After encouraging civil servants to vote in the District Council (DC) election, the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) Volunteer Team switched from government buildings to busy Tsim Sha Tsui this evening (November 27) to carry out their promotion. The volunteer team encouraged shopkeepers and members of the public to cast their vote in the DC election and distributed leaflets to them, calling on them to vote on December 10 to elect DC members who will serve the community.
 
     The Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, the Permanent Secretary for the Civil Service, Mr Clement Leung, and members of the volunteer team jointly promoted voting in the DC election. The CSB Volunteer Team members come from the Administrative Officer Grade, the Executive Officer Grade, the Training Officer Grade, the Official Languages Officer Grade, the Analyst/Programmer Grade and the Clerical Grade. There are also civil servants from the Public Service Commission and the Joint Secretariat for the Advisory Bodies on Civil Service and Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service.
 
     The 30-odd volunteer team members dispersed into smaller teams in various places with higher footfall in Tsim Sha Tsui to call on the public to vote in the DC election.
 
     The Government is sparing no effort in publicising activities to promote enthusiastic voting on polling day. In order to further disseminate the message in the community to vote in the DC election, bureaux and departments are taking an active part in the publicity for the DC election by going to the 18 districts for this purpose. A series of measures to facilitate people to cast their vote are also in place to encourage all civil servants and Hong Kong citizens to shoulder their civic responsibility and cast their vote.
 
     Mrs Yeung said, "Our activity showed that civil servants are united to support the DC election. Our colleagues promote the DC election in the community with one heart and hope to remind the public not to miss polling day. It is also meant to further promote the voting message among colleagues through the work of the volunteer team. The DC election will affect the services and development of the districts in the next four years. With only 13 days to go before the DC Election, it is time to learn about the platforms of different candidates, and vote on polling day to elect those who do practical work for the districts."
 
     Electors can visit the DC election website (www.elections.gov.hk) for their respective constituencies and for information on the candidates. The polling hours of DC geographical constituency ordinary polling stations on polling day (December 10) will be from 8.30am to 10.30pm.

    

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) will hold a meeting on Wednesday (November 29) at 11 am in the Chamber of the LegCo Complex. During the meeting, Members will debate a motion on combating cyber fraud crimes on all fronts. The motion, moved by Dr Johnny Ng, is set out in Appendix 1. Dr Lo Wai-kwok, Professor William Wong, Mr Duncan Chiu, Mr Adrian Ho, Mr Chan Kin-por, Mr Lam San-keung and Dr Hoey Simon Lee will move amendments to Dr Ng's motion.

     Mr Stanley Li will also move a motion on expediting the implementation of cross-boundary elderly care planning in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The motion is set out in Appendix 2. Mr Tang Ka-piu, Ms Lam So-wai, Mr Chan Pui-leung and Dr Lee will move amendments to Mr Li's motion.

     On Government bills, the Wild Animals Protection (Amendment) Bill 2023, the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Aircraft Leasing Tax Concessions) Bill 2023 and the Electronic Transactions (Amendment) Bill 2023 will be introduced into the Council for the First Reading and the Second Reading. The Second Reading debates on the Bills will be adjourned.

     Meanwhile, the Second Reading debates on the Supplementary Appropriation (2022-2023) Bill and the Inland Revenue (Amendment) (Taxation on Foreign-sourced Disposal Gains) Bill 2023 will also resume. If the Bills are supported by Members and receive their Second Reading, they will stand committed to the committee of the whole Council. After the committee of the whole Council has completed consideration of the Bills and their reports are adopted by the Council, the Bills will be set down for the Third Reading.

     Members will also ask the Government 22 questions on various policy areas, six of which require oral replies.

     The agenda of the above meeting can be obtained via the LegCo Website (www.legco.gov.hk). Members of the public can watch or listen to the meeting via the "Webcast" system on the LegCo Website. To observe the proceedings of the meeting at the LegCo Complex, members of the public may call 3919 3399 during office hours to reserve seats.

     The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) hosted a booth at the German education fair Einstieg in Munich, Berlin, to inform over 7 000 participants from Germany about the exciting study opportunities that Hong Kong has to offer. The fair was held under the patronage of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany and the Bavarian State Ministry for Education on November 24 and 25 (Munich time). The Acting Director of HKETO Berlin, Miss Bonnie Ka, gave a presentation on November 25 about the unique and valuable Hong Kong studying and living experiences. 

     In her presentation, Miss Ka introduced Hong Kong's world-leading universities, scholarship opportunities as well as other advantages of studying in Hong Kong. Her presentation also touched on further opportunities for staying and working in Hong Kong, such as the Working Holiday Scheme, the Talent List and various talent admission schemes that facilitate immigration to Hong Kong for young talent, including the Top Talent Pass Scheme.

     Hong Kong's high-quality higher education programmes are taught in English, and the city's universities adopt international standards in curriculum design as well as quality assurance. Among the 22 degree-awarding higher education institutions in Hong Kong, five are among the world's top 100 according to the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings 2024 and Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024. To attract outstanding non-local students to study in Hong Kong, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) offers various scholarships including the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund, the Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund and the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme. 

     For postgraduate students, there are also abundant research opportunities in Hong Kong's world-class institutions. To further support academic research in the higher education sector, the HKSAR Government has earmarked HK$9 billion in the 2023-24 Budget for universities and research institutes to enhance research in life and health technology and other frontier technology fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum technology.

     The HKSAR Government plans to admit at least 35 000 talents each year from 2023 to 2025 through the various talent admission schemes. Miss Ka took the opportunity to appeal to quality immigrants from all over the world to move to Hong Kong. More details about the diversified admission schemes are available at www.hkengage.gov.hk/en/.

About HKETO Berlin

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

    

     The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) of the Department of Health is today (November 27) investigating a case of severe paediatric influenza A infection and reminded the community to heighten vigilance against influenza. The 2023/24 seasonal influenza vaccination programmes have started and the CHP appealed to members of the public to receive free seasonal influenza vaccination (SIV) to better protect themselves in the coming influenza season.

     The case involves a 13-year-old boy with good past health. He developed fever, cough and sore throat on November 22, and later sought medical attention at Tin Shui Wai Hospital and a private doctor respectively. Due to worsening symptoms, he was arranged to be admitted to the paediatric intensive care unit of Hong Kong Children's Hospital for treatment today. His respiratory specimen was positive for influenza A (H3) virus upon laboratory testing. The clinical diagnosis was influenza A infection complicated with shock. He is now in serious condition.

     Initial enquiries by the CHP revealed that the patient had not received SIV for this season and had no travel history during the incubation period. His home contacts are currently asymptomatic. The CHP's investigations are ongoing.

     A spokesman for the CHP said, "Influenza can cause serious illnesses in high-risk individuals and even healthy persons. SIV is one of the most effective means to prevent seasonal influenza and its complications, as well as reducing influenza-related hospitalisation and death. SIV is recommended for all persons aged 6 months or above except those with known contraindications. Persons at higher risk of getting influenza and its complications, including the elderly and children, should receive SIV early. As it takes about two weeks to develop antibodies, members of the public are advised to receive SIV early for protection against seasonal influenza. Please see details of the vaccination schemes on the CHP's website."

     A person who gets influenza and COVID-19 at the same time may be more seriously ill and would have a higher risk of death. It is important to receive both SIV and COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible, in particular for children and elderly persons residing in the community or residential care homes. The public should also maintain good personal and environmental hygiene against influenza and other respiratory illnesses and note the following:
 

• Surgical masks can prevent transmission of respiratory viruses from ill persons. It is essential for persons who are symptomatic (even if having mild symptoms) to wear a surgical mask;
• For high-risk persons (e.g. persons with underlying medical conditions or persons who are immunocompromised), wear a surgical mask when taking public transport or staying in crowded places. It is important to wear a mask properly, including performing hand hygiene before wearing and after removing a mask;
• Avoid touching one's eyes, mouth and nose;
• Wash hands with liquid soap and water properly whenever possibly contaminated;
• When hands are not visibly soiled, clean them with 70 to 80 per cent alcohol-based handrub;
• Cover the mouth and nose with tissue paper when sneezing or coughing. Dispose of soiled tissue paper properly into a lidded rubbish bin, and wash hands thoroughly afterwards;
• Maintain good indoor ventilation;
• When having respiratory symptoms, wear a surgical mask, refrain from work or attending classes at school, avoid going to crowded places and seek medical advice promptly; and
• Maintain a balanced diet, perform physical activity regularly, take adequate rest, do not smoke and avoid overstress.

     â€‹â€‹The public may visit the CHP's influenza page and weekly COVID-19 & Flu Express for more information.

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Transport visited the Administration Building of Western Harbour Crossing (WHC) today (November 27) to get a better grasp on the readiness of time-varying tolls implementation at the three road harbour crossings (RHCs), as well as the cross-harbour traffic flow during morning peak hours on weekdays.

     Accompanied by Deputy Commissioner for Transport (Planning and Technical Services), Mr Patrick Ho, Members first received a briefing by representatives of the Transport Department on various arrangements under the time-varying tolls implementation, including the motorists' means in obtaining toll information, the newly installed toll information displays, as well as the technical readiness of time-varying tolls.

     Members learnt that the toll information displays have been installed at the three RHCs, namely the Cross-Harbour Tunnel, the Eastern Harbour Crossing and the WHC, enabling motorists to obtain real-time toll information of different vehicles. Members then inspected the toll information displays at the tunnel entrance of the WHC and observed the information demonstrated thereat.

     To alleviate traffic congestion during peak hours and change the commuting pattern of motorists, the Government has implemented one by one the HKeToll at the three RHCs since May this year while the two-phase implementation of the new charging scheme commenced thereafter. Phase one, the fixed toll plan, came into effect on August 2. During phase two, the time-varying tolls will be implemented at the three RHCs with effect from 5am on December 17 that the tolls for cross-harbour private cars and motorcycles will vary according to different time slots, while a fixed toll will be charged for taxis and other commercial vehicles respectively.

     Members who participated in the visit were the Panel Chairman, Mr Chan Han-pan, the Deputy Chairman of the Panel, Mr Chan Siu-hung, and Panel members Mr Tony Tse and Mr Yiu Pak-leung; as well as non-Panel members Mr Kwok Wai-keung, Mr Shang Hailong and Dr Ngan Man-yu.