The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will launch a new lecture series on appreciating ballet entitled "Great Masters & the Classics" from August to October. Hosted by local ballet educator Margaret Lau, the lecture series will introduce classic ballet works by a number of legendary choreographers, and guide audiences to appreciate their iconic choreographic styles through sharing video excerpts of these masterpieces.

     Ballet classics created by renowned choreographers, such as Mikhail Fokine, George Balanchine, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan and John Neumeier, have shaped the evolution of ballet. Many of these masterpieces are still in the repertoire of ballet companies around the world and remain popular. In this series of eight lectures, nearly 20 ballet excerpts in different styles have been selected from which audiences will be guided to appreciate the dance scenes, expression techniques, dance movements, character portrayals and styling, as well as the fusion of traditional and contemporary elements, etc, that are finely crafted by the masters. Audiences will also be able to appreciate the performing styles of famous ballet companies of other places and the superb skills of dancers.

     The date of each lecture and the works covered are as follows:

Lecture 1
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Date: August 20 (Tuesday)
Repertoires: "Giselle" and "Pas de Quatre"
Video clips: The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Bolshoi Ballet (Russia), English National Ballet (United Kingdom), National Ballet of China (China), Mariinsky Ballet (Russia), Staatsballett Berlin (Germany) and more
 
Lecture 2
————
Date: August 29 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Swan Lake", "Illusions Like Swan Lake" and "LAC"
Video clips: Paris Opera Ballet (France), Royal Swedish Ballet (Sweden), The Hamburg Ballet (Germany), Bayerisches Staatsballett (Germany), Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) and more

Lecture 3
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Date: September 5 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Les Sylphides", "Le Spectre de la Rose", "Firebird" and "Apollo"
Video clips: Mariinsky Ballet (Russia), Paris Opera Ballet (France), New York City Ballet (United States), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom) and more

Lecture 4
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Date: September 12 (Thursday)
Repertoire: "Romeo & Juliet"
Video clips: Stuttgart Ballet (Germany), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), The Royal Danish Ballet (Denmark), Korean National Ballet (Korea), Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo (Monaco) and more

Lecture 5
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Date: September 19 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Don Quixote" and "Notre-Dame de Paris"
Video clips: Paris Opera Ballet (France), Dutch National Ballet (the Netherlands), Teatro alla Scala Ballet (Italy), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Mikhailovsky Ballet (Russia) and more

Lecture 6
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Date: September 26 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "Spartacus" and "Mayerling"
Video clips: Bolshoi Ballet (Russia), Korean National Ballet (Korea), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), The National Ballet of Canada (Canada) and more

Lecture 7
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Date: October 3 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "A Month in the Country" and "Manon"
Video clips: The National Ballet of Canada (Canada), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Birmingham Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Paris Opera Ballet (France) and more

Lecture 8
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Date: October 10 (Thursday)
Repertoires: "The Nutcracker", "The Nutcracker Sweeties" and "Chinese New Year"
Video clips: New York City Ballet (United States), National Ballet of China (China), Birmingham Royal Ballet (United Kingdom), Bolshoi Ballet (Russia), The Royal Ballet (United Kingdom) and more

     Margaret Lau is a seasoned dance critic in Hong Kong. She has travelled to attend and cover dance performances worldwide. She has hosted this lecture series on ballet appreciation since 2009 to share her experience and knowledge with audiences, and enhance their interest in appreciating ballet performances. Her published works include "Passions for dance: Chapter 1 & 2", "Twinkle Twinkle Dance Stars" and "Chinese Ballet Sketches".

     All lectures will be conducted in Cantonese and will take place at 7.30pm at AC2, 4/F, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets priced at $65 (for each lecture, with free seating) are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7323 or visit https://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/dance/programs_1755.html.

     The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) is organising the screening programme "Integrating Traditional Morality with Modern Reality: Sil-Metropole Retrospective", now being shown between June and September, showcasing classic films produced by the Sil-Metropole Organisation. The screening programme has received an overwhelming response, and most of the tickets for the screenings have been sold out. In this connection, the HKFA will introduce additional screenings of "Full Moon in New York" (1990) on August 25 (Sunday) at 4pm and "Cageman" (1992) on August 31 (Saturday) at 5pm at its Cinema so that more audience members can revisit these two film classics. This screening programme is one of the programmes of the Chinese Culture Festival (CCF).
 
     Since the 1950s, the partner organisation of this screening programme, the Sil-Metropole Organisation and its predecessors (Great Wall, Feng Huang and Sun Luen), have produced over 500 films, which reflected the changes in Chinese traditional culture in modern society from various perspectives.
 
     "Full Moon in New York", directed by Stanley Kwan, brings together three great award-winning actresses: Sylvia Chang, Maggie Cheung and Siqin Gaowa, in an intricate psychological portrait of women in a foreign land. Directed by Jacob Cheung, "Cageman" is a realistic portrayal of lower-class housing issues of the time. The film won the Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor awards at the 12th Hong Kong Film Awards.
 
     "Full Moon in New York" is in Cantonese, Mandarin and English with Chinese and English subtitles, while "Cageman" is in Cantonese without subtitles. "Cageman" is rated Category III and restricted to viewers aged 18 or above.
 
     Tickets for the additional screenings priced at $45 will be available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk) from July 26 (Friday). For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. For programme details, please visit the website of the HKFA (www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en/web/hkfa/2024/silver/pe-event-2024-silver.html) or call 2739 2139.
 
     The CCF, presented by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and organised by the LCSD's Chinese Culture Promotion Office, aims to enhance the public's appreciation of Chinese culture and cultivate citizens' national identity and cultural confidence. The inaugural CCF is being held from June to September. Through different performing arts programmes in various forms and related extension activities, including selected programmes of the Chinese Opera Festival, exemplary local arts projects recognised by the China National Arts Fund, performing arts programmes from arts and cultural organisations, film screenings, exhibitions, talks and more, the festival allows members of the public and visitors to experience the broad and profound Chinese culture with a view to promoting Chinese culture and patriotic education as well as enhancing national identity amongst the people of Hong Kong, making contributions to the steadfast and successful implementation of "one country, two systems". For details, please visit the CCF website www.ccf.gov.hk.
 
     The LCSD has long been promoting Chinese history and culture through organising an array of programmes and activities to enable the public to learn more about the broad and profound Chinese culture. For more information, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ccpo/index.html.

    

     The Government announced today (July 19) the reappointments of Dr Donald Li Kwok-tung as the Chairman of the Elderly Commission (EC) and Professor Daniel Lai Wing-leung as a member of the EC, as well as the appointment of one new member Mr Godfrey Ngai Shi-shing to the EC. Their appointments will take effect from July 30, 2024, for a term of two years.
 
     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, said, "The EC plays an important role in advising the Government on policies and initiatives relating to elderly care. The Commission's work will surely benefit from the rich experience of Dr Li and the members reappointed and newly appointed. We will continue to work closely with the Commission to further improve the elderly services in Hong Kong."

     The membership of the EC with effect from July 30, 2024, is as follows:
 
Chairman
———–
Dr Donald Li Kwok-tung
 
Non-official members
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Professor Bai Xue
Dr Johnnie Casire Chan Chi-kau
Miss Grace Chan Man-yee
Ms Ip Shun-hing
Professor Daniel Lai Wing-leung
Professor Linda Lam Chiu-wa
Mr Lau Tat-chuen
Dr Jenny Lee Shun-wah
Mr Horace Lit Hoo-yin
Dr James Luk Ka-hay
Mr Theodore Ma Heng
Ms Queenie Man Wei-yin
Mr Godfrey Ngai Shi-shing
Mr Kyrus Siu King-wai
Mr Albert Su Yau-on
Ms Macy Wong Chor-kei
Miss Yu Chui-yee

Official members
——————-
Secretary for Labour and Welfare or representative
Secretary for Health or representative
Secretary for Housing/Director of Housing or representative
Director of Health or representative
Director of Social Welfare or representative
Chief Executive, Hospital Authority or representative

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Housing Authority:
 
     The Subsidised Housing Committee (SHC) of the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) today (July 19) endorsed the outcome of the 2024 rent review for public rental housing (PRH) in accordance with section 16A of the Housing Ordinance (HO) and a one-off special concessionary measure for PRH tenants in accordance with section 17 of the HO.
 
     "Section 16A of the HO provides that the HA shall conduct a rent review every two years in accordance with the mechanism stipulated therein and vary the PRH rent according to the change in the income index between the first and second periods covered by the review. The report compiled by the Commissioner for Census and Statistics (C for C&S) for the 2024 PRH rent review showed that the income index of the second period of the review (i.e. 2023) was higher than that of the first period (i.e. 2021) by 10.73 per cent. The HO also sets a 10 per cent cap on the rate of rent increase. To this end, PRH rent will be adjusted upwards by 10 per cent with effect from October 1, 2024. The increase is about $230 per PRH household per month on average, and the range of adjustment is from $49 to $572," a spokesman for the HA said. 
 
     Meanwhile, having considered the prevailing socio-economic circumstances, the extent of the rent increase, the impact on the PRH tenants and the HA's financial position, the SHC also decided to provide a one-off special concessionary measure to PRH tenants by waiving the extra rent payable by tenants each month due to the rent adjustment in the first three months following the rent adjustment by virtue of section 17 of the HO. The provision of the special concessionary measure will result in about $575 million of rental income foregone in 2024-25 for the HA, and the HA's rental housing operating account is estimated to have a deficit of about $591 million in 2024-25.
 
     "Excluding Comprehensive Social Security Assistance households, about 60 per cent of the tenants will have a monthly rent increase of $250 or below, and about 2 per cent of tenants will have a monthly rent increase of $100 or below. We believe that most of the PRH tenants should be able to afford the rent increase," the spokesman said.
 
     "To ensure the rational use of the HA's financial resources, the special concessionary measure is not applicable to 'well-off tenants'. In addition, we will continue to adopt a prudent financial management principle when considering whether to provide rent waiver for PRH tenants in future rounds of rent review, so as to ensure that the HA has sufficient financial resources to undertake the massive housing construction programme," he said.
 
     The rent adjustment will take effect from October 1, 2024. The HA will notify all PRH tenants in writing one month before the implementation date of the new rent.
 
     The HO stipulates the PRH rent adjustment mechanism, which came into effect in 2008. Under this mechanism, PRH rent is reviewed every two years. Section 16A(7)(b) of the HO provides that the C for C&S shall compute the income index for the first and second periods under a rent review. The income index is compiled by comparing the income data of about 24 000 PRH households in each of the periods. The mechanism provides an objective basis for the HA to determine when and to what extent PRH rent should be adjusted, taking into account tenants' affordability. According to the mechanism, there is a 10 per cent cap on the rate of rent increase, whereas there is no floor in the case of rent reduction. The income of PRH households has increased cumulatively by 131 per cent from 2007 to 2023, while PRH rent will have only increased by 87 per cent cumulatively during the same period (upon the 10 per cent rent increase pursuant to the outcome of the current rent review), which shows that tenants' income increase has exceeded the rent increase.

     â€‹The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (July 19) that six new estate kindergarten premises would be open for application by eligible applicant bodies under the Kindergarten Premises Allocation Exercise 2024. Details of the six kindergarten premises are set out in the Annex.

     "The six new estate kindergarten premises, each providing six to nine classrooms, are located in Kwun Tong District, Yuen Long District, North District, Sha Tin District and Islands District, and will be available between 2025 and 2026. The EDB is entrusted by the Hong Kong Housing Authority to nominate operators for the kindergarten premises. The Exercise will be carried out on a competitive basis," a spokesman for the EDB said.

     Since the implementation of the Kindergarten Education Scheme in the 2017/18 school year, apart from continuing to help kindergartens improve the environment of their premises, the EDB endeavours to provide more kindergarten premises owned by the Government for eligible applicant bodies to compete fairly for reprovisioning or operating kindergartens, which not only enables a reduction in rental expenses but also allows them to enjoy quality school premises. In addition, the EDB has adopted a streamlined mechanism starting from 2021 for assessing applications for nomination of suitable operators for kindergarten premises to reduce applicant bodies' administrative work.

     Non-profit-making kindergartens, especially those bearing high rental expenses, having dilapidated school environments and facilities, and facing a surplus of kindergarten places in the district, are encouraged to apply for the above-mentioned kindergarten premises. The EDB will accord priority to kindergartens under the Scheme applying for relocation. Applications for operating new kindergartens will only be considered if no suitable applicants are found for relocation. Quality of education is the prime consideration. The EDB will take into account the operation plan, track record of school operation and relocation needs (if applicable) of the applicant bodies. The applicant body should be exempted from tax under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance. 

     The application form, information on the operation plan, points to note and other reference materials for the Kindergarten Premises Allocation Exercise can be downloaded from the EDB's homepage at www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/preprimary-kindergarten/allocation-of-kg/latest-news.html. The EDB will provide a template for preparation of the operation plan and set out the selection criteria in the "Points to Note" for applicant bodies' reference. Applicant bodies should carefully read the basic requirements and relevant instructions as stipulated in the "Points to Note" before submitting applications.

     The duly completed application form, information on the operation plan, list of operating schools run by the applicant body (if any) and supporting documents should reach the EDB Kindergarten Education Division (Room 1432, 14/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong) by 5pm on September 19. Late applications or those not duly completed will not be processed.  For enquiries, please contact EDB staff at 2892 5986.