The Hong Kong Film Archive (HKFA) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has organised the "Movie Talk" series since 2013. Each instalment of the series focuses on a filmmaker who selects films for screening and discusses his or her inspirations and filmmaking experiences with the audience. The HKFA will launch its latest "Movie Talk" series in March. Film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and special effects and stop motion animation director Alex Cheung has selected three of his works and two of his favourite films for screening at the HKFA Cinema. During the talk of each screening, Cheung will speak with other filmmakers, critics, a scholar and a music producer about his filmmaking experience over the years and the inspiration he received from the selected masterworks.
 
     Alex Cheung started his career as a television programme director. With the help of filmmaker Teddy Robin and former police superintendent Philip Chan, Cheung directed his first film "Cops and Robbers" (1979). The exciting story between a formerly unsuccessful police applicant who becomes a psycho killer and the righteous police team features a fast-paced gunfight in the city and a squatter area. As a critically acclaimed box office hit, the film is considered as one of the ground-breaking works of the Hong Kong New Wave. The screening also includes Cheung's legendary experimental short film "Come Together" (1974), showcasing his creativity in producing innovative work regardless of the restrictions in shooting techniques.
 
     "Man on the Brink" (1981) is a pioneering work among undercover cop films. It won Cheung the Best Director prize at the 19th Golden Horse Awards. Following the steps of lead character Ah Chiu, audiences can observe his internal conflict between being a cop and a triad member. The film also brings back scenes of the Kowloon Walled City, the Yau Ma Tei Wholesale Fruit Market and a public housing estate from the early 1980s on the screen.
 
     The English movie "Blow-Up" (1966) features a photographer who randomly takes a photo of a young couple in a park. The lady's persistence in getting back the photo original makes the photographer curious. When blowing up the photo for investigation, the photographer realises that he may have captured proof of a murder. Cheung described the movie as the one that opened his mind to the way that truth is determined by how others' trust and recognition are received.
 
     Based on the novel "Don Quixote", "Man of La Mancha" (1972) is about an imprisoned scriptwriter playing the role of Don Quixote, who imagines himself as a knight. Having grown up in a modest family, Cheung was once timid in chasing his dreams. However, his life was completely different after being inspired by the film's message that everyone can be a dreamcatcher.
 
     "Cops and Robbers" and "Man on the Brink" are in Cantonese. "Blow-Up" and "Man of La Mancha" are in English. "Come Together" is without dialogue. "Man on the Brink" is with Chinese and English subtitles. "Blow-Up" and "Man of La Mancha" are with Chinese subtitles, while "Cops and Robbers" and "Come Together" are without subtitles.
 
     Tickets priced at $45 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For credit card telephone bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries, please call 2739 2139 or visit www.filmarchive.gov.hk/en_US/web/hkfa/programmesandexhibitions/2019mt-alexcheung/index.html.

      

     The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) today (February 12) announced that the department tested 101 water samples collected from cooling towers in 88 buildings in its routine inspections in January this year. None of them was detected to have a total legionella count at or above the upper threshold, which is 1 000 colony-forming units per millilitre. The latest statistics are set out in Annex 1.

     The EMSD also announced the locations of buildings which were served with nuisance notices during the preceding three-month period as the total legionella count was found in the fresh water cooling towers to be equal to or above the upper threshold. Details can be found in Annex 2. The EMSD publishes the latest statistics of the above information on a half-monthly basis on its website (www.emsd.gov.hk/en/other_regulatory_services/cooling_towers/water_sampling/index.html).

     The EMSD reminds the owners of fresh water cooling towers that they have the responsibility to design, operate and maintain cooling towers properly. They should arrange regular inspections, timely maintenance and periodic testing of the water quality in their cooling towers in accordance with the Code of Practice for Fresh Water Cooling Towers issued by the department to prevent the proliferation of legionella.

     A Vietnamese illegal worker holding a recognisance form was jailed by Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday (February 11).
      
     During operation "Twilight" on December 10, 2018, Immigration Department (ImmD) investigators raided the lobby of a residential building in Cheung Sha Wan. A male Vietnamese illegal worker, aged 43, was arrested. When intercepted, he was working as a cleaning worker. Upon identity checking, he produced for inspection a recognisance form issued by the ImmD, which prohibits him from taking employment. Further investigation revealed that he was a non-refoulement claimant.
 
     The illegal worker was charged at Shatin Magistrates' Courts yesterday with taking employment after landing in Hong Kong unlawfully and remaining in Hong Kong without the authority of the Director of Immigration or while being a person in respect of whom a removal order or deportation order was in force. After trial, he was sentenced to 22 months and two weeks' imprisonment.
 
     The ImmD spokesman warned that, as stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, illegal immigrants or people who are the subject of a removal order or a deportation order are prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal has issued a guideline ruling that a sentence of 15 months' imprisonment should be applied in such cases.
 
     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. The maximum penalty is imprisonment for three years and a fine of $350,000. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence. According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee's identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker's valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. The maximum penalty for failing to inspect such a document is imprisonment for one year and a fine of $150,000.
 
     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct initial screening on vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation, with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threat and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent interference, medical services, counselling, shelter, temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments.

     The Standing Committee on Company Law Reform (SCCLR) today (February 12) published its 2017-18 annual report.

     During the reporting period, the Government briefed the SCCLR on the latest progress relating to the introduction of a statutory corporate rescue procedure and insolvent trading provisions. 
 
      "The SCCLR has all along been our important partner in company law reform for ensuring that our company laws are commensurate with Hong Kong's status as an international commercial and financial centre. We are grateful for its insightful advice throughout the years," a government spokesman said. 

     Taking into account the advice of the SCCLR, the Government is drafting a Bill for introducing a statutory corporate rescue procedure and insolvent trading provisions and continues to engage various stakeholders on the relevant legislative proposals.

     The SCCLR was set up in 1984. It advises the Financial Secretary on amendments to the Companies Ordinance and the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, as well as amendments to the Securities and Futures Ordinance on matters relating to corporate governance and shareholders' protection, as and when necessary.

     Members of the SCCLR include practitioners from relevant professions including legal, accountancy and company secretarial fields as well as academics, individuals from the business communities and representatives from relevant government departments and financial regulators.

     The 2017-18 annual report of the SCCLR is available at the websites of the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (www.fstb.gov.hk/fsb) and the Companies Registry (www.cr.gov.hk).

     Acclaimed musician Wang Peiyu from the Chaozhou-Shantou region will stage a concert in April.
 
     Wang Peiyu is one of the key figures promoting the Chaozhou music genres of xianshi and xiyue in recent years, and this concert will mark the first time that he plays in Hong Kong with the Xianshi Ensemble of Shantou. The performance will be highly anticipated by those who enjoy Chaozhou xianshi music of the new generation.
 
     The programme will include "The Skipping Thrush", "As the Wild Geese Fly South", "The Lotus Rising from the Water", "Ying-Xian-Ke", "Liu Qingniang" (live five mode), "Wild Geese on the Sandbank", "The Pink Lotus", "Jing-Chun-Luo", "Fish Hawks Dabbling in the Water", "The Snow Geese Flying South", "The Moon Rises High" and "Tower of Lights".
 
     Wang Peiyu is a well-known traditional musician of the Chaozhou-Shantou region, specialising in xianshi music. A National Class One Composer and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association, he is currently Artistic Director of the Shantou City Arts Research Centre (Research Centre for Chaozhou Music), a Visiting Professor of the China Conservatory of Music and a Bearer of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (Chaozhou music) of Shantou.
 
     The Xianshi Ensemble of Shantou, led by Wang Peiyu and Lin Yingping, was established by musicians of the Shantou City Arts Research Centre (Research Centre for Chaozhou Music) under the co-ordination and guidance of the Administration of Culture, Radio, Television, Press and Publications of Shantou in 2013. With an aim to cultivate and promote traditional music of the Chaozhou-Shantou region, the ensemble focuses its research on the musical genres of xianshi and xiyue.
 
     Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, "Concert by Wang Peiyu and Xianshi Ensemble of Shantou" is one of the attractions of the Guangdong Music Series. The concert will be held at 8pm on April 13 (Saturday) at the Theatre of the Sheung Wan Civic Centre. Tickets are priced at $160 and $260. Tickets are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/programs_702.html.