The annual Cantonese Opera Day, presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will be held on November 26 (Sunday) afternoon at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) and the Hong Kong Space Museum (Space Museum). Admission is free with tickets for "Cantonese Opera Excerpts" performance, talks and demonstration sessions being available through online registration starting November 14 (Tuesday) on a first-come, first-served basis. A small quantity of tickets will be reserved for walk-in participants while stocks last.

     The "Cantonese Opera Excerpts" performance of this year's Cantonese Opera Day will be staged from 2pm to 5.30pm at the Concert Hall of the HKCC, where young Cantonese opera talents will take turns to perform classic excerpts. To allow participants to learn more about Cantonese opera, a world intangible cultural heritage item, from multiple perspectives, a number of talks and demonstration sessions covering areas such as Cantonese opera make-up, costume dressing, singing technique and appreciation, as well as craftsmanship of hair accessories for huadan (female lead), will be held at Level 4 of the Administration Building, HKCC. Another talk entitled "Cantonese Opera Chat and Learn" will be held at the Lecture Hall of the Space Museum, where tutors and their young students will share their experiences and thoughts about acquiring the skills of Cantonese opera.

     Tickets for the "Cantonese Opera Excerpts" performance, talks and demonstration sessions are limited and are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the public can collect free admission tickets through the following methods:

Online registration
——————–
     Online registration will be open from 10am on November 14 at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/chinese_opera/programs_1632.html. For "Cantonese Opera Excerpts" performance at the Concert Hall of the HKCC, each person is entitled to two tickets with free seating. For talks and demonstration sessions (i.e. activities at the Space Museum and Level 4 of the Administration Building, HKCC), each person can receive one ticket with free seating for each activity, with a maximum of two talks/demonstration sessions to be chosen, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.

On-site ticket distribution
—————————
     Tickets for "Cantonese Opera Excerpts" performance will be distributed at the entrance of the Concert Hall of the HKCC from 1.15pm on the event day (November 26). Tickets for talks and demonstration sessions will be distributed at the entrance of individual venues 15 minutes before the commencement of the programme. Each person is entitled to one ticket with free seating, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.

     In addition, a foyer programme will be introduced from 2.30pm to 4.15pm at the Foyer of the HKCC. This year. The Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra of the Music Office will perform familiar Cantonese music pieces, followed by exciting performances by the winners of this year's Hong Kong Schools Music Festival Cantonese Opera Competition. The "Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong" exhibition, which is co-organised by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, will also be held at the Foyer Exhibition Area. Admission is free and no admission ticket is required for foyer events. Members of the public are welcome to join on the spot.

     For programme and ticketing information of Cantonese Opera Day 2023, please visit the above-mentioned website or call 2268 7325.

     This year, various Cantonese opera-related programmes such as film screenings, Cantonese opera performances and an exhibition will be held at various LCSD venues (including the Hong Kong Film Archive, Ko Shan Theatre and Red Brick Building) in support of Cantonese Opera Day 2023. Please visit the above-mentioned website for the relevant programmes and web links.

     The Transport Department (TD) today (November 10) alerted members of the public to the following fraudulent websites that pretend to be HKeToll, which seek to deceive users into making payments and obtain their vehicle registration marks and credit card information. The fraudulent websites are:

1. gov.hketolla.xyz
2. gov.hketolla.xyz/MIndex.php
3. hketolla.xyz
4. hketolla.xyz/MIndex.php

     The TD clarifies that the above websites have no connection with HKeToll and has referred the case to the Police for follow-up. The TD reminds that if a vehicle owner wishes to pay an outstanding toll online, they must log in to the HKeToll website (hketoll.gov.hk) or mobile app.

     Members of the public should stay alert when receiving unidentified messages. They should not visit suspicious websites, nor should they disclose any personal information. Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to the websites concerned should contact the Police. For enquiries about HKeToll, please call 3853 7333.

     The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) today (November 10) announced that the department collected nine liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) samples from auto-LPG filling stations and LPG terminals on a random basis in October 2023 for laboratory tests. The results show that the LPG quality of all these samples complied with auto-LPG specifications.
 
     The detailed test results are available on the EMSD's website (www.emsd.gov.hk/en/rl/lpg_sample_analysis_simple). Enquiries can also be made to the EMSD's hotline on 2333 3762.
 
     In addition, the EMSD has been vetting independent third-party test reports submitted by LPG supply companies for each shipment to ensure that the quality of imported LPG complies with the specified requirements.

     The Education Bureau (EDB) held the Life Planning Education Conference today (November 10), enabling about 1 000 local and Mainland education practitioners and representatives of partner organisations of the Business-School Partnership Programme (BSPP) to take the opportunity to exchange their experiences and enhance their professional capacity in life planning education.

     The conference, with the theme of "Equipping Young Talents – Welcoming Future Opportunities", was held in person and online in parallel. It is aimed at fostering joint efforts of different sectors to enhance life planning education so as to help students develop their talent, move towards personal goals and ideals, and seize the immense opportunities brought by the overall development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the country as a whole.

     Speaking at the opening ceremony of the conference, the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, said that the Government has all along been attaching great importance to the development of young people. It actively supports the overall development direction of Hong Kong and grasps the immense opportunities brought by the development of the country and nurtures the generation of young people from the perspective of a bigger picture.

     Dr Choi said that in order to deepen students' understanding on the GBA, the EDB will launch the "Greater Bay Area Career Exploration Tours" starting from this school year. The tours enable senior secondary students to visit the GBA and understand the needs for talents of various industries, the development of Hong Kong enterprises in the GBA and the collaboration among enterprises in the two places. 

     Moreover, in the 2022/23 school year, the EDB launched the BSPP 2.0 with more business partners, covering a larger and wider range of industries including emerging industries. The EDB also collaborated with business sectors, government departments and community organisations to provide a wide range of career exploration activities to students. As well, under the Holiday Work Experience Programmes, the business partners organised more than 370 activities, offering about 1 500 work experience places.  
     ã€€
     The Chief Executive Officer and Publisher of Job Market Publishing Limited of the Sing Tao News Corporation, Dr Fanny Chan; Assistant Commandant of the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy of the Fire Services Department Mr Kwok Chi-kwan, who assisted in the search and rescue work in the quake-stricken areas in Türkiye; Hong Kong wushu athlete Leung Cheuk-hei; the Founding Chairman of The Institute of Artificial Intelligence, Mr Edward Choi; and the President of the International Unmanned Aircraft Systems Association, Mr Rickson Chow, were invited as the keynote speakers of the conference.  A number of sharing sessions were also held in the afternoon for participants to exchange their experiences and share views.
     ã€€
     Education practitioners exchanged their views on the trends of the working world as well as the qualities and skills required for entering into emerging industries with professionals and scholars. Through the activities, the practitioners enhanced their professional capacity and enabled them to better assist students in realising their aspiration on future studies and careers, and planning for the future.

     The EDB has all along been attaching great importance to the nurturing of young people. Over the years, the EDB has been committed to promoting life planning education, assisting students in identifying their interests, abilities and orientations, as well as equipping them with relevant information on workplaces to make better preparation for further studies and career pursuits. For further information on life planning education, please visit the EDB's Life Planning Information website (lifeplanning.edb.gov.hk/en/index.html) and the BSPP website (careerguidance.edb.hkedcity.net). 

    

     â€‹The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (November 10) that in view of a notification from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in Rural Municipality of Fertile Valley No. 285 of Saskatchewan Province and Arthabaska Regional County of Quebec Province in Canada, the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the above-mentioned areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.

     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 20 tonnes of frozen poultry meat from Canada in the first nine months of this year.

     "The CFS has contacted the Canadian authority over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation," the spokesman said.