A team of eight students representing Hong Kong achieved excellent results in the 24th Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO 2024), winning one gold medal, three silver medals, two bronze medals and two honourable mentions.

     The APhO aims to promote physics education as well as nurture and inspire students who are highly talented in physics. The APhO 2024 was held in Malaysia from June 3 to 10. Over 200 contestants from 27 countries or cities participated in the competition.

     Liu Lincoln (Sha Tin College) won one gold medal in the competition. The three silver medalists were Leung Chi-fung (Evangel College), Edison Fu (Queen's College) and Yan King-yiu (Queen Elizabeth School). Matthew Mui (The Hong Kong Sze Yap Commercial and Industrial Association Wong Tai Shan Memorial College) and Michael Tang (St. Joseph's College) each won a bronze medal. Also, Marcus Poon (Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School) and Chan Hoi-chi (Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club College) each received an honourable mention.

     The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, congratulated the Hong Kong team today (June 11) on their outstanding performance. "The impressive results achieved by the Hong Kong team in the APhO this year have demonstrated the concerted efforts of different stakeholders in promoting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education. The Education Bureau (EDB) will continue to step up the promotion of STEAM education in primary and secondary schools, including the further promotion of setting up a school-based talent pool in schools to identify and nurture more STEAM talent," Dr Choi said. 

     The EDB has been attaching great importance to the grooming of gifted students and will strengthen the collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) to offer more diversified and high-quality off-school gifted education services, particularly in STEAM-related areas, and arrange students with potential in STEAM to participate in systematic training and competitions of reasonable scale so as to nurture future innovation and technology talent for Hong Kong.

     Members of the Hong Kong team had earlier distinguished themselves in last year's Hong Kong Physics Olympiad, and subsequently received training under the enrichment programme arranged by the HKAGE. The outstanding students in the programme were then selected as contestants representing Hong Kong to participate in the APhO this year. The Hong Kong team's participation in the competition was fully funded by the EDB.

  

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Tuesday, June 11, 2024 is 106.4 (up 0.1 against last Saturday's index).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Saturday, June 8, 2024 was 106.3 (up 0.3 against last Friday's index).

     In response to the Japanese Government's plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on June 7 to noon today (June 11), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 481 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the "aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt" category, in the past four days (including the past Saturday and Sunday and Monday). No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS's thematic website titled "Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan" (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).
 
     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 200 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD's website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO's website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 58 036 samples of food imported from Japan (including 37 536 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 14 490 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests.

     Hongkong Post announced today (June 11) that air letter and packet services of Israel will resume from June 12.
 
     Members of the public may visit the webpage of Hongkong Post at www.hongkongpost.hk/en/about_us/whats_new/notices/index_id_1409.html on the service availability for various destinations.

     To celebrate the 27th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, members of the public may use most of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD)'s fee-charging leisure and cultural facilities for free as individual users on July 1 (Monday). The event aims at encouraging people to participate in various sports and cultural activities and thereby form good habits, as well as sharing the joy of the special occasion.

     To allow more time for members of the public to select suitable free sessions and for those who have yet to register with SmartPLAY to proceed with the registration, the LCSD will ensure there is adequate time for the public to register, and the sessions for free use of facilities on July 1 will be allocated through balloting. During anytime between June 12 and 18, members of the public can submit a balloting application via SmartPLAY for booking sessions available for free use on July 1. Each user can submit a total of three balloting choices in one application. Applications submitted can be altered before the closing of the application period at 11.59pm on June 18. The computer balloting results will be announced by June 21. Successful applicants will be notified by the SmartPLAY system and no confirmation is required by the applicants. Members of the public, who have not been allocated with or applied for the balloted free sessions, can book the remaining free sessions, if any, via SmartPLAY on a first-come, first-served basis at a later stage. Each person can only book one free session for July 1 irrespective of the type of leisure facilities, either from balloting or first-come, first-served booking.  

     The leisure facilities to be available for free use on July 1 include:

• Indoor leisure facilities: badminton courts, tennis courts, basketball courts, netball courts, volleyball courts, squash courts, table tennis tables, American pool tables, billiard tables, sport climbing walls*, bowling greens, golf facilities, fitness rooms*, activity rooms, dance rooms and a cycling track*; 
• Outdoor leisure facilities: tennis courts, tennis practice courts, bowling greens, batting cages, sport climbing walls*, archery ranges* and golf facilities (excluding camp facilities, sports grounds and artificial as well as natural turf pitches); 
• Public swimming pools (excluding Wan Chai Swimming Pool, and Kowloon Tsai Swimming Pool which is temporarily closed for redevelopment); and 
• Craft at water sports centres* (recreational kayaks, pedal-driven boats, sampans and colour boats at Chong Hing Water Sports Centre are available for free use by campers only).

* Citizens who book these types of facilities must hold the relevant qualification certificates. For details, please visit the thematic website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/freeuseday/conditions.html.

     No prior booking is required for public swimming pool facilities. Members of the public may line up at the entrances of swimming pools before the start of a session. Free admission is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

     The LCSD appeals to hirers to arrive on time and make the best use of the booked facilities. If a hirer fails to take up a booked session 10 minutes after the starting time, the facility will immediately be reallocated to walk-in participants on a first-come, first-served basis. The facility shall be used for the same purpose as that for which it had been booked by the original hirer. The user shall surrender the facility to the original hirer immediately upon the latter's arrival.

     All users of the leisure facilities shall observe the Conditions of Use of LCSD Recreation and Sports Facilities (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/condition/index.html), including the no-show/not present during the use of the booked sessions ("not present") penalty. An individual hirer who is unable to take up a booked session should cancel the booked facility one day before the start of the booked session(s) through the SmartPLAY system. A no-show/"not present" record will be filed on the hirer when he or she fails to take up a session as booked without on-time completion of the cancellation procedure, or is not present during the use of the booked sessions. Any two such records within 60 consecutive days will result in suspension of booking rights for any of the LCSD's recreation and sports facilities for 90 days.

     Please call 2414 5555 for enquiry or visit the thematic website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/freeuseday/index.html.

     For cultural services, free admission will be offered to the fee-charging permanent exhibitions of the Hong Kong Science Museum and the Hong Kong Space Museum (except for the Space Theatre's shows) as well as special exhibition "The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Fragrance of Time – In Search of Chinese Art of Scent" at the Hong Kong Museum of Art on July 1.

     Admission to a range of delightful exhibitions will continue to be free at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, the Hong Kong Railway Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, the Fireboat Alexander Grantham Exhibition Gallery, the Law Uk Folk Museum, the Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum, the Sheung Yiu Folk Museum, the Hong Kong Film Archive, the Sam Tung Uk Museum, the Oil Street Art Space (Oi!) and the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre that day. Members of the public are welcome to visit to share the joy on this special occasion. (Note: The Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum is closed temporarily from May 1 for upgrading the permanent exhibition galleries to enhance the design and presentation, as well as for maintenance and renovation works. It is expected to reopen in the second quarter of 2025.)