The Transport Department today (November 19) reminded members of the public that the 14th round of computer ballot registration for submitting applications for Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles (the Scheme) will be open from 10am tomorrow (November 20) to 11.59pm on November 23, and the ballot result will be announced on November 24.

     Eligible applicants for the scheme can register for computer balloting through the designated website (www.hzmbqfs.gov.hk). Successful balloting applicants are required to submit applications for the Scheme within the designated date and time randomly allocated by the computer system.

     Starting from April 1 next year, charges will be implemented for the disposal of municipal solid waste as the Government strives to increase recycling in the community.
 
     News.gov.hk asked the Environmental Protection Department to outline the different charging modes under the new law, along with some recycling tips to help citizens dump less and save more.
 
     The story is available at www.news.gov.hk/eng/feature today (November 19) in text and video format.

     Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident happened in Hung Hom last evening (November 18), in which a 75-year-old man died.

     At about 10.45pm, a 75-year-old man parked a minibus on Shueng Wo Street near Sheung Lok Street. The minibus was reportedly skidded forward in a sudden and hit a taxi. The minibus continued to skid forward along Sheung Wo Street and knocked down the minibus driver.

     The man was trapped under the car and rescued by firemen. Sustaining multiple injuries, he was rushed to Kwong Wah Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 11.28pm.     

     Investigation by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, Kowloon West is underway.

     Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 3661 9062.
 

     The Deputy Secretary for Justice, Mr Cheung Kwok-kwan, and his delegation of young lawyers concluded their visit in Foshan today (November 18).

     In the morning, Mr Cheung and his delegation visited the Foshan Hong Kong-Macao Youth Entrepreneurship Center and exchanged views with Hong Kong and Macao young entrepreneurs. Through the representatives' sharing of their start-up experiences, the delegation gained a deeper understanding of the opportunities brought about by the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) for Hong Kong as a centre for legal and dispute resolution services. Aiming to help young people from Hong Kong and Macao to seize the opportunities in the GBA, the Center has incubated a significant number of projects by Hong Kong and Macao young entrepreneurs since it commenced operation, and injected new momentum to the high-quality development in the GBA.

     The delegation then called on the Foshan Lawyers Association and met with the Chief of Justice Bureau of Foshan Municipality, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Justice Bureau, Mr Liu Zuhui, to discuss the opportunities and challenges faced by Hong Kong legal practitioners practising in the GBA, and to learn more about the collaboration between Hong Kong lawyers in the GBA and Mainland lawyers in handling different types of foreign-related cases.

     Mr Cheung mentioned that Foshan has been striving to enhance its foreign-related legal services to support the upgrading and transformation of the manufacturing sector in Foshan. He remarked that the Policy Address this year announced that Hong Kong will endeavour to establish the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy. Capitalising on Hong Kong's bilingual common law system and international status, the Academy will provide training for talents in the practice of foreign-related legal affairs for the country.

     Mr Cheung expressed his gratitude to the Justice Bureau of Foshan Municipality and the Foshan Lawyers Association in particular for their strong support to Hong Kong legal practitioners in setting up practice there, and their facilitation and support measures for Hong Kong solicitors and barristers who have obtained the qualification to practise in the GBA to practise in Foshan, such as the promulgation of working guidelines for practice applications, and the setting up of a dedicated communication channel. He hoped that co-operation between Hong Kong and Foshan could be strengthened to assist enterprises to go global and to attract foreign investment to the city, thereby fostering robust growth in the GBA.

     After arriving in Foshan yesterday (November 17), the delegation visited the Midea Group's headquarters to learn more about how the enterprise makes use of technology to promote its business development, and how Hong Kong's legal professional services, which are in line with international standards, could provide strong support for cross-regional business expansion of the enterprises in the GBA. They also had dinner with Member of the Standing Committee of the Foshan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Head of the United Front Work Department of the Foshan Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China Mr Ding Xifeng.

     In concluding this GBA visit, Mr Cheung said that together with the visit to Huizhou in September, the Department of Justice's first delegation of young lawyers visited three Mainland cities in the GBA and called on the courts, law-related authorities, major enterprises and youth entrepreneurship bases, as well as conducted exchanges with the Mainland legal sector. He trusted that the visits would enable Hong Kong young lawyers to better understand that the high-quality national development indeed offers the best opportunities for Hong Kong.

     He emphasised that the Department of Justice would continue to spare no effort to take forward measures to promote interfaces of the legal systems and exchanges of talents in the GBA, with a view to jointly pursuing win-win co-operation in the construction of the GBA.

     He wished that Hong Kong young lawyers would broaden their horizons and better understand the impact of technology on how legal services would support the development of different industries. Given Hong Kong's unique advantages of enjoying the strong support of the motherland while being closely connected to the world under "one country, two systems", he also urged them to connect their career development with the overall national development and maintain close liaison with the Mainland legal sector, so as to support the development of the GBA's first-class internationalised business environment based on the rule of law, and jointly promote high-quality national development and contribute to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

                

     The Narcotics Bureau (NB) of the Hong Kong Police Force launched a large-scale anti-drug exhibition titled “Love Our Life – LOL Party 2023�, at the West Kowloon Cultural District from today (November 18) for two consecutive days. With “Drugs? Never ever!� as the theme, the exhibition aims to raise anti-drug awareness among the public, particularly the youth, in an innovative and lively way through a series of publicity and educational activities.

     Addressing at the opening ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Siu Chak-yee, said that the harm of drugs on society was beyond doubt, not only causing irreversible health damages, but also ruining young people’s future and their families. He noted that with the legalisation of individual drugs in some countries, the public, especially youngsters, have become less vigilant against drugs and underestimated the consequences. Therefore, whilst taking enforcement actions, the Force also focuses on carrying out anti-drug publicity and education work, and is actively reaching out to the community and schools to disseminate anti-drug messages.

     Mr Siu pointed out that the year-on-year decrease in the number of drug-related offences committed by young people in the first three quarters of this year was encouraging, reflecting the effectiveness of anti-drug publicity and education work over the past year. The number of youths aged under 21 arrested for serious drug offences is about 130, hitting a record low in ten years. He hoped that all sectors of the community would continue to cooperate to convey the positive messages of love for life while promoting an anti-drug culture for a drug-free society.

     The two-day event “Love Our Life – LOL Party 2023� offers a wide range of exciting activities, including the game booths set up by this year’s “Leadership Institute on Narcotics� mentees, first-ever anti-drug themed drone show in the territory, and an experience sharing session by rehabilitated drug abusers. Other activities such as rope skipping performances, fitness sessions, music busking and sharing by youth literature writer, Ms Ma Chui-lo, will also be presented to promote the message of cherishing life, staying away from drugs, and developing a positive value and healthy life through sports, music and reading.

     Also officiating at the ceremony were the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr Chow Yat-ming; Director of Crime and Security, Mr Yip Wan-lung; and Assistant Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ms Chung Wing-man.

     This is the second time that the Force has held the “Love Our Life – LOL Party� anti-drug exhibition since last year, which is also the highlight of NB’s anti-drugs campaign between September and November. The “Leadership Institute on Narcotics� was set up by NB in 2021, nurturing 100 outstanding young anti-drug leaders every year by motivating young people to organise their own anti-drug campaigns on campus and to actively disseminate anti-drug messages in schools and the community.