Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:
The fire danger warning today (October 3) is red and the fire risk is extreme. The countryside is extremely vulnerable to fire. If you are planning to spend the day in the countryside, please take pre-cooked food for a picnic and take all measures to prevent hill fires. The penalty for lighting fires illegally in the countryside is $25,000 and a year’s imprisonment. read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited on fraudule… read more
The Import and Export (Electronic Cargo Information) (Amendment) Regulation 2018 (Amendment Regulation) will be gazetted this Friday (October 5). The Amendment Regulation seeks to ext… read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:
The Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Home Affairs visited the “Digital Dunhuang – Tales of Heaven and Earth” Exhibition (the Exhibition) in the Hong Kong Heritage Museum today (October 2) to learn about the features of relevant exhibits as well as the Government’s work progress in the programming and audience building of public museums.
At the invitation of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and accompanied by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kwong-wah, and the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Michelle Li, Members participated in a guided tour to the Exhibition and received a briefing from the Curator (History) of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Mr Brian Lam, on the preparation of the Exhibition and the features of exhibits. The Exhibition showcases over 100 exhibits and features with interactive multimedia installations to reproduce the murals and stucco statues in the caves in Dunhuang. Members also experienced in person a tour of the virtual caves with virtual reality and image fusion technologies.
During the visit, Members learnt more about the collaborations between LCSD and the Dunhuang Academy in training of professionals in the areas of curating, publicity and heritage conservation. Meanwhile, Members took the opportunity to further discuss with the Government officials about the work progress of expansion or renovation in other public museums, as well as the effectiveness of different initiatives launched by the Government on audience building.
At the meeting of Panel on Home Affairs on December 21, 2017, members discussed the Government’s future plan to enhance the programming, audience building and collection management of public museums managed by LCSD. The agenda and discussion papers of the meeting are available at the following webpage: www.legco.gov.hk/yr17-18/english/panels/ha/agenda/ha20171221.htm.
Members participating in the visit included the Chairman of the Panel, Mr Ma Fung-kwok; Panel Deputy Chairman, Ms Yung Hoi-yan; and Panel members Mr Yiu Si-wing, Mr Ip Kin-yuen, Mr Shiu Ka-chun, Mr Lau Kwok-fan, Mr Kenneth Lau and Mr Tony Tse.
The Director of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), Mr Shun Chi-ming, today (October 2) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of the HKO with the Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Professor Petteri Taalas, to further strengthen meteorological co-operation.
Under the MoU, the HKO will support the WMO’s initiative in establishing the Global Multi-hazard Alert System (GMAS). In this connection, the HKO has revamped the Severe Weather Information Centre website (SWIC 2.0) and is also updating the World Weather Information Service website to aggregate authoritative warning signals related to high-impact weather, water and climate events issued by official weather service organisations around the world. Members of the public and decision makers of various organisations, including international and humanitarian agencies, can make use of the information on the websites to keep an overview of natural disasters on a global basis and take appropriate disaster risk reduction measures.
Mr Shun said, “As a member of the WMO, Hong Kong, China, will play a more significant role in fostering regional and international meteorological co-operation to ensure public safety and reduce disaster risk. The HKO is very pleased to collaborate with the WMO in establishing the GMAS to help minimise loss due to natural disasters.”
Professor Taalas said, “The signing of the MoU between the HKO and the WMO will further strengthen our co-operation and significantly contributes to the global meteorological information services. I am very happy to see the launch of the SWIC 2.0 website today. This marks an important step in taking forward the GMAS initiative, contributing to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.”
Mr Shun and Professor Taalas officiated at the launch ceremony of the SWIC 2.0 website and the opening ceremony of the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for Nowcasting after signing the MoU. The HKO was designated as an RSMC for Nowcasting for the Asian region at the 70th Session of the Executive Council of the WMO in June this year. It is a recognition of the significant role the HKO plays in applying nowcasting techniques in predicting severe weather. As the RSMC for Nowcasting for the Asian region, the HKO will provide meteorological organisations in the region with products and techniques related to nowcasting of high-impact weather events.
