The 2023 Honours and Awards Presentation Ceremony will be held tomorrow (November 25) at the ballroom of Government House. The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, will present honours and awards at the ceremony.

     The first session of the ceremony will be broadcast live from 9.30am tomorrow. Members of the public can view it on the website of the Information Services Department (webcast.info.gov.hk) and the news.gov.hk's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/govnews.hk). Radio Television Hong Kong TV 32 will also broadcast the first session of the ceremony.

     The 2023 Honours List was announced on July 1 (www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202307/01/P2023063000277.htm?fontSize=3).

     A spokesman for the Development Bureau (DEVB) said today (November 24) that the Government attached great importance to construction site safety. In response to the fatal industrial incident on a private works site at the Peak yesterday (November 23), the DEVB, being the party to procure services for public works, has suspended the contractor concerned from tendering for public works contracts pursuant to the regulating regime. 

     The spokesman said that the contractor concerned was under the List of Approved Contractors for Public Works (the List). The DEVB issued a notification to the contractor concerned yesterday evening to suspend it from tendering for public works contracts in site formation category with immediate effect. The contractor concerned has to conduct an independent safety audit to review its safety management system. Taking cognisance of the outcome of the independent safety audit, the contractor is required to submit an improvement action plan and implement improvement measures, with a view to demonstrating that it has an effective safety management system before uplifting of the suspension from tendering can be considered. The suspension from tendering is not only confined to future tender exercises, but is also applicable to tender exercises with procedures initiated but not concluded.

     Relevant government department is investigating this industrial incident and will handle it in accordance with the law. Subject to the investigation findings, the DEVB will impose further regulating actions on the contractor concerned later on, including extension of the period of suspension from tendering for public works contracts and even removal from the List.

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (November 24) that due to big waves, the red flag has been hoisted at Deep Water Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at the beach.

     â€‹The Government Flying Service (GFS) and the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) today (November 24) held a joint press conference on previous Tropical Cyclone Reconnaissance missions with the dropsonde system.
      
     The GFS, during typhoons Saola and Koinu, dispatched a Challenger 605 fixed-wing aircraft to deploy sondes at the designated co-ordinates and altitudes provided by the HKO to collect tropical cyclone meteorological data to enhance the monitoring of typhoons and preparedness.
      
     The Senior Scientific Officer (Aviation Meteorological Data Analytics) of the HKO, Mr Cheung Ping, said, "The use of the dropsonde system enables first-hand meteorological data to be collected at various altitudes of the atmosphere, complementing the lack of conventional weather observations over the ocean, and facilitating the HKO in the analysis of the intensity and three-dimensional structure of tropical cyclones. The use of collected data in numerical weather prediction models could help improve the capability in predicting tropical cyclones."
      
     Pilot I (Aeroplane) of the GFS, Captain Elaine Chan, said that the dropsonde system provides a safer and more effective way to collect meteorological data than sending an aircraft into a tropical cyclone. However, the mission still involves certain risks.
      
     "Despite the fact that the crew is entering a tropical cyclone at a high altitude, they may still encounter conditions such as severe turbulence, hail and icing during the mission. Therefore, the crew needs to constantly review weather and aircraft conditions, to ensure that the mission is carried out safely. In the event of cabin depressurisation or other emergencies, the crew must respond immediately or even abort the mission," Captain Chan said.
      
     The GSF and the HKO officially introduced the dropsonde system in 2016 to enhance the collection of meteorological data, with the first mission completed in September 2016. The GFS Challenger 605 has since conducted 57 dropsonde missions to collect meteorological data for 38 tropical cyclones, including typhoons Mangkhut and Hato in 2017 and typhoons Saola and Koinu in recent months.
      
     The dropsonde system deploys an aircraft to release the dropsonde unit from a high altitude. The dropsonde unit, which contains meteorological sensors and a global positioning system, records wind direction, wind speed, temperature, air pressure and humidity at different locations during descent. The data is transmitted back to the aircraft through radio transmission, then to the HKO in real time via the satellite system for analysis.

     The Government announced today (November 24) the reappointment of seven incumbent members, as well as the appointment of two new members, namely Ms Anthea Lee Shuk-wai and Mr Francis Ngai Wah-sing, to the Social Welfare Advisory Committee (SWAC). Their appointments will take effect on December 1 for a term of two years.
 
     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, said, "The SWAC advises the Government on social welfare policy and from time to time assists the Government in reviewing relevant services. The reappointed and newly appointed members come from a diverse background. I look forward to their valuable advice on the work of the SWAC."
 
     The membership list of the SWAC with effect from December 1, 2023, is as follows:

Chairman
———-
Mr Lester Garson Huang

Non-official members
———————–
Professor Bai Xue
Miss Cheung Sze-wing
Mr Andy Ho Wing-cheong
Mr Frederick Lai Wing-hoi
Dr Lam James Joseph
Ms Alice Lau Oi-sze
Ms Anthea Lee Shuk-wai 
Dr Wingco Lo Kam-wing
Professor Petrus Ng Yat-nam
Mr Francis Ngai Wah-sing
Dr Pan Pey-chyou
Dr Ricky Szeto Wing-fu
Ms Rebecca Tsai Ching-yu
Dr Rizwan Ullah
Ms Eva Wong Ching-hung
Mr John Wong Chung
Professor Frances Wong Kam-yuet
Mr Barry Wong Man-sing
Ms Wendy Yuen Miu-ling