The following is issued on behalf of the Commission on Poverty:
      
     The Commission on Poverty today (April 29) invited applications for the "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme 2019 – Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition under the "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme.  
      
     The inaugural programme last year received an enthusiastic and positive response. The Chief Executive announced in the 2018 Policy Address that the scale of the programme would be expanded this year to include the Chief Executive and more senior officials to benefit more students. 
      
     In light of the expanded scale, the programme this year is being held in two phases. Students participating in the first phase programme (Heads of Departments edition) shadowed officials on the job for a day this month. The second phase (Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition) will take place in July and August, when the Chief Executive, Principal Officials, Under Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments will participate. 
      
     The Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said, "During this Easter holiday, 46 students participated in the first phase as job shadows, directly interacting with 23 Under Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments. The second phase, to be held during the coming summer holidays, will involve more senior government officials. This highlights the determination of the current-term Government to connect with young people. It also underlines the importance that the Government attaches to directly interacting and communicating with our next generation. Since Secondary Six students have already completed the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, the second phase will be open to them in order to allow more young people to participate in this memorable venture. I encourage all interested and eligible students to apply."
      
     The programme will offer the opportunity for selected students to shadow a senior government official on the job for a day to gain hands-on experience of the official’s work and a better understanding of the Government’s operation. It also provides officials with an opportunity to share their work experience with students while also learning about the students’ insights on various issues and their life goals and future plans. It is expected that the job-shadowing process will help inspire students to develop positive values and multi-perspective thinking as well as strive to realise their potential and seize opportunities for upward mobility.
      
     An experienced non-governmental organisation has been engaged to arrange orientation, debriefing and sharing sessions for the selected students to consolidate their takeaways from the programme.
      
     Application for the "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme 2019 – Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition is open to all local Secondary Four to Six students in the 2018/19 academic year and priority will be given to students studying the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education curriculum. Application forms can be downloaded from www.lifebuddies.hk. Applicants should complete the form, together with the school recommendation, and send it to lifebuddies@cso.gov.hk by email on or before May 20 (Monday).
      
     The "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme was launched by the Commission on Poverty in October 2015. It aims at promoting upward mobility of youths from disadvantaged backgrounds through the school-based mentoring and job tasting programmes. To date, the scheme has enlisted the support of over 110 government departments, corporations and organisations and has benefited over 5 400 students. The "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme was launched under "Life Buddies" in 2018 to further broaden students’ horizons. Information about "Life Buddies" is available on its website (www.lifebuddies.hk/en) and social network page (www.facebook.com/lifebuddieshk).

Attention TV/radio announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:

Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (April 29) that due to big waves, red flags have been hoisted at Shek O Beach and Big Wave Bay Beach in Southern District. Beach-goers are advised not to swim at these beaches.

     A woman who went missing in Tsing Yi has been located.

     Yeung Pui-fun, aged 56, went missing after she left her residence in Cheung Wang Estate in the small hours of April 26. Her family made a report to Police on the same day.          

     The woman was located at Cheung Hong Estate in the small hours of yesterday (April 28). She sustained no injuries and no suspicious circumstances were detected.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson today (April 29) said that 13 general out-patient clinics (see table below) will provide holiday clinic services on Labour Day this Wednesday (May 1). Members of the public are reminded to make advance booking through the telephone system as usual for an appointment.  

     The spokesperson said that the Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments in public hospitals will also operate as usual during the holiday to serve the patients with urgent medical needs. The established triage system will ensure priority treatment for critical and emergency patients according to their clinical condition. The queuing time is expected to be longer for semi-urgent and non-urgent patients as there may be more patients seeking consultation at A&E departments during the holiday. The HA appeals to the public for their understanding and co-operation while waiting for consultations. Non-urgent patients are advised to consider seeking consultations at general out-patient clinics, private doctors or the 24-hour clinics of private hospitals.
 
     To help find an appropriate family doctor and related clinic service of their choice, members of the public are welcome to call the HA Infoline (2882 4866) for information on holiday general out-patient clinic services, or browse the Primary Care Directory of Department of Health at www.pcdirectory.gov.hk.
 

 
Consultation Hours:
9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     During the service demand surge, the Hospital Authority is closely monitoring the service demand of Accident and Emergency Departments and the occupancy rate in public hospitals. Key service statistics are being issued daily for public information. Details are in the appended table.