Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations,
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The Tourism Commission announced that as the Hong Kong Observatory will issue the Strong Wind Signal No. 3 this afternoon (May 31), "A Symphony of Lights" will be cancelled tonight.
In support of the Cultural and Natural Heritage Day designated by the nation on the second Saturday of June each year to raise public awareness of the safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), the ICH Office will hold the "ICH Craftsman Spirit" Cultural and Natural Heritage Day in the Hong Kong ICH Centre located at the Sam Tung Uk Museum in Tsuen Wan on June 8 (Saturday). A series of fascinating activities will be offered to let the public experience the skills and spirit of both Guangdong and local craftsmen and gain a better understanding of the transmission of ICH craftsmanship in the two places. Admission is free, and members of the public are welcome to join.
The "ICH Craftsman Spirit" Cultural and Natural Heritage Day will be held from 10am to 6pm. ICH bearers and masters from Guangdong and Hong Kong have been invited to this precious occasion to talk about the craftsmanship of paper crafting, qin (a musical instrument) making and jade carving to the public. Members of the public can also experience the traditional architecture preservation technique and understand the making of glutinous rice dumpling with lye under the guidance of masters. They can also appreciate demonstrations of the Guangcai making technique and the lion head paper crafting technique as well as performances on Cantonese music.
To encourage active participation from the public, the ICH Office has specially set up a quiz game, ICH Checkpoints, at the centre. The public can get a souvenir by answering ICH-related questions after their visit to the permanent exhibitions in the centre. There are also designated photo spots with themes of local food culture and lion heads, allowing visitors to take photos and share them on social media.
The "ICH Craftsman Spirit" Cultural and Natural Heritage Day is co-organised by the ICH Office and Long Caring, and supported by Zhunghua Yixing. For details of the programme, please visit the website at www.icho.hk/en/web/icho/cultural_and_natural_heritage_day_2024.html, or call 2780 2283.
This programme is one of the activities in the Chinese Culture Promotion Series. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department 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 Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, and his delegation continued with the last day of their visit in Zurich, Switzerland, yesterday (May 30, Zurich time), subsequent to his visit to another multinational pharmaceutical group in Basel, Switzerland, the day before yesterday (May 29, Basel time).
Professor Lo and his delegation paid a courtesy call on the Chinese Consul General in Zurich and for the Principality of Liechtenstein, Ms Chen Yun. Professor Lo introduced to her the latest healthcare developments of Hong Kong, including the vision for driving health and medical innovation.
He said, "The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been ushering in immense opportunities for the development of biotechnological healthcare innovations in recent years. The National 14th Five-Year Plan has expressed clear support to develop Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub. The Development Plan for Shenzhen Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone promulgated by the State Council in August last year also put forward the initiative for synergistic collaboration under the mode of "one zone, two parks" between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Shenzhen in developing life science innovation and establishing the Greater Bay Area international clinical trial centre.
"The Chief Executive subsequently announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the HKSAR Government will revamp the prevailing evaluation, approval and registration mechanism for drugs, so as to achieve registration of drugs and medical devices under the 'primary evaluation' approach, with the long-term objective of establishing an internationally recognised regulatory authority for drugs and medical devices. All these aim at accelerating the clinical use of new drugs and medical devices so as to enhance healthcare standards, and spurring the development of industries relating to the research, development and clinical testing of drugs and medical devices. The Health Bureau (HHB) will definitely seize the opportunities to develop HKSAR into an international health and medical innovation hub, and to become integrated into the national development."
The delegation visited the University Hospital Zurich for a meeting with the representatives of its Clinical Trials Center in the afternoon to get a grasp of the Center's latest achievements in medical research and clinical trials, and the development of the network of international clinical trial centres. At the meeting, Professor Lo briefed the attendees on the HKSAR Government's multiple initiatives to push forward the development of clinical trials, particularly the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute to be established in the Hetao area by the end of this year, with a view to co-ordinating and further enhancing the capacity and efficiency of clinical trials in Hong Kong as well as collaborating with the Shenzhen Municipal Government on the construction of a clinical trial network for over 86 million population of the GBA.
He added, "The Hospital Authority (HA) has an extensive, comprehensive, highly integrated and standardised healthcare data system, encompassing medical records of every patient receiving care in the HA. The 'eHealth+' development will further connect and consolidate the medical records of public and private healthcare systems in Hong Kong, with a view to building a comprehensive central health data repository supported by data analytic tools, laying a good foundation for promoting clinical research and studies. In addition, the HA is implementing a series of measures to facilitate the development of clinical research, including streamlining and expediting the process for the ethics review of clinical research, setting up the Central Clinical Research and Innovation Office for one-stop co-ordination of clinical research work conducted in the HA, and setting up a Cluster Clinical Research Support Office in each cluster to provide advisory and support services for frontline staff in aspects such as research study design, data collection and analysis. The aforementioned measures are conducive to Hong Kong in becoming a first-class international clinical research platform."
The delegation members include the Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam, Deputy Secretary for Health Ms Elaine Mak, as well as officials of the HHB and the Department of Health. Upon conclusion of their visit at night, they left Switzerland and will arrive in Hong Kong later this afternoon (May 31, Hong Kong time).
Attention TV/radio announcers:
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Here is an item of interest to swimmers.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (May 31) that due to big waves, red flags have been hoisted at Stanley Main Beach, Shek O Beach and Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District, Hong Kong Island, and Hap Mun Bay Beach in Sai Kung District. Beachgoers are advised not to swim at these beaches.
The Department of Health (DH) today (May 31) alerted members of the public to fraudulent advertisements published on social media and online platforms about free medical insurance provided by the Hong Kong Government.
The fraudulent advertisements, carrying the DH logo, claimed that the Government will provide free medical insurance for persons aged 55 or above. The DH clarified that it has never published, or authorised the publishing of, such advertisements, adding that all the remarks in the advertisements are fictitious. The DH has reported the case to the Police.
Anyone who has provided his or her personal information to any suspicious websites or unknown persons via the advertisements should contact the Police.