The Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (February 17) that, under the strong support and efforts of various Mainland authorities and medical institutions, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has once again received a cross-boundary organ donation from the Mainland and a heart transplant has successfully been completed for an 8-month-old baby girl, Whitney, at the Hong Kong Children's Hospital (HKCH) yesterday evening (February 16).
 
     The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, said, "I sincerely thank the country for its care and support for the lives and health of Hong Kong citizens. After a then 4-month-old baby girl, Tsz-hei, successfully received a heart donation from the Mainland in December 2022 to extend her life, Hong Kong and the Mainland has established a close communication channel and procedures for cross-boundary organ transplant co-operation based on that successful experience. The second cross-boundary organ donation case this time has demonstrated a more effective co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Upon the approval of the Central Government, more than 100 personnel from 18 Mainland authorities including the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council; the National Health Commission; the General Administration of Customs; the Ministry of Public Security; the Ministry of Transport; the Exit and Entry Administration; the Traffic Control Centre of the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department; the different levels of customs, border control and hospitals of the Guangdong Province and the Shenzhen Municipal; as well as the Centre for the China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS), worked together and raced against time to ensure the safe and smooth transportation of the organ across multiple locations. This once again exemplified that both the Mainland and Hong Kong share the principle and mission in protecting and saving lives, which is of great significance. The HKSAR Government once again thanks the various Mainland authorities for their strong support to providing emergency assistance to Hong Kong citizens."
  
     The parents of the baby girl, Whitney, would like to express their gratitude for the assistance from different Mainland authorities and the HKSAR Government in finding a suitable heart for Whitney. They are also thankful to the medical teams of both the Mainland and Hong Kong for their unwavering effort in saving Whitney's life. Moreover, they are very thankful for the altruistic decision made by the donor's family during their time of difficulty and consider that their selflessness has given Whitney the chance for a new life.
 
     Consultant in-charge of the Cardiothoracic Surgery of HKCH, Dr Nicholson Yam, who was in charge of the transplant operation, said the heart procurement operation was performed in the Mainland earlier yesterday by the heart transplant experts sent by the National Quality Control Centre for Health Transplantation in Beijing, while HKCH performed the transplant operation immediately upon receiving the heart in the afternoon on the same day. The operation lasted approximately 6.5 hours. Whitney is now under close monitoring in the Intensive Care Unit and the following 24 hours will still be a critical period.
 
     The Director of Cluster Services of the HA, Dr Simon Tang, said that all efforts have been made through different networks to identify a suitable heart for Whitney amid the difficulties involved. The HA once again expressed its heartfelt appreciation to the related Mainland authorities, the HKSAR Government and the medical teams of the two sides for their active co-ordination, which has led to the successful heart transplant operation for Whitney. "Since there was no suitable recipient in the Mainland, the Mainland decided to send the donor heart to Hong Kong for transplanting to Whitney upon confirmation by experts from the two places that the heart was suitable for Whitney's transplantation. The operation was stringently approved by both the Mainland and Hong Kong regulatory bodies and all procedures were in accordance with the laws of the two places," Dr Tang added.
 
     The Health Bureau and the HA are very grateful to the donor's family for their selfless act in donating the heart of the deceased patient to Whitney, whose life can now be continued, and wish Whitney a speedy recovery. The clinical team will strive to provide the optimal care to Whitney according to her clinical condition and medical needs.

     â€‹The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels (HKETO, Brussels) supported the participation of Hong Kong films and filmmakers in the 31st Vésoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema taking place in Vésoul, France, from February 11 to 18 (Vésoul time). 

     Supporting the festival for the first time, HKETO, Brussels is delighted to bring 18 Hong Kong films to the Festival. Six of them were screened on the specially curated Hong Kong Day on February 15, and "All Shall Be Well" was the closing film. In addition, a roundtable discussion on Hong Kong cinema was held featuring Hong Kong and French movie practitioners. It was followed by a Hong Kong Night reception, where about 100 guests, including Hong Kong film producer Teresa Kwong and actress Patra Au, attended.

     Speaking at the reception, Assistant Representative of HKETO, Brussels Mr Paul Leung highlighted the unique position of Hong Kong as a leading force in the Asian film industry. "To enhance the development of the film industry, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has been supporting the film industry through the Film Development Fund in four strategic directions, namely nurturing talent, enhancing local production, expanding markets and building audiences," added Mr Leung.

     He highlighted the recently launched Hong Kong-Europe-Asian Film Collaboration Funding Scheme, which subsidises film projects co-produced by filmmakers from European and Asian countries to produce films featuring Hong Kong, European and Asian cultures. The scheme aims to support Hong Kong films in expanding into overseas markets.

     The Vésoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema focuses on promoting Asian cinematography in France and Europe. It is one of the most important festivals of this kind in the region. 

    

The following is issued on behalf of the Family Council:
      
     The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) and the Family Council held the award presentation ceremony of the Short Video Competition on "Family Values: Our Cherished Legacy" today (February 16). The ceremony aims to commend short videos produced by senior primary and junior secondary school students to illustrate the positive influence of family values and the importance of traditional Chinese values and virtues.

     The competition received an overwhelming response, attracting over 180 entries from 49 primary schools and 20 secondary schools, competing for the championship, first and second runner-up, merit awards, outstanding creativity award, best director award, best performer award, most liked awards online and most actively participating school award. Apart from the award presentation ceremony, a sharing session on family education and family values, and a drama performance were also held today to promote to the participants positive family cultural traits and values, as well as traditional Chinese virtues.
      
     Speaking at the event, the Deputy Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs (Home Affairs), Mr Nick Au Yeung, said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to the healthy development of families in Hong Kong and is committed to fostering a pro-family environment and promoting a culture of loving families. The HYAB fully supports the work of the Family Council, and will co-operate with the Family Council to organise the Hong Kong Excellent Family Awards this year, recognising families that exemplify mutual love, respect, care and support, while further promoting good family values to the general public. He encouraged the younger generation to inherit traditional Chinese virtues and pass on family traditions, such that families could be a cohesive community force.
     ã€€
     The Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Family Core Values and Family Education of the Family Council, Mr Eugene Fong, mentioned in his speech that the Council shall adopt the theme of "Love Across Generations" for its publicity campaign in 2025-26, and will continue to organise various promotional activities to foster the culture of loving families and promote family education and family virtues in the community.
      
     Members of the public are welcome to visit the Council's homepage, Facebook page or Instagram page for details of the event and the latest information of the Council.

        

     A large-scale stress test was held again this afternoon (February 16) at the Kai Tak Sports Park (KTSP), with over 50 000 participants, to assess the operational readiness of the KTSP and its surrounding facilities in organising variety shows with maximum attendance. The evaluation also covered the entry and exit arrangements, as well as the related public transport facilities.

     Over 50 000 civil servants and members of the public participated in the exercise, which utilised all the three venues at the KTSP. It marked a record high of public participants with a wide range of age groups. The composition will assist in reviewing and optimising future arrangements for entering and leaving the venue, and will provide data with reference value for various stakeholders. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, inspected the stress test.

     Noting that the KTSP is the largest sports infrastructure in Hong Kong and set to host international and large-scale events in various sizes and types, the "Exercise Team" simulated the arrival of VIPs and visiting guests during the event, with a view to enhancing the co-ordination between the KTSP and other stakeholders, as well as to formulate various contingency plans in a timely manner.

     The exercise also evaluated the performance of the "Easy Leave" platform, which utilises artificial intelligence to analyse real-time data. The platform facilitates the spectators to choose the most suitable route to leave the venue by providing the real-time information on the crowd density and time required of each exit route. This helps alleviate pressure on public transport and crowd flows during the dispersal of large-scale events, as well as ensuring public safety. The Police will collect feedback from users to optimise the platform operation.

     A number of bureaux, departments and organisations, including the Hong Kong Police Force, the Fire Services Department, the Transport Department, the Civil Aid Service, the Auxiliary Medical Service, the MTR Corporation Limited and the KTSP Limited, sent their staff to participate in the exercise.

     With the close collaboration of all parties, the exercise proceeded smoothly, achieving the anticipated results and testing objectives. The public transport system and surrounding facilities were able to divert the large passenger flows within a short period of time, allowing participants to enter and leave the venue in an orderly manner.

     All stakeholders will continue to optimise all the areas of work with a view to achieving excellence in crowd and traffic management, enhancing spectator experience and minimising impacts on the community, and to ensure the smooth operation in organising mega event after the commissioning of KTSP on March 1.

          

Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals:

     The Marine Department today (February 16) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-in-charge of vessels navigating in Hong Kong waters to proceed at a safe speed and exercise extreme caution because restricted visibility of less than 2 nautical miles has been reported.

     Appropriate sound signals shall be made when underway or at anchor. All vessels must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea.

     Also, when radar is used without the benefit of adequate plotting facilities, the information obtained from the equipment is rather limited and should be construed accordingly.

     Visibility reports are broadcast by the Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC) on VHF channels 02, 12, 14, 63 and 67.

     In the event of an accident, a report shall be made immediately to the VTC at Tel: 2233 7801.