The Government today (November 15) urged employers to make flexible work arrangements for staff to return to work having regard to traffic and road conditions occurring during the day. This will help maintain good labour-management relations and ensure the safety of employees and the smooth operations of establishments.

     "For staff who cannot report for duty on time on account of conditions in road traffic or public transport services, employers should give due consideration to the circumstances of individual employees and handle each case flexibly," a Government spokesman said.

     "The Government will similarly handle government employees in such situations with understanding. For staff who are unable to report to work on time because of traffic problems, they should inform their immediate supervisors as soon as possible and their departments will handle the cases flexibly."

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

     Please broadcast the following special announcement immediately, and repeat it at frequent intervals:

     "The Social Welfare Department announces that due to the anticipated unstable traffic and unforeseeable conditions, members of the public are advised not to take their children or family members to child care centres, centres providing after school care programmes, elderly services centres or day rehabilitation units, including sheltered workshops, integrated vocational rehabilitation services centres and day activity centres today (November 15). These centres will, however, remain open to serve those whose families cannot provide alternative care for them. Members of the public who have the need for the services mentioned may contact the service units concerned in advance."

     The Secretary for Justice castigates the violent mob in London today (November 14, London time) causing her serious bodily harm on her way to an event venue. The Secretary immediately made a report to the London Police and requested the Police to take the case seriously and put the culprits to justice.

     The Secretary denounces all forms of violence and radicalism depriving others' legitimate rights in the pretext of pursuing their political ideals, which would never be in the interest of Hong Kong and any civilised society. 
 

     The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) expressed profound sadness at the passing of an outsourced cleansing service contractor worker, and is now providing necessary assistance to his family.

     The senior worker was suspected to be hit in his head by hard objects hurled by rioters during his lunch break near the North District Town Hall on November 13 (Wednesday). He sustained critical injury and subsequently passed away at the Prince of Wales Hospital yesterday (November 14) night.

     A spokesman for the FEHD said," We are very saddened by the incident and extend our deepest condolences to the family members of the deceased worker. We have requested the service contractor to follow up the labour insurance and compensation matters promptly. With the consent of the family of the deceased, we have referred the case to the Social Welfare Department for follow-up. We will continue to maintain close contact with the deceased family and provide all appropriate support and assistance to them as far as practicable."

     The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government expresses outrage over the malicious acts of the rioters. The Police will make every effort to investigate the case to bring offenders to justice.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin), continues to support the Hong Kong film industry by again sponsoring the Five Flavours Asian Film Festival in Warsaw, the only Polish film festival devoted to East and Southeast Asian cinema. The festival runs from November 13 to 20 (Warsaw time) in its 13th edition.

     Following the festival's tradition of providing exposure to the diversity and richness of Hong Kong cinematography, the film event is presenting one of the most varied selections of Asian cinema, including several films from Hong Kong. In this year's edition, the festival is featuring a "Fruit Chan Retrospective", presenting to Polish audiences some of the director's finest cinematic offerings including "Made in Hong Kong", "Little Cheung", "Durian Durian", "Hollywood Hong Kong", "Dumplings" and "Three Husbands".
      
     On November 17 (Warsaw time), the festival audience has a unique opportunity to participate in a Master Class with Fruit Chan, who is also meeting with audience members after the screenings of his films. The "Fruit Chan Retrospective" and the Master Class are accompanied by the premiere of the book "Made in Hong Kong", highlighting the most compelling contemporary phenomena and trends in Hong Kong cinematography of the last two decades. The monograph devoted to Hong Kong is the second publication by the Five Flavours Asian Film Festival dedicated to Asian cinematography. Other films from Hong Kong, namely "Still Human", directed by Oliver Chan, and "Fagara", directed by Heiward Mak, are also featured in the prestigious Asian Cinerama section of the Festival.

     Hong Kong is an established arts and cultural hub of Asia. Known for its inexhaustible supply of film talents, the city attracts young filmmakers and actors who bring inspiration and new ideas that further enrich its film industry. Creative industries are important economic drivers for Hong Kong, enhancing the economy's innovation capacity and driving its future growth. Hong Kong has a leading edge in key creative sectors such as film, television, music, design, architecture, advertisement, comics and animation, games and digital entertainment, printing and publishing.

About HKETO Berlin

     HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Poland as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Switzerland.