Police today (July 4) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Tin Sum.  

     Lai Sai-kou, aged 82, went missing after he left his residence in Sun Chui Estate yesterday afternoon (July 3). His family made a report to Police today.  

     He is about 1.7 metres tall, 50 kilograms in weight and of thin build. He has a round face with yellow complexion and short grey hair. He was last seen wearing a light blue short-sleeved T-shirt, blue jeans and black and white shoes.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Person Unit of New Territories South on 3661 1176 or 9689 7445 or email to rmpu-nts-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The following meetings of the Legislative Council (LegCo) committee originally scheduled to be held in the LegCo Complex have been cancelled: 

(1) the meeting of LegCo Panel on Information Technology and Broadcasting and the joint meeting of LegCo Panel on Welfare Services and Panel on Home Affairs on July 8;

(2) the meetings of LegCo Panel on Home Affairs, LegCo Panel on Housing, LegCo Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene, LegCo Panel on Security and LegCo Bills Committee on Waste Disposal (Charging for Municipal Solid Waste) (Amendment) Bill 2018 on July 9;

(3) the meetings of LegCo Subcommittee on Matters Relating to Railways and LegCo Bills Committee on Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2018 on July 12; and

(4) the meetings of LegCo Finance Committee on July 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13.

The following is issued on behalf of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee:

    The Chairman of the Quality Education Fund (QEF) Steering Committee, Dr Gordon Tsui, today (July 4) announced the direction of the QEF, including the seven priority themes for 2019/20 and the "My Pledge to Act" (2019) funding programme.

     Dr Tsui said, "Since its establishment in 1998, the QEF, in line with the education development and policies of Hong Kong, has been striving to enhance the quality of school education and promote quality education by introducing new priority themes to address the needs of school education. The QEF will on August 1 introduce seven priority themes, which are more concise and focused, for QEF applications. The new priority themes are 'STEM Education', 'IT in Education', 'Assessment Literacy', 'Life-wide Learning', 'Positive Values', 'Students' Balanced Development' and 'Effective Leadership and School Management'."

     Dr Tsui added that apart from the above priority themes, applicants could apply to undertake other innovative projects that meet the needs of schools to enhance the quality of school education.

     Dr Tsui continued, "The QEF has also formulated theme-based funding programmes in the past. In the 2019/20 school year, the QEF will introduce a new funding programme – 'My Pledge to Act' (2019), to rally concerted efforts of schools, families and other stakeholders in society to enhance our commitment to nurturing talent as well as cultivating a positive school atmosphere."

     This funding programme will be applicable to all publicly funded schools and the kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme. The programme will be implemented for three consecutive school years starting from 2019/20. The call for submission of applications will start in September 2019. The QEF has devised a simplified application form and provided relevant reference materials for schools' reference. Details of the application and relevant reference materials will soon be uploaded to the QEF website and the Education Bureau website of "My Pledge to Act" respectively.
     
     To provide further details on the priority themes and the "My Pledge to Act" (2019) funding programme, two briefing sessions will be held on August 20 and August 21 respectively. Interested parties may refer to the details on the QEF website (qef.org.hk).

     In future, the QEF will continue to enhance communication and partnership with various stakeholders to create and share successful QEF project experiences. More than 40 QEF Thematic Networks will be launched in the coming year to encourage knowledge transfer and sustainable professional development of teachers and benefit more schools. The QEF also regularly uploads the proposals of QEF funded projects to the QEF Cyber Resource Centre (qcrc.qef.org.hk) for applicants' reference.

     QEF deliverables (such as learning and teaching resources) can be purchased by completing the order form at the QEF Cyber Resource Centre website or via Hong Kong Education City (edmall.hkedcity.net/store). In addition, the QEF deliverables are available at ShopThruPost (shopthrupost.hongkongpost.hk) administered by Hongkong Post. The QEF has also identified good projects for developing electronic deliverables with interactive functions to facilitate students' self-directed learning. So far, over 100 sets of electronic deliverables have been developed. The public can access these deliverables via the QEF Cyber Resource Centre and Hong Kong Education City.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     Regarding an earlier announcement on a patient confirmed to be a Candida auris carrier, the spokesperson for Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) gave the following update today (July 4):
 
     According to the contact tracing result, a 59-year-old male patient has been confirmed as carrying Candida auris while not having signs of infection. The patient is a resident of the United States (US). He developed cardiac arrest when he was in transit at Hong Kong International Airport from the Philippines to the US on May 8. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and then the Medical and Geriatric Ward of PMH. The patient is now being treated under isolation with stable condition. In accordance with the prevailing guidelines, PMH has commenced contact tracing for the patient. The following enhanced infection control measures have already been adopted:
 

1. Thorough cleaning and disinfection of the wards concerned;
2. Enhanced patient and environmental screening procedures; and
3. Application of stringent contact precautions and enhanced hand hygiene for staff and patients.

 
     The hospital will continue to closely monitor the situation of the patient. The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Centre for Health Protection for necessary follow-up.

     The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, chaired the eighth meeting of the Steering Group on the Modification of Recycling and Refuse Collection Facilities in Public Places today (July 4) to discuss the views collected during Phase 1 of the Public Engagement (PE) on recycling and refuse collection facilities in public places and corresponding design improvements.

     The Steering Group commissioned a consultancy which, with the aid of prototypes based on previous discussion of conceptual designs, conducted Phase 1 of the PE to collect views on handling and design details of litter containers and recycling bins from front-line staff, members of staff unions, the cleaning industry, the design industry and academia. More than 250 people participated in the PE, including over 140 front-line staff. The participants supported the conceptual designs for litter containers and recycling bins in general, including the use of conspicuous colours for bin shells, specialised shapes for bin openings targeting different recyclables, and a transparent panel for indoor recycling bins. 

     Mr Wong said, "The Steering Group attaches great importance to the views of participants. We are glad to learn that most views considered that the new conceptual designs meet relevant occupational safety and health needs, including measures to reduce lifting. The Steering Group is supportive of the design modifications made by the consultancy in response to the views collected. The consultancy will further collect views from various stakeholders during Phase 2 of the PE programme, to be conducted in the near future, to optimise the design.

     To support the implementation of municipal solid waste charging, the Steering Group was set up in February 2016 to review the design and distribution of recycling and refuse collection facilities in public places and recommend necessary modifications to facilitate waste reduction and resource recovery in the community. Chaired by the Secretary for the Environment, the Steering Group comprises members from the design, architectural, planning, academic and business sectors; non-profit making groups; and relevant government departments. It also includes district personalities.