The inaugural Chinese Cultural Festival (CCF) will present a number of quality Chinese opera performances from June to September, covering Cantonese opera, North Road Bangzi opera, Chiuchow opera, Liuzi opera, Yue opera, Kunqu opera, Wu opera and Peking opera, which allows members of the public to appreciate the essence of Chinese opera, with a view to promoting Chinese culture as well as the arts of Chinese opera. The local production "Cyrano de Bergerac" – A Cantonese Opera Interpretation kicked off the series of performances at the Grand Theatre of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre today (June 14), which also marked the start of the 12th Chinese Opera Festival (COF). The performance is one of the highlights of the 35th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre as well.
 
　　The "Cyrano de Bergerac" – A Cantonese Opera Interpretation is a new production developed by Cantonese opera virtuoso Law Ka-ying, who has been working on it for a decade. The play is an adaptation of a 19th-century French classic piece of the same title. Law partners with famous veterans Liza Wang and Sun Kim Long to present this well-known story of a love triangle. This adaptation not only preserves the performing techniques, traditional forms and artistic charm of Cantonese opera, but also exhibits an exquisite combination of the plot and musical elements of Western drama to reflect the protagonist Zhu Bufan's deep love for the princess. The touching performance won warm applause from the audience.
 
　　The LCSD has invited outstanding troupes from all over the country to participant in this year's festival, including the Academy of Xinzhou Studies, Guangdong Chiu Chow Opera Theatre Number One Troupe and Sun Hon Kwong Chiu Chow Opera Troupe, the Centre for the Safeguarding of Liuzi Opera of Shandong, the Fujian Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe, the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, the Zhejiang Wu Opera Research Centre, and the Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company. In addition, the LCSD will arrange a series of extension activities, including talks, meet-the-artists sessions, an exhibition and Chinese opera film screenings, throughout the CCF period to promote the artistry and culture of Chinese traditional opera. The "Artistic Essence Everlasting – Chinese Opera Festival Photo Exhibition", currently being held at the Foyer Exhibition Area of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, features a fine selection of memorable moments from past performances on stage at the COF, allowing Chinese opera lovers to revisit the captivating brilliance of top-notch Chinese opera artists from various genres. Admission to the exhibition is free, and the exhibition will run until June 16 (Sunday).
 
　　For more information about the Chinese opera programmes of the Chinese Culture Festival, please visit
www.ccf.gov.hk/en/programme-categories/chinese-opera/.
 
　　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 among 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.

              

     Hong Kong Customs yesterday (June 13) seized about 6 kilograms of suspected cocaine with an estimated market value of about $5.5 million at Hong Kong International Airport.

     A 46-year-old male passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Paris, France via Doha, Qatar yesterday. During customs clearance, Customs officers found three stuffed toys in his carry-on suitcase, in which 262 pellets of suspected cocaine weighing about 6kg in total were concealed. The man was subsequently arrested.

     An investigation is ongoing.

     Following the resumption of normal travel and exchanges with the Mainland and other parts of the world, the number of visitors to Hong Kong has also been increasing steadily. Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

     Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

     Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 2545 6182 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

  

     The People's Government of Guangdong Province, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government and the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) Government signed the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Emergency Management Co-operation and Greater Bay Area Emergency Response Operation Co-operation Framework Agreement in Hong Kong today (June 14) to strengthen co-operation and exchanges of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao on emergency management and response.

     Vice Minister of the Ministry of Emergency Management Mr Xu Jia'ai and Member of the Office Leadership of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council Mr Xiang Bin attended the ceremony. Witnessed by the Executive Vice-Governor of Guangdong Province, Mr Zhang Hu; the Chief Secretary for Administration of the HKSAR, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; and the Secretary for Security of the Macao SAR, Mr Wong Sio-chak, the Director of the Department of Emergency Management of Guangdong Province, Mr Wang Zaihua; the Secretary for Security of the HKSAR, Mr Tang Ping-keung; and the Commissioner General of the Unitary Police Service of the Macao SAR, Mr Leong Man-cheong signed the Framework Agreement on behalf of governments in the three places.

     The Framework Agreement aims at establishing a government-led co-operation mechanism for emergency response, with professional emergency rescue forces as the mainstay and actions as the core, and strengthening emergency response capabilities of the three places, so as to cope with accidents, disasters, natural disasters and other contingencies affecting Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

     The governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao are jointly formulating a new Greater Bay Area Emergency Response Operational Plan tailored for cities in the Greater Bay Area, which covers technical and knowledge exchange mechanism, resource sharing mechanism, and emergency mobilisation and co-ordination mechanism, so as to promote overall improvement in emergency management in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, achieve effective utilisation and rational sharing of emergency response resources and enhance the effectiveness of cross-boundary rescue. The governments of the three places expressed their hope to set up a task force on Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao emergency management co-operation and hold its first meeting within this year to take stock of the emergency management co-operation experience and to chart out future developments of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao emergency management.

     After the signing ceremony, the HKSAR Government hosted a welcome dinner to express gratitude to the Central Authorities and the governments of Guangdong and Macao for their staunch support for emergency management co-operation in the three places.

     The signing ceremony and welcome dinner were held at the Disciplined Services Sports and Recreation Club. Participants of the signing ceremony will visit emergency response facilities of the HKSAR Government tomorrow (June 15) to strengthen professional exchanges, laying a solid foundation for future co-operation.

  

     The inter-departmental Task Force on Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP) chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, convened the first meeting today (June 14) to co-ordinate the relevant bureaux and departments in implementing the preparatory work for the completion and commissioning of the KTSP.
      
     At the meeting, the Task Force discussed in detail three areas, namely ensuring the timely completion of the construction of the KSTP; maximising the economic benefits of the KTSP; and providing the necessary ancillary support, such as crowd management and traffic arrangements. Its aim is to ensure that the KTSP, upon its completion and commissioning, will create a diverse, quality experience for citizens and visitors.
      
     Mr Chan said, "The KTSP is the largest sports infrastructure project in Hong Kong's history. It will provide modern and multi-purpose sports and recreation facilities, which are of great significance to the development of not only sports, but also Hong Kong's mega-event economy. I will lead the Task Force to work in collaboration with all stakeholders in these three areas to ensure the successful completion and commissioning of the KTSP, thereby consolidating and enhancing Hong Kong's strategic positioning as an events capital."
      
     The construction of the KTSP commenced in February 2019. Currently, the main structure of the Public Sports Ground, the Indoor Sports Centre and the Main Stadium have been largely completed. According to the current construction progress, it is expected that the major facilities of the KTSP will be completed by the end of 2024. Upon the successful implementation of test events and satisfactory completion of various testing procedures, the KTSP will be open in the first half of 2025.
         
     The membership list of the inter-departmental Task Force on KTSP is as follows:
 
Chairman
—————
Chief Secretary for Administration
 
Members
————
Deputy Financial Secretary
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism
Secretary for Development
Secretary for Environment and Ecology
Secretary for Security
Secretary for Transport and Logistics
Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism
Permanent Secretary for Housing/Director of Housing
Commissioner for Sports
 
Heads or representatives of relevant departments/office:
Buildings Department
Environmental Protection Department
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department
Highways Department
Home Affairs Department
Hong Kong Fire Services Department
Hong Kong Police Force
Information Services Department
Leisure and Cultural Services Department
Marine Department
National Games Coordination Office (Hong Kong)
Tourism Commission
Transport Department

  

     A Government spokesman today (June 14) advised members of the public to stay vigilant about some recent advertisements in newspapers and social media platforms by a Shenzhen dental organisation, claiming to distribute in Hong Kong a limited number of Hong Kong elderly health care vouchers, which should not be trusted and are unrelated to the Elderly Health Care Voucher of the Hong Kong Special Administrative (HKSAR) Government.

     The spokesman clarified that the dental organisation is not a listed medical institution under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme. The advertisement attempted to confuse and deceptively use the term "health care vouchers" to attract customers. As a matter of fact, it is unrelated to the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme (EHVS) of the HKSAR Government. The spokesman strongly condemned the advertisement, which is suspected of misleading the public. The HKSAR Government has notified the relevant Mainland regulatory department and relevant newspapers. The Department of Health has also contacted the Police to follow up.

     The spokesman also reminded the public that the Health Bureau has announced the list of medical institutions under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Greater Bay Area Pilot Scheme in February, which includes seven medical institutions:

* The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou
* Nansha Division of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University in Nansha
* ZhongShan Chenxinghai Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine in Zhongshan
* Dongguan Tungwah Hospital in Dongguan
* Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital in Shenzhen
* Shenzhen C.K.J Stomatological Hospital in Luohu District of Shenzhen
* Dental Bauhinia Specialty Service Center (Shenzhen)/Dental Bauhinia General Care Center (Shenzhen) in Futian District of Shenzhen
 
     Members of the public may browse the EHVS website (www.hcv.gov.hk) or call the EHVS hotline (2838 2311) for more information on the EHVS.

     The spokesman stressed that elderly persons should not trust any suspicious websites or unknown advertisements. Those who suspect that they have become victims of any fraudulent acts should contact the Police.