Tag Archives: China

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt, and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on December 28 to noon today (December 29), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 216 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 22 557 samples of food imported from Japan (including 15 030 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 6 316 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more

     The Education Bureau today (December 29) announced that, in the 2024/25 academic year, the annual subsidy amount of the Non-means-tested Subsidy Scheme for Self-financing Undergraduate Studies in Hong Kong (NMTSS) will be adjusted upwards from $33,740 of the current academic year to $34,390, in accordance with the movement of the Composite Consumer Price Index.
 
     The adjusted level of subsidy will apply to both new and continuing eligible students. The subsidy is tenable for the normal duration of the programmes concerned. Eligible students enrolling in the relevant programmes will pay a tuition fee with the subsidy applied. Students in need may still apply for student financial assistance from the Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency in respect of the actual amount of tuition fee payable.
 
     The NMTSS, launched in the 2017/18 academic year, provides a non-means-tested annual subsidy to eligible students pursuing full-time locally accredited local and non-local self-financing undergraduate (including top-up degree) programmes offered by eligible institutions in Hong Kong. In line with the policy to promote vocational and professional education and training (VPET) of “The Chief Executive’s 2022 Policy Address”, with effect from the 2023/24 academic year, the eligibility criteria of the NMTSS have been rationalised to benefit students from different backgrounds, including those with VPET qualifications.
 
     The subsidy applies to all eligible local students enrolling in the programmes covered by the Scheme. Applications for the subsidy need to be made through the institutions concerned. A list of the 15 eligible institutions and programmes for the 2024/25 cohort is in the Annex. For details, please visit the NMTSS website (www.cspe.edu.hk/nmtss). read more

      The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will launch its latest “Movie Talk” series in January next year by screening four films produced by internationally renowned film producer Terence Chang at the HKFA Cinema. Chang was also invited to attend post-screening talks on January 20 and 21, 2024, with veteran film producers Linda Kuk and Amy Chin, as well as film experts Sam Ho and Thomas Shin to share his rich recollection of experiences and insights from his film career.

      Chang is a renowned production manager and film producer who has been active in the film industry for more than four decades. He participated in the productions of many Hong Kong and Hollywood classic films. In as early as the 1980s, he started to be involved in film distribution and opened up international markets for the films of several prominent Hong Kong film companies. In the early 1990s, Chang, John Woo and Kuk established Milestone Pictures Limited, which produced a series of popular films, including “Once a Thief” (1991) and “Now You See Love, Now You Don’t” (1992). Later, he further developed his film career in Hollywood and Beijing, becoming one of the few producers who could successfully connect the film industries in the United States (US), the Mainland and Hong Kong. He also assisted director Woo, actors Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh, and other filmmakers to start new chapters in their careers in Hollywood.

      The four popular films selected were initiated and made by Chang during different times in Hong Kong, Hollywood and Beijing. They include jewel-theft action film “Once a Thief” (4K Restored Version), acted by iconic film stars Chow Yun-fat, Leslie Cheung and Cherie Chung. “Face/Off” (1997), a sci-fi action film which was produced by Chang and directed by Woo, revolves around a detective and a terrorist who have their identities and faces swapped. The film was a huge success critically and commercially in Hong Kong and the US, and has become one of the signature Hollywood works of the duo.
 
     Action comedy, “The Big Hit” (1998), is a Hollywood assassin film filled with tension, black humour and absurdity, becoming an antidote to the genre at the time. Another selected film is “Reign of Assassins” (2010), which is a martial arts film tailor-made for Michelle Yeoh. The film not only showcases Yeoh’s abilities in martial arts, but also allows her to express complex emotions in various scenes. 

     “Face/Off” and “The Big Hit” are in English with Chinese subtitles, while “Once a Thief” and “Reign of Assassins” are in Cantonese and Mandarin respectively, with Chinese and English subtitles.

      Tickets priced at $45 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme details, please visit the website of the HKFA (www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/pe-event-2024-ckc.html) or call 2739 2139.

      The HKFA has organised the “Movie Talk” series since 2013. Each instalment of the series focuses on a filmmaker who selects films for screening and then participates in the post-screening talks at one weekend to intimately share with audiences the inspiration, motivation and process of their creative work.

  

     The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) announced today (December 29) the results of the first-round applications to support local television stations to co-produce television variety programmes with Mainland/Asian production teams under the CreateSmart Initiative (CSI). Six applications were received from three local television stations. Three successful applications will be funded, involving a total amount of around $25.47 million.
      
     The Chief Executive proposed in the 2022 Policy Address to support the co-production of television variety programmes by local television stations and Mainland/Asian production teams to enhance the soft power of Hong Kong’s pop culture, opening up a broader market for relevant industries and their peripheral products while nurturing more talent for relevant industries. In this connection, Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) invited applications from local television stations. CreateHK will sponsor part of the production cost of approved television variety programmes through the CSI. The funding ceiling of each project is $10 million. Details of the three approved projects in the first-round applications are as follows (in chronological order by broadcasting date):
 
(1) HOY TV Limited and Guangdong Radio and Television will co-produce the “Spring Gala Festival”. Local and Mainland artists, art groups and athletes will participate in different performances in the Chinese New Year variety programme that incorporates the distinctive characteristics of Hong Kong and the Mainland. The programme is expected to be broadcast simultaneously in Hong Kong and the Mainland in the first quarter of 2024.
 
(2) HK Television Entertainment Company Limited and M.V. Television (Thailand) Co. Ltd. will co-produce the “CHILL CLUB (Thailand version)”. The programme will feature artists from Hong Kong and Thailand who will perform hit songs from both regions, as well as a large-scale live concert in Hong Kong. Hong Kong hosts will also visit Thailand to exchange with Thai music industry practitioners the latest developments of the music industry of the two places. The programme is expected to be broadcast in Hong Kong and Thailand starting from the second quarter of 2024.
 
(3) Television Broadcasts Limited and Mango TV will co-produce the “Endless Melody 2”. The programme includes a number of tours in communities in Hong Kong and a live concert in Changsha, Hunan, delivered by artists from Hong Kong and the Mainland in a format of competition. The programme is expected to be broadcast simultaneously in Hong Kong and the Mainland in the fourth quarter of 2024.
 
     CreateHK hopes that the funded projects will help promote Hong Kong’s pop culture to go beyond Hong Kong, and plans to accept the second round of applications in the first quarter of 2024.
      
     The CSI was established by the Government in June 2009 to promote and speed up the development of local creative industries to build Hong Kong into Asia’s creative capital. The CSI aims at providing financial support to projects conducive to the development of creative industries in Hong Kong. It is administered by CreateHK under the CSTB. read more

     â€‹The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department today (December 29) released the findings of its food safety report for last month. The results of about 6 300 food samples tested were f… read more