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     â€‹The Hong Kong Fire Services Department (FSD), the Fire and Rescue Corps of Guangdong Province, and the Macao Fire Services Bureau jointly hold in Hong Kong “Liancheng-2025”, the 48-hour Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) joint emergency response and rescue exercise, for three consecutive days starting today (March 25). 

     “Liancheng-2025”, hosted by the FSD, is participated by the fire rescue departments of the three places, as well as the Hospital Authority and the Civil Aid Service. The exercise is funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. 

     The exercise simulated extreme situations in Hong Kong that put a strain on rescue resources. According to the mechanism under the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Emergency Management Co-operation and GBA Emergency Response Operation Co-operation Framework Agreement signed by the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in June last year, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government requested assistance from the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and the Macao Special Administrative Region Government. The Fire and Rescue Corps of Guangdong Province and the Macao Fire Services Bureau promptly rendered assistance by deploying personnel, fire appliances, and equipment to Hong Kong.

     The Deputy Director of Fire Services (Operations), Mr Angus Wong, who acted as the commander of the Hong Kong cross-border rescue team, co-ordinated and allocated firefighting and rescue personnel and resources of the three places in the rescue operations for a number of simulated incidents. 

     Witnessed by the Minister of Emergency Management, Mr Wang Xiangxi, and the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, four Guangdong fire appliances, with cross-boundary quota for fire appliances granted earlier, crossed the border directly with dual licence plates via the Shenzhen Bay Port into Hong Kong to participate in the exercise. It demonstrated the effectiveness of cross-boundary rescue through the cross-boundary Green Channel. 

     Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Fire and Ambulance Services Academy and the China Fire and Rescue Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further deepen their collaboration. The two institutes will co-operate in training firefighting and rescue personnel with quality, and foster innovation and development of firefighting and rescue technologies. The MOU was signed by Deputy Director General of the National Fire and Rescue Administration Mr He Ning and the Director of Fire Services, Mr Andy Yeung, witnessed by Mr Wang and the Acting Chief Executive, Mr Chan Kwok-ki.

     Fire rescue departments from the two places will continue to strengthen and deepen collaboration in areas such as developing personnel training, enhancing professional training, conducting academic and technical exchange, as well as major research projects, with a view to jointly embarking on a new chapter in firefighting and rescue efforts.

                  

     Over 130 influential family office principals and family members from the Mainland, Asia, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East gathered at a principal dinner organised by the Government this evening (March 25) to set the stage for the third edition of the annual Wealth for Good in Hong Kong Summit (WGHK) to be held tomorrow (March 26), reaffirming the city’s role as a premier global hub for family offices.
 
     In his welcome remarks, the Acting Chief Executive, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, said, “Hong Kong is a ‘super connector’ bringing together people and ideas. We are a platform for visionaries looking to create lasting legacies, a dynamic hub where your offices and families can flourish.”
 
     The evening was graced with the presence of notable speakers, Dr Maye Musk, a best-selling author and a public speaker, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Professor Irene Tracey, at an inspiring fireside chat moderated by the Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Ms Alpha Lau. The speakers shared their insights on women’s influence in leadership and legacy-building with a focus on the critical role of female leadership in shaping the future of business, innovation, and societal progress. The engrossing session fostered an atmosphere of collaboration, paving the way for insightful discussions and new partnerships at tomorrow’s summit, themed “Hong Kong of the World, for the World”.
 
     The event also charmed visitors with a captivating lion ballet performance against the dazzling night view of Victoria Harbour, amazing the attendees with a unique blend of cultural richness and the city’s legendary skyline.
 
     The WGHK will take place tomorrow afternoon with over 300 participants. The summit will not only convene principals and family members to discuss the future of wealth management in the region, but also encourage attendees to experience the city’s dynamic offerings through its vibrant neighbourhoods, dynamic arts scene and strong community spirit, which make the city an ideal destination for both families and businesses.

        

     The Health Bureau announced the details of the fees and charges reform for public healthcare today (March 25). Reforming the subsidisation structure of the public healthcare services aims to guide the public to make optimal use of healthcare resources, reduce wastage and abuse, and enhance healthcare protection for “poor, acute, serious, critical” patients on all fronts, thereby enhancing the sustainability of the healthcare system and strengthening the public healthcare system to cope with the challenges posed by an ageing population, inflation of healthcare costs, etc, and serve as a safety net for all.

     As an indispensable part of healthcare reform, the fees and charges reform for public healthcare covers the following three major areas, with a view to ensuring that limited healthcare resources can be directed in a targeted manner to help those patients most in need:

1. Reforming the subsidisation structure: Reforming the subsidisation structure from a systemic perspective by setting the levels of government subsidisation and the proportion of co-payments by members of the public for various public healthcare services to rationalise the relative demands for in-patient, accident and emergency, as well as different tiers of out-patient services.

2. Reducing waste and abuse: Introducing a co-payment model for non-urgent diagnostic radiology and pathology services, adjusting the charges for and quantities of standard drugs, making use of the fees and charges to drive changes to the public’s behaviour in seeking medical treatment to guide the optimal use of resources.

3. Enhancing healthcare protection: Strengthening protection for “poor, serious, critical” patients on all fronts by enhancing the fee waiver mechanism, introducing an annual cap on fees and charges at $10,000, and increasing subsidies on drugs and medical devices for the critically ill, with a view to preventing “patients with serious conditions falling into poverty”.

     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said, “Under the fees and charges reform, we will expand and enhance the co-payment mechanism, based on the principles of ‘co-payment by those who can afford and co-payment by those with mild conditions’, to strengthen the protection for ‘poor, acute, serious, critical’ patients. The Government’s commitment to the public healthcare system will definitely not be lessened and all the gains from the reform will be wholly utilised for public healthcare services. On strengthening the safety net for all, the reform will enable us to further ‘support the poor, save the acute patients, protect those with serious conditions, and help the critically ill’, thereby making the safety net larger, more stable, thicker and denser.”

     The Hospital Authority (HA) will implement the new structure of fees and charges from January next year. The Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko, added, “The HA will press ahead at full steam with the implementation of the reform. The structure of fees and charges of public hospitals in the future will focus on providing more support to ‘poor, acute, serious, critical’ patients and reduce wastage. The new fees and charges will remain at a level affordable to the public, while those with financial difficulties, or those suffering from critical and serious illnesses, will be better protected.”

     Professor Lo emphasised, “Hong Kong’s public hospitals have long been one of the most efficient healthcare systems in the world. The reform will help to ensure that limited healthcare resources are directed to those patients most in need. The reform of healthcare fees and charges will proceed in a gradual and orderly manner. The review of public healthcare fees and charges will continue to be conducted every two years in accordance with the mechanism, with a view to achieving the reform objectives in five years, by which time the 90 per cent overall public subsidisation rate will be maintained. Alongside the implementation of the fees and charges reform for healthcare, the Government will continue to take forward healthcare reform in other areas to build a ‘Healthy Hong Kong’.”

    

     A 38-year-old incoming male driver was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and fined $1,000 at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts today (March 25) for importing duty-not-paid cigarettes and failing to declare to Customs Officers, in contravention of the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance (DCO).

     Through risk assessment and intelligence analysis, Hong Kong Customs intercepted an inbound private car, declared to be unladen, at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port yesterday (March 24). Upon inspection, Customs Officers seized a total of about 18 200 sticks of duty-not-paid cigarettes, with an estimated market value of about $93,000 and a duty potential of about $60,000, from the hollow space of the vehicle’s front doors, the front bumper and the centre console. The male driver was subsequently arrested, and the cross-boundary private car was also seized.

     Customs welcomes the sentence. The custodial sentence has imposed a considerable deterrent effect and reflects the seriousness of the offences. Customs reminds members of the public that under the DCO, tobacco products are dutiable goods to which the DCO applies. Any person who imports, deals with, possesses, sells or buys illicit cigarettes commits an offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $1 million and imprisonment for two years.

     Customs will continue to combat cross-boundary smuggling activities with firm enforcement action based on risk assessment and intelligence analysis.

     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs’ 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

    

     A man who went missing in Tsuen Wan has been located.      Li Chin-man, aged 42, went missing after he left his residence on Tso Kung Street in the small hours of March 22. His family made a rep… read more