Press conference remarks on events of HKSAR Government in celebration of 75th anniversary of founding of People’s Republic of China (with photo/video)

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, held a press conference today (September 17) on various celebratory events and special offers by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing; the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; and the Director of Home Affairs, Mrs Alice Cheung, also attended. Following are the remarks made at the press conference:
 
Reporter: For the largest-ever street decorations that will be put up across the city for National Day, how much did that cost and who have shouldered that part of the budget? As for total government spending, how much did the Government spend in total? And, were these monies taken from each department's respective budget, or were there more centralised budget to provide for these events? Thank you.
 
Chief Secretary for Administration: Thank you for your questions. Actually, we have no detailed breakdown on which department spent how much on this celebration. But I would say all the activities, all the events, some major ones, actually, they are sponsored by the commercial sector and some organisations. They are not government money. Actually for some departments and bureaux, if they need to use money, this will be absorbed in their own expenses.
 
Reporter: What about the decorations? How much did they cost?
 
Chief Secretary for Administration: No breakdown on that.

Reporter: Can you give more details of the concert hosted on September 30 and the drone show to be hosted that day? What specific elements are being implemented that relate to the 75th anniversary that make these shows unique from the other shows we have had in Hong Kong for this specific occasion?
 
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism: Are you referring to the event on September 30? It is an event to be held at the West Kowloon Cultural District, and it is organised by my bureau, and with the support of some outside organisations. It is composed of two parts. One is a drone show with 2 099 drones with all the different figures celebrating the 75th anniversary. For example, we will have some symbols with 75 as a figure. The other part is sort of a gathering of 1 000 youths who are coming together to sing some songs with the theme of celebrating the 75th anniversary. So it is a very good event for both people watching the drone show as well as for the youths to demonstrate their wish to celebrate this very important date for our country.
 
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)