the major roads in the vicinity, such as Gloucester Road, Victoria Park Road, Fleming Road, the Canal Road flyover, Hennessy Road, Percival Street, Pennington Street, Leighton Road, King’s Road, Java Road, the Cross-Harbour Tunnel and the Aberdeen Tunnel, will become significantly more congested than on normal Sundays.
Motorists are advised to avoid driving to the affected or congested areas, especially in the vicinity from North Point to Wan Chai, unless necessary. In case of road closure and traffic diversion, motorists should follow the instructions of the Police on-site and the guidance of road signs, and stay alert to the latest traffic news through the media.
Owing to extensive road closures in the vicinity from North Point to Wan Chai, a total of 84 bus routes and 10 green minibus routes will be diverted, and the bus terminus at the Wan Chai North Temporary Public Transport Interchange will be suspended. Public transport operators will display notices on-site to inform passengers of the temporary arrangements.
The TD appeals members of the public to plan their journeys in advance and use alternative travelling routes to avoid unexpected delay, as well as take public transport services (particularly railway services) when going to the aforementioned areas. Public transport commuters are advised to pay attention to the arrangements of route diversion and changes of stop locations.
The special traffic and transport arrangements will mainly include:
Road closures and traffic arrangements
——————————————–
1. The following major roads will be temporarily closed in stages from about 2am:
– Convention Avenue;
– Tonnochy Road;
– Hung Hin Road;
– Marsh Road and the Marsh Road flyover;
– The section of Lockhart Road eastbound between Marsh Road and Percival Street;
– The section of Percival Street between Lockhart Road and Hennessy Road;
– The section of Hennessy Road eastbound between Percival Street and Yee Wo Street;
– The section of Yee Wo Street eastbound between Hennessy Road and Sugar Street;
– Sugar Street;
– The section of Gloucester Road between the Gloucester Road service road and Causeway Road;
– The section of the Island Eastern Corridor between North Point and Causeway Bay (both directions); and
– The section of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass between Central and the Island Eastern Corridor (both directions).
2. The on-street parking spaces within the closed road areas and in the vicinity (such as Jaffe Road) will be suspended, and vehicles in car parks within the road closure areas may not be permitted to enter or leave the car parks during the road closure period.
Public transport services
—————————
1. A total of 84 bus routes and 10 green minibus routes will be diverted;
2. The bus terminus at the Wan Chai North Temporary Public Transport Interchange will be suspended in stages from about 2am; and
3. Bus stops, taxi stands, public light bus/green minibus stands and cross-boundary coach stops within the closed roads and its vicinity (such as Leighton Road and Pennington Street) and the tram stop on Percival Street will be suspended.
Other ad-hoc traffic and public transport measures, including adjusting the extent of road closures, traffic diversions and alteration and suspension of public transport services may be implemented by the Police at short notice depending on the actual traffic and crowd conditions. Public light bus drivers and taxi drivers who go to Wan Chai North for refilling are advised to take note of the road closure arrangements implemented in the areas. The TD and the Police will closely monitor the traffic situation and implement appropriate measures whenever necessary.
For details of the race, members of the public can browse the Hong Kong Amateur Athletic Association’s website (hkaaa.com/tc/comp_details.php?id=157). For enquiries on the special traffic and transport arrangements, members of the public can call 1823 or browse the TD’s website (www.td.gov.hk) for more details. read more
A woman who went missing in Sheung Shui has been located. Lam Ting, aged 50, went missing after she left her residence on Tin Ping Road on September 18 afternoon. Her family made a report t… read more
The Department of Health (DH) today (December 5) launched the Hong Kong Test of Preschool Oral Language (Cantonese) (TOPOL). The test is the first locally developed and comprehensive spoken language assessment instrument for Cantonese. Designed for use on Hong Kong Cantonese-speaking preschool children between the ages of 2 years and 6 months and 5 years and 11 months, the test will enable speech therapists to provide a more accurate diagnosis for local children with language development disorders.
Local speech therapists have been using adapted overseas assessment tools for assessing Hong Kong’s Cantonese-speaking preschool children in the past decades. The newly launched TOPOL, which caters for the needs of local Cantonese-speaking preschool children, will enable evidence-based assessment of Hong Kong children’s language development and its disorders, contributing to quality clinical services and providing a platform for future research.
TOPOL was developed by a multi-disciplinary team of the DH’s Child Assessment Service (CAS) together with senior academic scholars of the Academic Unit of Human Communication, Development, and Information Sciences of the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong, the Department of Applied Social Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Department of Linguistics and Modern Language Studies of the Education University of Hong Kong, and renowned experts in research methodology from the institutions. Research for the project started in 2013.
Having undergone stringent development procedures, TOPOL was normed on a widely stratified sample of Cantonese-speaking preschool children recruited from nurseries and kindergartens across 18 districts in Hong Kong. The tool provides information on a child’s profile across language domains and modalities as well as directions for further criterion-referenced language assessment.
TOPOL is intended to be used by Cantonese-speaking individuals who have received professional qualifications as speech therapists from recognised university programmes and who possess a background in Cantonese linguistics. It is applicable to professionals working in the public sector, as well as those from non-government organisations and the private sector. The DH today held a seminar to introduce TOPOL for the local speech therapy sector.
TOPOL will be sold to eligible users at $5,440 per set. Interested speech therapists may visit the CAS website (www.dhcas.gov.hk) for details.
