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     The Chinese Culture Festival (CCF) 2025, organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will hold the “Encountering Chinese Culture” Carnival on June 22 (Sunday) at Sha Tin Town Hall and New Town Plaza. Through stage performances rich in Chinese cultural characteristics, “Vibrant ICH” performances, booth activities and more, the Carnival will bring fine traditional Chinese culture and intangible cultural heritage (ICH) items into the community for public enjoyment and raise people’s awareness of and interest in Chinese culture as well as ICH. Members of the public are invited to join for free. “Vibrant ICH” performances and booth activities are also programmes of Hong Kong ICH Month 2025. 

     The Carnival will kick off with a fire dragon dance by the Pok Fu Lam Village Fire Dragon Association at 2pm at the Entrance Arena at L1, Phase 1 of New Town Plaza, followed by a number of performances by outstanding arts groups and ICH practitioners from the Mainland and Hong Kong. Audience members can preview highlighted excerpts from some of this year’s CCF programmes, including the Museum Series: “The Sounds from Cultural Relics”, the “Ancient Styles ‧ Modern Chants” Classical Literature × Contemporary Dance and the “Taisheng and Huayin Lao Qiang: Big Uncle, Second Uncle are All His Uncles” Concert with collaboration from the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Hong Kong Member Association. 

     Coinciding with the Hong Kong ICH Month organised by the LCSD’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Office (ICHO) is held in June, a series of “Vibrant ICH” song and dance performances as well as a puppetry show will be presented in the Carnival at the Entrance Arena of New Town Plaza. The Gannan Art and Creative Institute of Jiangxi Province will present multiple ICH performances, including Xingguo folk songs, a Gannan tea-plucking opera as well as Hakka folk songs and dances. Hong Kong puppeteer Wong Fai will perform the puppet show “Journey to the West – Flaming Mountain”, while two members of the Sai Kung Hakka Folk Song Group will present local Hakka songs. 

     The Carnival specially features multiple “Vibrant ICH” interactive experiential booth activities at the Exhibition Gallery and Foyer of Sha Tin Town Hall as well as the West Wing at L1, Phase 1 of New Town Plaza, showcasing various ICH-related craftsmanship, including Chinese brush making, Hong Kong cheongsam making, puppetry, fishing net plaiting, movable-type printing, patterned band weaving and gold leaf decoration. Members of the public can watch demonstrations and participate in workshops to explore the essence of ICH. 

     The “Mobile ICH” vehicle from the ICHO and a “Library-on-Wheels” from the Hong Kong Public Libraries will arrive at the Plaza of Sha Tin Town Hall on that day. The “Mobile ICH” will introduce Hong Kong’s ICH items through on-board exhibitions and interactive devices, while the “Library-on-Wheels” will offer a selection of Chinese culture-themed collections for the public to borrow on-site. Story ambassadors will host engaging storytelling sessions at the West Wing at L1, Phase 1 of New Town Plaza to promote reading. The Carnival will also hold “ICH Story-telling” sessions at the Foyer of Sha Tin Town Hall, using illustrated books on ICH to help participants of all ages learn about ICH items in Hong Kong. 

     A trainee’s ensemble from the Music Office of the LCSD will perform on pipa, erhu and dizi at the Entrance Arena of New Town Plaza. The ensemble will also stage Chinese instrumental performances at the Foyer of Sha Tin Town Hall. 

     In addition, the “Mystery of Chinese Writing” Roving Exhibition will be held on the same day at the Exhibition Gallery of Sha Tin Town Hall. The exhibition will use simple writings and images of artefacts to showcase the development and cultural connotations of Chinese characters. The Ganzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Media and Tourism will also set up Jiangxi ICH booths and a photo exhibition at the Plaza and Exhibition Gallery of Sha Tin Town Hall, introducing the “Genesis and Spirit – Treasures of Nature · Extraordinary Hakka: Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition of Jiangxi” currently being held in Hong Kong Central Library along with other aspects of Jiangxi culture. 

     For the venue and time of each carnival activity, please visit www.ccf.gov.hk/en/programme/encountering-chinese-culture/.

     The CCF, presented by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (CSTB) and organised by the Chinese Culture Promotion Office under the LCSD, aims to promote Chinese culture and enhance the public’s national identity and cultural confidence. It also aims to attract top-notch artists and arts groups from the Mainland and other parts of the world for exchanges in Chinese arts and culture. The CCF 2025 is held from June to September. Through over 280 performing arts programmes in various forms and related extension activities, the festival provides members of the public and visitors with more opportunities to enjoy distinctive programmes that showcase fine traditional Chinese culture, thereby facilitating patriotic education and contributing to the inheritance, transformation and development of traditional Chinese culture in Hong Kong. For details, please visit www.ccf.gov.hk.

     Hong Kong ICH Month 2025 is presented by the CSTB and organised by the ICHO of the LCSD with ICH June as the strategic partner. Delightful programmes include 80 ICH performances, 60 interactive experiential booths and 20 “ICH Highlight Tours”, covering over 100 ICH items and bringing together over 50 ICH practitioners, including representative bearers of the national ICH. For details, please visit www.icho.hk/en/web/icho/hk_ich_month_2025.html.

    

     The Transport Department (TD) today (June 17) announced that the auction of vehicle registration marks will be held on July 6 (Sunday) at Meeting Room S221, L2, Old Wing, Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.

     “A total of 200 traditional vehicle registration marks (TVRMs) will be put up for public auction in the morning session, and 144 personalised vehicle registration marks (PVRMs) will be put up for auction in the afternoon session. The list of marks has been uploaded to the department’s website, www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/index.html,” a department spokesman said.
     
     For the auction of TVRMs, only registration marks starting with “HK” or “XX” and special vehicle registration marks are put up for physical auction. Applicants should attend the auction and take note of the opening price as announced by the auctioneer before participating in the bidding of the mark.

     The reserve price of each of PVRMs is $5,000. Applicants who have paid a deposit of $5,000 should also attend the physical auction and participate in the bidding (including the first bid at the reserve price). Otherwise, the PVRM concerned may be sold to another bidder at the reserve price.

     People who wish to participate in the bidding at the physical auction should take note of the following points:

(1) Bidders are required to produce the following documents for completion of registration and payment procedures immediately after the successful bidding:

(i) the identity document of the successful bidder;
(ii) the identity document of the purchaser if it is different from the successful bidder;
(iii) a copy of the Certificate of Incorporation if the purchaser is a body corporate; and
(iv) a crossed cheque payable to “The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region” or “The Government of the HKSAR”. Any bidder who wishes to bid for both TVRMs and PVRMs on the same day, should bring along at least two crossed cheques for payment of auction prices (for an auctioned mark paid for by cheque, the first three working days after the date of auction will be required for cheque clearance confirmation before processing of the application for mark assignment can be completed). Successful bidders may also pay through the Easy Pay System (EPS), but are reminded to note the maximum transfer amount in the same day of the payment card. Payment by post-dated cheque, cash, credit card or other methods will not be accepted.

(2) Purchasers must make payment of the purchase price through EPS or by crossed cheque and complete the Memorandum of Sale of Vehicle Registration Mark or the Memorandum of Sale of PVRM immediately after the bidding. Subsequent alteration of the particulars in the Memorandum will not be permitted.

(3) A registration mark can only be assigned to a motor vehicle which is registered in the name of the purchaser. The Certificate of Incorporation must be produced immediately by the purchaser if a vehicle registration mark purchased is to be registered under the name of a body corporate.

(4) The display of a vehicle registration mark on a motor vehicle should be in compliance with the requirements stipulated in Schedule 4 to the Road Traffic (Registration and Licensing of Vehicles) Regulations.

(5) Any change to the arrangement of letters, numerals and blank spaces of a PVRM, i.e. single and two rows as auctioned, will not be allowed.

(6) Special vehicle registration marks are non-transferable. Where the ownership of a motor vehicle with a special vehicle registration mark is transferred, the allocation of the special vehicle registration mark shall be cancelled.

(7) The purchaser shall, within 12 months after the date of auction, apply to the Commissioner for Transport for the vehicle registration mark to be assigned to a motor vehicle registered in the name of the purchaser. If the purchaser fails to assign the registration mark within 12 months, allocation of the registration mark will be cancelled and arranged for reallocation by the Commissioner for Transport in accordance with the statutory provision without prior notice to the purchaser.

     “Upon completion of the Memorandum of Sale of PVRM, the purchaser will be issued a receipt and a Certificate of Allocation of Personalised Registration Mark. The Certificate of Allocation will serve to prove the holdership of the PVRM. Potential buyers of vehicles bearing a PVRM should check the Certificate of Allocation with the sellers and pay attention to the details therein. For transfer of vehicle ownership, this certificate together with other required documents should be sent to the TD for processing,” the spokesman added.

     For other auction details, please refer to the Guidance Notes – Auction of TVRMs (www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/tvrm_auction/index.html) and Guidance Notes – Auction of PVRMs (www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/vehicle_registration_mark/pvrm_auction/index.html). read more

     Following are the remarks by the Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, at a media session before the Executive Council meeting today (June 17):

Reporter: Thank you. CE, good morning. My first question is, Hong Kong has banned the mobile game “Reversed Front” under the National Security Law. Are you concerned the measure could lead to accusations of restricting rights and freedom? And the second one is about the recent air flight. An Air India Boeing flight from Hong Kong to New Delhi returned to Hong Kong after reports of technical issues post-takeoff. Given recent frequent aviation incidents, will you consider enhancing inspections for all aircraft models, particularly Boeing planes? Thank you.

Chief Executive: Regarding your first question about the mobile application, according to the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), all citizens have the obligation to uphold national security. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the PRC; the residents of Hong Kong have that constitutional obligation. The mobile application in question was released under the guise of a game, with the aim of promoting secessionists’ agendas of “Taiwan independence” and “Hong Kong independence”. This endangers national security, and the Government will always take strict enforcement action in accordance with the law for all activities and acts endangering national security. The Secretary for Security and the Hong Kong Police have taken action in accordance with the Implementation Rules for Article 43 of the Hong Kong National Security Law, carrying out their responsibilities and duties to safeguard national security. They are doing the right thing. 

     I would like to reiterate the warning. First, any person or organisation who knowingly publishes the application or related content, including sharing or recommending the application to others via the Internet, may be liable under the relevant laws. Second, those who have downloaded the application may be regarded as being in possession of a publication that has a seditious intention. According to the relevant laws, this may be an offence. Third, any person who provides pecuniary or other financial assistance or property to the application developer, with the intent to provide funding to the relevant developer for the commission of secession or subversion, may also commit an offence. 

     It is coming to the five-year anniversary of the promulgation and implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Law. If you look at the arrest figures for people who have been arrested for national security-related offences, then the total number is 332. If you look at the annual arrest figures of the Hong Kong Police for crimes in general, then roughly every year, there are about 30 000 people arrested. For five years, people arrested for offences under the national security-related laws amount to 330-odd, which means, on average, each year, about 66 people are arrested under the national security-related laws. Sixty-six out of 30 000 – I think it is a percentage of 0.2. When we promulgated the Hong Kong National Security Law, we make it very clear that the law is aiming at only a small portion of people who endanger national security. This figure reinforces that clear message. On average, it is only 0.2 per cent of the total of 30 000 the Police arrested each year. It is really a very small portion. For the day-to-day activities carried out by normal citizens, they are very well protected to freely go about their daily activities, and that is thanks to the Hong Kong National Security Law, restoring stability, security and order for Hong Kong. 

     Hong Kong has been rated as the sixth safest city in the world (in 2023). We will work together to ensure that stability and security will continue. With that, we can fully focus on developing our economy and better improving the livelihood of our citizens.

     As regards the accident, which took place in India, of course we feel grieved to see it happening with so many deaths. I send my condolences to those whose families suffered in this tragic accident. We pay attention to aircraft safety, and relevant departments in Hong Kong will pay serious attention to the development and investigation of this incident. We have a very good system to ensure that aircraft safety is of the highest standard in the world. We will continue to do that.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.) read more

     The Labour Department (LD) announced the implementation of the following measures under the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme (ESLS) from today (June 17) to safeguard employment priority for local workers:
      
(i) To ensure that employers will not displace local employees with imported workers, the LD launched an online complaint form on the ESLS dedicated webpage (www.labour.gov.hk/eng/plan/iwESLS.htm) to enable local employees to lodge complaints against employers for suspected violations of the requirements of ESLS. Members of the public can continue to call the dedicated hotline of 2150 6363 to lodge complaints.
          
(ii) For applications of ESLS which thereafter pass the initial screening and will commence the four-week local recruitment process, the LD will display the names of applicant companies when publishing the job vacancies on the Interactive Employment Service website to encourage job seekers to apply for the jobs. 
          
(iii) After an employer has submitted an ESLS application, other application(s) submitted by the same employer within the following six months will generally not be processed (except under exceptional circumstances, such as applications for renewal of imported workers’ employment contracts). 
          
(iv) The LD will launch a special inspection campaign to check whether establishments employing imported workers have continuously met the manning ratio requirement of full-time local employees to imported workers of 2:1. In parallel, the LD will, adopting a risk-based approach, require employers to report information on full-time local employees and imported workers as well as the relevant manning ratios. The LD will investigate any suspected violations. If substantiated, the LD will impose administrative sanctions on the employers. 

     A Government spokesman reiterated that the priority of the Government’s manpower policy all along is to nurture the local workforce. On the premise of ensuring employment priority for local workers, the Government suitably allows employers to apply for importation of workers.

     To ensure employment priority for local workers, applicant employers of the ESLS must undertake local open recruitment and give priority to employing qualified local workers to fill the vacancies at a salary not lower than the prevailing median monthly wage of a comparable position in the market. In parallel, employers approved to import workers are required to sign a Standard Employment Contract with imported workers and shall pay a salary not lower than the median monthly wage of a comparable position to prevent the imported workers from becoming “cheap labour” and undermining the employment opportunities of local workers.
      
     The ESLS also requires employers not to displace local workers with imported workers. In the event of redundancy, imported workers should be retrenched first. If there is sufficient evidence to substantiate any violation of the requirement, the LD will impose administrative sanctions on the employers, including withdrawal of approvals for importation of labour previously granted and refusal to process other applications submitted by the employers in the following two years.
      
     The LD will continue to closely monitor the local labour market, and from time to time review the operation and implementation arrangements of the ESLS, with a view to safeguarding employment priority for local workers.  read more

     The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, will depart for France this evening (June 17) to visit Toulouse, Bordeaux, Cognac and Paris to promote Hong Kong’s favourable business environment and its advantages as a wine and liquor trading hub.  
　　
     During the trip, Mr Yau will meet with the French business sector and attend business roundtables to exchange views with local wine and liquor producers. He will also attend the China Forum 2025 organised by Business France to promote Hong Kong’s unique role as a gateway to the Mainland market. 
 
     Mr Yau will return to Hong Kong on June 26 morning. The Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Dr Bernard Chan, will be the Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development during Mr Yau’s absence. read more