The Secretary for the Civil Service (SCS), Mrs Ingrid Yeung, presented the SCS's Commendation Award to civil servants from different bureaux and departments with outstanding performances at the Central Government Offices today (November 28). The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, also attended the ceremony to extend his congratulations to the award recipients.
 
     One hundred civil servants were awarded under the SCS's Commendation Award Scheme 2023. They came from 38 bureaux and departments, involving 50 grades including professional and technical grades, disciplined services, general grades as well as Model Scale 1 grades.
 
     Addressing the ceremony, Mrs Yeung said that the awardees had demonstrated dedication in their respective posts and areas of service, and that their perseverance in providing quality public services and pursuit of excellence were highly commendable.
 
     Mrs Yeung pointed out that the civil service is the backbone of the Government's governing team and the key to governance. The Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address mentioned a number of initiatives to strengthen the civil service management system, including advancing the performance-based management system and giving due recognition to civil servants with outstanding performances and dedication to serving the community. In addition, the Government will continue to enhance training for all civil servants to enhance their patriotism and sense of national security. It will also introduce the Civil Service Staff Exchange Programme with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) such that Hong Kong civil servants will have opportunities to station temporarily on the Mainland to have a deeper understanding of the development of the GBA. She encouraged all civil servants to continue to uphold the spirit of providing quality service, to stay people oriented, to go an extra mile and strive for excellence in their work, and to showcase more good stories of civil servants to the public.
 
     With 12 days to go before the District Council Election, and civil service awardees attending today's ceremony with their family members, Mrs Yeung took the opportunity to appeal to civil servants to cast their votes with their friends and families on the polling day to discharge their civic responsibility with a view to building a better community together.
 
     Senior Airworthiness Officer (Certification) of the Civil Aviation Department Mr Henry Leung, who was commended today, serves at the Airworthiness Office of the Flight Standards and Airworthiness Division. He is responsible for upholding the airworthiness requirements for aircraft entering Hong Kong registration and granting approval of aircraft modifications and repairs. He participated in type certification work of the C919 large passenger aircraft, independently developed by the country, and exchanged views with experts from the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China to strengthen mutual ties.

     Another awardee is Chief Customs Officer Mr Tjong Yu-pau. He is currently a Discipline Officer in the Rail and Ferry Command. He has rich frontline experience and has been assigned to various posts to perform passenger and cargo inspections at different boundary control points. He has been performing his duties diligently and giving full play to his strengths in every post. He also contributes to the community by providing voluntary music teaching at a community family centre in his spare time.
 
     An awardee, Land Surveyor of the Lands Department Mr Ho Chi-ho, changed his job from a contract project manager to a land surveyor seven years ago. He works in the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure Platform Section and had been actively promoting the development and application of common spatial data infrastructure in Hong Kong with his team. He established an efficient and reliable platform to collect different types of spatial data and standardise the specifications for ease of use, and to also assist Hong Kong to develop into a smart city.
 
     The SCS's Commendation Award Scheme was introduced in 2004 to commend colleagues who have achieved outstanding performances continuously for five years or above by the SCS on behalf of the Government. The Scheme has a meticulous selection process which requires nominations from Permanent Secretaries, departmental heads or heads of grades, adjudication by a selection committee and the final decision on the awardees' list by the SCS.
 
     To enhance public understanding of the work of award-winning civil servants and their dedication to serving the community, the Civil Service Bureau and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) have jointly produced a 10-episode television series of five minutes each entitled "United to serve the community – Good stories of civil servants", for broadcast on RTHK TV31 from mid-December. In each episode, an outstanding civil servant who received the commendation award will be featured to showcase the "good stories of civil servants" and demonstrate the spirit of civil servants' courageousness, perseverance in overcoming challenges, commitment and dedication to serving the community through their introductions of their work, and to attract more outstanding talent to join the Government.

          

     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, today (November 28) chaired the second meeting of the third-term Human Resources Planning Commission.

     At the meeting, members were briefed by representatives of policy bureaux on the initiatives regarding manpower development in "The Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address" and offered their views. Members welcomed the further measures launched under the Government's ongoing strategy of trawling for enterprises as well as attracting and retaining talent to raise Hong Kong's competitiveness. Such measures include implementing the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, relaxing the visa requirements for talent in certain countries, expanding the coverage of universities under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, launching the Vocational Professionals Admission Scheme, and introducing a stamp duty suspension arrangement for incoming talent's acquisition of residential properties. Members also supported the Government in consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's development of "eight centres" as outlined in the National 14th Five-Year Plan to provide impetus for the city's sustaining economic growth.

     Meanwhile, members were glad to note the Government's endeavours to address the manpower shortage across various sectors in Hong Kong through training, retraining, employment support, importation of labour, and use of innovation and technology. Members supported that the Government should continue to go all out to promote vocational and professional education and training, expand the vocational talent pool, and develop Hong Kong into an education and talent hub. Members also expressed their views on the implementation of the various measures.

     Mr Chan said, "The Government accords high priority to training local manpower, attracting and retaining talent, and promoting local employment. The Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address sets out an array of initiatives on manpower development accordingly to strengthen Hong Kong's role as the gateway for talent from both the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and overseas. The Government will press ahead with the various initiatives, while expanding the potential labour force continuously, to meet the needs of Hong Kong's economic and social development."

     Prior to the meeting, Mr Chan led members to appeal to the trade and industrial sectors, the professional services sectors, the labour sector, the academia and members of the public for voting at the District Council (DC) Election on December 10 to fulfil their civic duty. He also called on employers of various sectors to implement flexible work arrangements on the polling day for employees to vote at their designated polling stations, so as to elect capable DC members to act in concert with talent across sectors in building a better community.

    

     A public rental housing (PRH) tenant was sentenced to imprisonment today (November 28) for making a false statement that he did not own any land. The PRH flat concerned has been recovered. A spokesman for the Housing Department (HD) reminded residents of public rental housing estates to declare truthfully their income and assets.

     A PRH resident living at Ching Ho Estate in Sheung Shui declared in a 2023 Income and Assets Declaration Form that he did not own any land. A subsequent investigation revealed that this resident solely owned a piece of land in Hang Hau, Sai Kung, New Territories, at the material time.

     This resident was prosecuted for neglecting to furnish information specified in the declaration form, contrary to Section 27(a) of the Housing Ordinance. He was previously convicted in Fanling Magistrates' Courts. Given the gravity of the offence and with reference to the community service orders suitability report, the defendant was sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment. The PRH unit has been recovered by the HD.

     The spokesman said that households living in PRH should complete their Income and Assets Declaration Forms accurately, as doing so provides the foundation for the assessment of rent and their eligibilities for continuing residence. Before furnishing particulars specified in the requisition required by the Hong Kong Housing Authority, households should read the content and completion guidelines of the Income and Assets Declaration Forms carefully and compute their income and assets in accordance with the methods specified. Otherwise, they may be prosecuted for making a false statement knowingly, contrary to Section 26(1)(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a $50,000 fine and imprisonment for six months), or be prosecuted for neglecting to furnish information as specified in a declaration form, contrary to Section 27(a) of the Housing Ordinance (if convicted, the maximum penalty is a $25,000 fine and imprisonment for three months). The HD will take action to recover the undercharged rent incurred due to the inaccurate information, or even recover their PRH units.
 

     Hong Kong Customs today (November 28) seized approximately 8 000 pieces of suspected smuggled electronic parts, including central processing units and computer RAM units, with a total estimated market value of about $8 million at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port.

     Based on risk assessment, Customs intercepted a suspicious outgoing private car at the control point this early morning. Upon examination, Customs officers seized the batch of suspected smuggled electronic parts inside the boot of the vehicle. A 37-year-old male driver and a 37-year-old male passenger suspected to be connected with the case were arrested. 

     An investigation is ongoing.

     Customs will continue to combat smuggling activities by use of cross-boundary private cars with firm enforcement action based on risk assessment and intelligence analysis.

     Smuggling is a serious offence. Under the Import and Export Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting unmanifested cargo is liable to a maximum fine of $2 million and imprisonment for seven years.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

     A High-Level Conference co-organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was successfully concluded today (November 28) in Hong Kong. More than 300 participants attended the event, including over 20 current and former central bank governors, Chief Executive Officers of global, regional and local financial institutions, and leading experts from Hong Kong and other parts of Asia.

     The Conference is the first large-scale gathering of central bank governors in the city since the pandemic. It also commemorates the 30th anniversary of the HKMA and the 25th anniversary of the BIS Representative Office for Asia and the Pacific, which is based in Hong Kong.

     Speakers discussed and shared their insights into issues including the key challenges central banks and policymakers are facing, such as persistent inflation pressures and the "higher-for-longer" interest rate environment, the future of the monetary system amid financial innovation, lessons learnt from financial crises in the past, as well as structural changes shaping the economic landscape. Leaders of financial institutions also shared their perspectives on the future of finance in Asia.

     The Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue, said, "The High-Level Conference marks the anniversaries of the HKMA and BIS Asian Office, and commemorates the close collaboration that the HKMA enjoys with the BIS as well as the international central banking community. In today's increasingly complex and uncertain world, such collaboration is critical in ensuring the resilience and the sustainable development of the global financial system."

     The General Manager of the BIS, Mr Agustín Carstens, said, "We have witnessed remarkable achievements in Asia in the past few decades. The relative success of many Asian central banks in tackling inflation and financial stability risks in the region reflects decades of work in building and strengthening macro financial stability frameworks. The BIS stands ready to be a strong and committed partner for central banks of the Asia Pacific region, in helping them to sustain their efforts and to support them in the pursuit of digital innovation, both regionally and globally."

     The HKMA and the BIS also hosted a welcome dinner yesterday (November 27) to open the High-Level Conference.

     For more photos, please visit the HKMA website.