Tag Archives: China

     Following is a question by Dr the Hon Ngan Man-yu and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):

Question:

     Under the Minimum Wage Ordinance (Cap. 608), the Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) applies to employees with disabilities as it applies to able-bodied employees. Cap. 608 also provides for a special arrangement under which employees with disabilities whose productivity may be impaired by their disabilities have the right to choose to undergo a productivity assessment, so as to determine whether they should be remunerated at a level not lower than the SMW or at a rate commensurate with their assessed productivity. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the following statistics related to the employment of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in each of the past three years: the number of persons of working age (i.e. 15 to 64 years old), the number of persons who took up paid employment or were economically active (broken down by the industry in which they were engaged and their salary group), the unemployment rate and the poverty rate;

(2) of the numbers of employees and employers who participated in the productivity assessment for employees with disabilities and the assessment results (including the percentage of employees with disabilities who, as assessed, should be remunerated at a level not lower than SMW), in each of the past three years;

(3) of the measures in place to encourage enterprises and public organisations to hire PWDs; and
 
(4) of the measures in place to encourage PWDs to participate in employment or vocational skills training?

Reply:
 
President,
 
     Having consulted the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD), the Labour Department (LD) and the Social Welfare Department (SWD) on the Member’s question, I set out below a consolidated reply:

(1) According to a territory-wide survey conducted by C&SD on persons with disabilities and chronic diseases from 2019 to 2020, it was estimated that there were 215 300 persons aged 15 to 64 with disabilities in 2020, of whom some 91 500 persons were economically active. Among those 91 500 persons, some 81 400 persons were employed at the time of enumeration (with breakdowns by industry and by monthly employment earnings set out in Annex) while the remaining were unemployed persons. The unemployment rate of persons aged 15 to 64 with disabilities was about 11 per cent. As for the poverty rate of persons with disabilities, such figures are not available for the past three years.
 
     As the prevalence rate of persons with disabilities will not change drastically over a short period of time, there is currently no plan to conduct annually the related survey. The C&SD will conduct the survey on persons with disabilities in a timely manner as and when necessary to update the figures.

(2) According to the Minimum Wage Ordinance (MWO), employees with disabilities are entitled to the same protection of Statutory Minimum Wage (SMW) as able-bodied employees. At the same time, the MWO provides a special arrangement for employees with disabilities to opt to undergo productivity assessment to determine their wages commensurate with their productivity assessed. Employees with disabilities who do not opt to undergo productivity assessment shall be remunerated at no less than SMW.
 
     The number of employees with disabilities who completed productivity assessment under the SMW regime and employers involved, as well as the number of assessments conducted in the past three years (i.e. from 2021 to 2023) are provided as follows:
 

	2021	2022	2023
Number of employees with disabilities	20	9	2
Number of employers*	4	4	2
Number of assessments	20	9	2

* Some employers were involved in more than one assessment.

     A breakdown of the above number of assessments by degree of productivity in the assessment results is provided as follows:
 

Degree of productivity	Number of assessments
	2021	2022	2023
50% or below	–	6	1
Above 50% – 60%	1	–	–
Above 60% – 70%	3	–	–
Above 70% – 80%	5	1	–
Above 80% – 90%	6	–	1
Above 90% – 100% (Note)	5	2	–
Total	20	9	2

Note: In the past three years, no employee with disabilities had a degree of productivity assessed to be 100 per cent. The rate derived by the assessed degree of productivity provides a wage floor for the employee with disabilities. Employers may pay a higher wage to the employees with disabilities.

(3) The Selective Placement Division of the LD implements the Work Orientation and Placement Scheme (WOPS) to encourage employers to hire persons with disabilities. Under the WOPS, eligible employers will be granted an allowance at a maximum of $60,000 for engaging each person with disabilities during the nine-month subsidy period. At the same time, the LD has been promoting the employment of persons with disabilities to enhance the public’s acceptance and support to them. The LD also actively liaises with employers of different sectors to enhance their understanding of the work capabilities of persons with disabilities and encourages them to provide more job vacancies for persons with disabilities.
 
     Moreover, the SWD has been providing financial support to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) under the Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities through Small Enterprise Project (the Project) to establish small enterprises/businesses to engage employees with disabilities, with a view to creating employment and on-the-job training opportunities for persons with disabilities. Under the Project, funding support is given in the form of a one-off grant to assist the grantee to pay the necessary set-up costs such as equipment and fitting-out works and/or the anticipated operating loss for the initial period up to three years. The maximum amount of the grant is $3 million.
 
     The SWD has also launched the Support Programme for Employees with Disabilities (SPED) to support persons with disabilities to take up employment. Through the SPED, employers can apply for a one-off subsidy, up to $40,000 per employee with disabilities, for procurement of assistive devices and/or workplace modifications, to assist employees with disabilities in discharging their duties in the workplace and enhance their work efficiency.

(4) The Labour and Welfare Bureau subsidises the Shine Skills Centres under the Vocational Training Council to offer a range of vocational training programmes and ancillary services to persons with disabilities aged 15 or above who are being assessed as having potential for open employment.
 
     The LD also provides personalised employment services to job seekers with disabilities who are fit for open employment, including employment counselling, job matching and post-placement follow-up service.
 
     For persons with disabilities not yet able to take up open employment, the SWD subsidises NGOs to provide persons with disabilities with vocational rehabilitation and training services, including Sheltered Workshops (SWs), Supported Employment (SE), Integrated Vocational Rehabilitation Services Centres (IVRSCs), Integrated Vocational Training Centres, so as to cater for persons with different levels of disabilities and needs to receive appropriate vocational rehabilitation services in a specially designed training environment, with a view to learning to meet basic job requirements.
 
     The SWD has also implemented the On the Job Training Programme for People with Disabilities (OJT) and Sunnyway – On the Job Training Programme for Young People with Disabilities to provide related training and counselling services to address participants’ employment needs and assist participants to find suitable jobs after completing the job attachments.
 
     Besides, the SWD implemented a pilot project on Enhancing Vocational Rehabilitation Services in July 2023 to provide trainees of SWs/IVRSCs with diversified training modules according to their abilities and talents so as to increase their employment opportunities, including SE, OJT, social enterprises and even open employment.
 
     In October 2023, the Government has put in place a new measure as announced in the 2022 Policy Address to regularise the Pilot Scheme on Providing Subsidy for Higher Disability Allowance Recipients in Paid Employment to Hire Carers under the Community Care Fund. A monthly allowance of $5,000 is provided for eligible persons with disabilities to hire carers, with a view to encouraging them to sustain employment.
 
     The Chief Executive announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the Government would implement a three-year pilot scheme from the third quarter of 2024 to provide an additional subsidy of $500 per month to employed disabled recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. This will benefit some 6 800 persons. read more

     â€‹Following is a question by Dr the Hon Tik Chi-yuen and a reply by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):

Question:

     The Government has indicated that the 2023 District Council (DC) Ordinary Election (the Election) held last month was a high-quality election. However, it has been reported that the DC geographical constituency election voter turnout rate of the Election was 27.54 per cent, which has been the lowest voter turnout rate since the first DC Election, and was a drop of 43.69 percentage points compared with the voter turnout rate of 71.23 per cent of the last DC Election, and that young people and middle-class people were lukewarm towards the Election. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) as there are views that DCs are local councils which have all along been playing an important role in district administration, including assuming the responsibilities of collecting and reflecting public opinions, monitoring the Government’s policy implementation, facilitating communication between the Government and the public, mobilising community participation and promoting social reforms, how the new‍-‍‎term DCs continue to perform such functions, with the voter turnout rate of the Election being lower than those of the previous elections;

(2) given that under the new term of DCs, the DC Chairmen of the various Districts are the District Officers of the respective Districts, how DCs account for their work to members of the public and are monitored by members of the public; how the Government or DCs facilitate the latter to account for their work to members of the public and enhance DCs’ communication with members of the public; and
 
(3) how it ensures that the new-term DCs can still accommodate the views and voices of people with different political stances?

Reply:

President,

     The District Councils (DCs) have all along been a communication link between the Government and the people. Members of the DCs are expected to uphold the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (Basic Law) and bear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administration Region in carrying out DCs’ duties and in serving the people.

     The 2023 DC Ordinary Election held on December 10, 2023, was the first large-scale territory-wide election under the improved district governance and the reformed DCs. The election is of great significance as it enables the DCs to return to the positioning under Article 97 of the Basic Law as advisory and service bodies which are not organs of political power and fully implement the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong”. As the Chief Executive had said, this was a high-quality election that was conducted in a fair, just, clean, safe and orderly manner, fully demonstrating an election culture of excellence and the superiority of the reformed DCs.

     For the three parts of the question, having consulted the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau, our consolidated reply is as follows:

(1) and (3) As we have emphasised once and again, voter turnout is affected by a range of factors, and may not shed particular light on how well the new DCs perform their enhanced advisory and service functions. With our frequent reach-out to the community on the benefits of the improved district governance and the reformed DCs in the past few months, the people expressed general support, and hoped the new term of DCs could actually provide good services in the districts for the people, and reflect their opinions and requests to the Government, so to enhance the efficacy of district governance, and allow people to live and work in contentment.

     The positioning of the DCs has been clearly stipulated under Article 97 of the Basic Law: that they are district organisations which are not organs of political power. As they are not executive authorities, they cannot exercise the powers assigned to the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Government. Aside from that, district organisations are advisory and service bodies, and could be consulted by the Government on issues in specific scope, or assist the Government in providing services in fields such as culture, recreation and environmental sanitation.

     Section 4A of the amended District Councils Ordinance stipulates the statutory functions of the DCs, which have been increased from the original two to nine provisions. These enhanced advisory and service functions of the DCs have on one hand retained the original functions of the DCs to be consulted by the Government on district affairs, to apply for funding for projects and activities to improve district environment, promote district sports, culture and arts, district major events. On the other hand, DCs’ functions to collect and reflect the people’s views have been enhanced, including clearly highlighting that DC members have to establish a regular communication channel with the people, to meet with them and listen to their views regularly, and to proactively collect the views of the people in respect of issues specified by the DC Chairmen, and submit to the Government summaries of the views collected and propose corresponding measures.

     The reformed DCs are composed of appointed, District Committees Constituencies (DCC), District Council Geographical Constituencies (DCGC) and ex-officio members, so there will be multiple channels for persons who love the country and Hong Kong and are committed to serving the community to participate in the work of the DCs. The 179 appointed members represent different social sectors, e.g. industrial and commercial, professional, grassroots and labour sectors, district organisations, etc. In districts where there are bigger ethnic-minority communities, representatives of ethnic minorities are appointed as DC members. For the DCC and DCGC, 264 elected members have diverse backgrounds, including those experienced in district work, young people committed to serving the community, as well as professionals from different fields and sectors, etc. Alongside the 27 ex-officio members, the new DCs are composed of representatives from different sectors, with various expertise and district experiences, and are broadly representative, incorporating various professionals, experienced and capable persons to participate in district administration, which are conducive to reflecting the overall interest of each district.

     The Chief Executive, at the oath-taking ceremony for members of the seventh term DCs, clearly requested that DC members should ensure effective communication between the Government and the people by serving as a connection between the two. He also urged all DC members to address people’s most imminent concerns in the community, and make every effort to tackle their problems by noticeable and substantive actions in honour of people’s trust and support.

     All in all, the seventh term DCs will focus on serving the people, and working with the Government to serve the community. The DCs should deliver benefits and satisfactions to the people, so as to achieve good governance.

     In order to begin district work in an expedient manner, the 18 DCs have held the first DC meeting in the first week of January 2024. The meetings appointed the committees and working groups under the DCs and their respective Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen, confirmed the DCs’ meeting timetable, formulated the arrangements of the “Meet-the-Public Scheme”, and determined the issues of concern in the district that required further study for DC members to collect views from the people. DCs have also formulated a series of action plans, including to launch caring and district clean-up campaigns before the Chinese New Year, organise activities that promote the local economy, as well as set up photo-taking spots with district characteristics, so to serve the people in a practical way for the benefits of the community, and continue to enhance the people’s sense of achievement and satisfaction.

(2) The work of the DCs has all along been open and transparent. Minutes of meetings are uploaded to the website of DC to facilitate the public in understanding its work and content of discussion. Meetings of DCs are also open to the public including media representatives.
 
​     DC Chairmen will lead DC members of respective DCs in fully implementing their work plans. The Government has also promulgated the Performance Monitoring Guidelines for Members of the District Councils to further strengthen the accountability of DC members and increase transparency of their work. The Guidelines set out the standard of performance required of DC members, including implementing the tasks and adhering to the work indicators assigned by the DC Chairman, setting up offices, meeting members of the public, so that the DCs can best undertake their advisory and service functions. The Guidelines also set out a list of negative behaviours, including obstructing DC members in conducting meetings, insulting other DC members and public officials, preventing others from leaving or attending meetings, failing to declare interests. The Guidelines set out in detail the investigation procedures, appeals mechanism and relevant sanctions for DC members that have performed poorly or committed prohibited acts, to ensure every DC member upholds their duty faithfully and serves the people.

     The seventh term DCs shall work hand-in-hand with the Government in promoting district governance work, enhance people’s sense of achievement and satisfaction, and build a better and more harmonious community. read more

     â€‹Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chow Man-kong and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):
     
Question:
 
     According to the Subsidized Schools Provident Fund Annual Report 2022 of the Education Bureau (EDB), a total of 3 493 contributors withdrew from the Subsidized Schools Provident Fund in the 2021-2022 school year. Among them, contributors with less than 10 years of service accounted for 24 per cent of the withdrawals. There are views that the figures reflect the serious wastage of teachers. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of (i) the number of newly-joined teachers (and the percentage of such number in the overall number of teachers) and (ii) the number of teachers who departed (and the percentage of such number in the overall number of teachers) in each of the past three school years, together with a breakdown by length of teaching service (i.e. (a) newly-joined, (b) below 10 years, (c) 10 to 15 years and (d) above 15 years) and type of schools (i.e. (I) kindergartens, (II) special schools, (III) public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) primary schools and (IV) public sector and DSS secondary schools) (set out in Table 1 the numbers for (I) and (II), and in Table 2 the numbers for (III) and (IV));

Table 1 Type of schools:               

Type of teachers	Length of teaching service	Number of teachers (and the percentage of such number in the overall number of teachers)
		2020-2021 school year	2021-2022 school year	2022-2023 school year
(i)	(a)
	(b)
	(c)
	(d)
(ii)	(b)
	(c)
	(d)

Table 2 Type of schools:               

Type of teachers	Finance type	Length of teaching service	Number of teachers (and the percentage of such number in the overall number of teachers)
			2020-2021 school year	2021-2022 school year	2022-2023 school year
(i)	Public sector	(a)
		(b)
		(c)
		(d)
	DSS	(a)
		(b)
		(c)
		(d)
(ii)	Public sector	(b)
		(c)
		(d)
	DSS	(b)
		(c)
		(d)

    
(2) whether it has studied the respective reasons for departure of the aforesaid experienced teachers and teachers with shorter length of teaching service, and formulated corresponding measures to retain talents;
 
(3) whether it knows the numbers of course places (broken down by full-‍time and part-time courses) of and the actual student enrolments in the teacher training courses provided by the five universities offering Bachelor of Education and Post-graduate Diploma in Education programmes (PGDE programmes) (i.e. the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), the Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Metropolitan University) in each of the past three school years and the current school year, together with a breakdown by level of education (i.e.‍ kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and special education) and major teaching subject (including but not limited to Chinese Language, English Language, Geography and Economics); of the principles and criteria for allocation of places for the aforesaid teacher training courses; and
 
(4) given that the EDB will increase the number of places for part-time PGDE programmes of three universities, namely HKU, CUHK and EdUHK, in designated subjects for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years, of the specific number of additional places to be provided each year and the distribution of such additional places, and whether there will be consequential reduction in the number of places for PGDE programmes in certain subjects; whether it has assessed, by drawing reference from the number of departed teachers in the last three school years and the trend concerned, the supply of and demand for teacher training course places in the coming three to five years, so as to enable the relevant institutions to better plan for organisation of their teacher training courses, with a view to filling the vacancies for teachers?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     The Education Bureau (EDB) has all along been committed to maintaining a teaching profession of high quality and closely monitoring the manpower situation of teachers with timely and appropriate measures taken to ensure the quality of education and smooth operation of schools. With the declining school-aged population, the demand for teachers would decrease correspondingly. We will continue to monitor the situation and maintain close communication with the school sector.
 
     Our reply to the question raised by Dr the Hon Chow Man-kong is as follows:
 
(1) The numbers and percentages of newly recruited teachers as well as the numbers of drop-out teachers and the wastage rates in kindergartens (KGs) joining the Kindergarten Education Scheme (the Scheme) by length of service from the 2020/21 to 2022/23 school years are at Annex 1. The numbers and percentages of newly recruited teachers as well as the numbers of drop-out teachers and the wastage rates in public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) primary and secondary schools and aided special schools from the 2020/21 to 2022/23 school years are at Annex 2. Since the EDB did not collect data on the length of service of teachers in public sector and DSS primary and secondary schools as well as aided special schools in or before the 2022/23 school year, we are unable to provide relevant figures by length of service.
 
(2) There are various reasons for teacher wastage, which mainly include retirement, pursuing further studies, changing to other types of schools, taking up employment outside the teaching profession, and leaving the post due to other personal reasons. To increase the attractiveness of the teaching profession and at the same time retain talent, the EDB has implemented quite a number of new measures for primary and secondary schools to support school development, and provide teachers with a stable teaching environment and a better career prospect in recent years. These measures include full implementation of the All-Graduate Teaching Force policy in the 2019/20 school year; establishment of the Professional Ladder for Teachers and improvement of the manpower of vice-principals in public sector primary and secondary schools, as well as the manpower of senior teachers and ranking arrangements of principals in public sector secondary schools in the 2020/21 school year; and improvement of manpower at the middle management level, rationalisation of the pay structures for school heads and deputy heads in primary schools starting from the 2022/23 school year to enhance teachers’ promotion prospects. In tandem, through diversified professional development programmes, the EDB also strives to strengthen the professional competencies of in-service teachers and principals, and broaden their horizons.
 
     As for KGs, to retain and attract quality teachers, KGs joining the Scheme (Scheme-KGs) are encouraged to establish a career ladder and offer competitive remuneration. Various measures have also been adopted to ensure that teachers are reasonably remunerated. We have set salary ranges for teachers of different ranks; requested Scheme-KGs to remunerate their teachers within the prescribed salary ranges; and would follow up on irregular cases. Scheme-KGs are required to prescribe 60 per cent of the unit subsidy as teachers’ salary portion, which must be used on teachers’ salaries and related expenses. KGs may deploy any portion of the remaining 40 per cent for teachers’ salaries and related expenses, but not vice versa. The accumulated surplus exceeding the reserve ceiling of both the teachers’ salary portion and the whole unit subsidy will be clawed back to the EDB. The above various measures encourage schools’ optimal use of the subsidy on teachers’ salaries. We will continue to maintain communication with the sector pragmatically, and keep making refinements to the Scheme with a view to providing high quality KG education to students.
 
(3) & (4) The Government has been prudent in the planning for teacher education (TE) places. The overall planning of the Government-funded TE programmes is made under a triennial planning cycle so as to meet the needs of our society. When conducting the planning exercise for the 2022-25 triennium, having taken into consideration the declining school-age population and anticipated decrease in the demand for teachers, it was planned that the number of undergraduate intake places at primary and secondary levels would be gradually reduced in the 2022-25 triennium. The numbers of places in TE programmes offered by local TE universities and the enrolments in the past three and the current academic years (i.e. 2020/21 to 2023/24 academic years) are at Annex 3. 
 
     On the other hand, in view of the higher than expected number of untrained newly-joined teachers in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 school years, the EDB has promptly responded to the keen demand from the school sector for part-time TE programmes by providing extra funding for the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Education University of Hong Kong to increase 239 and 211 (i.e. 450 in total) intake places of part-time Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programmes in specified subjects in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 school years respectively through the University Grants Committee to equip untrained teachers who are committed to the teaching profession, thereby raising the overall quality of education. While increasing the number of places for part-time PGDE programmes, we have, taking into account the information on the major subjects of untrained teachers, formulated the recommended allocation of places for each subject to provide reference for the TE universities in their planning. More of the increased places will be allocated to subjects such as English Language, Mathematics and Science Education, and the related increase will not affect the original number of places for PGDE programmes in other subjects.
 
     The planning of teacher training places for the 2025-28 triennium has started. The Government will carefully consider a basket of factors, including the overall demand and supply of teachers, the sustainable development of TE universities, the quality of TE programmes, the future needs of our society and the latest development of the curriculum, when planning the teacher training places. read more

     Following is a question by the Hon Dominic Lee and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau, in the Legislative Council today (Jan 10):
 
Question:
 
     The Government has earlier on put forward the setting up of two museums about our country and the War of Resistance, with the museum showcasing the development and achievements of our country (the new museum) proposed to be set up by utilising the current site of the Hong Kong Science Museum (HKScM), while the HKScM is proposed to be reprovisioned at the current site of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum (HKHM). Some members of the public are worried that under the reprovisioning plan, the HKHM, which showcases the modern culture of Hong Kong and achievements of local performing artistes, will be lost in Hong Kong. Regarding the planning of museums, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the time for completing the planning exercise of the aforesaid museums, and the estimated completion time of the new museum and the reprovisioned HKScM;
 
(2) as the Government intends to construct a branch museum of the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) on a site in the vicinity of the Ocean Park Hong Kong (Ocean Park), and is considering integrating the existing collections of HKHM into HKMoA and the branch museum, of the collections to be integrated into the branch museum, and how such collections will be displayed during the transitional period before the commissioning of the branch museum; whether the authorities will consider strengthening the linkage between the branch museum and the Ocean Park, with a view to enhancing the travel and entertainment experience of visitors; and
 
(3) whether it will, through the current exercise involving the planning of multiple museums, respond to the views of society on the need to set up a “Bruce Lee Museum”?
 
Reply:
 
President,
      
     To foster the cultural development of Hong Kong to expedite its progression into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are currently reviewing the future development of museums, including planning for new museums, expanding or renovating existing museums, and defining the themes of the museums, with a view to optimising the overall development of museums in Hong Kong and further enriching the cultural landscape of the city. The prime directions for museum development include the promotion of Chinese history and culture, pop culture, art, science, technology and astronomy, as well as the topics of interest to the general public. Our reply to the question raised by the Hon Dominic Lee is as follows:

(1) The Chief Executive announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the Government would set up two museums about our country and the War of Resistance, one of which would focus on showcasing the development and significant achievements of our country over the years. Subsequently, we provided relevant information on the proposed arrangements for setting up the new museum to the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Home Affairs, Culture and Sports at its meeting in December. As we have clarified at the meeting, the Government will engage the LegCo and various stakeholders, and seek their views on the overall planning and future development of museums in Hong Kong. As a preliminary concept, the new museum should be located at a conveniently accessible site in the town centre to facilitate easy visits by the public, tourists and groups of school students. It will also require a relatively vast space for inclusion of various exhibition contents and better promotion of the world-renowned development and achievements of our country. We are working closely with the Development Bureau and other relevant departments to explore and identify the optimal site for the new museum while formulating appropriate plans for its contents, curatorial approach and implementation schedule. When designing and developing the contents of the new museum, we will consult relevant Mainland authorities or museums, and draw reference from their views and information.

(2) The rearrangement of the collections of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum (HKHM) by, for example, integrating the art-related collections into the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) and its proposed branch museum, is our preliminary concept at this juncture. That said, it is necessary to stress again that we do treasure every museum collection item greatly, and the LCSD will endeavour to provide space for displaying our collections having regard to donors’ wishes and other factors. The preliminary identification of a site in the Southern District on Hong Kong Island for the proposed branch museum of the HKMoA has been made after considering the large number of art galleries setting foot in the district in recent years, and the official opening of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s new premises in Wong Chuk Hang in July 2023. Setting up the branch museum of the HKMoA in the Southern District will further boost the cultural ambience of the district and facilitate the development of an arts hub there. By enriching the local cultural landscape, we will develop the Southern District into a place full of vibrancy for people to explore new ideas and have fun. Given the proximity of the branch museum to the Ocean Park, we will also consider collaborating with the Ocean Park to create a synergistic effect in cultural tourism, thereby broadening the audience base of the museum with more locals and visitors, and bringing more people to the Ocean Park.

(3) Hong Kong’s unique pop culture, which covers film, television, music, martial arts and others, is an important cultural brand of its own. It demonstrates Hong Kong’s characteristic fusion of cultural elements of the East and West, of the old and new, and of the high and low. It is also a reflection of Hong Kong’s creativity and charisma in integrating diverse cultures. With the launch of the Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival in 2023, the Government will organise the festival in collaboration with industry practitioners on an annual basis. In addition, the HKHM has reserved designated gallery for holding exhibitions and extension activities on Hong Kong’s pop culture, with a view to expanding the collaboration network and building up collections for a powerful display of significant achievements in Hong Kong’s pop culture. In the long run, to strengthen our focus on the collection and showcasing of Hong Kong’s pop culture, we are contemplating a new museum site for relevant exhibitions and artefacts to set up a “Pop Culture Centre” as a landmark for pop culture and a tourist attraction to appeal to different groups of people including the younger generation and tourists. The Government adopts an open stance regarding the long-term planning of the future “Pop Culture Centre”, and welcomes suggestions from stakeholders on the exhibition themes, contents and collections of the Centre for further study and consideration.

     We understand the concerns about the future development of the museums of Hong Kong raised by the public and different sectors of the community. We expect to consult the LegCo and various stakeholders on the overall future planning of museums in Hong Kong and their development plans in the first half of this year. read more

     The Government Property Agency (GPA) is inviting tenders for a three-year licence for the installation and operation of four automatic vending machines in two areas outside the Passenger Terminal Building, Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kon… read more